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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/9666-8.txt b/9666-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e52f4e2 --- /dev/null +++ b/9666-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4354 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Scientific American Supplement, No. 497, +July 11, 1885, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Scientific American Supplement, No. 497, July 11, 1885 + +Author: Various + +Posting Date: November 3, 2011 [EBook #9666] +Release Date: January, 2006 +First Posted: October 14, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPP., JULY 11, 1885 *** + + + + +Produced by Josephine Paolucci, Don Kretz, Juliet Sutherland +and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT NO. 497 + + + + +NEW YORK, JULY 11, 1885 + +Scientific American Supplement. Vol. XX, No. 497. + +Scientific American established 1845 + +Scientific American Supplement, $5 a year. + +Scientific American and Supplement, $7 a year. + + + * * * * * + +TABLE OF CONTENTS. + +I. CHEMISTRY AND METALLURGY.--Making Sea Water Potable. + --By THOS. KAY + + The Acids of Wool Oil + + The New Absorbent for Oxygen + + Depositing Nickel upon Zinc.--By H.B. SLATER + +II. ENGINEERING AND MECHANICS.--Foundations in Quicksand, + Lift Bridge over the Ourcq Canal.--3 figures + + St. Petersburg a Seaport.--A canal cut from Cronstadt to + St. Petersburg.--Opening of same by the Emperor and + Empress.--With full page engraving + + The New French Dispatch Boat Milan.--With engraving + + The Launching and Docking of Ships Sidewise.--4 figures + + Improved High Speed Engine.--12 figures + + The National Transit Co.'s Pipe Lines for the Transportation + of Oil to the Seaboard.--With map and diagram + + The Fuel of the Future.--History of natural gas.--Relation to + petroleum.--Duration of gas, etc.--With table of analyses + Closing Leakages for Packing.--Use of asbestos in stuffing + boxes + +III. TECHNOLOGY.--Luminous Paint.--Processes of manufacture + Boxwood and its Substitutes.--Preparation of same for market, + etc.--A paper written by J.A. JACKSON for the International + Forestry Exhibition + +IV. ARCHÆOLOGY.--An Assyrian Bass-Relief 2,700 years old + +V. NATURAL HISTORY.-The Flight of the Buzzard.--By R.A. + PROCTOR + +VI. BOTANY, ETC.--Convallaria.--A stemless perennial.--By OTTO + A. WALL, M.D.--Several figures + +VII. MEDICINE, HYGIENE, ETC.--Gaiffe's New Medical + Galvanometer.--1 figure + + The Suspension of Life in Plants and Animals + +VIII. MISCELLANEOUS.--Composite Portraits.--6 illustrations + Hand-Craft and Rede-Craft.--A plea for the first + named.--By D.G. GILMAN + + * * * * * + + + + +FOUNDATIONS IN QUICKSAND. + + +Foundations in quicksand often have to be built in places where least +expected, and sometimes the writer has been able to conveniently +span the vein with an arch and avoid trouble; but where it cannot be +conveniently arched over, it will be necessary to sheath pile for a +trench and lay in broad sections of concrete until the space is crossed, +the sheath piling being drawn and reset in sections as fast as the +trenches are leveled up. The piling is left in permanently if it is not +wanted again for use. + +Sometimes these bottoms are too soft to be treated in this manner; in +that case boxes or caissons are formed, loaded with stone and sunk into +place with pig iron until the weight they are to carry is approximated. +When settled, the weights are removed and building begins. + +Foundations on shifting sand are met with in banks of streams, which +swell and become rapids as each winter breaks up. This kind is most +troublesome and dangerous to rest upon if not properly treated. + +Retaining walls are frequently built season after season, and as +regularly become undermined by the scouring of the water. Regular +docking with piles and timbers is resorted to, but it is so expensive +for small works that it is not often tried. + +Foundations are formed often with rock well planted out; and again +success has attended the use of bags of sand where rough rock was not +convenient or too expensive. + +In such cases it is well to try a mattress foundation, which may be +formed of brushwood and small saplings with butts from ½ inch to +2½ inches in diameter, compressed into bundles from 8 to 12 inches +diameter, and from 12 to 16 feet long, and well tied with ropes every +four feet. Other bundles, from 4 to 6 inches diameter and 16 feet long, +are used as binders, and these bundles are now cross-woven and make a +good network, the long parts protruding and making whip ends. One or +more sets of netting are used as necessity seems to require. This kind +of foundation may be filled in with a concrete of hydraulic cement and +sand, and the walls built on them with usual footings, and it is very +durable, suiting the purpose as well as anything we have seen or heard +of.--_Inland Architect_. + + * * * * * + + + + +LIFT BRIDGE OVER THE OURCQ CANAL. + + +This bridge, which was inaugurated in 1868, was constructed under the +direction of Mr. Mantion, then engineer-in-chief of the Belt Railway. +Fig. 1 shows the bridge raised. + +The solution adopted in this case was the only feasible one that +presented itself, in view of the slight difference between the level +of the railway tracks and the maximum plane of the canal water. This +circumstance did not even permit of a thought of an ordinary revolving +bridge, since this, on a space of 10 inches being reserved between the +level of the water and the bottom of the bridge, and on giving the +latter a minimum thickness of 33 inches up to the level of the rails, +would have required the introduction into the profile of the railroad +of approaches of at least one-quarter inch gradient, that would have +interfered with operations at the station close by. + +[Illustration: FIG. 1.--LIFT BRIDGE OVER THE OURCQ CANAL.] + +Besides, in the case of a revolving bridge, since the bottom of the +latter would be but ten inches above the water level, and the rollers +would have to be of larger diameter than that, it would have been +necessary to suppose the roller channel placed beneath the level of the +water, and it would consequently have been necessary to isolate this +channel from the canal by a tight wall. The least fissure in the latter +would have inundated the channel. + +As the Ourcq Canal had no regular period of closing, it was necessary +to construct the bridge without hinderance to navigation. The idea of +altering the canal's course could not be thought of, for the proximity +of the fortifications and of the bridge over the military road was +opposed to it. Moreover, the canal administration insisted upon a free +width of 26 feet, which is that of the sluices of the St. Denis Canal, +and which would have led to the projection of a revolving bridge of 28 +feet actual opening in order to permit of building foundations with +caissons in such a way as to leave a passageway of 26 feet during +operations. + +For these reasons it was decided to construct a metallic bridge that +should be lifted by means of counterpoises and balanced after the manner +of gasometers. + +The free width secured to navigation is 28 feet. The bridge is usually +kept raised to a height of 16 feet above the level of the water in order +to allow boats to pass (Fig. 2). In this position it is balanced by four +counterpoises suspended from the extremities of chains that pass over +pulleys. These counterpoises are of cast iron, and weigh, altogether, +44,000 pounds--the weight of the bridge to be balanced, say 11,000 +pounds per counterpoise. Moreover, each of the four chains is prolonged +beneath the corresponding counterpoise by a chain of the same weight, +called a compensating chain. + +The pulleys, B and C, that support the suspension chains have +projections in their channels which engage with the links and thus +prevent the chains from slipping. They are mounted at the extremity of +four latticed girders that likewise carry girder pulleys, D. The pulleys +that are situated at the side of the bridge are provided laterally +with a conical toothing which gears with a pinion connected with the +maneuvering apparatus. + +The two pinions of the same side of the bridge are keyed to a +longitudinal shaft which is set in motion at one point of its length by +a system of gearings. The winch upon which is exerted the stress that +is to effect the lifting or the descent of the bridge is fixed upon the +shaft of the pinion of the said gearing, which is also provided with a +flywheel, c. The longitudinal shafts are connected by a transverse one. +e, which renders the two motions interdependent. This transverse shaft +is provided with collars, against which bear stiff rods that give it the +aspect of an elongated spindle, and that permit it to resist twisting +stresses. + +The windlasses that lift the bridge are actuated by manual power. Two +men (or even one) suffice to do the maneuvering. + +This entire collection of pulleys and mechanism is established upon two +brick foot bridges between which the bridge moves. These arched bridges +offer no obstruction to navigation. Moreover, they always allow free +passage to foot passengers, whatever be the position of the bridge. They +are provided with four vertical apertures to the right of the suspension +chains, in order to allow of the passage of the latter. The girders that +support the pulleys rest at one extremity upon the upper part of the +bridges, and at the other upon solid brick pillars with stone caps. + +Finally, in order to render the descent of the bridge easier, there are +added to it two water tanks that are filled from the station reservoir +when the bridge is in its upper position, and that empty themselves +automatically as soon as it reaches the level of the railroad tracks. + +A very simple system of fastening has been devised for keeping the +bridge in a stationary position when raised. When it reaches the end of +its upward travel, four bolts engage with an aperture in the suspension +rod and prevent it from descending. These bolts are set in motion by +two connecting rods carried by a longitudinal shaft and maneuvered by a +lever at the end of the windlass. + +At the lower part the bridge rests upon iron plates set into sills. It +is guided in its descent longitudinally by iron plates that have an +inclination which is reproduced at the extremities of the bridge +girders, and transversely by two inclined angle irons into which fit the +external edges of the bottoms of the extreme girders. + +[Illustration: FIG. 2.--ELEVATION AND PLAN.] + +The total weight of the bridge is, as we have said, 44,000 pounds, which +is much less than would have been that of a revolving bridge of the same +span. The maneuvering of the bridge is performed with the greatest ease +and requires about two minutes. + +This system has been in operation at the market station of La Vilette +since the year 1868, and has required but insignificant repairs. We +think the adoption of it might be recommended for all cases in which a +slight difference between the level of a railroad and that of a water +course would not permit of the establishment of a revolving bridge.--_Le +Genie Civil_. + + * * * * * + + + + +ST. PETERSBURG A SEAPORT. + + +The Emperor and Empress of Russia, on Wednesday, May 27. 1885, the +second anniversary of their coronation at Moscow, opened the Maritime +Canal, in the Bay of Cronstadt, the shallow upper extremity of the Gulf +of Finland, by which great work the city of St. Petersburg is made a +seaport as much as London. St. Petersburg, indeed, stands almost on the +sea shore, at the very mouth of the Neva, though behind several low +islands which crowd the head of the Gulf; and though this is an inland +sea without saltness or tides, it is closed by ice in winter. Seventeen +miles to the west is the island of Cronstadt, a great fortress, with +naval dockyards and arsenals for the imperial fleet, and with a spacious +harbor for ships of commerce. The navigable entrance channel up the +Bay of Cronstadt to the mouth of the Neva lies under the south side of +Cronstadt, and is commanded by its batteries. As the bay eastward has a +depth not exceeding 12 ft., and the depth of the Neva at its bar is but +9 ft., all large vessels have been obliged hitherto to discharge their +cargoes at Cronstadt, to be there transferred to lighters and barges +which brought the goods up to the capital. "The delay and expense of +this process," says Mr. William Simpson, our special artist, "will be +understood by stating that a cargo might be brought from England by a +steamer in a week, but it would take three weeks at least to transport +the same cargo from Cronstadt to St. Petersburg. Of course, much of this +time was lost by custom house formalities. Sometimes it has taken even +longer than is here stated, which made the delivery of goods at St. +Petersburg a matter of great uncertainty, thus rendering time contracts +almost an impossibility. This state of things had continued from the +time of Peter the Great, and his great scheme had never been fully +realized. The increase of commerce and shipping had long made this a +crying evil; but even with all these difficulties, the trade here has +been rapidly growing. A scheme to bring the shipping direct to the +capital had thus become almost a necessity. As Manchester wishes to +bring the ocean traffic to her doors without the intervention of +Liverpool, so St. Petersburg desired to have its steamers sailing up to +the city, delivering and loading their cargoes direct at the stores and +warehouses in her streets. If Glasgow had not improved the Clyde, and +had up to the present day to bring up all goods carried by her ocean +going steamers from Port Glasgow--a place constructed for that purpose +last century, and which is twenty miles from Glasgow--she would have +been handicapped exactly as St. Petersburg has been till now in the +commercial race. + +"For some years the subject was discussed at St. Petersburg, and +more than one scheme was proposed; at last the project of General N. +Pooteeloff was adopted. According to this plan, a canal has been cut +through the shallow bottom of the Gulf of Finland, all the way from +Cronstadt to St. Petersburg. The line of this canal is from northwest to +southeast; it may be said to run very nearly parallel to the coast line +on the south side of the Gulf, and about three miles distant from it. +This line brings the canal to the southwest end of St. Petersburg, where +there are a number of islands, which have formed themselves, in the +course of ages, where the Bolshaya, or Great Neva, flows into the Gulf. +It is on these islands that the new port is to be formed. It is a very +large harbor, and capable of almost any amount of extension. It will be +in connection with the whole railway system of Russia. One part of the +scheme is that of a new canal, on the south side of the city, to connect +the maritime canal, as well as the new harbor, with the Neva, so that +the large barges may pass, by a short route, to the river on the east, +and thus avoid the bridges and traffic of the city. + +"The whole length of the canal is about eighteen miles. The longer +portion of it is an open channel, which is made 350 feet wide at bottom. +Its course will be marked by large iron floating buoys; these it is +proposed to light with gas by a new self-acting process which has been +very successful in other parts of the world; by this means the canal +will be navigable by night as well as by day. The original plan was to +have made the canal 20 feet deep, but this has been increased to 22 +feet. The Gulf of Finland gradually deepens toward Cronstadt, so that +the dredging was less at the western end. This part was all done by +dredgers, and the earth brought up was removed to a safe distance by +means of steam hopper barges. The contract for this part of the work +was sublet to an American firm--Morris and Cummings, of New York. The +eastern portion of the work on the canal is by far the most important, +and about six miles of it is protected by large and strong embankments +on each side. These embankments were formed by the output of the +dredgers, and are all faced with granite bowlders brought from Finland; +at their outer termination the work is of a more durable kind, the +facing is made of squared blocks of granite, so that it may stand the +heavy surf which at times is raised by a west wind in the Gulf. These +embankments, as already stated, extend over a space of nearly six miles, +and represent a mass of work to which there is no counterpart in the +Suez Canal; nor does the plan of the new Manchester Canal present +anything equivalent to it. The width of this canal also far exceeds any +of those notable undertakings. The open channel is, as stated above, 350 +ft. wide; within the embankments the full depth of 22 ft. extends to 280 +ft., and the surface between the embankments is 700 ft. This is nearly +twice the size of the Suez Canal at the surface, which is 100 meters, +or about 320 ft., while it is only about 75 ft. at the bottom; the +Amsterdam Canal is 78 ft. wide. The new Manchester Canal is to be 100 +ft. of full depth, and it boasts of this superiority over the great work +of Lesseps. The figures given above will show how far short it comes of +the dimensions of the St. Petersburg Canal. The Manchester Canal is to +be 24 ft. in depth; in that it has the advantage of 2 ft. more than the +St. Petersburg Canal; but with the ample width this one possesses, this, +or even a greater depth, can be given if it should be found necessary. +Most probably this will have ultimately to be done, for ocean going +steamers are rapidly increasing in size since the St. Petersburg Canal +was planned, and in a very few years the larger class of steamers might +have to deliver their cargoes at Cronstadt, as before, if the waterway +to St. Petersburg be not adapted to their growing dimensions. + +[Illustration: THE ST. PETERSBURG AND CRONSTADT MARITIME CANAL, OPENED +BY THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA, ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 1885.] + +"The dredging between the embankments of the canal was done by an +improved process, which may interest those connected with such works. It +may be remembered that the Suez Canal was mostly made by dredging, and +that the dredgers had attached to them what the French called 'long +couloirs' or spouts, into which water was pumped, and by this means the +stuff brought up by the dredgers was carried to the sides of the canal, +and there deposited. The great width of the St. Petersburg Canal was too +much for the long couloirs, hence some other plan had to be found. The +plan adopted was that invented by Mr. James Burt, and which had been +used with the greatest success on the New Amsterdam Canal. Instead of +the couloir, floating pipes, made of wood, are in this system employed; +the earth or mud brought up has a copious stream of water poured on it, +which mixes in the process of descending, and the whole becomes a thick +liquid. This, by means of a centrifugal pump, is propelled through the +floating pipes to any point required, where it can be deposited. The +couloir can only run the output a comparatively short distance, while +this system can send it a quarter of a mile, or even further, if +necessary. Its power is not limited to the level surface of the water. +I saw on my visit to the canal one of the dredgers at work, and the +floating pipes lay on the water like a veritable sea-serpent, extending +to a long distance where the stuff had to be carried. At that point the +pipe emerged from the water, and what looked very much like a vertebra +or two of the serpent crossed the embankment, went down the other side, +and there the muddy deposit was pouring out in a steady flow. Mr. Burt +pointed out to me one part of the works where his pump had sent the +stuff nearly half a mile away, and over undulating ground. This system +will not suit all soils. Hard clay, for instance, will not mix with the +water; but where the matter brought up is soft and easily diluted, this +plan possesses many advantages, and its success here affords ample +evidence of its merits. + +"About five miles below St. Petersburg, a basin had been already +finished, with landing quays, sheds, and offices; and there is an +embankment connecting it with the railways of St. Petersburg, all ready +for ships to arrive. When the ships of all nations sail up to the +capital, then the ideas of Peter the Great, when he laid the foundations +of St. Petersburg, will be realized. St. Petersburg will be no longer an +inland port. It will, with its ample harbor and numerous canals among +its streets, become the Venice of the North. Its era of commercial +greatness is now about to commence. The ceremony of letting the waters +of the canal into the new docks was performed by the Emperor in October, +1883. The Empress and heir apparent, with a large number of the Court, +were present on the occasion. The works on the canal, costing about a +million and a half sterling, were begun in 1876, and have been carried +out under the direction of a committee appointed by the Government, +presided over by his Excellency, N. Sarloff. The resident engineer is M. +Phofiesky; and the contractors are Messrs. Maximovitch and Boreysha." + +We heartily congratulate the Russian government and the Russian nation +upon the accomplishment of this great and useful work of peace. It will +certainly benefit English trade. The value of British imports from the +northern ports of Russia for the year 1883 was £13,799,033; British +exports, £6,459,993; while from the southern ports of Russia our trade +was: British imports, £7,177,149; British exports, £1,169,890--making a +total British commerce with European Russia of £20,976,182 imports from +Russia and £7,629,883 exports to Russia. It cannot be to the interest of +nations which are such large customers of each other to go to war +about a few miles of Afguhan frontier. The London _Chamber of Commerce +Journal_, ably edited by Mr. Kenric B. Murray, Secretary to the Chamber, +has in its May number an article upon this subject well deserving of +perusal. It points out that in case of war most of the British export +trade to Russia would go through Germany, and might possibly never again +return under British control. In spite of Russian protective duties, +this trade has been well maintained, even while the British import +of Russian commodities, wheat, flax, hemp, tallow, and timber, was +declining 40 per cent. from 1883 to 1884. The St. Petersburg Maritime +Canal will evidently give much improved facilities to the direct export +of English goods to Russia. Without reference to our own manufactures, +it should be observed that the Russian cotton mills, including those of +Poland, consume yearly 264 million pounds of cotton, most of which comes +through England. The importation of English coal to Russia has afforded +a noteworthy instance of the disadvantage hitherto occasioned by the +want of direct navigation to St. Petersburg; the freight of a ton of +coal from Newcastle to Cronstadt was six shillings and sixpence, but +from Cronstadt to St. Petersburg it cost two shillings more. It is often +said, in a tone of alarm and reproach, that Russia is very eager to get +to the sea. The more Russia gets to the sea everywhere, the better it +will be for British trade with Russia; and friendly intercourse with +an empire containing nearly a hundred millions of people is not to be +lightly rejected.--_Illustrated London News_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE NEW FRENCH DISPATCH BOAT MILAN. + + +The Milan, a new dispatch boat, has recently been making trial trips at +Brest. It was constructed at Saint Nazaire, by the "Societe des Ateliers +et Chantiers de la Loire," and is the fastest man-of-war afloat. It +has registered 17 knots with ordinary pressure, and with increase +of pressure can make 18 knots, but to attain such high speed a very +powerful engine is necessary. In fact, a vessel 303 ft. long, 33 ft. +wide, and drawing 12 ft. of water, requires an engine which can develop +4,000 H.P. + +[Illustration: THE NEW FRENCH DISPATCH BOAT MILAN.] + +The hull of the Milan is of steel, and is distinguished for its extreme +lightness. The vessel has two screws, actuated by four engines arranged +two by two on each shaft. + +The armament consists of five three inch cannons, eight revolvers, and +four tubes for throwing torpedoes. + +The Milan can carry 300 tons of coal, an insufficient quantity for +a long cruise, but this vessel, which is a dispatch boat in every +acceptation of the word, was constructed for a definite purpose. It +is the first of a series of very rapid cruisers to be constructed in +France, and yet many English packets can attain a speed at least equal +to that of the Milan. We need war vessels which can attain twenty knots, +to be master of the sea.--_L'Illustration_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE LAUNCHING AND DOCKING OF SHIPS SIDEWISE. + + +The slips of the shipyards at Alt-Hofen (Hungary) belonging to the +Imperial and Royal Navigation Company of the Danube are so arranged that +the vessels belonging to its fleet can be hauled up high and dry or +be launched sidewise. They comprise three distinct groups, which are +adapted, according to needs, for the construction or repair of steamers, +twenty of which can be put into the yard at a time. The operation, which +is facilitated by the current of the Danube, consists in receiving the +ships upon frames beneath the water and at the extremity of inclined +planes running at right angles with them. After the ship has been made +secure by means of wedges, the frame is drawn up by chains that +wind round fixed windlasses. These apparatus are established upon a +horizontal surface 25.5 feet above low-water mark so as to give the +necessary slope, and at which terminate the tracks. They may, moreover, +be removed after the ships have been taken off, and be put down again +for launching. For 136 feet of their length the lower part of the +sliding ways is permanent, and fixed first upon rubble masonry and then +upon the earth. + +Fig. 1 gives a general view of the arrangement. The eight sliding ways +of the central part are usually reserved for the largest vessels. The +two extreme ones comprise, one of them 7, and the other 6, tracks only, +and are maneuvered by means of the same windlasses as the others. A +track, FF, is laid parallel with the river, in order to facilitate, +through lorries, the loading and unloading of the traction chains. These +latter are ¾ inch in diameter, while those that pass around the hulls +are 1 inch. + +The motive power is furnished by a 10 H.P. steam engine, which serves at +the same time for actuating the machine tools employed in construction +or repairs. The shaft is situated at the head of the ways, and sets in +motion four double-gear windlasses of the type shown in Fig. 2. The +ratio of the wheels is as 9 to 1. The speed at which the ships move +forward is from 10 to 13 feet per minute. Traction is effected +continuously and without shock. After the cables have been passed around +the hull, and fastened, they are attached to four pairs of blocks each +comprising three pulleys. The lower one of these is carried by rollers +that run over a special track laid for this purpose on the inclined +plane. + +[Illustration: FIG. 1.--WAYS OF LAUNCHING VESSELS SIDEWISE.] + +The three successive positions that a boat takes are shown in Fig. 1. +In the first it has just passed on to the frame, and is waiting to be +hauled up on the ways; in the second it is being hauled up; and in the +third the frame has been removed and the boat is shoved up on framework, +so that it can be examined and receive whatever repairs may be +necessary. This arrangement, which is from plans by Mr. Murray Jackson, +suffices to launch 16 or 18 new boats annually, and for the repair +of sixty steamers and lighters. These latter are usually 180 feet in +length, 24 feet in width, and 8 feet in depth, and their displacement, +when empty, is 120 tons. The dimensions of the largest steamers vary +between 205 and 244 feet in length, and 25 and 26 feet in width. They +are 10 feet in depth, and, when empty, displace from 440 to 460 tons. +The Austrian government has two monitors repaired from time to time in +the yards of the company. The short and wide forms of these impose a +heavier load per running foot upon the ways than ordinary boats do, but +nevertheless no difficulty has ever been experienced, either in hauling +them out or putting them back into the water.--_Le Genie Civil_. + +[Illustration: FIG. 2.--DETAILS OF WINDLASS.] + + * * * * * + + + + +IMPROVED HIGH-SPEED ENGINE. + + +This engine, exhibited at South Kensington by Fielding and Platt, of +Gloucester, consists virtually of a universal joint connecting two +shafts whose axes form an obtuse angle of about 157 degrees. It has four +cylinders, two being mounted on a chair coupling on each shaft. The word +cylinder is used in a conventional sense only, since the cavities acting +as such are circular, whose axes, instead of being straight lines, are +arcs of circles struck from the center at which the axes of the shafts +would, if continued, intersect. The four pistons are carried upon +the gimbal ring, which connects, by means of pivots, the two chair +couplings. + +[Illustration: THE FIELDING HIGH SPEED ENGINE.] + +Fig. 10 shows clearly the parts constituting the coupling, cylinders, +and pistons of a compound engine. CC are the high-pressure cylinders; DD +the low pressure; EEEE the four parts forming the gimbal ring, to which +are fixed in pairs the high and low pressure pistons, GG and FF; HHHH +are the chair arms formed with the cylinders carrying pivots, IIII, +which latter fit into the bearings, JJJJ, in the gimbal ring. Figs. +1, 2, 3, 4 show these parts connected and at different points of the +shaft's rotation. The direction of rotation is shown by the arrow. In +Fig. 1 the lower high-pressure cylinder, C, is just about taking steam, +the upper one just closing the exhaust; the low-pressure pistons are at +half stroke, that in sight exhausting, the opposite one, which cannot be +seen in this view, taking steam. + +In Fig 2 the shaft has turned through one-eighth of a revolution; in +Fig. 3, a quarter turn; Fig. 4, three-eighths of a turn. Another eighth +turn brings two parts into position represented by Fig. 1, except the +second pair of cylinders now replace the first pair. The bearings, KL, +support the two shafts and act as stationary valves, against which faces +formed on the cylinders revolve; steam and exhaust ports are provided in +the faces of K and L, and two ports in the revolving faces, one to each +cylinder. The point at which steam is cut off is determined by the +length of the admission ports in K and L. The exhaust port is made of +such a length that steam may escape from the cylinders during the whole +of the return stroke of pistons. + +Fig. 5 shows the complete engine. It will be seen that the engine is +entirely incased in a box frame, with, however, a lid for ready access +to the parts for examination, one great advantage being that the engine +can be worked with the cover removed, thus enabling any leakage past the +pistons or valve faces to be at once detected. The casing also serves to +retain a certain amount of lubricant. + +The lubrication is effected by means of a triple sight-feed lubricator, +one feeder delivering to steam inlet, and two serving the main shaft +bearings. + +Figs, 6 and 7 are an end elevation and plan of the same engine. There is +nothing in the other details calling for special notice. + +Figs. 8 and 9 show the method of machining the cylinders and pistons, +the whole of which can be done by ordinary lathes, which is evidently a +great advantage in the event of reboring, etc., being required in the +colonies or other countries where special tools are inaccessible. + +Figs. 11 and 12 are sections which explain themselves.--_The Engineer_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE NATIONAL TRANSIT CO'S PIPE LINES FOR THE TRANSPORTATION OF PETROLEUM +TO THE SEABOARD. + + +While Englishmen and Americans have been alike interested in the late +project for forcing water by a pipe line over the mountainous region +lying between Suakim and Berber in the far-off Soudan, few men of either +nation have any proper conception of the vast expenditure of capital, +natural and engineering difficulties overcome, and the bold and +successful enterprise which has brought into existence far greater pipe +lines in our own Atlantic States. We refer to the lines of the National +Transit Company, which have for a purpose the economic transportation of +crude petroleum from Western Pennsylvania to the sea coast at New York, +Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and to the Lakes at Cleveland and Buffalo. + +To properly commence our sketch of this truly gigantic enterprise, we +must go back to the discovery of petroleum in the existing oil regions +of Pennsylvania and adjacent States. Its presence as an oily scum on the +surface of ponds and streams had long been known, and among the Indians +this "rock-oil" was highly appreciated as a vehicle for mixing their wax +paint, and for anointing their bodies; in later years it was gathered in +a rude way by soaking it up in blankets, and sold at a high price for +medicinal purposes only, under the name of Seneca rock oil, Genesee oil, +Indian oil, etc. + +But the date of its discovery as an important factor in the useful arts +and as a source of enormous national wealth was about 1854. In the year +named a certain Mr. George H. Bissell of New Orleans accidentally met +with a sample of the "Seneca Oil," and being convinced that it had a +value far beyond that usually accorded it, associated himself with +some friends and leased for 99 years some of the best oil springs near +Titusville, Pa. This lease cost the company $5,000, although only a few +years before a cow had been considered a full equivalent in value for +the same land. The original prospectors began operations by digging +collecting ditches, and then pumping off the oil which gathered upon the +surface of the water. But not long after this first crude attempt at oil +gathering, the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Co. was organized, with Prof. B. +Silliman of Yale College as its president, and a more intelligent method +was introduced into the development of the oil-producing formation. In +1858, Col. Drake of New Haven was employed by the Pennsylvania Co. to +sink an artesian well; and, after considerable preparatory work, on +August 28, 1859, the first oil vein was tapped at a depth of 69½ feet +below the surface; the flow was at first 10 barrels per day, but in the +following September this increased to 40 barrels daily. + +[Illustration: MAP SHOWING THE NATIONAL TRANSIT CO.'S PIPE LINES.] + +The popular excitement and the fortunes made and lost in the years +following the sinking of the initial well are a matter of history, +with which we have here nothing to do. It is sufficient to say that a +multitude of adventurers were drawn by the "oil-craze" into this late +wilderness, and the sinking of wells extended with unprecedented +rapidity over the region near Titusville and from there into more +distant fields. + +By June 1, 1862, 495 wells had been put down near Titusville, and the +daily output of oil was nearly 6,000 barrels, selling at the wells +at from $4.00 to $6.00 per barrel. But the tapping of this vast +subterranean storehouse of oleaginous wealth continued, until the +estimated annual production was swelled from 82,000 barrels in 1859 to +24,385,966 barrels in 1883; in the latter year 2,949 wells were put +down, many of them, however, being simply dry holes.[1] The total output +of oil in the Pennsylvania regions, between 1859 and 1883, is estimated +at about 234,800,000 barrels--enough oil to fill a tank about 10,000 +feet square, nearly two miles to a side, to a depth of over 13½ feet. + +[Footnote 1: The total number of wells in the Pennsylvania oil regions +cannot be given. In the years 1876-1884, inclusive, 28,619 wells were +sunk; this is an average of 3,179 per year. During the same period 2,507 +dry holes were drilled at an average cost of $1,500 each.] + +As long as oil could be sold at the wells at from $4.00 to $10.00 +a barrel, the cost of transportation was an item hardly worthy of +consideration, and railroad companies multiplied and waged a bitter +war with each other in their scramble after the traffic. But as the +production increased with rapid strides, the market price of oil fell +with a corresponding rapidity, until the quotations for 1884 show +figures as low as 50 to 60 cents per barrel for the crude product at Oil +City. + +In December, 1865, the freight charge per barrel for a carload of oil +from Titusville to New York, and the return of the empty barrels, +was $3.50.[1] To this figure was added the cost of transportation by +pipe-line from Pithole to Titusville, $1.00; cost of barreling, 25 +cents; freight to Corry, Pa., 80 cents; making the total cost of a +barrel of crude oil in New York, $5.55. In January, 1866, the barrel +of oil in New York cost $10.40, including in this figure, however, the +Government tax of $1.00 and the price of the barrel, $3.25. + +[Footnote 1: It is stated that in 1862 the cost of sending one barrel of +oil to New York was $7.45. Steamboats charged $2.00 per barrel from Oil +City to Pittsburg, and the hauling from Oil Creek to Meadville cost +$2.25 per barrel.] + +The question of reducing these enormous transportation charges was first +broached, apparently, in 1864, when a writer in the _North American_, +of Philadelphia, outlined a scheme for laying a pipe-line down the +Allegheny River to Pittsburg. This project was violently assailed by +both the transportation companies and the people of the oil region, +who feared that its success would interfere with their then great +prosperity. But short pipe-lines, connecting the wells with storage +tanks and shipping points, grew apace and prepared the way for the vast +network of the present day, which covers this region and throws out arms +to the ocean and the lakes. + +Among the very first, if not the first, pipe lines laid was one put down +between the Sherman well and the railway terminus on the Miller farm. +It was about 3 miles long, and designed by a Mr. Hutchinson; he had an +exaggerated idea of the pressure to be exercised, and at intervals of 50 +to 100 feet he set up air chambers 10 inches in diameter. The weak point +in this line, however, proved to be the joints; the pipes were of cast +iron, and the joint-leakage was so great that little, if any, oil ever +reached the end of the line, and the scheme was abandoned in despair. + +In connection with this question of oil transportation, a sketch of the +various methods, other than pipelines, adopted in Pennsylvania may not +be out of place. We are mainly indebted to Mr. S.F. Peckham, in his +article on "Petroleum and its Products" in the U. S. Census Report of +1880, for the information relating to tank-cars immediately following: + +Originally the oil was carried in 40 and 42 gallon barrels, made of oak +and hooped with iron; early in 1866, or possibly in 1865, tank-cars +were introduced. These were at first ordinary flat-cars upon which were +placed two wooden tanks, shaped like tubs, each holding about 2,000 +gallons. + +On the rivers, bulk barges were also, after a time, introduced on the +Ohio and Allegheny; at first these were rude affairs, and often of +inadequate strength; but as now built they are 130 x 22 x 16 feet, in +their general dimensions, and divided into eight compartments, with +water-tight bulkheads; they hold about 2,200 barrels. + +In 1871 iron-tank cars superseded those of wood, with tanks of varying +sizes, ranging from 3,856 to 5,000 gallons each. These tanks were +cylinders, 24 feet 6 inches long, and 66 inches in diameter, and weighed +about 4,500 lb. The heads are made of 5/46 in. flange iron, the bottom +of ½ in., and the upper half of the shell of 3/16 in. tank iron. + +In October, 1865, the Oil Transportation Co. completed and tested a +pipe-line 32,000 feet long; three pumps were used upon it, two at +Pithole and one at Little Pithole. July 1, 1876, the pipe-line owners +held a meeting at Parkers to organize a pipe-line company to extend to +the seaboard under the charter of the Pennsylvania Transportation Co., +but the scheme was never carried out. In January, 1878, the Producers' +Union organized for a similar seaboard line, and laid pipes, but they +never reached the sea, stopping their line at Tamanend, Pa. The lines +of the National Transit Co., illustrated in our map, were completed in +1880-81, and this company, to which the United Pipe Lines have also +been transferred, is said to have $15,000,000 invested in plant for the +transport of oil to tide water. + +The National Transit Co. was organized under what was called the +Pennsylvania Co. act, about four years ago, and succeeded to the +properties of the American Transit Co., a corporation operating under +the laws of Pennsylvania. Since its organization the first named company +has constructed and now owns the following systems: + +The line from Olean, N.Y., to Bayonne, N.J., and to Brooklyn, N.Y., of +which a full page profile is given, showing the various pumping stations +and the undulations over its route of about 300 miles. The Pennsylvania +line, 280 miles long, from Colegrove, Pa., to Philadelphia. The +Baltimore line, 70 miles long, from Millway, Pa., to Baltimore. The +Cleveland line, 100 miles long, from Hilliards, Pa., to Cleveland, O. +The Buffalo line, 70 miles long, from Four Mile, Cattaraugus County, +N.Y., to Buffalo, and the line from Carbon Center, Butler County, Pa., +to Pittsburg, 60 miles in length. This amounts to a total of 880 miles +of main pipe-line alone, ranging from 4 inches to 6 inches in diameter; +or, adding the duplicate pipes on the Olean New York line, we have a +round total of 1,330 miles, not including loops and shorter branches and +the immense network of the pipes in the oil regions proper. + +A general description of the longest line will practically suffice for +all, as they differ only in diameter of pipe used and power of the +pumping plant. As shown on the map and profile, this long line starts at +Olean, near the southern boundary of New York State, and proceeds by the +route indicated to tide water at Bayonne, N.J., and by a branch under +the North and East rivers and across the upper end of New York city to +the Long Island refineries. This last named pipe is of unusual strength, +and passes through Central Park; few of the thousands who daily frequent +the latter spot being aware of the yellow stream of crude petroleum that +is constantly flowing beneath their feet. The following table gives the +various pumping stations on this Olean New York line, and some data +relating to distances between stations and elevations overcome: + + |----------------------------------------------------------------| + | | | | Greatest | + | | | | Summit | + | | Miles | Elevation | between | + | | between | above Tide. | Stations. | + | Pumping Stations. | Stations. | Ft. | Ft. | + |______________________|___________|________________|____________| + | Olean | -- | 1,490 | -- | + | Wellsville | 28.20 | 1,510 | 2,490 | + | Cameron | 27.91 | 1,042 | 2,530 | + | West Junction | 29.70 | 911 | 1,917 | + | Catatonk | 27.37 | 869 | 1,768 | + | Osborne | 27.99 | 1,092 | 1,539 | + | Hancock | 29.86 | 922 | 1,873 | + | Cochecton | 26.22 | 748 | 1,854 | + | Swartwout | 28.94 | 475 | 1,478 | + | Newfoundland | 29.00 | 768 | 1,405 | + | Saddle River | 28.77 | 35 | 398 | + |______________________|___________|________________|____________| + +On this line two six-inch pipes are laid the entire length, and a third +six-inch pipe runs between Wellsville and Cameron, and about half way +between each of the other stations, "looped" around them. The pipe used +for the transportation of oil is especially manufactured to withstand +the great strain to which it will be subjected, the most of it being +made by the Chester Pipe and Tube Works, of Chester, Pa., the Allison +Manufacturing Co., of Philadelphia and the Penna. Tube Works, of +Pittsburg, Pa. It is a lap-welded, wrought-iron pipe of superior +material, and made with exceeding care and thoroughly tested at the +works. The pipe is made in lengths of 18 feet, and these pieces are +connected by threaded ends and extra strong sleeves. The pipe-thread and +sleeves used on the ordinary steam and water pipe are not strong enough +for the duty demanded of the oil-pipe. The socket for a 4-inch steam +or water pipe is from 2½ to to 2¾ inches long, and is tapped with 8 +standard threads to the inch, straight or parallel to the axis of the +pipe; with this straight tap only three or four threads come in contact +with the socket threads, or in any way assist in holding the pipes +together. In the oil-pipe, the pipe ends and sockets are cut on a taper +of ¾ inch to 1 foot, for a 4-inch pipe, and the socket used is thicker +than the steam and water socket, is 3¾ inches long, and has entrance for +1 5/8 inches of thread on each pipe end tapped with 9 standard threads +to the inch. In this taper socket you have iron to iron the whole length +of the thread, and the joint is perfect and equal by test to the full +strength of the pipe. Up to 1877 the largest pipe used on the oil lines +was 4-inch, with the usual steam thread, but the joints leaked under the +pressure, 1,200 pounds to the square inch being the maximum the 8-thread +pipe would stand. This trouble has been remedied by the 9-thread, +taper-cut pipe of the present day, which is tested at the mill to 1,500 +pounds pressure, while the average duty required is 1,200 pounds; as the +iron used in the manufacture of this line-pipe will average a tensile +test strain of 55,000 pounds per square inch, the safety factor is thus +about one-sixth. + +[Illustration: PROFILE SHOWING NATIONAL TRANSIT CO.'S PIPE-LINE, FROM +OLEAN TO SADDLE RIVER.] + +The line-pipe is laid between the stations in the ordinary manner, +excepting that great care is exercised in perfecting the joints. No +expansion joints or other special appliances of like nature are used on +the line as far as we can learn; the variations in temperature being +compensated for, in exposed locations, by laying the pipe in long +horizontal curves. The usual depth below the surface is about 3 feet, +though in some portions of the route the pipe lies for miles exposed +directly upon the surface. As the oil pumped is crude oil, and this as +it comes from the wells carries with it a considerable proportion of +brine, freezing in the pipes is not to be apprehended. The oil, +however, does thicken in very cold weather, and the temperature has a +considerable influence on the delivery. + +A very ingenious patented device is used for cleaning out the pipes, and +by it the delivery is said to have been increased in certain localities +50 per cent. This is a stem about 2½ feet long, having at its front end +a diaphragm made of wings which can fold on each other, and thus enable +it to pass an obstruction it cannot remove; this machine carries a set +of steel scrapers, somewhat like those used in cleaning boilers. The +device is put into the pipe, and propelled by the pressure transmitted +from the pumps from one station to another; relays of men follow the +scraper by the noise it makes as it goes through the pipe, one party +taking up the pursuit as the other is exhausted. They must never let it +get out of their hearing, for if it stops unnoticed, its location can +only again be established by cutting the pipe. + +The pumping stations are substantial structures of brick, roofed with +iron. The boiler house is removed some distance from the engine house +for greater safety from fire; the building, about 40 by 50 feet, +contains from six to seven tubular boilers, each 5 by 14 feet, and +containing 80 three-inch tubes. The pump house is a similar brick +structure about 40 by 60 feet, and contains the battery of pumping +engines to be described later. At each station are two iron tanks, 90 +feet in diameter and 30 feet high; into these tanks the oil is delivered +from the preceding station, and from them the oil is pumped into the +tanks at the next station beyond. The pipe-system at each station is +simple, and by means of the "loop-lines" before mentioned the oil can be +pumped directly around any station if occasion would require it. + +The pumps used on all these lines are the Worthington compound, +condensing, pressure pumping engines. The general characteristics of +these pumps are, independent plungers with exterior packing, valve-boxes +subdivided into separate small chambers capable of resisting very heavy +strains, and leather-faced metallic valves with low lift and large +surfaces. These engines vary in power from 200 to 800 horse-power, +according to duty required. They are in continuous use, day and night, +and are required to deliver about 15,000 barrels of crude oil per 24 +hours, under a pressure equivalent to an elevation of 3,500 feet. + +We have lately examined the latest pumping engine plant, and the largest +yet built for this service, by the firm of H.R. Worthington; it is to be +used at the Osborne Hollow Pumping Station. As patents are yet pending +on certain new features in this engine, we must defer a full description +of it for a later issue of our journal. + +The Pennsylvania line has a single 6-inch pipe 280 miles long, with six +pumping stations as shown in the map, and groups of shorter lines, with +a loop extending from the main line to Milton, Pa., a shipping point for +loading on cars. At Millway, Pa., a 5-inch pipe leaves the Pennsylvania +line and runs to Baltimore, a distance of 70 miles, and is operated +from the first named station alone, there being no intermediate pumping +station.[1] The Cleveland pipe, 100 miles long, is 5 inches in diameter, +and has upon it four pumping stations; it carries oil to the very +extensive refineries of the company at the terminal on Lake Erie. The +Buffalo line is 4 inches in diameter and 70 miles long; it has a pumping +station at Four-Mile and at Ashford (omitted on the map). The Pittsburg +line is 4 inches in diameter and 60 miles long; it has pumping stations +at Carbon Center and at Freeport. + +[Footnote 1: Millway is about 400 feet above tide-water at Baltimore, +but the line passes over a very undulating country in its passage to the +last named point. We regret that we have no profile on this 70 mile line +operated by a single pumping plant.--_Ed. Engineering News_.] + +A very necessary and remarkably complete adjunct to the numerous pipe +lines of this company is an independent telegraph system extending to +every point on its widely diverging lines. The storage capacity of the +National Transit Co.'s system is placed at 1,500,000 barrels, and +this tankage is being constantly increased to meet the demands of the +producers.[1] + +[Footnote 1: As showing the extent of the sea-coast transportation of +petroleum, we should mention that the statistics for 1884 show a total +of crude equivalent exported from the United States in that year, +equaling 16,661,086 barrels, of 51 gallons each. This is a daily average +of 42,780 barrels.] + +The company is officially organized as follows: C.A. Griscom, President; +Benjamin Brewster, Vice President; John Bushnell, Secretary; Daniel +O'Day, General Manager; J.H. Snow, General Superintendent. Mr. Snow +was the practical constructor of the entire system, and the general +perfection of the work is mainly due to his personal experience, energy, +and careful supervision. His engineering assistants were Theodore M. +Towe and C.J. Hepburn on the New York line and J.B. Barbour on the +Pennsylvania lines. + +The enterprise has been so far a great engineering success, and the oil +delivery is stated on good authority to be within 2 per cent. of the +theoretical capacity of the pipes. From a commercial standpoint, the +ultimate future of the undertaking will be determined by the lasting +qualities of wrought iron pipe buried in the ground and subjected to +enormous strain; time alone can determine this question. + +In preparing this article we are indebted for information to the firm of +H.R. Worthington, to General Manager O'Day, of the National Transit +Co., to the editor of the _Derrick_ of Oil City, Pa., and to numerous +engineering friends.--_Engineering News_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE FUEL OF THE FUTURE. + +By GEORGE WARDMAN. + + +The practical application of natural gas, as an article of fuel, to the +purpose of manufacturing glass, iron, and steel, promises to work a +revolution in the industrial interests of America--promises to work a +revolution; for notwithstanding the fact that, in many of the largest +iron, steel, and glass factories in Pittsburg and its vicinity, natural +gas has already been substituted for coal, the managers of some such +works are shy of the new fuel, mainly for two reasons: 1. They doubt +the continuity and regularity of its supply. 2. They do not deem the +difference between the price of natural gas and coal sufficient as yet +to justify the expenditure involved in the furnace changes necessary to +the substitution of the one for the other. These two objections will +doubtless disappear with additional experience in the production and +regulation of the gas supply, and with enlarged competition among the +companies engaging in its transmission from the wells to the works. +At present the use of natural gas as a substitute for coal in the +manufacture of glass, iron, and steel is in its infancy. + +Natural gas is as ancient as the universe. It was known to man in +prehistoric times, we must suppose, for the very earliest historical +reference to the Magi of Asia records them as worshiping the eternal +fires which then blazed, and still blaze, in the fissures of the +mountain heights overlooking the Caspian Sea. Those records appertain +to a period at least 600 years before the birth of Christ; but the Magi +must have lived and worshiped long anterior to that time. + +Zoroaster, reputed founder of the Parsee sect, is placed contemporary +with the prophet Daniel, from 2,500 to 600 B.C.; and, although Daniel +has been doubted, and Zoroaster may never have seen the light, the +fissures of the Caucasus have been flaming since the earliest authentic +records. + +The Parsees (Persians) did not originally worship fire. They believed +in two great powers--the Spirit of Light, or Good, and the Spirit of +Darkness, or Evil. Subsequent to Zoroaster, when the Persian empire rose +to its greatest power and importance, overspreading the west to the +shores of the Caspian and beyond, the tribes of the Caucasus suffered +political subjugation; but the creed of the Magi, founded upon the +eternal flame-altars of the mountains, proved sufficiently vigorous to +transform the Parseeism of the conquerors to the fire worship of the +conquered. + +About the beginning of the seventh century of the Christian era, the +Grecian Emperor Heraclius overturned the fire altars of the Magi at +Baku, the chief city on the Caspian, but the fire worshipers were not +expelled from the Caucasus until the Mohammedans subjugated the Persian +Empire, when they were driven into the Rangoon, on the Irrawaddy, in +India, one of the most noted petroleum producing districts of the world. + +Petroleum and natural gas are so intimately related that one would +hardly dare to say whether the gas proceeds from petroleum or the +petroleum is deposited from the gas. It is, however, safe to assume that +they are the products of one material, the lighter element separating +from the heavier under certain degrees of temperature and pressure. +Thus petroleum may separate from the gas as asphaltum separates from +petroleum. But some speculative minds consider natural gas to be a +product of anthracite coal. The fact that the great supply-field of +natural gas in Western Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, and +Eastern Ohio is a bituminous and not an anthracite region does not of +itself confute that theory, as the argument for it is, that the gas may +be tapped at a remote distance from the source of supply; and, whereas +anthracite is not a gas-coal, while bituminous is, we are told to +suppose that the gas which once may have been a component part of the +anthracite was long ago expelled by Nature, and has since been held in +vast reservoirs with slight waste, awaiting the use of man. That is one +theory; and upon that supposition it is suggested that anthracite +may exist below the bituminous beds of the region lying between the +Alleghany Mountains and the Great Lakes. Another theory is, that natural +gas is a product of the sea-weed deposited in the Devonian stratum. But, +leaving modern theories on the origin of natural gas and petroleum, we +may suppose the natural gas jets now burning in the fissures of the +Caucasus to have started up in flames about the time when, according +to the Old Testament, Noah descended from Mount Ararat, or very soon +thereafter. In the language of modern science it would be safe to say +that those flames sprang up when the Caucasus range was raised from +beneath the surface of the universal sea. The believer in biblical +chronology may say that those fires have been burning for four thousand +years--the geologist may say for four millions. + +We know that Alexander the Great penetrated to the Caspian; and in +Plutarch we read: "Hence [Arbela] he marched through the province +Babylon [Media?], which immediately submitted to him, and in Ecbatana +[?] was much surprised at the sight of the place where fire issues in a +continuous stream, like a spring of water, out of a cleft in the earth, +and the stream of naphtha, which not far from this spot flows out so +abundantly as to form a large lake. This naphtha, in other respects +resembling bitumen, is so subject to take fire that, before it touches +the flame, it will kindle at the very light that surrounds it, and often +inflames the intermediate air also. The barbarians, to show the power +and nature of it, sprinkled the street that led to the king's lodgings +with little drops of it, and, when it was almost night, stood at the +farther end with torches, which being applied to the moistened places, +the first taking fire, instantly, as quick as a man could think of it, +it caught from one end to another in such manner that the whole street +was one continued flame. Among those who used to wait upon the king, and +find occasion to amuse him, when he anointed and washed himself, there +was one Athenophanus, an Athenian, who desired him to make an experiment +of the naphtha upon Stephanus, who stood by in the bathing place, a +youth with a ridiculously ugly face, whose talent was singing well. +'For,' said he, 'if it take hold of him, and is not put out, it must +undeniably be allowed to be of the most invincible strength.' The youth, +as it happened, readily consented to undergo the trial, and as soon as +he was anointed and rubbed with it, his whole body was broke out into +such a flame, and was so seized by the fire, that Alexander was in the +greatest perplexity and alarm for him, and not without reason; for +nothing could have prevented him from being consumed by it if, by good +chance, there had not been people at hand with a great many vessels of +water for the service of the bath, with all which they had much ado to +extinguish the fire; and his body was so burned all over that he was +not cured of it a good while after. And thus it was not without some +plausibility that they endeavor to reconcile the fable to truth, who say +this was the drug in the tragedies with which Medea anointed the crown +and veils which she gave to Creon's daughter." + +An interesting reference to the fire-worshipers of the Caucasus is +contained in the "History of Zobeide," a tale of the wonderful Arabian +Nights Entertainment. It runs thus: + +"I bought a ship at Balsora, and freighted it; my sisters chose to go +with me, and we set sail with a fair wind. Some weeks after, we cast +anchor in a harbor which presented itself, with intent to water the +ship. As I was tired with having been so long on board, I landed with +the first boat, and walked up into the country. I soon came in sight of +a great town. When I arrived there, I was much surprised to see vast +numbers of people in different postures, but all immovable. The +merchants were in their shops, the soldiery on guard; every one seemed +engaged in his proper avocation, yet all were become as stone.... I +heard the voice of a man reading Al Koran.... Being curious to know why +he was the only living creature in the town,... he proceeded to tell +me that the city was the metropolis of a kingdom now governed by his +father; that the former king and all his subjects were Magi, worshipers +of fire and of Nardoun. the ancient king of the giants who rebelled +against God. 'Though I was born,' continued he, 'of idolatrous parents, +it was my good fortune to have a woman governess who was a strict +observer of the Mohammedan religion. She taught me Arabic from Al Koran; +by her I was instructed in the true religion, which I would never +afterward renounce. About three years ago a thundering voice was heard +distinctly throughout the city, saying, "Inhabitants, abandon the +worship of Nardoun and of fire, and worship the only true God, who +showeth mercy!" This voice was heard three years successively, but no +one regarded it. At the end of the last year all the inhabitants were in +an instant turned to stone. I alone was preserved.'" + +In the foregoing tale we doubtless have reference to the destruction +of Baku, on the Caspian (though to sail from Balsora to Baku is +impossible), and the driving away into India, by the Arabs under Caliph +Omar, of all who refused to renounce fire-worship and adopt the creed +of the Koran. The turning of the refractory inhabitants into stone is +probably the Arabian storyteller's figurative manner of referring to the +finding of dead bodies in a mummified condition. + +It is known that the Egyptians made use of bitumen, in some form, in +the preservation of their dead, a fact with which the Arabians were +familiar. As the Magi held the four elements of earth, air, fire, and +water to be sacred, they feared to either bury, burn, sink, or expose +to air the corrupting bodies of their deceased. Therefore, it was their +practice to envelop the corpse in a coating of wax or bitumen, so as +to hermetically seal it from immediate contact with either of the four +sacred elements. Hence the idea of all the bodies of the Magi left at +Baku being turned to stone, while only the true believer in Mohammed +remained in the flesh. + +Marco Polo, the famous traveler of the thirteenth century, makes +reference to the burning jets of the Caucasus, and those fires are known +to the Russians as continuing in existence since the army of Peter the +Great wrested the regions about the Caspian from the modern Persians. +The record of those flaming jets of natural gas is thus brought down in +an unbroken chain of evidence from remote antiquity to the present day, +and they are still burning. + +Numerous Greek and Latin writers testify to the known existence of +petroleum about the shores of the Mediterranean two thousand years ago. +More modern citations may, however, be read with equal interest. In the +"Journal of Sir Philip Skippon's Travels in France," in 1663, we find +the following curious entries: + +"We stayed in Grenoble till August 1st, and one day rode out, and, after +twice fording the river Drac (which makes a great wash) at a league's +distance, went over to Pont de Clef, a large arch across that river, +where we paid one sol a man; a league further we passed through a large +village called Vif, and about a league thence by S. Bathomew, another +village, and Chasteau Bernard, where we saw a flame breaking out of the +side of a bank, which is vulgarly called La Fountaine qui Brule; it +is by a small rivulet, and sometimes breaks out in other places; just +before our coming some other strangers had fried eggs here. The soil +hereabouts is full of a black stone, like our coal, which, perhaps, is +the continual fuel of the fire.... Near Peroul, about a league from +Montpelier, we saw a boiling fountain (as they call it), that is, the +water did heave up and bubble as if it boiled. This phenomenon in the +water was caused by a vapor ascending out of the earth through the +water, as was manifest, for if that one did but dig anywhere near the +place, and pour water upon the place new digged, one should observe in +it the like bubbling, the vapor arising not only in that place where the +fountain was, but all thereabout; the like vapor ascending out of the +earth and causing such ebullition in water it passes through hath been +observed in Mr. Hawkley's ground, about a mile from the town of Wigan, +in Lancashire, which vapor, by the application of a lighted candle, +paper; or the like, catches fire and flames vigorously. Whether or not +this vapor at Peroul would in like manner catch fire and burn I cannot +say, it coming not in our minds to make the experiment.... At Gabian, +about a day's journey from Montpelier, in the way to Beziers, is a +fountain of petroleum. It burns like oil, is of a pungent scent, and a +blackish color. It distills out of several places of the rock all the +year long, but most in the summer time. They gather it up with ladles +and put it in a barrel set on end, which hath a spigot just at the +bottom. When they have put in a good quantity, they open the spigot to +let out the water, and when the oil begins to come presently stop it. +They pay for the farm of this fountain about fifty crowns per annum. +We were told by one Monsieur Beaushoste, a chymist in Montpelier, that +petroleum was the very same with oil of jet, and not to be distinguished +from it by color, taste, smell, consistency, virtues, or any other +accident, as he had by experience found upon the coast of the +Mediterranean Sea, in several places, as at Berre, near Martague, in +Provence; at Messina, in Sicily, etc." + +In Harris' "Voyages," published in 1764, an article on the empire of +Persia thus refers to petroleum: + +"In several parts of Persia we meet with naphtha, both white and black; +it is used in painting and varnish, and sometimes in physic, and there +is an oil extracted from it which is applied to several uses. The most +famous springs of naphtha are in the neighborhood of Baku, which furnish +vast quantities, and there are also upward of thirty springs about +Shamasky, both in the province of Schirwan. The Persians use it as oil +for their lamps and in making fireworks, of which they are extremely +fond, and in which they are great proficients." + +Petroleum has long been known to exist also in the northern part of +Italy, the cities of Parma and Genoa having been for many years lighted +with it. + +In the province of Szechuen, China, natural gas is obtained from beds of +rock-salt at a depth of fifteen to sixteen hundred feet. Being brought +to the surface, it is conveyed in bamboo tubes and used for lighting as +well as for evaporating water in the manufacture of salt. It is asserted +that the Chinese used this natural gas for illuminating purposes +long before gas-lighting was known to the Europeans. Remembering the +unprogressive character of Chinese arts and industries, there is ground +for the belief that they may have been using this natural gas as an +illuminant these hundreds of years. + +In the United States the existence of petroleum was known to the Pilgrim +Fathers, who doubtless obtained their first information of it from the +Indians, from whom, in New York and western Pennsylvania, it was called +Seneka oil. It was otherwise known as "British" oil and oil of naphtha, +and was considered "a sovereign remedy for an inward bruise." + +The record of natural gas in this country is not so complete as that of +petroleum, but we learn that an important gas spring was known in West +Bloomfleld, N.Y., seventy years ago. In 1864 a well was sunk to a depth +of three hundred feet upon that vein, from which a sufficient supply +of gas was obtained to illuminate and heat the city of Rochester +(twenty-five miles distant), it was supposed. But the pipes which were +laid for that purpose, being of wood, were unfitted to withstand the +pressure, in consequence of which the scheme was abandoned; but gas from +that well is now in use as an illuminant and as fuel both in the town of +West Bloomfield and at Honeoye Falls. The village of Fredonia, N.Y., has +been using natural gas in lighting the streets for thirty years or there +about. On Big Sewickley Creek, in Westmoreland County, Pa., natural gas +was used for evaporating water in the manufacture of salt thirty years +ago, and gas is still issuing at the same place. Natural gas has been in +use in several localities in eastern Ohio for twenty-five years, and the +wells are flowing as vigorously as when first known. It has also been +in use in West Virginia for a quarter of a century, as well as in +the petroleum region of western Pennsylvania, where it has long been +utilized in generating steam for drilling oil wells. + +In 1826 the _American Journal of Science_ contained a letter from Dr. +S.P. Hildreth, who, in writing of the products of the Muskingum (Ohio) +Valley, said: "They have sunk two wells, which are now more than four +hundred feet in depth; one of them affords a very strong and pure +salt water, but not in great quantity; the other discharges such vast +quantities of petroleum, or, as it is vulgarly called, 'Seneka oil,' and +besides is so subject to such tremendous explosions of gas, as to force +out all the water and afford nothing but gas for several days, that they +make little or no salt." + +The value of the foregoing references is to be found in the testimony +they offer as to the duration of the supply of natural gas. Whether we +look to the eternal flaming fissures of the Caucasus, or to New York, +Pennsylvania, and Ohio, there is much to encourage the belief that the +flow of natural gas may be, like the production of petroleum, increased +rather than diminished by the draughts made upon it. Petroleum, instead +of diminishing in quantity by the millions of barrels drawn from western +Pennsylvania in the last quarter of a century, seems to increase, +greater wells being known in 1884 than in any previous year, and prices +having fallen from two dollars per bottle for "Seneka oil" to sixty +cents per barrel for the same article under the name of crude petroleum. +Hence we may assume that, as new pipe-lines are laid, the supply of +natural gas available for use in the great manufacturing district of +Pittsburg and vicinity will be increased, and the price of this fuel +diminished in a corresponding ratio. + +Natural gas is now supplied in Pittsburg at a small discount on +the actual cost of coal used last year in the large manufacturing +establishments, an additional saving being made in dispensing with +firemen and avoidance of hauling ashes from the boiler-room. It is +supplied, for domestic purposes, at twenty cents per thousand cubic +feet, which is not cheaper than coal in Pittsburg, but it is a thousand +per cent cleaner, and in that respect it promises to prove a great +blessing, not only to those who can afford to use it, but to the +community at large, in the hope held out that the smoke and soot +nuisance may be abated in part, if not wholly subdued, and that gleams +of sunshine there may become less phenomenal in the future than they are +at the present time. Twenty cents per thousand feet is too high a price +to bring gas into general use for domestic purposes in a city where +coal is cheap. Ten cents would be too much, and no doubt five cents per +thousand would pay a profit. The fact is, the dealers in natural gas +appear to be somewhat doubtful of the continuity of supply, and +anxious to get back the cost of wells and pipes in one year, which, if +successful, would be an enormous return on the investment. + +There are objections to the use of natural gas by mill operators--that +it costs too much, and that the continuity of the supply is uncertain; +by heads of families, that it is odorless, and, in case of leakage from +the pipes, may fill a room and be ready to explode without giving the +fragrant warning offered by common gas. Both of these objections will +probably disappear under the experience that time must furnish. More +wells and tributary lines will lessen the cost and tend to regulate the +pressure for manufacturers. Cut-offs and escape pipes outside of the +house will reduce the risk of explosions within. The danger in the +house may also be lessened by providing healthful ventilation in all +apartments wherein gas shall be consumed. + +This subject of, the ventilation of rooms in which common gas is +ordinarily used is beginning to attract attention. It is stated, upon +scientific authority, that a jet of common gas, equivalent to twelve +sperm candles, consumes 5.45 cubic feet of oxygen per hour, producing +3.21 feet of carbonic acid gas, vitiating, according to Dr. Tidy's +"Handbook of Chemistry," 348.25 cubic feet of air. In every five cubic +feet of pure air in a room there is one cubic foot of oxygen and four +of nitrogen. Without oxygen human life, as well as light, would become +extinct. It is asserted that one common gas-jet consumes as much oxygen +as five persons. + +Carbonic acid gas is the element which, in deep mines and vaults, causes +almost instant insensibility and suffocation to persons subjected to its +influences, and instantly extinguishes the flame of any light lowered +into it. The normal quantity of this gas contained in the air we breathe +is 0.04; one per cent, of it causes distress in breathing; two per cent, +is dangerous; four per cent, extinguishes life, and four per cent of it +is contained in air expelled from the lungs. According to Dr. Tidy's +table, each ordinary jet of common gas contributes to the air of a room +sixteen by ten feet on the sides and nine feet high, containing 1,440 +cubic feet of air, twenty-two per cent, of carbonic acid gas, which, +continued for twenty-four hours without ventilation, would reach the +fatal four per cent. + +Prof. Huxley gives, as a result of chemical analyses, the following +table of ratio of carbonic-acid gas in the atmosphere at the points +named: + + On the Thames, at London 0.0343 + In the streets of London 0.0380 + Top of Ben Nevis 0.0327 + Dress circle of Haymarket theater (11:30 P.M.) 0.0757 + Chancery Court (seven feet from the ground) 0.1930 + From working mines (average of 339 samples) 0.7853 + Largest amount in a Cornish mine 2.0500 + +In addition to the consumption of oxygen and production of carbonic acid +by the use of common gas, the gas itself, owing to defectiveness of the +burner, is projected into the air. Now, considering the deleterious +nature of all illuminating gases, the reasons for perfect ventilation of +rooms in which natural gas is used for heating and culinary purposes are +self-evident, not alone as a protection against explosions, but for the +health of the occupants of the house, remembering that a larger supply +of oxygen is said to be necessary for the perfect combustion of natural +than of common gas. + +Carbonic oxide, formed by the consumption of carbon, with an +insufficient supply of air, is the fatal poison of the charcoal furnace, +not infrequently resorted to, in close rooms, as a means of suicide. +The less sufficient the air toward perfect combustion, the smaller the +quantity of carbonic acid and the greater the amount of carbonic oxide. +That is to say, at the time of ignition the chief product of combustion +is carbonic oxide, and, unless sufficient air be added to convert the +oxide to carbonic acid, a decidedly dangerous product is given off into +the room. Yet, by means of a flue to carry off the poisonous gases from +burning jets, the combustion of gas, creating a current, is made an aid +to ventilation. Unfortunately, this important fact, if commonly known, +is not much heeded by heads of families or builders of houses. But in +any large community where gas comes into general use as an article of +fuel, this fact will gradually become recognized and respected. + +The property of indicating the presence of very minute quantities of gas +in a room is claimed for an instrument recently described by C. Von Jahn +in the _Revue Industrielle_. This is a porous cup, inverted and closed +by a perforated rubber stopper. Through the perforation in the stopper +the interior of the cup is connected with a pressure gauge containing +colored water. It is claimed that the diffusion of gas through the +earthenware raises the level of the water in the gauge so delicately +that the presence of one-half of one per cent, of gas may be detected by +it. Other instruments of a slightly different character are credited by +their inventors with most sensitive power of indicating gas-leakages, +but their practical efficiency remains to be demonstrated. An automatic +cut-off for use outside of houses in which natural gas is consumed has +been invented, but this writer knows nothing of either its mode of +action or its effectiveness. + +The great economic question, however, connected with the use of natural +gas is, how will it affect the industrial interests of the country? +There are grounds for the belief that a sufficient supply of natural gas +may be found in the vicinity of Pittsburg to reduce the cost of fuel to +such a degree as to make competition in the manufacture of iron, steel, +and glass, in any part of the country where coal must be used, out of +the question. Such a condition of affairs would probably result in +driving the great manufacturing concerns of the country into the region +where natural gas is to obtained. That may be anywhere from the western +slope of the Alleghanies to Lake Erie or to Lake Michigan. And, if the +cost of producing iron, steel, and glass can be so cheapened by the new +fuel, the tariff question may undergo some important modification in +politics. For, if the reduction in the cost of fuel should ever become +an offset to the lower rate of wages in Europe, the manufacturers of +Pennsylvania, who have long been the chief support of the protective +policy of the country, may lose their present interest in that question, +and leave the tariff to shift for itself elsewhere. It should be +remembered that natural gas is not, as yet, much cheaper than coal +in Pittsburg. But it may safely be assumed that it will cheapen, as +petroleum has done, by a development of the territory in which it is +known to exist in enormous quantities. It is quite possible that, +instead of buying gas, many factories will bore for it with success, +or remove convenient to its natural sources, so that a gas well may +ultimately become an essential part of the "plant" of a mill or factory. +Even now coal cannot compete with gas in the manufacture of window +glass, for, the gas being free from sulphur and other impurities +contained in coal, produces a superior quality of glass; so that in this +branch of industry the question of superiority seems already settled. + +Having said thus much of an industry now in its infancy but promising +great growth, I submit tables of analyses of common and of the natural +or marsh gas, the latter from a paper recently prepared by a committee +of the Engineers' Society of Western Pennsylvania, and for the use of +which I am indebted to that association: + +COMMON GAS. + + Hydrogen 46.0 + Light carbureted hydrogen (marsh gas) 39.5 + Condensible hydrocarbon 3.8 + Carbonic oxide 7.5 + " acid 0.6 + Aqueous vapor 2.0 + Oxygen 0.1 + Nitrogen 0.5 + ----- + 100.0 + +Natural gas is now conveyed to Pittsburg through four lines of 5-5/8 +inch pipe and one line of eight inch pipe. A line of ten inch pipe is +also being laid. The pressure of the gas at the wells is from 150 to 230 +pounds to the square inch. As the wells are on one side eighteen and on +the other about twenty-five miles distant, and as the consumption is +variable, the pressure at the city cannot be given. Greater pressure +might be obtained at the wells, but this would increase the liability +to leakage and bursting of pipes. For the prevention of such casualties +safety valves are provided at the wells, permitting the escape of all +superfluous gas. The enormous force of this gas may be appreciated from +a comparison of, say, 200 pounds pressure at the wells with a two ounce +pressure of common gas for ordinary lighting. The amount of natural gas +now furnished for use in Pittsburg is supposed to be something like +25,000,000 cubic feet per day; the ten inch pipe now laying is estimated +to increase the supply to 40,000,000 feet. The amount of manufactured +gas used for lighting the same city probably falls below 3,000,000 feet. + +About fifty mills and factories of various kinds in Pittsburg now use +natural gas. It is used for domestic purposes in two hundred houses. +Its superiority over coal in the manufacture of window glass is +unquestioned. That it is not used in all the glass houses of Pittsburg +is due to the fact that its advantages were not fully known when the +furnaces were fired last summer, and it costs a large sum to permit the +furnaces to cool off after being heated for melting. When the fires cool +down, and before they are started up again, the furnaces now using +coal will doubtless all be changed so as to admit natural gas. The +superiority of French over American glass is said to be due to the fact +that the French use wood and the Americans coal in their furnaces, wood +being free from sulphur, phosphorus, etc. The substitution of gas for +coal, while not increasing the cost, improves the quality of American +glass, making it as nearly perfect as possible. + +While the gas is not used as yet in any smelting furnace nor in the +Bessemer converters, it is preferred in open hearth and crucible steel +furnaces, and is said to be vastly superior to coal for puddling. The +charge of a puddling furnace, consisting of 500 pounds of pig-metal and +eighty pounds of "fix," produces with coal fuel 490 to 500 pounds of +iron. With gas for fuel, it is claimed that the same charge will yield +520 to 530 pounds of iron. In an iron mill of thirty furnaces, running +eight heats each for twenty-four hours, this would make a difference in +favor of the gas of, say, 8 x 30 x 25 = 6,000 pounds of iron per day. +This is an important item of itself, leaving out the cost of firing with +coal and hauling ashes. + +For generating steam in large establishments, one man will attend +a battery of twelve or twenty boilers, using gas as fuel, keep the +pressure uniform, and have the fire room clean as a parlor. For burning +brick and earthenware, gas offers the double advantage of freedom from +smoke and a uniform heat. The use of gas in public bakeries promises the +abolition of the ash-box and its accumulation of miscellaneous filth, +which is said to often impregnate the "sponge" with impurities. + +In short, the advantages of natural gas as a fuel are so obvious to +those who have given it a trial, that the prediction is made that, +should the supply fail, many who are now using it will never return to +the consumption of crude coal in factories, but, if necessary, convert +it or petroleum into gas at their own works. + +It seems, indeed, that until we shall have acquired the wisdom enabling +us to conserve and concentrate the heat of the sun, gas must be the fuel +of the future.--_Popular Science Monthly_. + + TABLE OF ANALYSIS OF NATURAL GAS--FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. + _____________________________________________________________________ + | | | | | | | | + | CONSTITUENTS | [2.] | [3.] | [6.] | [7.] | [8.] | [9.] | + |_______________|________|________|________|________|________|_________ + | | | | | | | | + | Hydrogen | .... | .... | 6.10 | 13.50 | 22.50 | 4.79 | + | | | | | | | | + | Marsh Gas | 82.41 | 96.50 | 75.44 | 80.11 | 60.27 | 89.65 | + | | | | | | | | + | Ethane | .... | .... | 18.12 | 5.72 | 6.80 | 4.39 | + | | | | | | | | + | Propane | .... | .... | trace. | .... | .... | trace. | + | | | | | | | | + | Carbonic acid | 10.11 | .... | 0.34 | 0.66 | 2.28 | 0.35 | + | | | | | | | | + | Carbonic oxide| .... | 0.50 | trace. | trace. | trace. | 0.26 | + | | | | | | | | + | Nitrogen | 4.31 | .... | .... | .... | 7.32 | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Oxygen | 0.23 | 2.00 | .... | .... | 0.83 | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | "Illuminating | 2.94 | 1.00 | .... | .... | .... | 0.56 | + | hydrocarbons."|________|________|________|________|________|________| + | | | | | | | | + | | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 99.99 | 100.00 | 100.00 | + |_______________|________|________|________|________|________|________| + | | + | Specific gravity 0.693 0.692 0.6148 0.5119 0.5580 | + |_____________________________________________________________________| + ______________________________________________________________________ + | | | | | | | | + | CONSTITUENTS | [10.] | [12.] | [14.] | [15.] | [16.] | [17.] | + |_______________|________|________|________|________|________|_________ + | | | | | | | | + | Hydrogen | .... | 19.56 | .... | 0.98 | .... | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Marsh Gas | 96.34 | 78.24 | 47.37 | 93.09 | 80.69 | 95.42 | + | | | | | | | | + | Ethane | .... | .... | .... | .... | 4.75 | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Propane | .... | .... | .... | .... | .... | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Carbonic acid | 3.64 | .... | 3.10 | 2.18 | 6.44 | 0.60 | + | | | | | | | | + | Carbonic oxide| | .... | .... | .... | .... | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Nitrogen | | .... | 49.39 | 0.49 | 8.12 | 3.98 | + | | | | | | | | + | Oxygen | | 2.20 | 0.17 | .... | .... | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | "Illuminating | [10.] | .... | .... | 3.26 | .... | .... | + | hydrocarbons."|________|________|________|________|________|________| + | | | | | | | | + | | | 100.00 | 100.03 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | + |_______________|________|________|________|________|________|________| + | | + |Specific gravity 0.5923 0.56 | + |_____________________________________________________________________| + + Petroleum is composed of about 85 per cent of carbon and 15 per cent of + nitrogen. + + Locations: + + 1. Petrolia, Canada. + 2. West Bloomfield, N.Y. + 3. Olean, N.Y. + 4. Fredonis, N.Y. + 5. Pioneer Run, Venango Co., Pa. + 6. Burn's Well, near St. Joe., Butler Co., Pa. + 7. Harvey Well, Butler Co., Pa. + 8. Cherry Tree, Indiana Co., Pa. + 9. Leechburg, Pa. + 10. Creighton, Pa. + 11. Penn Fuel Co.'s Well, Murraysville, Pa. + 12. Fuel Gas Co.'s Well, Murraysville. + 13. Roger's Gulch, Wirt Co., W. Va. + 14. Gas from Marsh Ground + 15. Baku, on the Caspian Sea. + 16. Gas occluded in Wigan cannel-coal. + 17. Blower in coal-mine. South Wales. + + Notes: + + 1. Chiefly marsh-gas with ethane and some carbonic acid. + 4. A mixture of marsh-gas, ethane and butane. + 5. Chiefly propane, with small quantities of carbonic acid and + nitrogen. + 10. Trace of heavy hydrocarbons. + 11. Marsh-gas, with a little carbonic acid. + 13. Chiefly marsh-gas, with small quantities of nitrogen and + 15.86 per cent + carbonic acid. + + References: + + 1. Fouqué, "Comptes Rendus," lxvii, p. 1045. + 2. H. Wurtz, "Am. Jour. Arts and Sci." (2), xlix, p. 336. + 3. Robert Young. + 4. Fouqué, "Comptes Rendus," lxvii. p. 1045. + 5. Fouqué, "Comptes Rendus," lxvii. p. 1045. + 6. S.P. Sadler, "Report L, 2d Geol. Sur. Pa.," p. 153. + 7. S.P. Sadler, "Report L, 3d Geol. Sur. Pa.," p. 152. + 8. S.P. Sadler, "Report L, 3d Geol. Sur. Pa.," p. 153. + 9. S.P. Sadler, "Report L, 3d Geol. Sur. Pa.," p. 153. + 10. F.C. Phillips. + 11. Robert Young. + 12. Rogers. + 13. Fouqué, "Comptes Rendus," lxvii, p. 1045. + 14. Bischof's Chemical Geology," I, p. 730. + 15. Bischof's Chemical Geology," I, p. 730. + 16. J.W. Thomas, London, "Chemical Society's Journal," 1876, p. 793. + 17. Same, 1875, p. 793. + + * * * * * + + + + +CLOSING LEAKAGES FOR PACKING. + +By L. C. LEVOIR. + + +The mineral asbestos is but a very poor packing material in +steam-boilers. Moreover, it acts as a strong grinding material on all +moving parts. + +For some years I have tested the applicability of artificial +precipitates to close the holes in boilers, cylinder-covers, and +stuffing boxes. I took, generally with the best success, alternate +layers of hemp-cotton, thread, and absorbent paper, all well saturated +with the chlorides of calcium and magnesium. The next layers of the same +fiber are moistened with silicate of soda. By pressure the fluids are +mixed and the pores are closed. A stuffing box filled with this mixture +has worked three years without grinding the piston-rod. + +In the same manner I close the screw-thread hole in gas tubes used for +conducting steam. I moisten the thread in the sockets with oleic acid +from the candle-works, and dust over it a mixture of 1 part of minium, +2 parts of quick-lime, and 1 part of linseed powder (without the oil). +When the tube is screwed in the socket, the powder mixes with the oleic +acid. The water coming in at first makes the linseed powder viscid. +Later the steam forming the oleate of lime and the oleate of lead, +on its way to the outer air, presses it in the holes and closes them +perfectly. + +After a year in use the tubes can be unscrewed with ease, and the screw +threads are perfectly smooth. + +With this kind of packing only one exception must be made--that is, it +is only tight under pressure; condensation or vacuum must be thoroughly +avoided.--_Chem. News_. + + * * * * * + + + + +LUMINOUS PAINT. + + +In answer to various inquiries concerning the manufacture of this +article, we give herewith the process of William Henry Balmain, the +original discoverer of luminous paint, and also other processes. These +particulars are derived from the letters patent granted in this country +to the parties named. + +Balmain's invention was patented in England in 1877, and in this country +in 1882. It is styled as Improvements in Painting, Varnishing, and +Whitewashing, of which the following is a specification: + +The said invention consists in a luminous paint, the body of which is a +phosphorescent compound, or is composed in part of such a compound, and +the vehicle of which is such as is used as the vehicle in ordinary paint +compounds, viz., one which becomes dry by evaporation or oxidation. + +The objector article to which such paint or varnish or wash is applied +is itself rendered visible in the darkest place, and more or less +capable of imparting light to other objects, so as to render them +visible also. The phosphorescent substance found most suitable for the +purpose is a compound obtained by simply heating together a mixture +of lime and sulphur, or carbonate of lime and sulphur, or some of the +various substances containing in themselves both lime and sulphur--such, +for example, as alabaster, gypsum, and the like--with carbon or other +agent to remove a portion of the oxygen contained in them, or by heating +lime or carbonate of lime in a gas or vapor containing sulphur. + +The vehicle to be used for the luminous paint must be one which will dry +by evaporation or oxidation, in order that the paint may not become soft +or fluid by heat or be liable to be easily rubbed off by accident or use +from the articles to which it has been applied. It may be any of the +vehicles commonly used in oil-painting or any of those commonly used in +what is known as "distemper" painting or whitewashing, according to the +place or purpose in or for which the paint is to be used. + +It is found the best results are obtained by mixing the phosphorescent +substance with a colorless varnish made with mastic or other resinous +body and turpentine or spirit, making the paint as thick as convenient +to apply with a brush, and with as much turpentine or spirit as can +be added without impairing the required thickness. Good results may, +however, be obtained with drying oils, spirit varnishes, gums, pastes, +sizes, and gelatine solutions of every description, the choice being +varied to meet the object in view or the nature of the article in hand. + +The mode of applying the paint, varnish, or wash will also depend upon +the circumstances of the case. For example, it may be applied by a +brush, as in ordinary painting, or by dipping or steeping the article +in the paint, varnish, or wash; or a block or type may be used to +advantage, as in calico-printing and the like. For outdoor work, or +wherever the surface illuminated is exposed to the vicissitudes of +weather or to injury from mechanical contingencies, it is desirable to +cover it with glass, or, if the article will admit of it, to glaze it +over with a flux, as in enameling, or as in ordinary pottery, and this +may be accomplished without injury to the effect, even when the flux or +glaze requires a red heat for fusion. + +Among other applications of the said invention which may be enumerated, +it is particularly advantageous for rendering visible clock or watch +faces and other indicators--such, for example, as compasses and the +scales of barometers or thermometers--during the night or in dark places +during the night time. In applying the invention to these and other +like purposes there may be used either phosphorescent grounds with +dark figures or dark grounds and phosphorescent figures or letters, +preferring the former. In like manner there may be produced figures and +letters for use on house-doors and ends of streets, wherever it is not +convenient or economical to have external source of light, signposts, +and signals, and names or marks to show entries to avenues or gates, and +the like. + +The invention is also applicable to the illumination of railway +carriages by painting with phosphorescent paint a portion of the +interior, thus obviating the necessity for the expense and inconvenience +of the use of lamps in passing through tunnels. It may also be applied +externally as warning-lights at the front and end of trains passing +through tunnels, and in other similar cases, also to ordinary carriages, +either internally or externally. As a night-light in a bed-room or in a +room habitually dark, the application has been found quite effectual, a +very small proportion of the surface rendered phosphorescent affording +sufficient light for moving about the room, or for fixing upon and +selecting an article in the midst of a number of complicated scientific +instruments or other objects. + +The invention may also be applied to private and public buildings in +cases where it would be economical and advantageous to maintain for a +short time a waning or twilight, so as to obviate the necessity for +lighting earlier the gas or other artificial light. It may also be +used in powder-mills and stores of powder, and in other cases where +combustion or heat would be a constant source of danger, and generally +for all purposes of artificial light where it is applicable. + +In order to produce and maintain the phosphorescent light, full sunshine +is not necessary, but, on the contrary, is undesirable. The illumination +is best started by leaving the article or surface exposed for a short +time to ordinary daylight or even artificial light, which need not be +strong in order to make the illumination continue for many hours, even +twenty hours, without, the necessity of renewed exposure. + +The advantages of the invention consist in obtaining for the purposes of +daily life a light which is maintained at no cost whatever, is free from +the defects and contingent dangers arising from combustion or heat, and +can be applied in many cases where all other sources of light would be +inconvenient or incapable of application. + +Heretofore phosphorus has been mixed with earthy oxides, carbonates, +and sulphates, and with oxides and carbonates of metal, as tin, zinc, +magnesia, antimony, and chlorides of the same, also crystallized acids +and salts and mineral substances, and same have been inclosed and +exhibited in closely-stopped bottles as a phosphorus; but such union I +do not claim; but what I claim is: + +A luminous paint, the body of which is a phosphorescent substance, or +composed in part of such substance, the vehicle of which is such as is +ordinarily used in paints, viz., one which will become dry by oxidation +or evaporation, substantially as herein described. + +A. Krause, of Buffalo, N.Y., obtained a patent for improvement in +phosphorescent substances dated December 30, 1879. The patentee says: +This invention relates to a substance which, by exposure to direct or +indirect sun-light, or to artificial light, is so affected or brought +into such a peculiar condition that it will emit rays of light or become +luminous in the dark. + +It is a well-known fact that various bodies and compositions of matter, +more especially compositions containing sulphur in combination with +earthy salts, possess the property of emitting rays of light in the +dark after having been exposed to sun-light. All of these bodies and +compositions of matter are, however, not well adapted for practical +purposes, because the light emitted by them is either too feeble to be +of any practicable utility, or because the luminous condition is not +of sufficient duration, or because the substances are decomposed by +exposure to the atmosphere. + +Among the materials which have been employed with the best results +for producing these luminous compositions are sea-shells, especially +oyster-shells. I have found by practical experiments that only the inner +surface of these shells is of considerable value in the production +of luminous compositions, while the body of the shell, although +substantially of the same chemical composition, does not, to any +appreciable extent, aid in producing the desired result. It follows from +this observation that the smallest shells, which contain the largest +surface as compared with their cubic contents, will be best adapted for +this purpose. + +I have found that chalk, which is composed of the shells of microscopic +animals, possesses the desired property in the highest degree; and my +invention consists, therefore, of a luminous substance composed of such +chalk, sulphur, and bismuth, as will be hereinafter fully set forth. + +In preparing my improved composition I take cleaned or precipitated +chalk, and subject it to the process of calcination in a suitable +crucible over a clear coal or charcoal fire for three or four hours, +or thereabout. I then add to the calcined chalk about one-third of its +weight of sulphur, and heat the mixture for from forty-five to ninety +minutes, or thereabout. A small quantity of bismuth, in the proportion +of about one per cent, or less of the mixture, is added together with +the sulphur. + +The metal may be introduced in the metallic form in the shape of +fillings, or in the form of a carbonate, sulphuret, sulphate, or +sulphide, or oxide, as may be most convenient. + +The substance produced in this manner possesses the property of emitting +light in the dark in a very high degree. An exposure to light of very +short duration, sometimes but for a moment, will cause the substance +to become luminous and to remain in this luminous condition, under +favorable circumstances, for upward of twenty-four hours. + +The intensity of the light emitted by this composition after exposure is +considerable, and largely greater than the light produced by any of the +substances heretofore known. + +The hereinbefore described substance may be ground with oil and used +like ordinary paint; or it may be ground with any suitable varnish or be +mixed in the manner of water colors; or it may be employed in any other +suitable and well-known manner in which paints are employed. + +My improved luminous substance is adapted for a great variety of +uses--for instance, for painting business and other signs, guide boards, +clock and watch dials, for making the numbers on houses and railway +cars, and for painting all surfaces which are exposed periodically to +direct or indirect light and desired to be easily seen during the night. + +When applied with oil or varnish, my improved luminous substance can +be exposed to the weather in the same manner as ordinary paint without +suffering any diminution of its luminous property. I claim as my +invention the herein described luminous substance, consisting of +calcined chalk, sulphur, and bismuth, substantially as set forth. + +Merrill B. Sherwood, Jr., of Buffalo, N. Y., obtained a patent for a +phosphorescent composition, dated August 9, 1881. + +The author says: My invention relates to an improvement in +phosphorescent illuminants. + +I have taken advantage of the peculiar property which obtains in many +bodies of absorbing light during the day and emitting it during the +night time. + +The object of my invention is the preparation by a prescribed formula, +to be hereinafter given, of a composition embodying one of the +well-known phosphorescent substances above referred to, which will be +applicable to many practical uses. + +With this end in view my invention consists in a phosphorescent +composition in which the chief illuminating element is monosulphide of +calcium. + +The composition obtained by the formula may be used either in a powdered +condition by dusting it over articles previously coated, in whole or in +part, with an adhesive substance, or it may be intimately mixed with +paints, inks, or varnishes, serving as vehicles for its application, and +in this way be applied to bodies to render them luminous. + +The formula for obtaining the composition is as follows: To one hundred +parts of unslaked lime, that obtained from calcined oyster shells +producing the best results, add five parts of carbonate of magnesia and +five parts of ground silex. Introduce these elements into a graphite or +fire-clay crucible containing forty parts of sulphur and twenty-five +parts of charcoal, raise the whole mass nearly or quite to a white heat, +remove from the fire, allow it to cool slowly, and, when it is cold or +sufficiently lowered in temperature to be conveniently handled, +remove it from the crucible and grind it. The method of reducing the +composition will depend upon the mode of its use. If it is to be applied +as a loose powder by the dusting process, it should be simply ground +dry; but if it is to be mixed with paint or other similar substance, +it should be ground with linseed or other suitable oil. In heating the +elements aforesaid, certain chemical combinations will have taken place, +and monosulphide of calcium, combined with carbonate of lime, magnesia, +and silex, will be the result of such ignition. + +If, in the firing of the elements, as above set forth, all of the +charcoal does not unite with the other elements, such uncombined portion +should be removed from the fused mass before it is ground. + +If it is designed to mix the composition with paints, those composed of +zinc-white and baryta should be chosen in preference to those composed +of white lead and colored by vegetable matter, as chemical action will +take place between the composition and paint last mentioned, and +its color will be destroyed or changed by the gradual action of the +sulphureted hydrogen produced. However, by the addition of a weak +solution of gum in alcohol or other suitable sizing to the composition, +it may be used with paints containing elements sensitive to sulphureted +hydrogen without danger of decomposing them and destroying their color. + +In many, and possibly in a majority of cases, the illuminating +composition applied as a dry powder will give the most satisfactory +results, in view of the tendency to chemical action between the paint +and composition when intimately mixed; in view of the fact that by +the addition to paint of any color of a sufficient quantity of the +composition to render the product luminous, the original color of the +paint will be modified or destroyed; and, also, in view of the fact that +the illuminating composition is so greatly in excess of the paint, the +proportions in which they are united being substantially ten parts +of the former to one of the latter, it will be difficult to impart a +particular color to the product of the union without detracting from +its luminosity. On the other hand, the union of dry powder with a body +already painted by the simple force of adhesion does not establish +a sufficiently intimate relation between it and the paint to cause +chemical action, the application of a light coat of powder does not +materially change the color of the article to which it is applied; and, +further, by the use of the powder in an uncombined state its greatest +illuminating effects are obtained. Again, if the appearance in the +daytime of the article which it is desired to have appear luminous at +night is not material, it may be left unpainted and simply sized to +retain the powder. + +In printing it is probable that the composition will be employed almost +exclusively in the form of dry powder, as printing-ink, normally pasty, +becomes too thick to be well handled when it is combined with powder in +sufficient quantity to render the printed surface luminous. However, the +printed surface of a freshly printed sheet may be rendered luminous by +dusting the sheet with powder, which will adhere to all of the inked and +may be easily shaken from the unmoistened surfaces thereof. + +I am aware that monosulphide of calcium and magnesia have before +been used together in phosphorescent compounds. What I claim is a +phosphorescent composition consisting of monosulphide of calcium, +combined with carbonate of lime, magnesia, and silex, substantially as +described. + +Orlando Thowless, of Newark, N.J., obtained a patent for a process of +manufacturing phosphorescent substances dated November 8, 1881. +The inventor says: The object of my invention is to manufacture +phosphorescent materials of intense luminosity at low cost and little +loss of materials. + +I first take clam shells and, after cleaning, place them in a solution +composed of about one part of commercial nitric acid and three parts of +water, in which the shells are allowed to remain about twenty minutes. +The shells are then to be well rinsed in water, placed in a crucible, +and heated to a red heat for about four hours. They are then removed and +placed, while still red-hot, in a saturated solution of sea salt, from +which they are immediately removed and dried. After this treatment and +exposure to light the shells will have a blood-red luminous appearance +in the dark. The shells thus prepared are used with sulphur and +the phosphide and sulphide of calcium to produce a phosphorescent +composition, as follows: One hundred parts, by weight, of the shells, +prepared as above, are intimately mixed with twenty parts, by weight, of +sulphur. This mixture is placed in a crucible or retort and heated to a +white heat for four or five hours, when it is to be removed and forty +parts more of sulphur, one and one-half parts of calcium phosphide, and +one-half part of chemically pure sulphide of calcium added. The mixture +is then heated for about ninety minutes to an extreme white heat. When +cold, and after exposure to light, this mixture will become luminous. +Instead of these two ignitions, the same object may be in a measure +accomplished by the addition of the full amount of sulphur with the +phosphide and sulphide of calcium and raising it to a white heat but +once. The calcium phosphide is prepared by igniting phosphorus in +connection with newly slaked lime made chemically pure by calcination. +The condition of the shells when the sulphur is added is not material; +but the heat renders them porous and without moisture, so that they will +absorb the salt to as great an extent as possible. Where calcined shells +are mixed with solid salt, the absorbing power of the shells is greatly +diminished by the necessary exposure, and there will be a lack of +uniformity in the saturation. On the contrary, by plunging the red-hot +shells in the saline solution the greatest uniformity is attained. + +Instead of using clam shells as the base of my improved composition, I +may use other forms of sea shells--such as oyster shells, etc. + +I claim as new: + +1. The herein described process of manufacturing phosphorescent +materials, which consists in heating sea shells red-hot, treating them +while heated with a bath of brine, then, after removal from the bath, +mixing sulphur and phosphide and sulphide of calcium therewith, and +finally subjecting the mixture to a white heat, substantially as and for +the purpose described. + +2. The described process, which consists in placing clean and red-hot +clam shells in a saturated solution of sea salt, and then drying them, +for the purpose specified. + + * * * * * + + + + +BOXWOOD AND ITS SUBSTITUTES. + +[Footnote: Prize essay written for the International Forestry +Exhibition, Edinburgh.] + +By JOHN R. JACKSON. A.L.S., Curator of the Museums, Royal Gardens, Ken. + + +The importance of the discovery of a hard, compact, and even grained +wood, having all the characteristics of boxwood, and for which it would +form an efficient substitute, cannot be overestimated; and if such +a discovery should be one of the results of the present Forestry +Exhibition, one of its aims will have been fulfilled. + +For several years past the gradual diminution in the supplies of +boxwood, and the deterioration in its quality, have occupied the +attention of hardwood merchants, of engravers, and of scientific men. + +Of merchants, because of the difficulties in obtaining supplies to meet +the ever increasing demand; of engravers, because of the higher prices +asked for the wood, and the difficulty of securing wood of good size and +firm texture, so that the artistic excellence of the engraving might be +maintained; and of the man of science, who was specially interested +in the preservation of the indigenous boxwood forests, and in the +utilization of other woods, natives, it might be, of far distant +countries, whose adaptation would open not only a new source of revenue, +but would also be the means of relieving the strain upon existing +boxwood forests. + +While by far the most important use of boxwood is for engraving +purposes, it must be borne in mind that the wood is also applied to +numerous other uses, such, for instance, as weaving shuttles, for +mathematical instruments, turnery purposes, carving, and for various +ornamental articles, as well as for inlaying in cabinet work. The +question, therefore, of finding suitable substitutes for boxwood divides +itself into two branches, first, directly for engraving purposes, and, +secondly, to supply its place for the other uses to which it is now put. +This, to a certain extent, might set free some of the boxwood so used, +and leave it available for the higher purposes of art. At the same time, +it must not be forgotten that much of the wood used for general purposes +is unsuited for engraving, and can only therefore be used by the turner +or cabinet maker. Nevertheless, the application of woods other than box +for purposes for which that wood is now used would tend to lessen the +demand for box, and thus might have an effect in lowering the price. + +So far back as 1875 a real uneasiness began to be felt as to the future +supplies of box. In the _Gardeners' Chronicle_ for September 25, of that +year, page 398, it is said that the boxwood forests of Mingrelia in the +Caucasian range were almost exhausted. Old forests, long abandoned, were +even then explored in search of trees that might have escaped the notice +of former proprietors, and wood that was rejected by them was, in 1875, +eagerly purchased at high prices for England. The export of wood was at +that time prohibited from Abhasia and all the government forests in +the Caucasus. A report, dated at about the same period from Trebizond, +points out that the Porte had prohibited the cutting of boxwood in the +crown forests. (_Gardeners' Chronicle_, Aug. 19, 1876, p. 239.) Later +on, the British Consul at Tiflis says: "_Bona fide_ Caucasian boxwood +may be said to be commercially non-existent, almost every marketable +tree having been exported." (_Gardeners' Chronicle_, Dec. 6, 1879, p. +726.) + +The characters of boxwood are so marked and so distinct from those of +most other woods that some extracts from a report of Messrs. J. Gardner +& Sons, of London and Liverpool, addressed to the Inspector-General of +Forests in India, bearing on this subject, will not be without value; +indeed, its more general circulation than its reprint in Mr. J.S. +Gamble's "Manual of Indian Timbers" will, it is hoped, be the means of +directing attention to this very important matter, and by pointing +out the characters that make boxwood so valuable, may be the means of +directing observation to the detection of similar characters in other +woods. Messrs. Gardner say: + +"The most suitable texture of wood will be found growing upon the sides +of mountains. If grown in the plains the growth is usually too quick, +and consequently the grain is too coarse, the wood of best texture being +of slow growth, and very fine in the grain. + +"It should be cut down in the winter, and, if possible, stored at once +in airy wooden sheds well protected from sun and rain, and not to have +too much air through the sides of the sheds, more especially for the +wood under four inches diameter. + +"The boxwood also must not be piled upon the ground, but be well skidded +under, so as to be kept quite free from the effects of any damp from the +soil. + +"After the trees are cut down, the longer they are exposed the more +danger is there afterward of the wood splitting more than is absolutely +necessary during the necessary seasoning before shipment to this +country. + +"If shipped green, there is great danger of the wood sweating and +becoming mildewed during transit, which causes the wood afterward to dry +light and of a defective color, and in fact rendering it of little value +for commercial purposes. + +"There is no occasion to strip the bark off or to put cowdung or +anything else upon the ends of the pieces to prevent their splitting. + +"Boxwood is the nearest approach to ivory of any wood known, and will, +therefore, probably gradually increase in value, as it, as well +as ivory, becomes scarcer. It is now used very considerably in +manufacturing concerns, but on account of its gradual advance in price +during the past few years, cheaper woods are in some instances being +substituted. + +"Small wood under four inches is used principally by flax spinners for +rollers, and by turners for various purposes, rollers for rink skates, +etc., etc., and if free from splits, is of equal value with the larger +wood. It is imported here as small as one a half inches in diameter, but +the most useful sizes are from 2½ to 3½ inches, and would therefore, +we suppose, be from fifteen to thirty or forty years in growing, while +larger wood would require fifty years and upward at least, perhaps we +ought to say one hundred years and upward. It is used principally for +shuttles, for weaving silk, linen, and cotton, and also for rule making +and wood engraving. _Punch, The Illustrated London News, The Graphic_, +and all the first class pictorial papers use large quantities of +boxwood." + +In 1880, Messrs. Churchill and Sim reported favorably on some +consignments of Indian boxwood, concluding with the remarks that if the +wood could be regularly placed on the market at a moderate figure, there +was no reason why a trade should not be developed in it. Notwithstanding +these prospects, which seemed promising in 1877 and 1880, little or +nothing has been accually done up to the present time in bringing Indian +boxwood into general use, in consequence, as Mr. Gamble shows, of +the cost of transit through India. The necessity, therefore, of the +discovery of some wood akin to box is even more important now than ever +it was. + + +BOXWOOD SUBSTITUTES. + +First among the substitutes that have been proposed to replace boxwood +may be mentioned an invention of Mr. Edward Badoureau, referred to in +the _Gardeners' Chronicle_, March 23, 1878, p. 374, under the title of +artificial boxwood. It is stated to consist of some soft wood which has +been subject to heavy pressure. It is stated that some English engravers +have given their opinion on this prepared wood as follows: + +It has not the power of resistance of boxwood, so that it would be +imposible to make use of it, except in the shape of an electro obtained +from it, as it is too soft to sustain the pressure of a machine, and +would be easily worn out. In reply to these opinions, Mr. Badoureau +wrote: "My wood resists the wear and tear of the press as well as +boxwood, and I can show engravings of English and French artists which +have been obtained direct from the wood, and are as perfect as they are +possible to be; several of them have been drawn by Mr. Gustave Dore." + +Mr. Badoureau further says that "while as an engraver he has so high an +opinion of the qualities of compressed wood as a substitute for boxwood, +as the inventor of the new process he considered that it possesses +numerous advantages both for artistic and industrial purposes." In +short, he says, "My wood is to other wood what steel is to iron." + +The following woods are those which have, from time to time, been +proposed or experimented upon as substitutes for boxwood, for engraving +purposes. They are arranged according to their scientific classification +in the natural orders to which they belong: + + +_Natural Order Pittosporeæ_. + +1. _Pittosporum undulatum_. Vent.--A tree growing in favorable +situations to a height of forty or even sixty feet, and is a native of +New South Wales and Victoria. It furnishes a light, even grained wood, +which attracted some attention at the International Exhibition in 1862; +blocks were prepared from it, and submitted to Prof. De la Motte, of +King's College, who reported as follows: + +"I consider this wood well adapted to certain kinds of wood engraving. +It is not equal to Turkey box, but it is superior to that generally used +for posters, and I have no doubt that it would answer for the rollers +of mangles and wringing machines." Mr. W.G. Smith, in a report in the +_Gardeners' Chronicle_ for July 26, 1873, p. 1017, on some foreign woods +which I submitted to him for trial, says that the wood of _Pittosporum +undulatum_ is suitable only for bold outlines; compared with box, it is +soft and tough, and requires more force to cut than box. The toughness +of the wood causes the tools to drag back, so that great care is +required in cutting to prevent the lines clipping. The average diameter +of the wood is from 18 to 30 inches. + +2. _Pittosporum bicolor_, Hook.--A closely allied species, sometimes +forty feet high, native of New South Wales and Tasmania. This wood is +stated to be decidedly superior to the last named. + +3. _Bursaria spinosa_, Cav.--A tree about forty feet high, native of +North, South, and West Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, +and Tasmania, in which island it is known as boxwood. It has been +reported upon as being equal to common or inferior box, and with +further trials might be found suitable for common subjects; it has the +disadvantage, however, of blunting the edges and points of the tools. + + +_Natural Order Meliaceæ_. + +4. _Swietenia mahagoni_, L. (mahogany).--A large timber tree of +Honduras, Cuba, Central America, and Mexico. It is one of the most +valuable of furniture woods, but for engraving purposes it is but of +little value, nevertheless it has been used for large, coarse subjects. +Spanish mahogany is the kind which has been so used. + + +_Natural Order Ilicineæ_. + +_Ilex opaca_, L. (North American holly).--It is a widely diffused tree, +the wood of which is said to closely resemble English holly, being white +in color, and hard, with a fine grain, so that it is used for a +great number of purposes by turners, engineers, cabinet makers, and +philosophical instrument makers. For engraving purposes it is not equal +to the dog-wood of America (_Cornus florida_); it yields, however, more +readily to the graver's tools. + + +_Natural Order Celastrineæ_. + +6. _Elæodendron australe_, Vent.--A tree twenty to twenty-five feet +high, native of Queensland and New South Wales. The wood is used in the +colony for turning and cabinet work, and Mr. W.G. Smith reports that for +engraving purposes it seems suitable only for rough work, as diagrams, +posters, etc. + +7. _Euonymus sieboldianus_, Blume.--A Chinese tree, where the wood, +which is known as pai'cha, is used for carving and engraving. Attention +was first drawn to this wood by Mr. Jean von Volxem, in the _Gardeners' +Chronicle_ for April 20, 1878. In the Kew Report for 1878, p. 41, the +following extract of a letter from Mr. W.M. Cooper, Her Majesty's Consul +at Ningpo, is given: "The wood in universal use for book blocks, wood +engravings, seals, etc., is that of the pear tree, of which large +quantities are grown in Shantung, and Shan-se, especially. Pai'cha is +sometimes used as an indifferent substitute. Pai'cha is a very fine +white wood of fine fiber, without apparent grains, and cuts easily; is +well suited for carved frames, cabinets, caskets, etc., for which large +quantities are manufactured here for export. The tree itself resembles +somewhat the _Stillingia_, but has a rougher bark, larger and thinner +leaves, which are serrated at the edge, more delicate twigs, and is +deciduous." In 1879, a block of this wood was received at the Kew +Museum, from Mr. Cooper, a specimen of which was submitted to Mr. Robson +J. Scott, of Whitefriars Street, to whom I am much indebted for reports +on various occasions, and upon this wood Mr. Scott reported as follows: +"The most striking quality I have observed in this wood is its capacity +for retaining water, and the facility with which it surrenders it. This +section (one prepared and sent to the Kew Museum), which represents +one-tenth of the original piece, weighed 3 lb. 4½ ounces. At the end of +twenty one days it had lost 1 lb. 6¾ ounces in an unheated chamber. At +the end of another fourteen days, in a much elevated temperature, it +only lost ¼ ounce. In its present state of reduced bulk its weight is 1 +lb. 10 ounces. It is not at all likely to supersede box, but it may be +fit for coarser work than that for which box is necessary." Later on, +namely in the Kew Report for 1880, p. 51, Mr. R.D. Keene, an engraver, +to whom Mr. Scott submitted specimens of the wood for trial, writes: "I +like the wood very much, and prefer it to box in some instances; it is +freer to work, and consequently quicker, and its being uniform in color +and quality is a great advantage; we often have great difficulty in +box in having to work from a hard piece into a soft. I think it a very +useful wood, especially for solid bold work. I question if you could get +so extreme a fine black line as on box, but am sure there would be a +large demand for it at a moderate price." Referring to this letter, Mr. +Scott remarks that the writer does not intend it to be understood that +pai'cha is qualified to supersede box, but for inferior subjects for +which coarse brittle box is used. Mr. Scott further says that of the +woods he has tried he prefers pear and hawthorn to pai'cha. + + +_Natural Order Sapindaceæ_. + +8. _Acer saccharinum_, L. (sugar or bird's eye maple).--A North American +tree, forming extensive forests in Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova +Scotia. The wood is well known as a cabinet or furniture wood. It has +been tried for engraving, but it does not seem to have attracted much +notice. Mr. Scott says it is sufficiently good, so far as the grain is +concerned. From this it would seem not to promise favorably. + + +_Natural Order Leguminoseæ. Sub-order Papilionaceæ_. + +9. _Brya ebenus_, [Delta]. DC.--A small tree of Jamaica, where the wood +is known as green ebony, and is used for making various small articles. +It is imported into this country under the name of cocus wood, and +is used with us for making flutes and other wind instruments. Mr. +Worthington Smith considers that the wood equals bad box for engraving +purposes. + + +_Natural Order Rosaceæ_. + +10. _Pyrus communis_, L. (common pear).--A tree averaging from 20 to 40 +feet high. Found in a wild state, and very extensively cultivated as a +fruit tree. The wood is of a light brown color, and somewhat resembles +limewood in grain. It is, however, harder and tougher. It is considered +a good wood for carving, because it can be cut with or across the grain +with equal facility. It stands well when well seasoned, and is used for +engraved blocks for calico printers, paper stainers, and for various +other purposes. Pear-wood has been tried for engraving purposes, but +with no great success. Mr. Scott's opinion of its relative value is +referred to under pai'cha wood _(Euonymus sieboldianus)_. + +11. _Amelanchier canadensis_. L. (shade tree or service tree of +America).--A shrub or small tree found throughout Canada, Newfoundland, +and Virginia. Of this wood, Porcher says, in his "Resources of the +Southern Fields and Forests": "Upon examining with a sharp instrument +the specimens of various southern woods deposited in the museum of the +Elliott Society, ... I was struck with the singular weight, density, and +fineness of this wood. I think I can confidently recommend it as one of +the best to be experimented upon by the wood engraver." + +12. _Cratoegus oxyacantha_, L. (hawthorn).--A well-known shrub or small +tree in forests and hedges in this country. The wood is very dense and +close grained. Of this wood, Mr. Scott reports that it is by far the +best wood after box that he has had the opportunity of testing. + + +_Natural Order Myrtaceæ_. + +13. _Eugenia procera_, Poir.--A tree 20 to 30 feet high, native of +Jamaica, Antigua, Martinique, and Santa Cruz. A badly seasoned sample +of this wood was submitted to Mr. R.H. Keene, who reported that "it is +suited for bold, solid newspaper work." + + +_Natural Order Cornaceæ_. + +14. _Cornus florida_, L. (North American dogwood).--A deciduous tree, +about 30 feet high, common in the woods in various parts of North +America. The wood is hard, heavy, and very fine grained. It is used in +America for making the handles of light tools, as mallets, plane stocks, +harrow teeth, cogwheels, etc. It has also been used in America for +engraving. + +In a letter from Prof. Sargent, Director of the Arnold Arboretum, +Brookline, Massachusetts, quoted in the Kew Report for 1882, p. 35, he +says: "I have been now, for a long time, examining our native woods +in the hope of finding something to take the place of boxwood for +engraving, but so far I am sorry to say with no very brilliant success. +The best work here is entirely done from boxwood, and some _Cornus +florida_ is used for less expensive engraving. This wood answers fairly +well for coarse work, but it is a difficult wood to manage, splitting, +or rather 'checking,' very badly in drying." This, however, he states in +a later letter, "can be overcome by sawing the logs through the center +as soon as cut. It can be obtained in large quantities." Mr. R.H. Keene, +the engraver before referred to, reports that the wood is very rough, +and suitable for bold work. + + +_Natural Order Ericaceæ_. + +15. _Rhododendron maximum_, L. (mountain laurel of North America).--Of +this wood it is stated in Porcher's "Resources of the Southern Fields +and Forests," p. 419, that upon the authority of a well-known engraver +at Nashville, Tennessee, the wood is equaled only by the best boxwood. +This species of _Rhododendron_ "abounds on every mountain from Mason and +Dixon's line to North Georgia that has a rocky branch." Specimens of +this wood submitted to Mr. Scott were so badly selected and seasoned +that it was almost impossible to give it a trial. In consideration of +its hardness and apparent good qualities, further experiments should be +made with it. + +16. _Rhododendron californicum_.--Likewise a North American species, the +wood of which is similar to the last named. Specimens were sent to Kew +by Professor Sargent for report in 1882, but were so badly seasoned that +no satisfactory opinion could be obtained regarding it. + +17. _Kalmia latifolia_, L. (calico bush or ivy bush of North +America).--The wood is hard and dense, and is much used in America for +mechanical purposes. It has been recommended as a substitute for boxwood +for engraving, and trials should, therefore, be made with it. + + +_Natural Order Epacrideæ_. + +18. _Monotoca elliptica_, R. Br.--A tall shrub or tree 20 or 30 feet +high, native of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania. +The wood has been experimented upon in this country, and though to all +appearances it is an excellent wood, yet Mr. Worthington Smith reported +upon it as having a bad surface, and readily breaking away so that the +cuts require much retouching after engraving. + + +_Natural Order Ebenaceæ_. + +19. _Diospyros texana_.--A North American tree, of the wood of which +Professor Sargent speaks favorably. "It is, however," he says, "in +Texas, at least, rather small, scarcely six inches in diameter, and not +very common. In northern Mexico it is said to grow much larger, and +could probably be obtained with some trouble in sufficient quantities +to become an article of commerce." Of this wood Mr. Scott says: "It is +sufficiently good as regards the grain, but the specimen sent for +trial was much too small for practical purposes." Mr. R.H. Keene, the +engraver, says it "is nearly equal to the best box." + +20. _Diospyros virginiana_, L. (the persimmon of America).--A good-sized +tree, widely diffused, and common in some districts. The wood is of a +very dark color, hard, and of a fairly close grain. It has been used in +America for engraving, but so far as I am aware has not been tried +in this country. It has, however, been lately introduced for making +shuttles. + +21. _Dyospyros ebenum_, Koenig (ebony).--A wood so well known as to +need no description. It has been tried for engraving by Mr. Worthington +Smith, who considers it nearly as good as box. + + +_Natural Order Apocyneæ_. + +22. _Hunteria zeylanica_, Gard.--A small tree, common in the warmer +parts of Ceylon. This is a very hard and compact wood, and is used for +engraving purposes in Ceylon, where it is said, by residents, to come +nearer to box than any other wood known. On this wood Mr. Worthington +Smith gave a very favorable opinion, but it is doubtful whether it would +ever be brought from Ceylon in sufficient quantities to meet a demand. + + +_Natural Order Bignoniaceæ_. + +23. _Tecoma pentaphylla_, Dl.--A moderate-sized tree, native of the West +Indies and Brazil. The wood is compact, very fine, and even grained, and +much resembles box in general appearance. Blocks for engraving have been +prepared from it by Mr. R.J. Scott, who reported upon it as follows: "It +is the only likely successor to box that I have yet seen, but it is not +embraced as a deliverer should be, but its time may not be far off." + + +_Natural Order Corylaceæ_. + +24. _Carpinus betulus_, L. (hornbeam).--A tree from 20 to 70 feet high, +with a trunk sometimes 10 feet in girth, indigenous in the southern +counties of England. The wood is very tough, heavy, and close grained. +It is largely used in France for handles for agricultural and mining +implements, and of late years has been much used in this country for +lasts. The wood of large growth is apt to became shaky, and it is +consequently not used as a building wood. It is said to have been used +as a substitute for box in engraving, but with what success does not +appear. + +25. _Ostrya virginica_, Willd (ironwood, or American hornbeam).--A +moderate-sized tree, widely spread over North America. The wood is +light-colored, and extremely hard and heavy; hence the name of ironwood. +It is used in America by turners, as well as for mill cogs, etc., and +has been suggested as a substitute for boxwood for engraving, though no +actual trials, so far as I am aware, have been made with it. + +Besides the foregoing list of woods, there are others that have been +occasionally used for posters and the coarser kinds of engraving, such, +for instance, as lime, sycamore, yew, beech, and even pine; and in +America, _Vaccinium arboreum_ and _Azalea nudiflora_. Of these, however, +but little is known as to their value. + +It will be noticed that in those woods that have passed through the +engraver's hands, some which promised best, so far as their texture +or grain is concerned, have been tried upon very imperfect or badly +seasoned samples. + +The subject is one of so much importance, as was pointed out at the +commencement of this paper, that a thoroughly organized series of +experiments should be undertaken upon carefully seasoned and properly +prepared woods, not only of those mentioned in the preceding list, but +also of any others that may suggest themselves, as being suitable, It +must, moreover, always be borne in mind that the questions of price, +and the considerations of supply and demand, must, to a great extent, +regulate the adaptation of any particular wood. + +With regard to those woods referred to as being tried by Mr. Worthington +Smith, he remarks in his report that any of them would be useful for +some classes of work, if they could be imported, prepared, and sold for +a farthing, or less than a halfpenny, per square inch. + +Specimens of all the woods here enumerated are contained in the Kew +Museum. + + * * * * * + + + + +COMPOSITE PORTRAITS. + + +Not long since we gave a figure from a drawing by Mr. Grallieni, which, +looked at from a distance, seemed to be a death's head, but which, when +examined more closely, was seen to represent two children caressing +a dog. Since then we have had occasion to publish some landscapes of +Kircher and his imitators, which, looked at sideways, exhibited human +profiles. This sort of amusement has exercised the skill of artists of +all times, and engravings, and even paintings, of double aspect are very +numerous. Chance has recently put into our hands a very curious work of +this kind, which is due to a skillful artist named Gaillot. It is an +album of quite ancient lithographs, which was published at Berlin by +Senefelder. The author, under the title of "Arts and Trades," has drawn +some very amusing faces that are formed through the tools and objects +used in the profession represented. We reproduce a few specimens of +these essentially original compositions of Gaillot. The green grocer is +formed of a melon for the head, of an artichoke and its stem for the +forehead and nose, of a pannier for the bust, etc. The hunter is made up +of a gun, of a powder horn, and of a hunting horn, etc.; and so on for +the other professions. This is an amusing exercise in drawing that we +have thought worthy of reproducing. Any one who is skillful with his +pencil might exercise himself in imagining other compositions of the +same kind.--_La Nature_. + +[Illustration: COMPOSITE PORTRAITS.--OCCUPATIONS. 1. Green-grocer. 2. +Hunter. 3. Artist. 4. Cobbler. 5. Chemist 6. Cooper.] + + * * * * * + + + + +HAND-CRAFT AND REDE-CRAFT.--A PLEA FOR THE FIRST NAMED. + +[Footnote: Read before the Worcester Free Industrial Institute, June 25, +1885.] + +By DANIEL C. GILMAN, President of the Johns Hopkins University, +Baltimore. + + +I cannot think of a theme more fit for this hour and place than +handy-craft. I begin by saying "handy-craft," for that is the form of +the word now in vogue, that which we are wonted to see in print and hear +in speech; but I like rather the old form, "hand-craft," which was used +by our sires so long ago as the Anglo-Saxon days. Both words mean the +same thing, the power of the hand to seize, hold, shape, match, carve, +paint, dig, bake, make, or weave. Neither form is in fashion, as we know +very well, for people choose nowadays such Latin words as "technical +ability," "manual labor," "industrial pursuits," "dexterity," +"professional artisanship," "manufacture," "decorative art," and +"technological occupations," not one of which is half as good as the +plain, old, strong term "hand-craft." + +An aid to hand-craft is rede-craft--the power to read, to reason, and to +think; or, as it is said in the book of Common Prayer, "to read, mark, +learn, and inwardly digest." By rede craft we find out what other men +have done; we get our book learning, we are made heirs to thoughts that +breathe and words that burn, we enter into the life, the acts, the arts, +the loves, the lore of the wise, the witty, the cunning, and the worthy +of all ages and all places; we learn, as says the peasant poet of +Scotland, + + "The song whose thunderous chime + Eternal echoes render-- + The mournful Tuscan's haunted rhyme, + And Milton's starry splendor!" + +I do not pit rede-craft against hand-craft. Quite otherwise, I call them +not foes (as some would), but friends. They are brothers, partners, +consorts, who can work together, as right hand and left hand, as science +and art, as theory and practice. Rede-craft may call for books and +hand-craft for tools, but it is by the help of both books and tools that +mankind moves on. Indeed, we shall not err wide of the mark if we say +that a book is a tool, for it is the instrument which we make use of in +certain cases when we wish to find out what other men have thought and +done. Perhaps you will not be as ready to admit that a tool is a book. +But take for example the plow. Compare the form in use to-day on a +first-rate farm with that which is pictured on ancient stones long hid +in Egypt--ages old. See how the idea of the plow has grown, and bear in +mind that its graceful curves, it fitness for a special soil, or for +a special crop, its labor-saving shape, came not by chance, but by +thought. Indeed, a plow is made up from the thoughts and toils of +generations of plowmen. Look at a Collins ax; it is also the record +of man's thought. Lay it side by side with the hatchet of Uncas or +Miantonomoh, or with an ax of the age of bronze, and think how many +minds have worked on the head and on the helve, how much skill has been +spent in getting the metal, in making it hard, in shaping the edge, in +fixing the weight, in forming the handle. From simple tools, turn to +complex; to the printing press, the sewing machine, the locomotive, +the telegraph, the ocean steamer; all are full of ideas. All are the +offspring of hand-craft and rede craft, of skill and thought, of +practice put on record, of science and art. + +Now, the welfare of each one of us, the welfare of our land, the welfare +of our race, rests on this union. You may almost take the measure of a +man's brain, if you can find out what he sees with his eyes and what he +does with hands; you may judge of a country, or of a city, if you know +what it makes. + +I do not know that we need ask which is best, hand-craft or rede-craft. +Certainly "the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee." At +times, hand-craft becomes rede-craft, for when the eye is blind the hand +takes its place, and the finger learns to read, running over the printed +page to find out what is written, as quickly as the eye. + +In these days, there are too many who look down on hand-craft. They +think only of the tasks of a drudge or a char-boy. They do not know the +pleasure there is in working, and especially in making. They have never +learned to guide the fingers by the brain. They like to hear, or see, or +own, or eat, what others have made, but they do not like to put their +own hands to work. If you doubt what I say, put a notice in the paper +asking for a clerk, and you will have a, hundred answers for every one +that will come when you ask for a workman. So it comes to pass that +young men grow up whose hands have not been trained to any kind of +skill; they wish, therefore, to be buyers and sellers, traders, dealers, +and so the market is overstocked with clerks, book-keepers, salesmen, +and small shop-keepers, while it is understocked in all the higher walks +of hand-craft. Some men can only get on by force of arms, lifting, +pounding, heaving, or by power of sitting at counter or a desk and +"clerking it." + +Machinery works against hand-craft. In many branches of labor, the hand +now has but little to do, and that little is always the same, so that +labor becomes tiresome and the workman dull. Machines can be made to cut +statuary, to weave beautiful tapestry, to fashion needles, to grind +out music, to make long calculations; alas! the machine has also +been brought into politics. Of course, a land cannot thrive without +machinery; it is that mechanical giant, the steam engine, which carries +the corn, the cotton, and the sugar from our rich valleys to the hungry +of other lands, and brings back to us the product of their looms. +Nevertheless, he who lives by the machine alone lives but half a life; +while he who uses his hand to contrive and to adorn drives dullness from +his path. A true artist and a true artisan are one. Hand-craft, the +power to shape, to curve, to beautify, to create, gives pleasure and +dignity to labor. + +In other times and in other lands, hand-craft has had more honor than it +has had with us. Let me give some examples. Not long ago, I went to one +of the shrines of education, the Sorbonne in Paris. Two paintings adorn +the chapel walls, not of saints or martyrs, nor of apostles or +prophets, perhaps I should say of both saints and prophets, _Labor_ and +_Humilitas_, Industry and Modesty. + +The touch of Phidias was his own, and so inimitable that a few months +ago, an American, scanning, with his practiced eye, the galleries of the +Louvre, recognized a fragment of the work of Phidias, long separated +from the Parthenon frieze which Lord Elgin sent to London. The +sculptor's touch could not be mistaken. It was as truly his own as his +signature, his autograph. Ruskin, in a lecture on the relation of Art to +Morals, calls attention to a note which Durer made on some drawings sent +him by Raphael: "These figures Raphael drew and sent to Albert Durer +in Nurnberg, to show him his hand, '_sein hand zu weisen_."' Ruskin +compares this phrase with other contests of hand-craft, Apelles and +Protogenes showing their skill by drawing a line; Giotto in striking a +circle. + +In the household of the Kings of Prussia, there is a custom, if not +a law, that every boy shall learn a trade. I believe this is a fact, +though I have no certain proof of it. The Emperor Wilhelm is said to be +a glazier, the Crown Prince a compositor, and on the Emperor's birthday +not long ago his majesty received an engraving by Prince Henry and a, +book bound by Prince Waldemar, two younger sons of the Crown Prince. Let +me refer to sacred writ; the prophet Isaiah, telling of the golden days +which are to come, when the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in +the land, nor the voice of crying, when the child shall die an hundred +years old, and men shall eat of the fruit of the vineyards they have +planted, adds this striking promise, as the culm of all hope, that the +elect of the Lord shall long enjoy the work of their hands. + +Now, in view of what has been said, my first point is this: We who have +to deal with the young, we all who love our fellow-men, we all who +desire that our times, our city, our country, should be thrifty, happy, +and content, must each in his place and way give high honor to labor. +We, especially, who are teachers and parents, should see to it that the +young get "hand-craft" while they are getting "rede-craft." How can this +be done? + +Mothers begin right in the nursery, teaching little fingers to play +before the tongue can lisp a sentence. Alas! this natural training has +often been stopped at school. Hitherto, until quite lately, in schools +both low and high, rede-craft has had the place of honor, hand-craft has +had no chance. But a change is coming. In the highest of all schools, +universities, for example, work rooms, labor places, "laboratories," are +now thought to be as useful as book rooms, reading rooms, libraries. + +What mean those buildings which you have seen spring up within a few +years past in all the college greens of New England? They are libraries +and laboratories. They show that rede-craft and hand-craft are alike +held in honor, and that a liberal education means skill in getting and +skill in using knowledge; that knowledge comes from searching books and +searching nature; that the brain and the hand are in close league. So +too, in the lowest school, as far as possible from the university, the +kindergarten has won its place and the blocks, and straws, and bands, +the chalk, the clay, the scissors, are in use to make young fingers +deft. Between the highest and the lowest schools there is a like call +for hand-craft. Seeing this need, the authorities in our public schools +have begun to project special schools for such training, and are looking +for guidance far and near. At this intermediate stage, for boy and girls +who are between the age of the kindergarten and the age of the college +or the shop, for youth between eight and sixteen, there is much to be +done; people are hardly aware how much is needed to secure fit training +for the rising generation. + +It seems sometimes as if one of the most needed forms of hand-craft +would become a lost art, even good handwriting. We cannot give much +credit to schools if they send out many who are skilled in algebra, or +in Latin, but who cannot write a page of English so that it can be read +without effort. + +Drawing is another kind of hand-craft, quite too much neglected. I think +it should be laid down as a law of the road to knowledge, that everybody +must learn to draw as well as to write. The pencil maybe mastered just +as readily as the pen. It is a simpler tool. The child draws before +he writes, and savages begin their language with pictures; but, we +wiseacres of this age of books let our young folks drop their slate +pencils and their Fabers, and practice with their Gillotts and their +Esterbrooks. Let us say, in every school and in every house, the child +must not only learn to read and write, he must learn to draw. We cannot +afford to let our young folks grow up without this power. A new French +book is just now much talked about, with this droll title, "The Life +of a Wise Man, by an Ignoramus." It is the story of the great Pasteur, +whose discoveries in respect to life have made him world renowned. I +turned to the book, eager to find out the key to such success, and +I found the old story--"the child was father of the man." This +philosopher, whose eye is so skilled in observing nature, and whose hand +is so apt in experiments, is the boy grown up whose pictures were so +good that the villagers thought him at thirteen an artist of rank. + +Girls should learn the first lesson of hand-craft with the needle; boys +may (and they will always prize the knowledge), but girls must. It is +wise that our schools are going back to old fashioned ways, and saying +that girls must be taught to sew. + +Boys should practice their hands upon the knife. John Bull used to laugh +at Brother Jonathan for whittling, and Mr. Punch always drew the Yankee +with a blade in his fingers; but they found out long ago in Great +Britain that whittling in this land led to something, a Boston notion, +a wooden clock, a yacht America, a labor-saving machine, a cargo of +wooden-ware, a shop full of knick-knacks, an age of inventions. Boys +need not be kept back to the hand-craft of the knife. For in-doors there +are the type case and printing press, the paint box, the tool box, the +lathe; and for out doors, the trowel, the spade, the grafting knife. It +matters not how many of the minor arts the youth acquires. The more the +merrier. Let each one gain the most he can in all such ways; for arts +like these bring no harm in their train; quite otherwise, they lure good +fortune to their company. + +Play, as well as work, may bring out hand-craft. The gun, the bat, the +rein, the rod, the oar, all manly sports, are good training for the +hand. Walking insures fresh air, but it does not train the body or mind +like games and sports which are played out of doors. A man of great fame +as an explorer and as a student of nature (he who discovered, in the +West, bones of horses with two, three, and four toes, and who found the +remains of birds with teeth) once told me that his success was largely +due to the sports of his youth. His boyish love of fishing gave him his +manly skill in exploration. + +I speak as if hand-craft was to be learned by sport. So it may. It may +also be learned by labor. Day by day for weeks I have been watching from +my study window a stately inn rise from the cellar just across the road. +A bricklayer has been there employed whose touch is like the stroke of +an artist. He handled each brick as if it were porcelain, balanced it +carefully in his hand, measured with his eye just the amount of mortar +which it needed, and dropped the block into its bed, without staining +its edge, without varying from the plumb line, by a stroke of hand-craft +as true as the sculptor's. Toil gave him skill. + +The second point I make is this: If you really value hand-craft, +buy that which shows hand-craft, encourage those who are engaged in +hand-craft, help on with your voice and with your pocket, those who +bring taste and skill and art into the works of their hand. If your +means are so small that you only buy what you need for your daily wants, +you cannot have much choice, you must buy that which is cheapest; but +hardly any one within the sound of my voice is so restricted as that; +almost if not quite every one buys something every year for his +pleasure, a curtain, a rug, a wall paper, a chair, or a table not +certainly needed, a vase, a clock, a, mantel ornament, a piece of +jewelry, a portrait, an etching, a picture. Now whenever you make such a +purchase, to please your taste, to make your parlor or your chamber more +attractive, choose that which shows good handiwork. Such a choice will +last. You will not tire of it as you will of that which has but a +commonplace form or pattern. + +I come now to a third point. That which has just been said applies +chiefly to things whose price is fixed by beauty. But handicraft gives +us many works not pleasing to the eye, yet of the highest skill--a +Jacquard loom, a Corliss engine, a Hoe printing press, a Winchester +rifle, an Edison dynamo, a Bell telephone. Ruskin may scout the work of +machinery, and up to a certain point may take us with him. Let us +allow that works of art marked by the artist's own touch--the gates of +Paradise by Ghiberti, a shield by Cellini, a statue by Michael Angelo, +are better than all reproductions and imitations, better than plaster +casts by Eichler, electrotypes by Barbedienne, or chromos by Prang. But +even Ruskin cannot suppress the fact that machinery brings to every +thrifty cottage in New England comforts and adornments which, in the +days of Queen Bess, were not known outside of the palace. Be mindful, +then, that handicraft makes machines which are wonders of productive +force--weaving tissues such as Penelope never saw, of woolen, cotton, +linen, and silk, to carpet our floors, cover our tables, cushion our +chairs, and clothe our bodies; machines of which Vulcan never dreamed, +to point a needle, bore a rifle, cut a watch wheel, or rule a series +of lines, measuring forty thousand to an inch, with sureness which the +unaided hand can never equal. Machinery is a triumph of handicraft as +truly as sculpture and architecture. The fingers which can plan and +build a steamship or a suspension bridge, which can make the Quinebaug +and the Blackstone turn spindles by the hundred thousand, which can turn +a rag heap into spotless paper, and make myriads of useful and artful +articles from rough metal, are fingers which this age alone has evolved. +The craft which makes useful things cheap can make cheap things +beautiful. The Japanese will teach us how to form and finish, if we do +not first teach them how to slight and sham. + +A fourth point is this. If hand-craft is of such worth, boys and girls +must be trained in it. This, I am well aware is no new thought. Forty +years ago schools of applied science were added to Harvard and Yale +colleges; twenty years ago Congress gave enough land-scrip to aid in +founding at least one such school in every state; men of wealth, like +many whom you have known and whom you honor, have given large sums for +like ends. Now the people at large are waking up. They see their needs; +they have the means to supply what they want. Is there the will? Know +they the way? Far and near the cry is heard for a different training +from that now given in the public schools. Many are trying to find it. +Almost every large town has its experiment--and many smaller places have +theirs. Nobody seems to know just what is best. Even the words which +express the want are vague. Bright and thoughtful people differ as to +what might, can, and should be done. A society has been formed in New +York to bring together the needed data. The Slater trustees, charged +with the care of a large fund for the training of freedmen, have said +that manual training must be given in all the schools they aid. The +town of Toledo in Ohio opened, some time since, a school of practical +training for boys, which worked so well that another has lately been +opened for girls. St. Louis is doing famously. Philadelphia has several +experiments in progress. Baltimore has made a start. In New York there +are many noteworthy movements--half a dozen at least full of life and +hope. Boston was never behindhand in knowledge, and in the new education +is very alert, the efforts of a single lady deserving praise of high +degree. These are but signs of the times. + +Some things may be set down as fixed; for example, most of those who +have thought on this theme will agree on the points I am about to name, +though they may or may not like the names which I venture to propose: + +1. Kindergarten work should be taught in the nurseries and infant +schools of rich and poor. + +2. Drawing should be taught in schools of every grade, till the hand +uses the pencil as readily as the pen. + +3. Every girl at school if not at home should learn to sew. + +4. Every boy should learn the use of tools, the gardener's or the +carpenter's, or both. + +5. Well planned exercises, fitted to strengthen the various bodily +organs, arms, fingers, wrists, lungs, etc., are good. Driving, swimming, +rowing, and other manly sports should be favored. + +What precedes is at the basis of good work. + +In addition: + +6. With good teachers, quite young children may learn the minor +decorative arts, carving, leather stamping, brass beating and the like, +as is shown in the Leland classes of Philadelphia. + +7. In towns, boys who begin to earn a living when they enter their teens +may be taught in evening schools to practice the craft of carpentry, +bricklaying, plastering, plumbing, gas fitting, etc., as is shown +successfully in the Auchmuty schools of New York. Trade schools they are +called; schools of practice for workmen would be a better name. + +8. Boys who can carry their studies through the later teens may learn, +while at the high school or technical school or college, to work in wood +and metals with precision, as I have lately seen in the College of the +City of New York, at Cornell University, and elsewhere-colleges or high +schools with work-shops and practice classes. If they can take the +time to fit themselves to be foremen and leaders in machine shops and +factories, they may be trained in theoretical and practical mechanics, +as in the Worcester Industrial Institute and in a score of other places; +but the youth must have talent as well as time to win the race in these +hard paths. These are schools for foremen, or, if we may use a foreign +word like Kindergarten, they are Meisterschaft schools. + +9. Youths who wish to enter the highest departments of engineering must +follow advanced courses of mathematics and physics, and must learn +to apply this knowledge. The better colleges and universities afford +abundant opportunities for such training, but their scientific +laboratories are fitted only for those who love long study as well as +hard. These are schools for engineers. + +10. Girls are most likely to excel in the lighter arts--to design (for +furniture or fabrics), to embroider, to carve, to engrave, to etch, to +model, to paint. Here also success depends largely upon that which was +inborn, though girls of moderate talent in art, by patience, may become +skilled in many kinds of art work. Schools for this instruction are +schools of art (elementary, decorative, professional, etc.). + +If there be those in this hall who think that hand-craft is adverse to +rede-craft, let me ask them to study the lives of men of mark. Isaac +Newton began his life as a farm-boy who carried truck to a market town; +Spinoza, the philosopher of Amsterdam, ground lenses for his livelihood; +Watt, the inventor of the steam engine, was mechanic to the University +of Glasgow; Porson, the great professor of Greek, was trained as a +weaver; George Washington was a land surveyor; Benjamin Franklin a +printer. + +Before I close let me draw a lesson from the history of our land. Some +of you doubtless bear in mind that before the late war men used to say, +"Cotton is king;" and why so? Because the trades which hung on this crop +were so many and so strong that they ruled all others. The rise or fall +of a penny in the price of cotton at Liverpool affected planters in +the South, spinners in the North, seamen on the ocean, bankers +and money-changers everywhere. Now wheat and petroleum share the +sovereignty; but then cotton was king. Who enthroned this harmless +plant? Two masters of hand-craft, one of whom was born a few miles east +of this place in Westborough; the other was a native of England who +spent most of his days a few miles south of this city. Within five +years--not quite a century ago--these two men were putting in forms +which could be seen, ideas which brought our countrymen large measures +of both weal and woe. In 1790, Samuel Slater, once an apprentice to +Strutt and Arkwright, built the mill at Pawtucket which taught Americans +the art of cotton-spinning; and before 1795, Eli Whitney had invented +the gin which easily cleansed the cotton boll of its seeds, and so made +marketable the great crop we have spoken of. Many men have made more +noise in the world than Slater and Whitney; few if any can be named +whose peaceable hand-craft has done so much to give this country its +front place in the markets of the globe. + +Let me come nearer home, and as I take my seat let me name a son of +this very town who loved hand-craft and rede-craft, and worthily aided +both--Isaiah Thomas, the patriot printer, editor, and publisher, +historian of the printer's craft in this land, and founder of the far +famed antiquarian library, eldest in that group of institutions which +gave to Worcester its rank in the world of letters, as its many products +give it standing in the world of industry and art. + +Mindful of three such worthies, it is not strange that Salisbury, +Washburn, Boylston, and many more have built up this high school of +handicraft; it will be no wonder if others like minded build on the +foundations which have been so fitly laid. + + * * * * * + + + + +MAKING SEA WATER POTABLE. + +[Footnote: Read lately before the Manchester Literary and Philosophical +Society] + +By THOMAS KAY, President of the Stockport Natural History Society. + + +The author called attention to the absence of research in this +direction, and how man, endowed to overcome every physical disability +which encompassed him on land, was powerless to live on the wide ocean, +although it is teeming with life. + +The water for experiment was taken from the English Channel, about +fifty miles southwest of the Eddystone Lighthouse, and it was found +to correspond closely with the analysis of the Atlantic published by +Roscoe, viz.: Total solids 35.976, of which the total chlorides, are +32.730, representing 19.868 of chlorine. + +The waters of the Irish Sea and the English Channel nearer to the German +Ocean, from their neighborhood to great rivers, are weaker than the +above. + +Schweitzer's analysis of the waters of the English Channel, near +Brighton, was taken as representing the composition of the sea, and is +here given: + + Sodium chloride 27.059 + Potassium " 0.766 + Magnesium " 3.666 + " bromide 0.029 + " sulphate 2.296 + Calcium " 1.406 + " carbonate 0.033 + Iodine and ammoniacal salts traces + Water 964.795 + ________ + 1000.000 + +The chlorides in the-- + + Irish Sea are about 30 per mille. + English Channel are about 31 " + Beyond the Eddystone are 32 " + +As the requirement for a potable sea water does not arise except in +mid-ocean, the proportion of 32 per mille must be taken as the basis of +calculation. + +This represents as near 20 per mille of chlorine as possible. + +From the analysis shown it will be perceived that the chlorides of +sodium and magnesium are in great preponderance. + +It is to the former of these that the baneful effects of sea water when +drunk are to be ascribed, for chloride of sodium or common salt produces +thirst probably by its styptic action on the salivary glands, and scurvy +by its deleterious action on the blood when taken in excess. + +Sodium chloride being the principal noxious element in sea water, and +soda in combination with a vegetable or organic acid, such as citric +acid, tartaric acid, or malic acid, being innocuous, the conclusion is +that the element of evil to be avoided is _chlorine_. + +After describing various experiments, and calling attention to the power +of earthy matters in abstracting salts from solutions by which he hoped +the process would be perfected, an imperial pint of water from beyond +the Eddystone was shown mixed with 960 grains of citrate of silver and 4 +grains of the free citric acid. + +Each part of the chlorides requires three parts by weight of the silver +citrate to throw down the chlorine, thus: + +3NaCl + Ag_{3}C_{6}H_{5}O_{7} = Na3.C_{6}H_{5}O_{7}+3AgCl. + +The silver chloride formed a dense insoluble precipitate, and the +supernatant fluid was decanted and filtered through a rubber tube and +handed round as a beverage. + +It contained in each fluid ounce by calculation about: + + 18 grains of citrate of soda. + 1-1/2 " " magnesia. + 1/2 " " potash. + 1 " sulphate of magnesia. + 1/2 " " lime. + 1/5 " citric acid. + +with less than half a grain of undecomposed chlorides. + +To analyze this liquid therapeutically, it may be broadly stated that +salts of potash are _diuretic_, salts of magnesia _aperient_, and salts +of soda _neutral_, except in excessive doses, or in combination with +acids of varying medicinal action; thus, soda in nitric acid, nitrate +of soda, is a _diuretic_, following the law of nitrates as nitrate of +potash, a most powerful diuretic, nitrous ether, etc.; while soda in +combination with sulphuric acid as sulphate of soda is _aperient_, +following the law of sulphates, which increase aperient action, as in +sulphate of magnesia, etc. + +Thus it would seem that soda holds the scales evenly between potash and +magnesia in this medical sense, and that it is weighed, so to speak, on +either side by the kind of mineral acid with which it may be combined. + +With non-poisonous vegetable acids, and these slightly in excess, there +is not such an effect produced. + +Sodium is an important constituent of the human body, and citric acid, +from its carbon, almost a food. Although no one would advocate saline +drinks in excess, yet, under especial circumstances, the solution of it +in the form of citrate can hardly be hurtful when used to moisten the +throat and tongue, for it will never be used under circumstances where +it can be taken in large quantities. + +In the converted sea water the bulk of the solids is composed of inert +citrate of soda. There is a little citrate of potash, which is a feeble +diuretic; a little citrate and sulphate of magnesia, a slight aperient, +corrected, however, by the constipatory half grain of sulphate of lime; +so that the whole practically is inoperative. + +The combination of these salts in nature's proportions would seem to +indicate that they must be the best for administration in those ailments +to which their use would be beneficial. + +Citrate of silver is an almost insoluble salt, and requires to be +kept from the light, air, and organic matter, it being very easily +decomposed. + +A stoppered bottle covered with India-rubber was exhibited as indicating +a suitable preserver of the salt, as it affords protection against +light, air, and breakage. As one ounce of silver citrate will convert +half a pint of sea water into a drinkable fluid, and a man can keep +alive upon it a day, then seven ounces of it will keep him a week, and +so on, it may not unreasonably be hoped, in proportion. + +It is proposed to pack the silver citrate in hermetically sealed rubber +covered bottles or tubes, to be inserted under the canisters or thwarts +of the life-boats in ocean-going vessels, and this can be done at a +simple interest on the first outlay, without any loss by depreciation, +as it will always be worth its cost, and be invaluable in case of need. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE ACIDS OF WOOL OIL. + + +All wools contain a certain amount of animal oil or grease, which +permeates every portion of the fleece. The proportion of oil varies with +the breed of sheep. A difference in climate and soil materially affects +the yield of oil. This is shown by analyses made of different kinds of +wool, both foreign and domestic. Spanish wool was found to have but +eight per cent. grease; Australian wool fifteen per cent.; while in some +fleeces of Pennsylvania wool as high as forty per cent. was obtained. To +extract the oil from the wool, a fleece was put in a tall cylinder and +naphtha poured on it. The naphtha on being allowed to drain through +slowly dissolved out the grease. This naphtha solution was distilled; +the naphtha passing off while grease remained--a dark oil having high +specific gravity and remaining nearly solid at the ordinary temperature. +I am indebted to Mrs. Richards for this method of extracting the oil. +The process is quick and inexpensive, and is applicable to the treatment +of large quantities of wool. + +The object of these experiments was to find the readiest method of +separating wool oil into its bases and acids, and further to identify +the various fatty acids. A solution of the oil in naphtha was cooled to +15° C. This caused a separation of the oil into two portions: a white +solid fat and a fluid dark oil. The first on examination proved to be a +mixture of palmitic and stearic acids existing uncombined in the wool +oil. The original wool oil was saponified by boiling with alcoholic +potash. + +The soap formed was separated into two portions by shaking with ether +and water. On standing, the solution separated into two layers, the +upper or murial solution containing the bases, the lower or aqueous +solution containing the acids. This method of separation is very slow. +In one case it worked very well, but as a rule appeared to be almost +impracticable. Benzol and naphtha were tried, instead of ether, but the +results were less satisfactory. On suggestion of Prof. Ordway, potassium +chloride was added to the soap solution partially separated by ether and +water. This caused an immediate and complete separation. By the use of +potassium chloride it was found possible to effect a separation with +benzol and water, also with naphtha and water. + +Another means of separation was tried by precipitating the calcium +salts, from a solution of the potash soap. From the portion of the +calcium salts insoluble in alcohol, a fatty acid was obtained with a +melting point and composition almost identical with the melting point +and composition of palmitic acid. The aqueous portion of the separation +effected by water and ether was examined for the fatty acid. The lead +salts of the fatty acids were digested with ether, which dissolved out +the lead oleate. From this oleic acid was obtained. This was further +purified by forming the Boreum salt of oleic acid. The lead salts not +soluble in ether were decomposed by acid. The fatty acids set free were +saponified by carbonate of potassium. A fractional precipitation was +effected by adding lead acetate in successive portions; each portion +sufficient to precipitate one-fourth of all the acids present. + +The acid obtained from the first fractionation had the melting point at +75°-76°, indicating an acid either in carbon then stearic or palmitic +acids. + +The acids obtained from the third fractionation had a melting point of +53°-54° C. This acid in composition and general properties was very +similar to that obtained by freezing the naphtha solution of the oil, +and is probably a mixture of stearic and palmitic acids. These acids, +being in combination with the bases of the oil, would be set free only +on saponifying the oil and subsequently decomposing with acid. + +In conclusion, I should say that but a small proportion of the fatty +acids exist in the wool oil uncombined; that the proportion of oleic +acid is small, and can only be obtained in an oxidized condition; that +the main portion of the fatty acids is composed of stearic and palmitic +acids in nearly equal proportions; that the existence of a fatty acid, +containing a higher per cent. of carbon than those mentioned, is not +fully established.--_N.W. Shedd, M.I.T._ + + * * * * * + + + + +A NEW ABSORBENT FOR OXYGEN. + + +OTTO, BARON V.D. PFORDTEN.--The author makes use of a solution of +chromous chloride, which he prepares as follows: + +He first heats chromic acid with concentrated hydrochloric acid, so +as to obtain a strong green solution of chromic chloride free from +chlorine. This is then reduced with zinc and hydrochloric acid. The blue +chromous chloride solution thus obtained is poured into a saturated +solution of sodium acetate in an atmosphere of carbonic acid. A +red precipitate of chromous acetate is formed, which is washed by +decantation in water containing carbonic acid. This salt is relatively +stable, and can be preserved for an indefinite time in a moist condition +in stoppered bottles filled with carbonic acid. + +In this process the following precautions are to be observed: + +Spongy flocks always separate from the zinc used in the reduction, which +float about in the acid liquid for a long time and give off minute gas +bubbles. If poured into the solution of sodium acetate, they would +contaminate the precipitate; and when dissolved in hydrochloric acid, +would occasion a slight escape of hydrogen. The solution of chromous +chloride must therefore be freed from the zinc by filtration in the +absence of air. For this purpose the reduction is carried on in a flask +fitted up like a washing bottle. The long tube is bent down outside the +flask, and is here provided with a small bulb tube containing glass wool +or asbestos. The hydrogen gas liberated during reduction is at first let +escape through this tube; afterward its outer end is closed, and it is +pressed down into the liquid. The hydrogen must now pass through the +shorter tube (the mouthpiece of the washing bottle), which has an India +rubber valve. When the reduction is complete, the blue liquid is driven +up in the long tube by introducing carbonic acid through the short tube, +so that it filters through the asbestos into the solution of sodium +acetate into which the reopened end of the long tube dips. When washing +out the red precipitate, at first a little acetic acid is added to +dissolve any basic zinc carbonate which has been deposited. In this +manner a chromous acetate is obtained perfectly free from zinc. + +For the absorption of oxygen the compound just described is decomposed +with hydrochloric acid in the following simple washing apparatus: Upon +a shelf there are fixed side by side two ordinary preparation glasses, +closed with caoutchouc stoppers, each having three perforations. Each +two apertures receive the glass tubes used in gas washing bottles, while +the third holds a dropping funnel. It is filled with dilute hydrochloric +acid, and after the expulsion of the air by a current of gas, plentiful +quantities of chromous acetate are passed into the bottles. When the +current of gas has been passed in for some time, the hydrochloric acid +is let enter, which dissolves the chromous acetate, and thus, in the +absence of air, produces a solution of blue chromous chloride. It is +advisable to use an excess of chromous acetate or an insufficient +quantity of hydrochloric acid, so that there may be no free hydrochloric +acid in the liquid. To keep back any free acetic acid which might be +swept over by the current of gas, there is introduced after the washing +apparatus another washing bottle with sodium carbonate. Also solid +potassium carbonate may be used instead of calcium chloride for drying +the gas. If the two apertures of the washing apparatus are fitted with +small pinch cocks, it is ready for use, and merely requires to be +connected with the gas apparatus in action in order to free the gas +generated from oxygen. As but little chromous salt is decomposed by the +oxygen such a washing apparatus may serve for many experiments. + + * * * * * + + + + +GAIFFE'S NEW MEDICAL GALVANOMETER. + + +In this apparatus, which contains but one needle, and has no directing +magnet, proportionability between the intensities and deflections is +obtained by means of a special form given the frame upon which the wire +is wound. + +We give herewith a figure of the curve that Mr. Gaiffe has fixed upon +after numerous experiments. Upon examination it will be seen that the +needle approaches the current in measure as the directing action of +the earth increases; and experiment proves that the two actions +counterbalance each other, and render the deflections very sensibly +proportional to the intensities up to an angle of from 65 to 75 degrees. + +[Illustration] + +Another important fact has likewise been ascertained, and that is that, +under such circumstances, the magnetic intensity of the needle may +change without the indications ceasing to have the same exactness up to +65 degrees. As well known, Mr. Desains has demonstrated that this occurs +likewise in sinus or tangent galvanometers; but these have helices that +are very large in proportion to the needle. In medical galvanometers the +proportions are no longer the same, and the needle is always very near +the directing helix. If this latter is square, or even elliptical, it is +found that, beyond an angle of 15 degrees, there are differences of 4 or +5 degrees in the indications given with the same intensity of current by +the same needle, according to the latter's intensity of magnetism. This +inconvenience is quite grave, for it often happens that a needle changes +magnetic intensity, either under the influence of too strong currents +sent into the apparatus, or of other magnets in its vicinity, or as +a consequence of the bad quality of the steel, etc. It was therefore +urgently required that this should be remedied, and from this point +of view the new mode of winding the wire is an important improvement +introduced into medical galvanometers.--_La Lumiere Electrique_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE SUSPENSION OF LIFE. + + +Every one knows that life exists in a latent state in the seeds of +plants, and may be preserved therein, so to speak, indefinitely. In +1853, Ridolfi deposited in the Egyptian Museum of Florence a sheaf of +wheat that he had obtained from seeds found in a mummy case dating back +about 3,000 years. This aptitude of revivification is found to a high +degree in animalcules of low order. The air which we breathe is loaded +with impalpable dust that awaits, for ages perhaps, proper conditions +of heat and moisture to give it an ephemeral life that it will lose and +acquire by turns. + +In 1707, Spallanzani found it possible, eleven times in succession, to +suspend the life of rotifers submitted to desiccation, and to call it +back again by moistening this organic dust with water. A few years +ago Doyere brought to life some tardigrades that had been dried at a +temperature of 150° and kept four weeks in a vacuum. If we ascend the +scale of beings, we find analogous phenomena produced by diverse causes. +Flies that have been imported in casks of Madeira have been resuscitated +in Europe, and chrysalids have been kept in this state for years. +Cockchafers drowned, and then dried in the sun, have been revived after +a lapse of twenty-four hours, two days, and even five days, after +submersion. Frogs, salamanders, and spiders poisoned by curare or +nicotine, have returned to life after several days of apparent death. + +Cold produces some extraordinary effects. Spallanzani kept several frogs +in the center of a lump of ice for two years, and, although they became +dry, rigid, almost friable, and gave no external appearance of being +alive, it was only necessary to expose them to a gradual and moderate +heat to put an end to the lethargic state in which they lay. + +Pikes and salamanders have at different epochs been revived before the +eyes of Maupertuis and Constant Dumeril (members of the Academy of +Sciences) after being frozen stiff. Auguste Dumeril, son of Constant, +and who was the reporter of the committee relative to the Blois toad in +1851, published a curious memoir the following year in which he narrates +how he interrupted life through congelation of the liquids and solids of +the organism. Some frogs, whose internal temperature had been reduced to +-2° in an atmosphere of -12°, returned to life before his eyes, and he +observed their tissues regain their usual elasticity and their heart +pass from absolute immobility to its normal motion. + +There is therefore no reason for doubting the assertions of travelers +who tell us that the inhabitants of North America and Russia transport +fish that are frozen stiff, and bring them to life again by dipping them +into water of ordinary temperature ten or fifteen days afterward. But I +think too much reliance should not be put in the process devised by +the great English physiologist, Hunter, for prolonging the life of man +indefinitely by successive freezings. It has been allowed to no one but +a romancer, Mr. Edmond About, to be present at this curious operation. + +Among the mammifera we find appearances of death in their winter sleep; +but these are incomplete, since the temperature of hibernating animals +remains greater by one degree than that of the surrounding air, and the +motions of the heart and respiration are simply retarded. Dr. Preyer has +observed that a hamster sometimes goes five minutes without breathing +appreciably after a fortnight's sleep. + +In man himself a suspension of life, or at least phenomena that seem +inseparable therefrom, has been observed many times. In the _Journal des +Savants_ for 1741 we read that a Col. Russel, having witnessed the +death of his wife, whom he tenderly loved, did not wish her buried, and +threatened to kill any one who should attempt to remove the body before +he witnessed its decomposition himself. Eight days passed by without the +woman giving the slightest sign of life, "when, at a moment when he was +holding her hand and shedding tears over her, the church bell began to +ring, and, to his indescribable surprise, his wife sat up and said, 'It +is the last stroke, we shall be too late.' She recovered." + +At a session of the Academy of Sciences, Oct. 17, 1864, Mr. Blaudet +communicated a report upon a young woman of thirty summers who, being +subject to nervous attacks, fell, after her crises, into a sort of +lethargic sleep which lasted several weeks and sometimes several months. +One of her sleeps, especially, lasted from the beginning of the year +1862 until March, 1863. + +Dr. Paul Levasseur relates that, in a certain English family, lethargy +seemed to have become hereditary. The first case was exhibited in an old +lady who remained for fifteen days in an immovable and insensible state, +and who afterward, on regaining her consciousness, lived for quite a +long time. Warned by this fact, the family preserved a young man for +several weeks who appeared to be dead, but who came to life again. + +Dr. Pfendler, in an inaugural thesis (Paris, 1833), minutely describes a +case of apparent death of which he himself was a witness. A young girl +of Vienna at the age of 15 was attacked by a nervous affection that +brought on violent crises followed by lethargic states which lasted +three or four days. After a time she became so exhausted that the first +physicians of the city declared that there was no more hope. It was not +long, in fact, before she was observed to rise in her bed and fall back +as if struck with death. "For four hours she appeared to me," says Dr. +Pfendler, "completely inanimate. With Messrs. Franck and Schaeffer, +I made every possible effort to rekindle the spark of life. Neither +mirror, nor burned feather, nor ammonia, nor pricking succeeded in +giving us a sign of sensibility. Galvanism was tried without the patient +showing any contractility. Mr. Franck believed her to be dead, but +nevertheless advised me to leave her on the bed. For twenty-eight hours +no change supervened, although it was thought that a little putrefaction +was observed. The death bell was sounded, the friends of the girl had +dressed her in white and had crowned her with flowers, and all was +arranged for her burial. Desiring to convince myself of the course of +the putrefaction, I visited the body again, and found that no further +advance had been made than before. What was my astonishment when I +believed that I saw a slight respiratory motion. I looked again, and saw +that I was not mistaken. I at once used friction and irritants, and in +an hour and a half the respiration increased. The patient opened her +eyes, and, struck with the funereal paraphernalia around her, returned +to consciousness, and said, 'I am too young to die.'" All this was +followed by a ten hours' sleep. Convalescence proceeded rapidly, and the +girl became free from all her nervous troubles. During her crisis she +heard everything. She quoted some Latin words that Mr. Franck had used. +Her most fearful agony had been to hear the preparations for her burial +without being able to get rid of her torpor. Medical dictionaries are +full of anecdotes of this nature, but I shall cite but two more. + +On the 10th of November, 1812, during the fatal retreat from Russia, +Commandant Tascher, desiring to bring back to France the body of his +general, who had been killed by a bullet, and who had been buried since +the day before, disinterred him, and, upon putting him into a landau, +and noticing that he was still breathing, brought him to life again by +dint of care. A long time afterward this same general was one of the +pall bearers at the funeral obsequies of the aide-de-camp who had buried +him. In 1826 a young priest returned to life at the moment the bishop +of the diocese was pronouncing the _De Profundis_ over his body. Forty +years afterward, this priest, who had become Cardinal Donnett, preached +a feeling sermon upon the danger of premature burial. + +I trust I have now sufficiently prepared the mind of the reader for an +examination of the phenomena of the voluntary suspension of life that I +shall now treat of. + +The body of an animal may be compared to a machine that converts the +food that it receives into motion. It receives nothing, it will produce +nothing; but there is no reason why it should get out of order if it is +not deteriorated by external agents. The legendary rustic who wanted to +accustom his ass to go without food was therefore theoretically wrong +only because he at the same time wanted the animal to work. The whole +difficulty consists in breaking with old habits. To return to the +comparison that we just made, we shall run the risk of exploding the +boiler of a steam engine if we heat it or cool it abruptly, but we can +run it very slowly and for a very long time with but very little fuel. +We may even preserve a little fire under the ashes, and this, although +it may not be capable of setting the parts running, will suffice later +on to revivify the fireplace after it has been charged anew with fuel. + +We have recently had the example of Dr. Tanner, who went forty days +without any other nourishment than water. Not very long ago Liedovine de +Schiedam, who had been bedridden for twenty years, affirmed that she +had taken no food for eight of them. It is said that Saint Catharine of +Sienna gradually accustomed herself to do without food, and that she +lived twenty years in total abstinence. We know of several examples of +prolonged sleep during which the sleeper naturally took no nourishment. +In his Magic Disquisitions, Delvis cites the case of a countryman who +slept for an entire autumn and winter. Pfendler relates that a certain +young and hysterical woman fell twice into a deep slumber which each +time lasted six months. In 1883 an _enceinte_ woman was found asleep +on a bench in the Grand Armee Avenue. She was taken to the Beaujon +Hospital, where she was delivered a few days after while still asleep, +and it was not till the end of three months that she could be awakened +from her lethargy. At this very moment, at Tremeille, a woman named +Marguerite Bouyenvalle is sleeping a sleep that has lasted nearly a +year, during which the only food that she has had is a few drops of soup +daily. + +What is more remarkable, Dr. Fournier says in his Dictionary of Medical +Sciences that he knew of a distinguished writer at Paris, who sometimes +went for months at a time without taking anything but emollient drinks, +while at the same time living along like other people. + +Respiration is certainly more necessary to life than food is; but it is +not absolutely indispensable, as we have seen in the cases of apparent +death cited in our previous article. It is possible, through exercise, +for a person to accustom himself, up to a certain point, to abstinence +from air as he can from food. Those who dive for pearls, corals, or +sponges succeed in remaining from two to three minutes under water. Miss +Lurline, who exhibited in Paris in 1882, remained two and a half minutes +beneath the water of her aquarium without breathing. In his treatise De +la Nature, Henri de Rochas, physician to Louis XIII., gives six minutes +as the maximum length of time that can elapse between successive +inspirations of air. It is probable that this figure was based upon an +observation of hibernating animals. + +In his Encyclopedic Dictionary, Dr. Dechambre relates the history of +a Hindoo who hid himself in the waters of the Ganges where women were +bathing, seized one of them by the legs, drowned her, and then removed +her jewels. Her disappearance was attributed to crocodiles. One woman +who succeeded in escaping him denounced the assassin, who was seized and +hanged in 1817. + +A well known case, is that of Col. Townshend, who possessed the +remarkable faculty of stopping at will not only his respiration, but +also the beating of his heart. He performed the experiment one day in +the presence of Surgeon Gosch, who cared for him in his old age, two +physicians, and his apothecary, Mr. Shrine. In their presence, says +Gosch, the Colonel lay upon his back, Dr. Cheyne watched his pulse, Dr. +Baynard put his hand upon his heart, and Mr. Shrine held a mirror to +his mouth. After a few seconds no pulse, movement of the heart, or +respiration could be observed. At the end of half an hour, as the +spectators were beginning to get frightened, they observed the functions +progressively resuming their course, and the Colonel came back to life. + +The fakirs of India habituate themselves to abstinence from air, either +by introducing into the nostrils strings that come out through the +mouth, or by dwelling in subterranean cells that air and light never +enter except through narrow crevices that are sometimes filled with +clay. Here they remain seated in profound silence, for hours at a time, +without any other motion than that of the fingers as the latter slowly +take beads from a chaplet, the mind absorbed by the mental pronunciation +of OM (the holy triune name), which they must repeat incessantly while +endeavoring to breathe as little as possible. They gradually lengthen +the intervals between their inspirations and expirations, until, in +three or four months, they succeed in making them an hour and a half. +This is not the ideal, for one of their sacred books says, in speaking +of a saint: "At the fourth month he no longer takes any food but air, +and that only every twelve days, and, master of his respiration he +embraces God in his thought. At the fifth he stands as still as a pole; +he no longer sees anything but Baghavat, and God touches his cheek to +bring him out of his ecstasy." + +It will be conceived that by submitting themselves to such gymnastics +from infancy, certain men, already predisposed by atavism or a peculiar +conformation, might succeed in doing things that would seem impossible +to the common run of mortals. Do we not daily see acrobats remaining +head downward for a length of time that would suffice to kill 99 per +cent, of their spectators through congestion if they were to place +themselves in the same posture? Can the savage who laboriously learns +to spell, letter by letter, comprehend how many people get the general +sense of an entire page at a single glance? + +There is no reason, then, _a priori_, for assigning to the domain of +legerdemain the astonishing facts that are told us by a large number of +witnesses, worthy of credence, regarding a young fakir who, forty years +ago, was accustomed to allow himself to be buried, and resuscitated +several months afterward. + +An English officer, Mr. Osborne, gives the following account of one of +these operations, which took place in 1838 at the camp of King Randjet +Singh: + +"After a few preparations, which lasted some days, and that it would +prove repugnant to enumerate, the fakir declared himself ready to +undergo the ordeal. The Maharajah, the Sikhs chiefs, and Gen. Ventura, +assembled near a masonry tomb that had been constructed expressly to +receive him. Before their eyes, the fakir closed with wax all the +apertures in his body (except his mouth) that could give entrance +to air. Then, having taken off the clothing that he had on, he was +enveloped in a canvas sack, and, according to his wish, his tongue was +turned back in such a way as to close the entrance to his windpipe. +Immediately after this he fell into a sort of trance. The bag that held +him was closed and a seal was put upon it by the Maharajah. The bag was +then put into a wooden box, which was fastened by a padlock, sealed, and +let down into the tomb. A large quantity of earth was thrown into the +hole and rammed down, and then barley was sown on the surface and +sentinels placed around with orders to watch day and night. + +"Despite all such precautions, the Maharajah had his doubts; so he came +twice in the space of ten months (the time during which the fakir was +buried), and had the tomb opened in his presence. The fakir was in the +bag into which he had been put, cold and inanimate. The ten months +having expired, he was disinterred, Gen. Ventura and Capt. Ward saw the +padlock removed, the seals broken, and the box taken from the tomb. +The fakir was taken out, and no pulsation either at the heart or pulse +indicated the presence of life. As a first measure for reviving him, a +person introduced a finger gently into his mouth and placed his tongue +in its natural position. The top of his head was the only place where +there was any perceptible heat. By slowly pouring warm water over his +body, signs of life were gradually obtained, and after about two hours +of care the patient got up and began to walk. + +"This truly extraordinary man says that during his burial he has +delightful dreams, but that the moment of awakening is always very +painful to him. Before returning to a consciousness of his existence he +experiences vertigoes. His nails and hair cease to grow. His only fear +is that he may be harmed by worms and insects, and it is to protect +himself from these that he has the box suspended in the center of the +tomb." + +This sketch was published in the _Magasin Pittoresque_ in 1842 by a +writer who had just seen Gen. Ventura in Paris, and had obtained from +him a complete confirmation of the story told by Capt. Wade. + +Another English officer, Mr. Boileau, in a work published in 1840, +and Dr. MacGregor, in his medical topography of Lodhiana, narrate two +analogous exhumations that they separately witnessed. The question +therefore merits serious examination.--_A. de Rochas, in La Nature_. + + * * * * * + +Some experiments recently made by M. Olszewsky appear to show that +liquid oxygen is one of the best of refrigerants. He found that when +liquefied oxygen was allowed to vaporize under the pressure of one +atmosphere, a temperature as low as -181.4° C. was produced. The +temperature fell still further when the pressure on the liquid oxygen +was reduced to nine millimeters of mercury. Though the pressure was +reduced still further to four millimeters of mercury, yet the oxygen +remained liquid. Liquefied nitrogen, when allowed to evaporate under a +pressure of sixty millimeters of mercury, gave a temperature of -214° +C., only the surface of the liquid gas became opaque from incipient +solidification. Under lower pressures the nitrogen solidified, +and temperatures as low as -225° C. were recorded by the hydrogen +thermometer. The lowest temperature obtained by allowing liquefied +carbonic oxide to vaporize was -220.5° C. + + * * * * * + + + + +CONVALLARIA. + +By OTTO A. WALL, M.D., Ph.G. + + +Cnovallaria Majalis is a stemless perennial plant, found in both +the eastern and western hemispheres, with two elliptic leaves and a +one-sided raceme bearing eight or ten bell-shaped flowers. The flowers +are fragrant, and perfumes called "Lily of the Valley" are among the +popular odors. + +Both leaves and flowers have been used in medicine, but the rhizome is +the part most frequently used. + +[Illustration: CONVALLARIA.] + +The fresh rhizome is a creeping, branching rhizome of a pale yellowish +white color, which, on drying, darkens to a straw color, or even a +brown in places. When dry it is about the thickness of a thick knitting +needle, swelling to the thickness of a quill when soaked in water. It +is of uniform thickness, except near the leaf-bearing ends, which are +thicker marked with numerous leafscars, or bare buds covered with +scales, and often having attached the tattered remains of former leaves. +Fig. A shows a portion of rhizome, natural size, and Fig. B shows +another piece enlarged to double linear size. + +The internodes are smooth, the rootlets being attached at the nodes. The +rootlets are filiform, and darker in color. + +The rhizome is covered by an epidermis, composed of muriform cells of a +bright yellow color, after having been treated with liquor potassæ to +clear up the tissues. These cells are shown in Fig. G. An examination of +the transverse section shows us the endogenous structure, as we find +it also in various other drugs (sarsaparilla, etc.), namely, a nucleus +sheath, inclosing the fibrovascular bundles and pith, and surrounded +by a peri-ligneous or peri-nuclear portion, consisting of soft-walled +parenchyma cells, loosely arranged with many small, irregularly +triangular, intercellular spaces in the tranverse section. Some of these +cells contain bundles of raphides (Fig. 2), one of which bundles is +shown crushed in Fig. J. Sometimes these crystals are coarser and less +needle-like, as in Fig. K. Fig. C shows a transverse section through the +leaf-bearing portion of the rhizome (at a), and is rather irregular on +account of the fibrovascular bundles diverging into the base of the +leaves of flower-stalks. A more regular appearance is seen in Fig. D, +which is a section through the internode (b). In it we see the nuclear +sheath, varying in width from one to three cells, and inclosing a number +of crescent-shaped fibrovascular bundles, with their convexities toward +the center and their horns toward the nuclear sheath. There are also +from two to four or five free closed fibrovascular bundles in the +central pith. + +These fibrovascular bundles consist mainly of dotted or reticulated +ducts (Fig. F), but all gradations from, this to the spiroids, or even +true spiral ducts (Fig. E). may be found, though the annular and spiral +ducts are quite rare. These ducts are often prismatically compressed +by each other. The fibrovascular bundles also contain soft-walled +prosenchyma cells. The peri-nuclear portion consists of soft-walled +parenchyma, smaller near the nuclear sheath and the epidermis, and +larger about midway between, and of the same character as the cells of +the pith. In longitudinal section they appear rectangular, similar to +the walls of the epidermis (G), but with thinner walls. + +All parts of the plant have been used in medicine, either separately or +together, and according to some authorities the whole flowering plant is +the best form in which to use this drug. + +The active principles are _convallaramin_ and _convallarin_. + +It is considered to act similarly to digitalis as a heart-stimulant, +especially when the failure of the heart's action is due to mechanical +impediments rather than to organic degeneration. It is best given in the +form of fluid extract in the dose of 1 to 5 cubic centimeters (15 to +75 minims), commencing with the smaller doses, and increasing, if +necessary, according to the effects produced in each individual +case.--_The Pharmacist_. + + * * * * * + + + + +FLIGHT OF THE BUZZARD. + + +During my visit to the Southern States of America, I have had several +opportunities of watching, under favorable conditions, the flight of the +buzzard, the scavenger of Southern cities. Although in most respect this +bird's manner of flight resembles that of the various sea-birds which I +have often watched for hours sailing steadily after ocean steamships, +yet, being a land bird, the buzzard is more apt to give examples of that +kind of flight in which a bird remains long over the same place. Instead +of sailing steadily on upon outstretched pinions, the buzzard often +ascends in a series of spirals, or descends along a similar course. I +have not been able to time the continuance of the longest flights during +which the wings have not once been flapped, for the simple reason that, +in every case where I have attempted to do so, the bird has passed out +of view either by upward or horizontal traveling. But I am satisfied +that in many cases the bird sweeps onward or about on unflapping wings +for more than half an hour. + +Now, many treat this problem of aerial flotation as if it were of the +nature of a miracle--something not to be explained. Explanations which +have been advanced have, it is true, been in many cases altogether +untenable. For instance, some have asserted that the albatross, the +condor, and other birds which float for a long time without moving +their wings--and that, too, in some cases, at great heights above the +sea-level, where the air is very thin--are supported by some gas within +the hollow parts of their bones, as the balloon is supported by the +hydrogen within it. The answer to this is that a balloon is _not_ +supported by the hydrogen within it, but by the surrounding air, and in +just such degree as the air is displaced by the lighter gas. The air +around a bird is only displaced by the bird's volume, and the pressure +of the air corresponding to this displacement is not equivalent to more +than one five-hundredth part of the bird's weight. Another idea is that +when a bird seems to be floating on unmoving wings there is really a +rapid fluttering of the feathers of the wings, by which a sustaining +power is obtained. But no one who knows anything of the anatomy of +the bird will adopt this idea for an instant, and no one who has ever +watched with a good field-glass a floating bird of the albatross or +buzzard kind will suppose they are fluttering their feathers in this +way, even though he should be utterly ignorant of the anatomy of the +wings. Moreover, any one acquainted with the laws of dynamics will know +that there would be tremendous loss of power in the fluttering movement +imagined as compared with the effect of sweeping downward and backward +the whole of each wing. + +There is only one possible way of explaining the floating power of +birds, and that is by associating it with the rapid motion acquired +originally by wing flapping, and afterward husbanded, so to speak, by +absolutely perfect adjustment and balancing. To this the answer is often +advanced that it implies ignorance of the laws of dynamics to suppose +that rapid advance can affect the rate of falling, as is implied by the +theory that it enables the bird to float. + +Now, as a matter of fact, a slight slope of the wings would undoubtedly +produce a raising power, and so an answer is at one obtained to this +objection. But I venture to assert, with the utmost confidence, that a +perfectly horizontal plane, advancing swiftly in a horizontal direction +at first, will not sink as quickly, or anything like as quickly, as a +similar plane let fall from a position of rest. A cannon-ball, rushing +horizontally from the mouth of a cannon, begins to fall just as if it +were simply dropped. But the case of a horizontal plane is altogether +different. If rapidly advancing, it passes continually over still air; +if simply let fall, the air beneath it yields, and presently currents +are set up which facilitate the descent of the flat body; but there is +no time to set up these aerial movements as the flat body passes rapidly +over still air. + +As a matter of fact, we know that this difference exists, from +the difference in the observed behavior of a flat card set flying +horizontally through the air and a similar card held horizontally and +then allowed to fall. + +I believe the whole mystery of aerial flotation lies here, and that as +soon as aerial floating machines are planned on this system, it will be +found that the problem of aerial transit--though presenting still many +difficulties of detail--is, nevertheless, perfectly soluble.--_R.A. +Proctor, in Newcastle Weekly Chronicle_. + + * * * * * + + + + +AN ASSYRIAN BASS-RELIEF 2,700 YEARS OLD. + + +There was exhibited at the last meeting of the Numismatic and +Antiquarian Society, in Philadelphia, on May 7, an object of great +interest to archæologists, with which, says _The Church_, is also +connected a very curious history. + +It appears that about forty years ago a young American minister, Rev. +W.F. Williams, went as a missionary to Syria, and he visited among +places of interest the site of ancient Nineveh about the time that +Austin Henry Layard was making his famous explorations and discoveries; +he wrote to a friend in Philadelphia that he had secured for him a fine +piece of Assyrian sculpture from one of the recently opened temples or +palaces, representing a life size figure of a king, clad in royal robes, +bearing in one hand a basket and in the other a fir cone. One portion +of the stone was covered with hieroglyphics, and was as sharply cut as +though it had been carved by a modern hand instead of by an artist who +was sleeping in his grave when Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, was yet +an infant. + +The letter describing this treasure arrived duly, but the stones did not +come. It appears that the caravan bringing them down to Alexandretta, +from whence they were to be shipped to Philadelphia, was attacked by +robbers, and the sculptured stones were thrown upon the desert as +useless, and there they remained for some years. Finally they were +recovered, shipped to this country (about twenty-five years ago), and +arriving at their destination during the absence of the consignee, were +deposited temporarily in a subterranean storeroom at his manufactory. +In some way they were overlooked, and here they have remained unopened +until they were rediscovered a few days ago; meanwhile the missionary +and his friend have both passed away, ignorant of the fact that the rare +gift had finally reached its destination and had become again lost. + +The cuneiform inscription is now being translated by an Assyrian scholar +(Rev. Dr. J.P. Peters, of the Divinity School), and its identity is +established; it came from the temple of King Assur-nazir-pal, a famous +conqueror who reigned from 883 to 859 B.C. + +The slab was cut into three sections, 3x3½ feet each, for convenience +of transportation, and they have been somewhat broken on the journey; +fortunately, however, this does not obliterate the writing. + +Mr. Tolcott Williams, a son of the late missionary, was present at the +meeting of the Society, and gave an interesting account of the classic +ground from which the slab was obtained. It was one of a number lining +the walls of the palace of Assur-nazir-pal. The inscriptions, as +translated by Dr. Peters, indicate that this particular slab was carved +during the first portion of this king's reign, and some conception +of its great antiquity may be gained when it is stated that he was a +contemporary of Ahab and Jehosaphat; he was born not more than a +century later than Solomon, and he reigned three centuries before +Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. After the slabs were procured, it was +necessary to send them on the backs of camels a journey of eight hundred +miles across the Great Desert, through a region which was more or less +infested at all seasons with roving bands of robbers. Mr. Williams well +remembered the interview between his father and the Arab camel owner, +who told several conflicting stories by way of preliminary to the +confession of the actual facts, in order to account for the non-arrival +of the stones at Alexandretta, the sea coast town from whence they were +to be shipped to Philadelphia. + +Mr. A.E. Outerbridge, Jr., gave a brief account of the finding of these +stones in the subterranean storeroom where they had reposed for a period +of a quarter of a century. The space between the slabs and the boxes +had been packed with camels' hair, which had in progress of time become +eaten by insects and reduced to a fine powder. The nails with which the +cases were fastened were remarkable both for their peculiar shape and +for the extraordinary toughness of the iron, far excelling in this +respect the wrought iron made in America to day. + +The Rev. Dr. J.P. Peters gave a very instructive exposition of the +chronology of the kings of Assyria, their social and religious customs +and ceremonies, their methods of warfare, their systems of architecture, +etc. He stated that the finest Assyrian bass-reliefs in the British +Museum came from the same palace as this specimen, the carving of which +is not excelled by any period of the ancient glyptic art. The particular +piece of alabaster selected by the artist for this slab was unusually +fine, being mottled with nodules of crystallized gypsum. + +The cuneiform inscription is not unlike the Hebrew in its character, +resembling it about as closely as the Yorkshire dialect resembles good +English. The characters are so large and clearly cut that it is a +pleasure to read them after the laborious scrutiny of the minute +Babylonish clay tablets. The inscription on this slab is identical with +a portion of that of the great "Standard Monolith," on which this king +subsequently caused to be transcribed the pages, as it were, from the +different slabs which were apparently cut at intervals in his reign. + +_Translation of a Portion of the Cuneiform, Inscription_.--"The palace +of Assur-nazir-pal, servant of Assur, servant of the god Beltis, the +god Ninit, the shining one of Anu and Dagon, servant of the Great +Gods, Mighty King, king of hosts, king of the land of Assyria; son of +Bin-nirari, a strong warrior, who in the service of Assur his Lord +marched vigorously among the princes of the four regions, who had no +equal, a mighty leader who had no rival, a king subduing all disobedient +to him; who rules multitudes of men; crushing all his foes, even the +masses of the rebels.... The city of Calah, which my predecessor, +Shalmanezer, King of Assyria had built had fallen into decay: His city +I rebuilt; a palace of cedar, box, cypress, for the seat of my royalty, +for the fullness of my princedom, to endure for generations, I placed +upon it. With plates of copper I roofed it, I hung in its gates folding +doors of cedar wood, silver, gold, copper, and iron which my hands had +acquired in the lands which I ruled, I gathered in great quantities, and +placed them in the midst thereof." O. + + * * * * * + + + + +DEPOSITING NICKEL UPON ZINC. + +By H.B. SLATER. + + +To those interested in the electro deposition of nickel upon zinc, the +formula given below for a solution and a brief explanation of its use +will be of service. + +The first sample of this solution was made as an experiment to see what +substances could be added to a solution of the double sulphate of nickel +and ammonium without spoiling it. + +In addition to several other combinations and mixtures of solutions from +which I succeeded in obtaining a good deposit, I found that the solution +here given would plate almost anything I put into it, and worked +especially well upon zinc. In its use no "scraping" or rescouring or any +of the many operations which I have seen recommended for zinc needs +be resorted to, as the metal "strikes" at once and is deposited in +a continuous adherent film of reguline metal, and can be laid on as +heavily as nickel is deposited generally. + +I believe that the addition of the ammonium chloride simply reduces +the resistance of the double sulphate solution, but the office of the +potassium chloride is not so easily explained. At least, I have never +been able to explain it satisfactorily to myself. It is certain, +however, that the solution does not work as well without it, nor does +the addition of ammonium chloride in its stead give as fine a result. + +Some care is necessary in the management of the current, which should +have a density of about 17 amperes per square foot of surface--not much +above or below. This may seem a high figure, especially when it is +discovered that there is a considerable evolution of gas during the +operation. + +I have repeatedly used this solution for coating articles of zinc, and +always with good success. I have exhibited samples of zinc plated in +this solution to those conversant with the deposition of nickel, and +they have expressed surprise at the appearance of the work. Some strips +of sheet-zinc in my possession have been bent and cut into every +conceivable shape without a sign of fracture or curling up at the edges +of the nickel coating. + +The solution is composed of-- + + Double sulphate of nickel and ammonium 10 ounces. + Ammonium chloride 4 " + Potassium chloride 2 " + Distilled water 1 gallon. + +The salts are dissolved in the water (hot), and the solution is worked +at the ordinary temperature, about 16 degrees C. + +The zinc may be cleansed in any suitable manner, but must be perfectly +clean, of course, and finally rinsed in clean cold water and placed in +the bath as quickly as possible; care being taken that it is connected +before it touches the solution.--_Electrical World_. + + * * * * * + +A catalogue, containing brief notices of many important scientific +papers heretofore published in the SUPPLEMENT, may be had gratis at this +office. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT. + +PUBLISHED WEEKLY. + +TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION, $5 A YEAR. + + +Sent by mail, postage prepaid, to subscribers in any part of the United +States or Canada. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Scientific American Supplement, No. 497, July 11, 1885 + +Author: Various + +Posting Date: November 3, 2011 [EBook #9666] +Release Date: January, 2006 +First Posted: October 14, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPP., JULY 11, 1885 *** + + + + +Produced by Josephine Paolucci, Don Kretz, Juliet Sutherland +and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<p class="ctr"><a href="images//1a.png"><img src= +"images//1a_th.jpg" alt=""></a></p> + +<h1>SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT NO. 497</h1> + +<h2>NEW YORK, JULY 11, 1885</h2> + +<h4>Scientific American Supplement. Vol. XX, No. 497.</h4> + +<h4>Scientific American established 1845</h4> + +<h4>Scientific American Supplement, $5 a year.</h4> + +<h4>Scientific American and Supplement, $7 a year.</h4> + +<hr> +<table summary="Contents" border="0" cellspacing="5"> +<tr> +<th colspan="2">TABLE OF CONTENTS.</th> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td valign="top">I.</td> +<td><a href="#1">CHEMISTRY AND METALLURGY.--Making Sea Water +Potable. --By THOS. KAY</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td><a href="#2">The Acids of Wool Oil</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td><a href="#3">The New Absorbent for Oxygen</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td><a href="#4">Depositing Nickel upon Zinc.--By H.B. +SLATER</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td valign="top">II.</td> +<td><a href="#5">ENGINEERING AND MECHANICS.--Foundations in +Quicksand, Lift Bridge over the Ourcq Canal.--3 figures</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td><a href="#6">St. Petersburg a Seaport.--A canal cut from +Cronstadt to St. Petersburg.--Opening of same by the Emperor and +Empress.--With full page engraving</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td><a href="#7">The New French Dispatch Boat Milan.--With +engraving</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td><a href="#8">The Launching and Docking of Ships Sidewise.--4 +figures</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td><a href="#9">Improved High Speed Engine.--12 figures</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td><a href="#10">The National Transit Co.'s Pipe Lines for the +Transportation of Oil to the Seaboard.--With map and +diagram</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td><a href="#11">The Fuel of the Future.--History of natural +gas.--Relation to petroleum.--Duration of gas, etc.--With table of +analyses Closing Leakages for Packing.--Use of asbestos in stuffing +boxes</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td valign="top">III.</td> +<td><a href="#12">TECHNOLOGY.--Luminous Paint.--Processes of +manufacture Boxwood and its Substitutes.--Preparation of same for +market, etc.--A paper written by J.A. JACKSON for the International +Forestry Exhibition</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td valign="top">IV.</td> +<td><a href="#13">ARCHÆOLOGY.--An Assyrian Bass-Relief 2,700 +years old</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td valign="top">V.</td> +<td><a href="#14">NATURAL HISTORY.-The Flight of the Buzzard.--By +R.A. PROCTOR</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td valign="top">VI.</td> +<td><a href="#15">BOTANY, ETC.--Convallaria.--A stemless +perennial.--By OTTO A. WALL, M.D.--Several figures</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td valign="top">VII.</td> +<td><a href="#16">MEDICINE, HYGIENE, ETC.--Gaiffe's New Medical +Galvanometer.--1 figure</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td><a href="#17">The Suspension of Life in Plants and +Animals</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td valign="top">VIII.</td> +<td><a href="#18">MISCELLANEOUS.--Composite Portraits.--6 +illustrations Hand-Craft and Rede-Craft.--A plea for the first +named.--By D.G. GILMAN</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + +<hr> +<h2>FOUNDATIONS IN QUICKSAND.</h2> + +<p>Foundations in quicksand often have to be built in places where +least expected, and sometimes the writer has been able to +conveniently span the vein with an arch and avoid trouble; but +where it cannot be conveniently arched over, it will be necessary +to sheath pile for a trench and lay in broad sections of concrete +until the space is crossed, the sheath piling being drawn and reset +in sections as fast as the trenches are leveled up. The piling is +left in permanently if it is not wanted again for use.</p> + +<p>Sometimes these bottoms are too soft to be treated in this +manner; in that case boxes or caissons are formed, loaded with +stone and sunk into place with pig iron until the weight they are +to carry is approximated. When settled, the weights are removed and +building begins.</p> + +<p>Foundations on shifting sand are met with in banks of streams, +which swell and become rapids as each winter breaks up. This kind +is most troublesome and dangerous to rest upon if not properly +treated.</p> + +<p>Retaining walls are frequently built season after season, and as +regularly become undermined by the scouring of the water. Regular +docking with piles and timbers is resorted to, but it is so +expensive for small works that it is not often tried.</p> + +<p>Foundations are formed often with rock well planted out; and +again success has attended the use of bags of sand where rough rock +was not convenient or too expensive.</p> + +<p>In such cases it is well to try a mattress foundation, which may +be formed of brushwood and small saplings with butts from ½ +inch to 2½ inches in diameter, compressed into bundles from +8 to 12 inches diameter, and from 12 to 16 feet long, and well tied +with ropes every four feet. Other bundles, from 4 to 6 inches +diameter and 16 feet long, are used as binders, and these bundles +are now cross-woven and make a good network, the long parts +protruding and making whip ends. One or more sets of netting are +used as necessity seems to require. This kind of foundation may be +filled in with a concrete of hydraulic cement and sand, and the +walls built on them with usual footings, and it is very durable, +suiting the purpose as well as anything we have seen or heard +of.--<i>Inland Architect</i>.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="5"></a></p> + +<h2>LIFT BRIDGE OVER THE OURCQ CANAL.</h2> + +<p>This bridge, which was inaugurated in 1868, was constructed +under the direction of Mr. Mantion, then engineer-in-chief of the +Belt Railway. Fig. 1 shows the bridge raised.</p> + +<p>The solution adopted in this case was the only feasible one that +presented itself, in view of the slight difference between the +level of the railway tracks and the maximum plane of the canal +water. This circumstance did not even permit of a thought of an +ordinary revolving bridge, since this, on a space of 10 inches +being reserved between the level of the water and the bottom of the +bridge, and on giving the latter a minimum thickness of 33 inches +up to the level of the rails, would have required the introduction +into the profile of the railroad of approaches of at least +one-quarter inch gradient, that would have interfered with +operations at the station close by.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><a href="images//1b.png"><img src= +"images//1b_th.jpg" alt= +"FIG. 1.--LIFT BRIDGE OVER THE OURCQ CANAL."></a></p> + +<p class="ctr">FIG. 1.--LIFT BRIDGE OVER THE OURCQ CANAL.</p> + +<p>Besides, in the case of a revolving bridge, since the bottom of +the latter would be but ten inches above the water level, and the +rollers would have to be of larger diameter than that, it would +have been necessary to suppose the roller channel placed beneath +the level of the water, and it would consequently have been +necessary to isolate this channel from the canal by a tight wall. +The least fissure in the latter would have inundated the +channel.</p> + +<p>As the Ourcq Canal had no regular period of closing, it was +necessary to construct the bridge without hinderance to navigation. +The idea of altering the canal's course could not be thought of, +for the proximity of the fortifications and of the bridge over the +military road was opposed to it. Moreover, the canal administration +insisted upon a free width of 26 feet, which is that of the sluices +of the St. Denis Canal, and which would have led to the projection +of a revolving bridge of 28 feet actual opening in order to permit +of building foundations with caissons in such a way as to leave a +passageway of 26 feet during operations.</p> + +<p>For these reasons it was decided to construct a metallic bridge +that should be lifted by means of counterpoises and balanced after +the manner of gasometers.</p> + +<p>The free width secured to navigation is 28 feet. The bridge is +usually kept raised to a height of 16 feet above the level of the +water in order to allow boats to pass (Fig. 2). In this position it +is balanced by four counterpoises suspended from the extremities of +chains that pass over pulleys. These counterpoises are of cast +iron, and weigh, altogether, 44,000 pounds--the weight of the +bridge to be balanced, say 11,000 pounds per counterpoise. +Moreover, each of the four chains is prolonged beneath the +corresponding counterpoise by a chain of the same weight, called a +compensating chain.</p> + +<p>The pulleys, B and C, that support the suspension chains have +projections in their channels which engage with the links and thus +prevent the chains from slipping. They are mounted at the extremity +of four latticed girders that likewise carry girder pulleys, D. The +pulleys that are situated at the side of the bridge are provided +laterally with a conical toothing which gears with a pinion +connected with the maneuvering apparatus.</p> + +<p>The two pinions of the same side of the bridge are keyed to a +longitudinal shaft which is set in motion at one point of its +length by a system of gearings. The winch upon which is exerted the +stress that is to effect the lifting or the descent of the bridge +is fixed upon the shaft of the pinion of the said gearing, which is +also provided with a flywheel, c. The longitudinal shafts are +connected by a transverse one. e, which renders the two motions +interdependent. This transverse shaft is provided with collars, +against which bear stiff rods that give it the aspect of an +elongated spindle, and that permit it to resist twisting +stresses.</p> + +<p>The windlasses that lift the bridge are actuated by manual +power. Two men (or even one) suffice to do the maneuvering.</p> + +<p>This entire collection of pulleys and mechanism is established +upon two brick foot bridges between which the bridge moves. These +arched bridges offer no obstruction to navigation. Moreover, they +always allow free passage to foot passengers, whatever be the +position of the bridge. They are provided with four vertical +apertures to the right of the suspension chains, in order to allow +of the passage of the latter. The girders that support the pulleys +rest at one extremity upon the upper part of the bridges, and at +the other upon solid brick pillars with stone caps.</p> + +<p>Finally, in order to render the descent of the bridge easier, +there are added to it two water tanks that are filled from the +station reservoir when the bridge is in its upper position, and +that empty themselves automatically as soon as it reaches the level +of the railroad tracks.</p> + +<p>A very simple system of fastening has been devised for keeping +the bridge in a stationary position when raised. When it reaches +the end of its upward travel, four bolts engage with an aperture in +the suspension rod and prevent it from descending. These bolts are +set in motion by two connecting rods carried by a longitudinal +shaft and maneuvered by a lever at the end of the windlass.</p> + +<p>At the lower part the bridge rests upon iron plates set into +sills. It is guided in its descent longitudinally by iron plates +that have an inclination which is reproduced at the extremities of +the bridge girders, and transversely by two inclined angle irons +into which fit the external edges of the bottoms of the extreme +girders.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><a href="images//2a.png"><img src= +"images//2a_th.jpg" alt="FIG. 2.--ELEVATION AND PLAN."> +</a></p> + +<p class="ctr">FIG. 2.--ELEVATION AND PLAN.</p> + +<p>The total weight of the bridge is, as we have said, 44,000 +pounds, which is much less than would have been that of a revolving +bridge of the same span. The maneuvering of the bridge is performed +with the greatest ease and requires about two minutes.</p> + +<p>This system has been in operation at the market station of La +Vilette since the year 1868, and has required but insignificant +repairs. We think the adoption of it might be recommended for all +cases in which a slight difference between the level of a railroad +and that of a water course would not permit of the establishment of +a revolving bridge.--<i>Le Genie Civil</i>.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="6"></a></p> + +<h2>ST. PETERSBURG A SEAPORT.</h2> + +<p>The Emperor and Empress of Russia, on Wednesday, May 27. 1885, +the second anniversary of their coronation at Moscow, opened the +Maritime Canal, in the Bay of Cronstadt, the shallow upper +extremity of the Gulf of Finland, by which great work the city of +St. Petersburg is made a seaport as much as London. St. Petersburg, +indeed, stands almost on the sea shore, at the very mouth of the +Neva, though behind several low islands which crowd the head of the +Gulf; and though this is an inland sea without saltness or tides, +it is closed by ice in winter. Seventeen miles to the west is the +island of Cronstadt, a great fortress, with naval dockyards and +arsenals for the imperial fleet, and with a spacious harbor for +ships of commerce. The navigable entrance channel up the Bay of +Cronstadt to the mouth of the Neva lies under the south side of +Cronstadt, and is commanded by its batteries. As the bay eastward +has a depth not exceeding 12 ft., and the depth of the Neva at its +bar is but 9 ft., all large vessels have been obliged hitherto to +discharge their cargoes at Cronstadt, to be there transferred to +lighters and barges which brought the goods up to the capital. "The +delay and expense of this process," says Mr. William Simpson, our +special artist, "will be understood by stating that a cargo might +be brought from England by a steamer in a week, but it would take +three weeks at least to transport the same cargo from Cronstadt to +St. Petersburg. Of course, much of this time was lost by custom +house formalities. Sometimes it has taken even longer than is here +stated, which made the delivery of goods at St. Petersburg a matter +of great uncertainty, thus rendering time contracts almost an +impossibility. This state of things had continued from the time of +Peter the Great, and his great scheme had never been fully +realized. The increase of commerce and shipping had long made this +a crying evil; but even with all these difficulties, the trade here +has been rapidly growing. A scheme to bring the shipping direct to +the capital had thus become almost a necessity. As Manchester +wishes to bring the ocean traffic to her doors without the +intervention of Liverpool, so St. Petersburg desired to have its +steamers sailing up to the city, delivering and loading their +cargoes direct at the stores and warehouses in her streets. If +Glasgow had not improved the Clyde, and had up to the present day +to bring up all goods carried by her ocean going steamers from Port +Glasgow--a place constructed for that purpose last century, and +which is twenty miles from Glasgow--she would have been handicapped +exactly as St. Petersburg has been till now in the commercial +race.</p> + +<p>"For some years the subject was discussed at St. Petersburg, and +more than one scheme was proposed; at last the project of General +N. Pooteeloff was adopted. According to this plan, a canal has been +cut through the shallow bottom of the Gulf of Finland, all the way +from Cronstadt to St. Petersburg. The line of this canal is from +northwest to southeast; it may be said to run very nearly parallel +to the coast line on the south side of the Gulf, and about three +miles distant from it. This line brings the canal to the southwest +end of St. Petersburg, where there are a number of islands, which +have formed themselves, in the course of ages, where the Bolshaya, +or Great Neva, flows into the Gulf. It is on these islands that the +new port is to be formed. It is a very large harbor, and capable of +almost any amount of extension. It will be in connection with the +whole railway system of Russia. One part of the scheme is that of a +new canal, on the south side of the city, to connect the maritime +canal, as well as the new harbor, with the Neva, so that the large +barges may pass, by a short route, to the river on the east, and +thus avoid the bridges and traffic of the city.</p> + +<p>"The whole length of the canal is about eighteen miles. The +longer portion of it is an open channel, which is made 350 feet +wide at bottom. Its course will be marked by large iron floating +buoys; these it is proposed to light with gas by a new self-acting +process which has been very successful in other parts of the world; +by this means the canal will be navigable by night as well as by +day. The original plan was to have made the canal 20 feet deep, but +this has been increased to 22 feet. The Gulf of Finland gradually +deepens toward Cronstadt, so that the dredging was less at the +western end. This part was all done by dredgers, and the earth +brought up was removed to a safe distance by means of steam hopper +barges. The contract for this part of the work was sublet to an +American firm--Morris and Cummings, of New York. The eastern +portion of the work on the canal is by far the most important, and +about six miles of it is protected by large and strong embankments +on each side. These embankments were formed by the output of the +dredgers, and are all faced with granite bowlders brought from +Finland; at their outer termination the work is of a more durable +kind, the facing is made of squared blocks of granite, so that it +may stand the heavy surf which at times is raised by a west wind in +the Gulf. These embankments, as already stated, extend over a space +of nearly six miles, and represent a mass of work to which there is +no counterpart in the Suez Canal; nor does the plan of the new +Manchester Canal present anything equivalent to it. The width of +this canal also far exceeds any of those notable undertakings. The +open channel is, as stated above, 350 ft. wide; within the +embankments the full depth of 22 ft. extends to 280 ft., and the +surface between the embankments is 700 ft. This is nearly twice the +size of the Suez Canal at the surface, which is 100 meters, or +about 320 ft., while it is only about 75 ft. at the bottom; the +Amsterdam Canal is 78 ft. wide. The new Manchester Canal is to be +100 ft. of full depth, and it boasts of this superiority over the +great work of Lesseps. The figures given above will show how far +short it comes of the dimensions of the St. Petersburg Canal. The +Manchester Canal is to be 24 ft. in depth; in that it has the +advantage of 2 ft. more than the St. Petersburg Canal; but with the +ample width this one possesses, this, or even a greater depth, can +be given if it should be found necessary. Most probably this will +have ultimately to be done, for ocean going steamers are rapidly +increasing in size since the St. Petersburg Canal was planned, and +in a very few years the larger class of steamers might have to +deliver their cargoes at Cronstadt, as before, if the waterway to +St. Petersburg be not adapted to their growing dimensions.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><a href="images//3a.png"><img src= +"images//3a_th.jpg" alt= +"THE ST. PETERSBURG AND CRONSTADT MARITIME CANAL, OPENED BY THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA, ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 1885."> +</a></p> + +<p class="ctr">THE ST. PETERSBURG AND CRONSTADT MARITIME CANAL, +OPENED BY THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA, ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 1885.</p> + +<p>"The dredging between the embankments of the canal was done by +an improved process, which may interest those connected with such +works. It may be remembered that the Suez Canal was mostly made by +dredging, and that the dredgers had attached to them what the +French called 'long couloirs' or spouts, into which water was +pumped, and by this means the stuff brought up by the dredgers was +carried to the sides of the canal, and there deposited. The great +width of the St. Petersburg Canal was too much for the long +couloirs, hence some other plan had to be found. The plan adopted +was that invented by Mr. James Burt, and which had been used with +the greatest success on the New Amsterdam Canal. Instead of the +couloir, floating pipes, made of wood, are in this system employed; +the earth or mud brought up has a copious stream of water poured on +it, which mixes in the process of descending, and the whole becomes +a thick liquid. This, by means of a centrifugal pump, is propelled +through the floating pipes to any point required, where it can be +deposited. The couloir can only run the output a comparatively +short distance, while this system can send it a quarter of a mile, +or even further, if necessary. Its power is not limited to the +level surface of the water. I saw on my visit to the canal one of +the dredgers at work, and the floating pipes lay on the water like +a veritable sea-serpent, extending to a long distance where the +stuff had to be carried. At that point the pipe emerged from the +water, and what looked very much like a vertebra or two of the +serpent crossed the embankment, went down the other side, and there +the muddy deposit was pouring out in a steady flow. Mr. Burt +pointed out to me one part of the works where his pump had sent the +stuff nearly half a mile away, and over undulating ground. This +system will not suit all soils. Hard clay, for instance, will not +mix with the water; but where the matter brought up is soft and +easily diluted, this plan possesses many advantages, and its +success here affords ample evidence of its merits.</p> + +<p>"About five miles below St. Petersburg, a basin had been already +finished, with landing quays, sheds, and offices; and there is an +embankment connecting it with the railways of St. Petersburg, all +ready for ships to arrive. When the ships of all nations sail up to +the capital, then the ideas of Peter the Great, when he laid the +foundations of St. Petersburg, will be realized. St. Petersburg +will be no longer an inland port. It will, with its ample harbor +and numerous canals among its streets, become the Venice of the +North. Its era of commercial greatness is now about to commence. +The ceremony of letting the waters of the canal into the new docks +was performed by the Emperor in October, 1883. The Empress and heir +apparent, with a large number of the Court, were present on the +occasion. The works on the canal, costing about a million and a +half sterling, were begun in 1876, and have been carried out under +the direction of a committee appointed by the Government, presided +over by his Excellency, N. Sarloff. The resident engineer is M. +Phofiesky; and the contractors are Messrs. Maximovitch and +Boreysha."</p> + +<p>We heartily congratulate the Russian government and the Russian +nation upon the accomplishment of this great and useful work of +peace. It will certainly benefit English trade. The value of +British imports from the northern ports of Russia for the year 1883 +was £13,799,033; British exports, £6,459,993; while +from the southern ports of Russia our trade was: British imports, +£7,177,149; British exports, £1,169,890--making a total +British commerce with European Russia of £20,976,182 imports +from Russia and £7,629,883 exports to Russia. It cannot be to +the interest of nations which are such large customers of each +other to go to war about a few miles of Afguhan frontier. The +London <i>Chamber of Commerce Journal</i>, ably edited by Mr. +Kenric B. Murray, Secretary to the Chamber, has in its May number +an article upon this subject well deserving of perusal. It points +out that in case of war most of the British export trade to Russia +would go through Germany, and might possibly never again return +under British control. In spite of Russian protective duties, this +trade has been well maintained, even while the British import of +Russian commodities, wheat, flax, hemp, tallow, and timber, was +declining 40 per cent. from 1883 to 1884. The St. Petersburg +Maritime Canal will evidently give much improved facilities to the +direct export of English goods to Russia. Without reference to our +own manufactures, it should be observed that the Russian cotton +mills, including those of Poland, consume yearly 264 million pounds +of cotton, most of which comes through England. The importation of +English coal to Russia has afforded a noteworthy instance of the +disadvantage hitherto occasioned by the want of direct navigation +to St. Petersburg; the freight of a ton of coal from Newcastle to +Cronstadt was six shillings and sixpence, but from Cronstadt to St. +Petersburg it cost two shillings more. It is often said, in a tone +of alarm and reproach, that Russia is very eager to get to the sea. +The more Russia gets to the sea everywhere, the better it will be +for British trade with Russia; and friendly intercourse with an +empire containing nearly a hundred millions of people is not to be +lightly rejected.--<i>Illustrated London News</i>.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="7"></a></p> + +<h2>THE NEW FRENCH DISPATCH BOAT MILAN.</h2> + +<p>The Milan, a new dispatch boat, has recently been making trial +trips at Brest. It was constructed at Saint Nazaire, by the +"Societe des Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire," and is the fastest +man-of-war afloat. It has registered 17 knots with ordinary +pressure, and with increase of pressure can make 18 knots, but to +attain such high speed a very powerful engine is necessary. In +fact, a vessel 303 ft. long, 33 ft. wide, and drawing 12 ft. of +water, requires an engine which can develop 4,000 H.P.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><img src="images//4a.png" alt= +"THE NEW FRENCH DISPATCH BOAT MILAN."></p> + +<p class="ctr">THE NEW FRENCH DISPATCH BOAT MILAN.</p> + +<p>The hull of the Milan is of steel, and is distinguished for its +extreme lightness. The vessel has two screws, actuated by four +engines arranged two by two on each shaft.</p> + +<p>The armament consists of five three inch cannons, eight +revolvers, and four tubes for throwing torpedoes.</p> + +<p>The Milan can carry 300 tons of coal, an insufficient quantity +for a long cruise, but this vessel, which is a dispatch boat in +every acceptation of the word, was constructed for a definite +purpose. It is the first of a series of very rapid cruisers to be +constructed in France, and yet many English packets can attain a +speed at least equal to that of the Milan. We need war vessels +which can attain twenty knots, to be master of the +sea.--<i>L'Illustration</i>.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="8"></a></p> + +<h2>THE LAUNCHING AND DOCKING OF SHIPS SIDEWISE.</h2> + +<p>The slips of the shipyards at Alt-Hofen (Hungary) belonging to +the Imperial and Royal Navigation Company of the Danube are so +arranged that the vessels belonging to its fleet can be hauled up +high and dry or be launched sidewise. They comprise three distinct +groups, which are adapted, according to needs, for the construction +or repair of steamers, twenty of which can be put into the yard at +a time. The operation, which is facilitated by the current of the +Danube, consists in receiving the ships upon frames beneath the +water and at the extremity of inclined planes running at right +angles with them. After the ship has been made secure by means of +wedges, the frame is drawn up by chains that wind round fixed +windlasses. These apparatus are established upon a horizontal +surface 25.5 feet above low-water mark so as to give the necessary +slope, and at which terminate the tracks. They may, moreover, be +removed after the ships have been taken off, and be put down again +for launching. For 136 feet of their length the lower part of the +sliding ways is permanent, and fixed first upon rubble masonry and +then upon the earth.</p> + +<p>Fig. 1 gives a general view of the arrangement. The eight +sliding ways of the central part are usually reserved for the +largest vessels. The two extreme ones comprise, one of them 7, and +the other 6, tracks only, and are maneuvered by means of the same +windlasses as the others. A track, FF, is laid parallel with the +river, in order to facilitate, through lorries, the loading and +unloading of the traction chains. These latter are ¾ inch in +diameter, while those that pass around the hulls are 1 inch.</p> + +<p>The motive power is furnished by a 10 H.P. steam engine, which +serves at the same time for actuating the machine tools employed in +construction or repairs. The shaft is situated at the head of the +ways, and sets in motion four double-gear windlasses of the type +shown in Fig. 2. The ratio of the wheels is as 9 to 1. The speed at +which the ships move forward is from 10 to 13 feet per minute. +Traction is effected continuously and without shock. After the +cables have been passed around the hull, and fastened, they are +attached to four pairs of blocks each comprising three pulleys. The +lower one of these is carried by rollers that run over a special +track laid for this purpose on the inclined plane.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><a href="images//4b.png"><img src= +"images//4b_th.jpg" alt= +"FIG. 1.--WAYS OF LAUNCHING VESSELS SIDEWISE."></a></p> + +<p class="ctr">FIG. 1.--WAYS OF LAUNCHING VESSELS SIDEWISE.</p> + +<p>The three successive positions that a boat takes are shown in +Fig. 1. In the first it has just passed on to the frame, and is +waiting to be hauled up on the ways; in the second it is being +hauled up; and in the third the frame has been removed and the boat +is shoved up on framework, so that it can be examined and receive +whatever repairs may be necessary. This arrangement, which is from +plans by Mr. Murray Jackson, suffices to launch 16 or 18 new boats +annually, and for the repair of sixty steamers and lighters. These +latter are usually 180 feet in length, 24 feet in width, and 8 feet +in depth, and their displacement, when empty, is 120 tons. The +dimensions of the largest steamers vary between 205 and 244 feet in +length, and 25 and 26 feet in width. They are 10 feet in depth, +and, when empty, displace from 440 to 460 tons. The Austrian +government has two monitors repaired from time to time in the yards +of the company. The short and wide forms of these impose a heavier +load per running foot upon the ways than ordinary boats do, but +nevertheless no difficulty has ever been experienced, either in +hauling them out or putting them back into the water.--<i>Le Genie +Civil</i>.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><a href="images//4c.png"><img src= +"images//4c_th.jpg" alt="FIG. 2.--DETAILS OF WINDLASS."> +</a></p> + +<p class="ctr">FIG. 2.--DETAILS OF WINDLASS.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="9"></a></p> + +<h2>IMPROVED HIGH-SPEED ENGINE.</h2> + +<p>This engine, exhibited at South Kensington by Fielding and +Platt, of Gloucester, consists virtually of a universal joint +connecting two shafts whose axes form an obtuse angle of about 157 +degrees. It has four cylinders, two being mounted on a chair +coupling on each shaft. The word cylinder is used in a conventional +sense only, since the cavities acting as such are circular, whose +axes, instead of being straight lines, are arcs of circles struck +from the center at which the axes of the shafts would, if +continued, intersect. The four pistons are carried upon the gimbal +ring, which connects, by means of pivots, the two chair +couplings.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><a href="images//5a.png"><img src= +"images//5a_th.jpg" alt="THE FIELDING HIGH SPEED ENGINE."> +</a></p> + +<p class="ctr">THE FIELDING HIGH SPEED ENGINE.</p> + +<p>Fig. 10 shows clearly the parts constituting the coupling, +cylinders, and pistons of a compound engine. CC are the +high-pressure cylinders; DD the low pressure; EEEE the four parts +forming the gimbal ring, to which are fixed in pairs the high and +low pressure pistons, GG and FF; HHHH are the chair arms formed +with the cylinders carrying pivots, IIII, which latter fit into the +bearings, JJJJ, in the gimbal ring. Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4 show these +parts connected and at different points of the shaft's rotation. +The direction of rotation is shown by the arrow. In Fig. 1 the +lower high-pressure cylinder, C, is just about taking steam, the +upper one just closing the exhaust; the low-pressure pistons are at +half stroke, that in sight exhausting, the opposite one, which +cannot be seen in this view, taking steam.</p> + +<p>In Fig 2 the shaft has turned through one-eighth of a +revolution; in Fig. 3, a quarter turn; Fig. 4, three-eighths of a +turn. Another eighth turn brings two parts into position +represented by Fig. 1, except the second pair of cylinders now +replace the first pair. The bearings, KL, support the two shafts +and act as stationary valves, against which faces formed on the +cylinders revolve; steam and exhaust ports are provided in the +faces of K and L, and two ports in the revolving faces, one to each +cylinder. The point at which steam is cut off is determined by the +length of the admission ports in K and L. The exhaust port is made +of such a length that steam may escape from the cylinders during +the whole of the return stroke of pistons.</p> + +<p>Fig. 5 shows the complete engine. It will be seen that the +engine is entirely incased in a box frame, with, however, a lid for +ready access to the parts for examination, one great advantage +being that the engine can be worked with the cover removed, thus +enabling any leakage past the pistons or valve faces to be at once +detected. The casing also serves to retain a certain amount of +lubricant.</p> + +<p>The lubrication is effected by means of a triple sight-feed +lubricator, one feeder delivering to steam inlet, and two serving +the main shaft bearings.</p> + +<p>Figs, 6 and 7 are an end elevation and plan of the same engine. +There is nothing in the other details calling for special +notice.</p> + +<p>Figs. 8 and 9 show the method of machining the cylinders and +pistons, the whole of which can be done by ordinary lathes, which +is evidently a great advantage in the event of reboring, etc., +being required in the colonies or other countries where special +tools are inaccessible.</p> + +<p>Figs. 11 and 12 are sections which explain themselves.--<i>The +Engineer</i>.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="10"></a></p> + +<h2>THE NATIONAL TRANSIT CO'S PIPE LINES FOR THE TRANSPORTATION OF +PETROLEUM TO THE SEABOARD.</h2> + +<p>While Englishmen and Americans have been alike interested in the +late project for forcing water by a pipe line over the mountainous +region lying between Suakim and Berber in the far-off Soudan, few +men of either nation have any proper conception of the vast +expenditure of capital, natural and engineering difficulties +overcome, and the bold and successful enterprise which has brought +into existence far greater pipe lines in our own Atlantic States. +We refer to the lines of the National Transit Company, which have +for a purpose the economic transportation of crude petroleum from +Western Pennsylvania to the sea coast at New York, Philadelphia, +and Baltimore, and to the Lakes at Cleveland and Buffalo.</p> + +<p>To properly commence our sketch of this truly gigantic +enterprise, we must go back to the discovery of petroleum in the +existing oil regions of Pennsylvania and adjacent States. Its +presence as an oily scum on the surface of ponds and streams had +long been known, and among the Indians this "rock-oil" was highly +appreciated as a vehicle for mixing their wax paint, and for +anointing their bodies; in later years it was gathered in a rude +way by soaking it up in blankets, and sold at a high price for +medicinal purposes only, under the name of Seneca rock oil, Genesee +oil, Indian oil, etc.</p> + +<p>But the date of its discovery as an important factor in the +useful arts and as a source of enormous national wealth was about +1854. In the year named a certain Mr. George H. Bissell of New +Orleans accidentally met with a sample of the "Seneca Oil," and +being convinced that it had a value far beyond that usually +accorded it, associated himself with some friends and leased for 99 +years some of the best oil springs near Titusville, Pa. This lease +cost the company $5,000, although only a few years before a cow had +been considered a full equivalent in value for the same land. The +original prospectors began operations by digging collecting +ditches, and then pumping off the oil which gathered upon the +surface of the water. But not long after this first crude attempt +at oil gathering, the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Co. was organized, with +Prof. B. Silliman of Yale College as its president, and a more +intelligent method was introduced into the development of the +oil-producing formation. In 1858, Col. Drake of New Haven was +employed by the Pennsylvania Co. to sink an artesian well; and, +after considerable preparatory work, on August 28, 1859, the first +oil vein was tapped at a depth of 69½ feet below the +surface; the flow was at first 10 barrels per day, but in the +following September this increased to 40 barrels daily.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><a href="images//6a.png"><img src= +"images//6a_th.jpg" alt= +"MAP SHOWING THE NATIONAL TRANSIT CO.'S PIPE LINES."></a></p> + +<p class="ctr">MAP SHOWING THE NATIONAL TRANSIT CO.'S PIPE +LINES.</p> + +<p>The popular excitement and the fortunes made and lost in the +years following the sinking of the initial well are a matter of +history, with which we have here nothing to do. It is sufficient to +say that a multitude of adventurers were drawn by the "oil-craze" +into this late wilderness, and the sinking of wells extended with +unprecedented rapidity over the region near Titusville and from +there into more distant fields.</p> + +<p>By June 1, 1862, 495 wells had been put down near Titusville, +and the daily output of oil was nearly 6,000 barrels, selling at +the wells at from $4.00 to $6.00 per barrel. But the tapping of +this vast subterranean storehouse of oleaginous wealth continued, +until the estimated annual production was swelled from 82,000 +barrels in 1859 to 24,385,966 barrels in 1883; in the latter year +2,949 wells were put down, many of them, however, being simply dry +holes.[1] The total output of oil in the Pennsylvania regions, +between 1859 and 1883, is estimated at about 234,800,000 +barrels--enough oil to fill a tank about 10,000 feet square, nearly +two miles to a side, to a depth of over 13½ feet.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 1: The total number of wells in the Pennsylvania oil +regions cannot be given. In the years 1876-1884, inclusive, 28,619 +wells were sunk; this is an average of 3,179 per year. During the +same period 2,507 dry holes were drilled at an average cost of +$1,500 each.]</p> + +<p>As long as oil could be sold at the wells at from $4.00 to +$10.00 a barrel, the cost of transportation was an item hardly +worthy of consideration, and railroad companies multiplied and +waged a bitter war with each other in their scramble after the +traffic. But as the production increased with rapid strides, the +market price of oil fell with a corresponding rapidity, until the +quotations for 1884 show figures as low as 50 to 60 cents per +barrel for the crude product at Oil City.</p> + +<p>In December, 1865, the freight charge per barrel for a carload +of oil from Titusville to New York, and the return of the empty +barrels, was $3.50.[1] To this figure was added the cost of +transportation by pipe-line from Pithole to Titusville, $1.00; cost +of barreling, 25 cents; freight to Corry, Pa., 80 cents; making the +total cost of a barrel of crude oil in New York, $5.55. In January, +1866, the barrel of oil in New York cost $10.40, including in this +figure, however, the Government tax of $1.00 and the price of the +barrel, $3.25.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 1: It is stated that in 1862 the cost of sending one +barrel of oil to New York was $7.45. Steamboats charged $2.00 per +barrel from Oil City to Pittsburg, and the hauling from Oil Creek +to Meadville cost $2.25 per barrel.]</p> + +<p>The question of reducing these enormous transportation charges +was first broached, apparently, in 1864, when a writer in the +<i>North American</i>, of Philadelphia, outlined a scheme for +laying a pipe-line down the Allegheny River to Pittsburg. This +project was violently assailed by both the transportation companies +and the people of the oil region, who feared that its success would +interfere with their then great prosperity. But short pipe-lines, +connecting the wells with storage tanks and shipping points, grew +apace and prepared the way for the vast network of the present day, +which covers this region and throws out arms to the ocean and the +lakes.</p> + +<p>Among the very first, if not the first, pipe lines laid was one +put down between the Sherman well and the railway terminus on the +Miller farm. It was about 3 miles long, and designed by a Mr. +Hutchinson; he had an exaggerated idea of the pressure to be +exercised, and at intervals of 50 to 100 feet he set up air +chambers 10 inches in diameter. The weak point in this line, +however, proved to be the joints; the pipes were of cast iron, and +the joint-leakage was so great that little, if any, oil ever +reached the end of the line, and the scheme was abandoned in +despair.</p> + +<p>In connection with this question of oil transportation, a sketch +of the various methods, other than pipelines, adopted in +Pennsylvania may not be out of place. We are mainly indebted to Mr. +S.F. Peckham, in his article on "Petroleum and its Products" in the +U. S. Census Report of 1880, for the information relating to +tank-cars immediately following:</p> + +<p>Originally the oil was carried in 40 and 42 gallon barrels, made +of oak and hooped with iron; early in 1866, or possibly in 1865, +tank-cars were introduced. These were at first ordinary flat-cars +upon which were placed two wooden tanks, shaped like tubs, each +holding about 2,000 gallons.</p> + +<p>On the rivers, bulk barges were also, after a time, introduced +on the Ohio and Allegheny; at first these were rude affairs, and +often of inadequate strength; but as now built they are 130 x 22 x +16 feet, in their general dimensions, and divided into eight +compartments, with water-tight bulkheads; they hold about 2,200 +barrels.</p> + +<p>In 1871 iron-tank cars superseded those of wood, with tanks of +varying sizes, ranging from 3,856 to 5,000 gallons each. These +tanks were cylinders, 24 feet 6 inches long, and 66 inches in +diameter, and weighed about 4,500 lb. The heads are made of 5/46 +in. flange iron, the bottom of ½ in., and the upper half of +the shell of 3/16 in. tank iron.</p> + +<p>In October, 1865, the Oil Transportation Co. completed and +tested a pipe-line 32,000 feet long; three pumps were used upon it, +two at Pithole and one at Little Pithole. July 1, 1876, the +pipe-line owners held a meeting at Parkers to organize a pipe-line +company to extend to the seaboard under the charter of the +Pennsylvania Transportation Co., but the scheme was never carried +out. In January, 1878, the Producers' Union organized for a similar +seaboard line, and laid pipes, but they never reached the sea, +stopping their line at Tamanend, Pa. The lines of the National +Transit Co., illustrated in our map, were completed in 1880-81, and +this company, to which the United Pipe Lines have also been +transferred, is said to have $15,000,000 invested in plant for the +transport of oil to tide water.</p> + +<p>The National Transit Co. was organized under what was called the +Pennsylvania Co. act, about four years ago, and succeeded to the +properties of the American Transit Co., a corporation operating +under the laws of Pennsylvania. Since its organization the first +named company has constructed and now owns the following +systems:</p> + +<p>The line from Olean, N.Y., to Bayonne, N.J., and to Brooklyn, +N.Y., of which a full page profile is given, showing the various +pumping stations and the undulations over its route of about 300 +miles. The Pennsylvania line, 280 miles long, from Colegrove, Pa., +to Philadelphia. The Baltimore line, 70 miles long, from Millway, +Pa., to Baltimore. The Cleveland line, 100 miles long, from +Hilliards, Pa., to Cleveland, O. The Buffalo line, 70 miles long, +from Four Mile, Cattaraugus County, N.Y., to Buffalo, and the line +from Carbon Center, Butler County, Pa., to Pittsburg, 60 miles in +length. This amounts to a total of 880 miles of main pipe-line +alone, ranging from 4 inches to 6 inches in diameter; or, adding +the duplicate pipes on the Olean New York line, we have a round +total of 1,330 miles, not including loops and shorter branches and +the immense network of the pipes in the oil regions proper.</p> + +<p>A general description of the longest line will practically +suffice for all, as they differ only in diameter of pipe used and +power of the pumping plant. As shown on the map and profile, this +long line starts at Olean, near the southern boundary of New York +State, and proceeds by the route indicated to tide water at +Bayonne, N.J., and by a branch under the North and East rivers and +across the upper end of New York city to the Long Island +refineries. This last named pipe is of unusual strength, and passes +through Central Park; few of the thousands who daily frequent the +latter spot being aware of the yellow stream of crude petroleum +that is constantly flowing beneath their feet. The following table +gives the various pumping stations on this Olean New York line, and +some data relating to distances between stations and elevations +overcome:</p> + +<pre> + |----------------------------------------------------------------| + | | | | Greatest | + | | | | Summit | + | | Miles | Elevation | between | + | | between | above Tide. | Stations. | + | Pumping Stations. | Stations. | Ft. | Ft. | + |______________________|___________|________________|____________| + | Olean | -- | 1,490 | -- | + | Wellsville | 28.20 | 1,510 | 2,490 | + | Cameron | 27.91 | 1,042 | 2,530 | + | West Junction | 29.70 | 911 | 1,917 | + | Catatonk | 27.37 | 869 | 1,768 | + | Osborne | 27.99 | 1,092 | 1,539 | + | Hancock | 29.86 | 922 | 1,873 | + | Cochecton | 26.22 | 748 | 1,854 | + | Swartwout | 28.94 | 475 | 1,478 | + | Newfoundland | 29.00 | 768 | 1,405 | + | Saddle River | 28.77 | 35 | 398 | + |______________________|___________|________________|____________| +</pre> + +<p>On this line two six-inch pipes are laid the entire length, and +a third six-inch pipe runs between Wellsville and Cameron, and +about half way between each of the other stations, "looped" around +them. The pipe used for the transportation of oil is especially +manufactured to withstand the great strain to which it will be +subjected, the most of it being made by the Chester Pipe and Tube +Works, of Chester, Pa., the Allison Manufacturing Co., of +Philadelphia and the Penna. Tube Works, of Pittsburg, Pa. It is a +lap-welded, wrought-iron pipe of superior material, and made with +exceeding care and thoroughly tested at the works. The pipe is made +in lengths of 18 feet, and these pieces are connected by threaded +ends and extra strong sleeves. The pipe-thread and sleeves used on +the ordinary steam and water pipe are not strong enough for the +duty demanded of the oil-pipe. The socket for a 4-inch steam or +water pipe is from 2½ to to 2¾ inches long, and is +tapped with 8 standard threads to the inch, straight or parallel to +the axis of the pipe; with this straight tap only three or four +threads come in contact with the socket threads, or in any way +assist in holding the pipes together. In the oil-pipe, the pipe +ends and sockets are cut on a taper of ¾ inch to 1 foot, for +a 4-inch pipe, and the socket used is thicker than the steam and +water socket, is 3¾ inches long, and has entrance for 1 5/8 +inches of thread on each pipe end tapped with 9 standard threads to +the inch. In this taper socket you have iron to iron the whole +length of the thread, and the joint is perfect and equal by test to +the full strength of the pipe. Up to 1877 the largest pipe used on +the oil lines was 4-inch, with the usual steam thread, but the +joints leaked under the pressure, 1,200 pounds to the square inch +being the maximum the 8-thread pipe would stand. This trouble has +been remedied by the 9-thread, taper-cut pipe of the present day, +which is tested at the mill to 1,500 pounds pressure, while the +average duty required is 1,200 pounds; as the iron used in the +manufacture of this line-pipe will average a tensile test strain of +55,000 pounds per square inch, the safety factor is thus about +one-sixth.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><a href="images//7a.png"><img src= +"images//7a_th.jpg" alt=""></a></p> + +<p class="ctr">PROFILE SHOWING NATIONAL TRANSIT CO.'S<br> +PIPE-LINE, FROM OLEAN TO SADDLE RIVER.</p> + +<p>The line-pipe is laid between the stations in the ordinary +manner, excepting that great care is exercised in perfecting the +joints. No expansion joints or other special appliances of like +nature are used on the line as far as we can learn; the variations +in temperature being compensated for, in exposed locations, by +laying the pipe in long horizontal curves. The usual depth below +the surface is about 3 feet, though in some portions of the route +the pipe lies for miles exposed directly upon the surface. As the +oil pumped is crude oil, and this as it comes from the wells +carries with it a considerable proportion of brine, freezing in the +pipes is not to be apprehended. The oil, however, does thicken in +very cold weather, and the temperature has a considerable influence +on the delivery.</p> + +<p>A very ingenious patented device is used for cleaning out the +pipes, and by it the delivery is said to have been increased in +certain localities 50 per cent. This is a stem about 2½ feet +long, having at its front end a diaphragm made of wings which can +fold on each other, and thus enable it to pass an obstruction it +cannot remove; this machine carries a set of steel scrapers, +somewhat like those used in cleaning boilers. The device is put +into the pipe, and propelled by the pressure transmitted from the +pumps from one station to another; relays of men follow the scraper +by the noise it makes as it goes through the pipe, one party taking +up the pursuit as the other is exhausted. They must never let it +get out of their hearing, for if it stops unnoticed, its location +can only again be established by cutting the pipe.</p> + +<p>The pumping stations are substantial structures of brick, roofed +with iron. The boiler house is removed some distance from the +engine house for greater safety from fire; the building, about 40 +by 50 feet, contains from six to seven tubular boilers, each 5 by +14 feet, and containing 80 three-inch tubes. The pump house is a +similar brick structure about 40 by 60 feet, and contains the +battery of pumping engines to be described later. At each station +are two iron tanks, 90 feet in diameter and 30 feet high; into +these tanks the oil is delivered from the preceding station, and +from them the oil is pumped into the tanks at the next station +beyond. The pipe-system at each station is simple, and by means of +the "loop-lines" before mentioned the oil can be pumped directly +around any station if occasion would require it.</p> + +<p>The pumps used on all these lines are the Worthington compound, +condensing, pressure pumping engines. The general characteristics +of these pumps are, independent plungers with exterior packing, +valve-boxes subdivided into separate small chambers capable of +resisting very heavy strains, and leather-faced metallic valves +with low lift and large surfaces. These engines vary in power from +200 to 800 horse-power, according to duty required. They are in +continuous use, day and night, and are required to deliver about +15,000 barrels of crude oil per 24 hours, under a pressure +equivalent to an elevation of 3,500 feet.</p> + +<p>We have lately examined the latest pumping engine plant, and the +largest yet built for this service, by the firm of H.R. +Worthington; it is to be used at the Osborne Hollow Pumping +Station. As patents are yet pending on certain new features in this +engine, we must defer a full description of it for a later issue of +our journal.</p> + +<p>The Pennsylvania line has a single 6-inch pipe 280 miles long, +with six pumping stations as shown in the map, and groups of +shorter lines, with a loop extending from the main line to Milton, +Pa., a shipping point for loading on cars. At Millway, Pa., a +5-inch pipe leaves the Pennsylvania line and runs to Baltimore, a +distance of 70 miles, and is operated from the first named station +alone, there being no intermediate pumping station.[1] The +Cleveland pipe, 100 miles long, is 5 inches in diameter, and has +upon it four pumping stations; it carries oil to the very extensive +refineries of the company at the terminal on Lake Erie. The Buffalo +line is 4 inches in diameter and 70 miles long; it has a pumping +station at Four-Mile and at Ashford (omitted on the map). The +Pittsburg line is 4 inches in diameter and 60 miles long; it has +pumping stations at Carbon Center and at Freeport.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 1: Millway is about 400 feet above tide-water at +Baltimore, but the line passes over a very undulating country in +its passage to the last named point. We regret that we have no +profile on this 70 mile line operated by a single pumping +plant.--<i>Ed. Engineering News</i>.]</p> + +<p>A very necessary and remarkably complete adjunct to the numerous +pipe lines of this company is an independent telegraph system +extending to every point on its widely diverging lines. The storage +capacity of the National Transit Co.'s system is placed at +1,500,000 barrels, and this tankage is being constantly increased +to meet the demands of the producers.[1]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 1: As showing the extent of the sea-coast +transportation of petroleum, we should mention that the statistics +for 1884 show a total of crude equivalent exported from the United +States in that year, equaling 16,661,086 barrels, of 51 gallons +each. This is a daily average of 42,780 barrels.]</p> + +<p>The company is officially organized as follows: C.A. Griscom, +President; Benjamin Brewster, Vice President; John Bushnell, +Secretary; Daniel O'Day, General Manager; J.H. Snow, General +Superintendent. Mr. Snow was the practical constructor of the +entire system, and the general perfection of the work is mainly due +to his personal experience, energy, and careful supervision. His +engineering assistants were Theodore M. Towe and C.J. Hepburn on +the New York line and J.B. Barbour on the Pennsylvania lines.</p> + +<p>The enterprise has been so far a great engineering success, and +the oil delivery is stated on good authority to be within 2 per +cent. of the theoretical capacity of the pipes. From a commercial +standpoint, the ultimate future of the undertaking will be +determined by the lasting qualities of wrought iron pipe buried in +the ground and subjected to enormous strain; time alone can +determine this question.</p> + +<p>In preparing this article we are indebted for information to the +firm of H.R. Worthington, to General Manager O'Day, of the National +Transit Co., to the editor of the <i>Derrick</i> of Oil City, Pa., +and to numerous engineering friends.--<i>Engineering News</i>.</p> + +<hr> +<h2>THE FUEL OF THE FUTURE.</h2> + +<h3>By GEORGE WARDMAN.</h3> + +<p>The practical application of natural gas, as an article of fuel, +to the purpose of manufacturing glass, iron, and steel, promises to +work a revolution in the industrial interests of America--promises +to work a revolution; for notwithstanding the fact that, in many of +the largest iron, steel, and glass factories in Pittsburg and its +vicinity, natural gas has already been substituted for coal, the +managers of some such works are shy of the new fuel, mainly for two +reasons: 1. They doubt the continuity and regularity of its supply. +2. They do not deem the difference between the price of natural gas +and coal sufficient as yet to justify the expenditure involved in +the furnace changes necessary to the substitution of the one for +the other. These two objections will doubtless disappear with +additional experience in the production and regulation of the gas +supply, and with enlarged competition among the companies engaging +in its transmission from the wells to the works. At present the use +of natural gas as a substitute for coal in the manufacture of +glass, iron, and steel is in its infancy.</p> + +<p>Natural gas is as ancient as the universe. It was known to man +in prehistoric times, we must suppose, for the very earliest +historical reference to the Magi of Asia records them as worshiping +the eternal fires which then blazed, and still blaze, in the +fissures of the mountain heights overlooking the Caspian Sea. Those +records appertain to a period at least 600 years before the birth +of Christ; but the Magi must have lived and worshiped long anterior +to that time.</p> + +<p>Zoroaster, reputed founder of the Parsee sect, is placed +contemporary with the prophet Daniel, from 2,500 to 600 B.C.; and, +although Daniel has been doubted, and Zoroaster may never have seen +the light, the fissures of the Caucasus have been flaming since the +earliest authentic records.</p> + +<p>The Parsees (Persians) did not originally worship fire. They +believed in two great powers--the Spirit of Light, or Good, and the +Spirit of Darkness, or Evil. Subsequent to Zoroaster, when the +Persian empire rose to its greatest power and importance, +overspreading the west to the shores of the Caspian and beyond, the +tribes of the Caucasus suffered political subjugation; but the +creed of the Magi, founded upon the eternal flame-altars of the +mountains, proved sufficiently vigorous to transform the Parseeism +of the conquerors to the fire worship of the conquered.</p> + +<p>About the beginning of the seventh century of the Christian era, +the Grecian Emperor Heraclius overturned the fire altars of the +Magi at Baku, the chief city on the Caspian, but the fire +worshipers were not expelled from the Caucasus until the +Mohammedans subjugated the Persian Empire, when they were driven +into the Rangoon, on the Irrawaddy, in India, one of the most noted +petroleum producing districts of the world.</p> + +<p>Petroleum and natural gas are so intimately related that one +would hardly dare to say whether the gas proceeds from petroleum or +the petroleum is deposited from the gas. It is, however, safe to +assume that they are the products of one material, the lighter +element separating from the heavier under certain degrees of +temperature and pressure. Thus petroleum may separate from the gas +as asphaltum separates from petroleum. But some speculative minds +consider natural gas to be a product of anthracite coal. The fact +that the great supply-field of natural gas in Western Pennsylvania, +New York, West Virginia, and Eastern Ohio is a bituminous and not +an anthracite region does not of itself confute that theory, as the +argument for it is, that the gas may be tapped at a remote distance +from the source of supply; and, whereas anthracite is not a +gas-coal, while bituminous is, we are told to suppose that the gas +which once may have been a component part of the anthracite was +long ago expelled by Nature, and has since been held in vast +reservoirs with slight waste, awaiting the use of man. That is one +theory; and upon that supposition it is suggested that anthracite +may exist below the bituminous beds of the region lying between the +Alleghany Mountains and the Great Lakes. Another theory is, that +natural gas is a product of the sea-weed deposited in the Devonian +stratum. But, leaving modern theories on the origin of natural gas +and petroleum, we may suppose the natural gas jets now burning in +the fissures of the Caucasus to have started up in flames about the +time when, according to the Old Testament, Noah descended from +Mount Ararat, or very soon thereafter. In the language of modern +science it would be safe to say that those flames sprang up when +the Caucasus range was raised from beneath the surface of the +universal sea. The believer in biblical chronology may say that +those fires have been burning for four thousand years--the +geologist may say for four millions.</p> + +<p>We know that Alexander the Great penetrated to the Caspian; and +in Plutarch we read: "Hence [Arbela] he marched through the +province Babylon [Media?], which immediately submitted to him, and +in Ecbatana [?] was much surprised at the sight of the place where +fire issues in a continuous stream, like a spring of water, out of +a cleft in the earth, and the stream of naphtha, which not far from +this spot flows out so abundantly as to form a large lake. This +naphtha, in other respects resembling bitumen, is so subject to +take fire that, before it touches the flame, it will kindle at the +very light that surrounds it, and often inflames the intermediate +air also. The barbarians, to show the power and nature of it, +sprinkled the street that led to the king's lodgings with little +drops of it, and, when it was almost night, stood at the farther +end with torches, which being applied to the moistened places, the +first taking fire, instantly, as quick as a man could think of it, +it caught from one end to another in such manner that the whole +street was one continued flame. Among those who used to wait upon +the king, and find occasion to amuse him, when he anointed and +washed himself, there was one Athenophanus, an Athenian, who +desired him to make an experiment of the naphtha upon Stephanus, +who stood by in the bathing place, a youth with a ridiculously ugly +face, whose talent was singing well. 'For,' said he, 'if it take +hold of him, and is not put out, it must undeniably be allowed to +be of the most invincible strength.' The youth, as it happened, +readily consented to undergo the trial, and as soon as he was +anointed and rubbed with it, his whole body was broke out into such +a flame, and was so seized by the fire, that Alexander was in the +greatest perplexity and alarm for him, and not without reason; for +nothing could have prevented him from being consumed by it if, by +good chance, there had not been people at hand with a great many +vessels of water for the service of the bath, with all which they +had much ado to extinguish the fire; and his body was so burned all +over that he was not cured of it a good while after. And thus it +was not without some plausibility that they endeavor to reconcile +the fable to truth, who say this was the drug in the tragedies with +which Medea anointed the crown and veils which she gave to Creon's +daughter."</p> + +<p>An interesting reference to the fire-worshipers of the Caucasus +is contained in the "History of Zobeide," a tale of the wonderful +Arabian Nights Entertainment. It runs thus:</p> + +<p>"I bought a ship at Balsora, and freighted it; my sisters chose +to go with me, and we set sail with a fair wind. Some weeks after, +we cast anchor in a harbor which presented itself, with intent to +water the ship. As I was tired with having been so long on board, I +landed with the first boat, and walked up into the country. I soon +came in sight of a great town. When I arrived there, I was much +surprised to see vast numbers of people in different postures, but +all immovable. The merchants were in their shops, the soldiery on +guard; every one seemed engaged in his proper avocation, yet all +were become as stone.... I heard the voice of a man reading Al +Koran.... Being curious to know why he was the only living creature +in the town,... he proceeded to tell me that the city was the +metropolis of a kingdom now governed by his father; that the former +king and all his subjects were Magi, worshipers of fire and of +Nardoun. the ancient king of the giants who rebelled against God. +'Though I was born,' continued he, 'of idolatrous parents, it was +my good fortune to have a woman governess who was a strict observer +of the Mohammedan religion. She taught me Arabic from Al Koran; by +her I was instructed in the true religion, which I would never +afterward renounce. About three years ago a thundering voice was +heard distinctly throughout the city, saying, "Inhabitants, abandon +the worship of Nardoun and of fire, and worship the only true God, +who showeth mercy!" This voice was heard three years successively, +but no one regarded it. At the end of the last year all the +inhabitants were in an instant turned to stone. I alone was +preserved.'"</p> + +<p>In the foregoing tale we doubtless have reference to the +destruction of Baku, on the Caspian (though to sail from Balsora to +Baku is impossible), and the driving away into India, by the Arabs +under Caliph Omar, of all who refused to renounce fire-worship and +adopt the creed of the Koran. The turning of the refractory +inhabitants into stone is probably the Arabian storyteller's +figurative manner of referring to the finding of dead bodies in a +mummified condition.</p> + +<p>It is known that the Egyptians made use of bitumen, in some +form, in the preservation of their dead, a fact with which the +Arabians were familiar. As the Magi held the four elements of +earth, air, fire, and water to be sacred, they feared to either +bury, burn, sink, or expose to air the corrupting bodies of their +deceased. Therefore, it was their practice to envelop the corpse in +a coating of wax or bitumen, so as to hermetically seal it from +immediate contact with either of the four sacred elements. Hence +the idea of all the bodies of the Magi left at Baku being turned to +stone, while only the true believer in Mohammed remained in the +flesh.</p> + +<p>Marco Polo, the famous traveler of the thirteenth century, makes +reference to the burning jets of the Caucasus, and those fires are +known to the Russians as continuing in existence since the army of +Peter the Great wrested the regions about the Caspian from the +modern Persians. The record of those flaming jets of natural gas is +thus brought down in an unbroken chain of evidence from remote +antiquity to the present day, and they are still burning.</p> + +<p>Numerous Greek and Latin writers testify to the known existence +of petroleum about the shores of the Mediterranean two thousand +years ago. More modern citations may, however, be read with equal +interest. In the "Journal of Sir Philip Skippon's Travels in +France," in 1663, we find the following curious entries:</p> + +<p>"We stayed in Grenoble till August 1st, and one day rode out, +and, after twice fording the river Drac (which makes a great wash) +at a league's distance, went over to Pont de Clef, a large arch +across that river, where we paid one sol a man; a league further we +passed through a large village called Vif, and about a league +thence by S. Bathomew, another village, and Chasteau Bernard, where +we saw a flame breaking out of the side of a bank, which is +vulgarly called La Fountaine qui Brule; it is by a small rivulet, +and sometimes breaks out in other places; just before our coming +some other strangers had fried eggs here. The soil hereabouts is +full of a black stone, like our coal, which, perhaps, is the +continual fuel of the fire.... Near Peroul, about a league from +Montpelier, we saw a boiling fountain (as they call it), that is, +the water did heave up and bubble as if it boiled. This phenomenon +in the water was caused by a vapor ascending out of the earth +through the water, as was manifest, for if that one did but dig +anywhere near the place, and pour water upon the place new digged, +one should observe in it the like bubbling, the vapor arising not +only in that place where the fountain was, but all thereabout; the +like vapor ascending out of the earth and causing such ebullition +in water it passes through hath been observed in Mr. Hawkley's +ground, about a mile from the town of Wigan, in Lancashire, which +vapor, by the application of a lighted candle, paper; or the like, +catches fire and flames vigorously. Whether or not this vapor at +Peroul would in like manner catch fire and burn I cannot say, it +coming not in our minds to make the experiment.... At Gabian, about +a day's journey from Montpelier, in the way to Beziers, is a +fountain of petroleum. It burns like oil, is of a pungent scent, +and a blackish color. It distills out of several places of the rock +all the year long, but most in the summer time. They gather it up +with ladles and put it in a barrel set on end, which hath a spigot +just at the bottom. When they have put in a good quantity, they +open the spigot to let out the water, and when the oil begins to +come presently stop it. They pay for the farm of this fountain +about fifty crowns per annum. We were told by one Monsieur +Beaushoste, a chymist in Montpelier, that petroleum was the very +same with oil of jet, and not to be distinguished from it by color, +taste, smell, consistency, virtues, or any other accident, as he +had by experience found upon the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, in +several places, as at Berre, near Martague, in Provence; at +Messina, in Sicily, etc."</p> + +<p>In Harris' "Voyages," published in 1764, an article on the +empire of Persia thus refers to petroleum:</p> + +<p>"In several parts of Persia we meet with naphtha, both white and +black; it is used in painting and varnish, and sometimes in physic, +and there is an oil extracted from it which is applied to several +uses. The most famous springs of naphtha are in the neighborhood of +Baku, which furnish vast quantities, and there are also upward of +thirty springs about Shamasky, both in the province of Schirwan. +The Persians use it as oil for their lamps and in making fireworks, +of which they are extremely fond, and in which they are great +proficients."</p> + +<p>Petroleum has long been known to exist also in the northern part +of Italy, the cities of Parma and Genoa having been for many years +lighted with it.</p> + +<p>In the province of Szechuen, China, natural gas is obtained from +beds of rock-salt at a depth of fifteen to sixteen hundred feet. +Being brought to the surface, it is conveyed in bamboo tubes and +used for lighting as well as for evaporating water in the +manufacture of salt. It is asserted that the Chinese used this +natural gas for illuminating purposes long before gas-lighting was +known to the Europeans. Remembering the unprogressive character of +Chinese arts and industries, there is ground for the belief that +they may have been using this natural gas as an illuminant these +hundreds of years.</p> + +<p>In the United States the existence of petroleum was known to the +Pilgrim Fathers, who doubtless obtained their first information of +it from the Indians, from whom, in New York and western +Pennsylvania, it was called Seneka oil. It was otherwise known as +"British" oil and oil of naphtha, and was considered "a sovereign +remedy for an inward bruise."</p> + +<p>The record of natural gas in this country is not so complete as +that of petroleum, but we learn that an important gas spring was +known in West Bloomfleld, N.Y., seventy years ago. In 1864 a well +was sunk to a depth of three hundred feet upon that vein, from +which a sufficient supply of gas was obtained to illuminate and +heat the city of Rochester (twenty-five miles distant), it was +supposed. But the pipes which were laid for that purpose, being of +wood, were unfitted to withstand the pressure, in consequence of +which the scheme was abandoned; but gas from that well is now in +use as an illuminant and as fuel both in the town of West +Bloomfield and at Honeoye Falls. The village of Fredonia, N.Y., has +been using natural gas in lighting the streets for thirty years or +there about. On Big Sewickley Creek, in Westmoreland County, Pa., +natural gas was used for evaporating water in the manufacture of +salt thirty years ago, and gas is still issuing at the same place. +Natural gas has been in use in several localities in eastern Ohio +for twenty-five years, and the wells are flowing as vigorously as +when first known. It has also been in use in West Virginia for a +quarter of a century, as well as in the petroleum region of western +Pennsylvania, where it has long been utilized in generating steam +for drilling oil wells.</p> + +<p>In 1826 the <i>American Journal of Science</i> contained a +letter from Dr. S.P. Hildreth, who, in writing of the products of +the Muskingum (Ohio) Valley, said: "They have sunk two wells, which +are now more than four hundred feet in depth; one of them affords a +very strong and pure salt water, but not in great quantity; the +other discharges such vast quantities of petroleum, or, as it is +vulgarly called, 'Seneka oil,' and besides is so subject to such +tremendous explosions of gas, as to force out all the water and +afford nothing but gas for several days, that they make little or +no salt."</p> + +<p>The value of the foregoing references is to be found in the +testimony they offer as to the duration of the supply of natural +gas. Whether we look to the eternal flaming fissures of the +Caucasus, or to New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, there is much to +encourage the belief that the flow of natural gas may be, like the +production of petroleum, increased rather than diminished by the +draughts made upon it. Petroleum, instead of diminishing in +quantity by the millions of barrels drawn from western Pennsylvania +in the last quarter of a century, seems to increase, greater wells +being known in 1884 than in any previous year, and prices having +fallen from two dollars per bottle for "Seneka oil" to sixty cents +per barrel for the same article under the name of crude petroleum. +Hence we may assume that, as new pipe-lines are laid, the supply of +natural gas available for use in the great manufacturing district +of Pittsburg and vicinity will be increased, and the price of this +fuel diminished in a corresponding ratio.</p> + +<p>Natural gas is now supplied in Pittsburg at a small discount on +the actual cost of coal used last year in the large manufacturing +establishments, an additional saving being made in dispensing with +firemen and avoidance of hauling ashes from the boiler-room. It is +supplied, for domestic purposes, at twenty cents per thousand cubic +feet, which is not cheaper than coal in Pittsburg, but it is a +thousand per cent cleaner, and in that respect it promises to prove +a great blessing, not only to those who can afford to use it, but +to the community at large, in the hope held out that the smoke and +soot nuisance may be abated in part, if not wholly subdued, and +that gleams of sunshine there may become less phenomenal in the +future than they are at the present time. Twenty cents per thousand +feet is too high a price to bring gas into general use for domestic +purposes in a city where coal is cheap. Ten cents would be too +much, and no doubt five cents per thousand would pay a profit. The +fact is, the dealers in natural gas appear to be somewhat doubtful +of the continuity of supply, and anxious to get back the cost of +wells and pipes in one year, which, if successful, would be an +enormous return on the investment.</p> + +<p>There are objections to the use of natural gas by mill +operators--that it costs too much, and that the continuity of the +supply is uncertain; by heads of families, that it is odorless, +and, in case of leakage from the pipes, may fill a room and be +ready to explode without giving the fragrant warning offered by +common gas. Both of these objections will probably disappear under +the experience that time must furnish. More wells and tributary +lines will lessen the cost and tend to regulate the pressure for +manufacturers. Cut-offs and escape pipes outside of the house will +reduce the risk of explosions within. The danger in the house may +also be lessened by providing healthful ventilation in all +apartments wherein gas shall be consumed.</p> + +<p>This subject of, the ventilation of rooms in which common gas is +ordinarily used is beginning to attract attention. It is stated, +upon scientific authority, that a jet of common gas, equivalent to +twelve sperm candles, consumes 5.45 cubic feet of oxygen per hour, +producing 3.21 feet of carbonic acid gas, vitiating, according to +Dr. Tidy's "Handbook of Chemistry," 348.25 cubic feet of air. In +every five cubic feet of pure air in a room there is one cubic foot +of oxygen and four of nitrogen. Without oxygen human life, as well +as light, would become extinct. It is asserted that one common +gas-jet consumes as much oxygen as five persons.</p> + +<p>Carbonic acid gas is the element which, in deep mines and +vaults, causes almost instant insensibility and suffocation to +persons subjected to its influences, and instantly extinguishes the +flame of any light lowered into it. The normal quantity of this gas +contained in the air we breathe is 0.04; one per cent, of it causes +distress in breathing; two per cent, is dangerous; four per cent, +extinguishes life, and four per cent of it is contained in air +expelled from the lungs. According to Dr. Tidy's table, each +ordinary jet of common gas contributes to the air of a room sixteen +by ten feet on the sides and nine feet high, containing 1,440 cubic +feet of air, twenty-two per cent, of carbonic acid gas, which, +continued for twenty-four hours without ventilation, would reach +the fatal four per cent.</p> + +<p>Prof. Huxley gives, as a result of chemical analyses, the +following table of ratio of carbonic-acid gas in the atmosphere at +the points named:</p> + +<pre> + On the Thames, at London 0.0343 + In the streets of London 0.0380 + Top of Ben Nevis 0.0327 + Dress circle of Haymarket theater (11:30 P.M.) 0.0757 + Chancery Court (seven feet from the ground) 0.1930 + From working mines (average of 339 samples) 0.7853 + Largest amount in a Cornish mine 2.0500 +</pre> + +<p>In addition to the consumption of oxygen and production of +carbonic acid by the use of common gas, the gas itself, owing to +defectiveness of the burner, is projected into the air. Now, +considering the deleterious nature of all illuminating gases, the +reasons for perfect ventilation of rooms in which natural gas is +used for heating and culinary purposes are self-evident, not alone +as a protection against explosions, but for the health of the +occupants of the house, remembering that a larger supply of oxygen +is said to be necessary for the perfect combustion of natural than +of common gas.</p> + +<p>Carbonic oxide, formed by the consumption of carbon, with an +insufficient supply of air, is the fatal poison of the charcoal +furnace, not infrequently resorted to, in close rooms, as a means +of suicide. The less sufficient the air toward perfect combustion, +the smaller the quantity of carbonic acid and the greater the +amount of carbonic oxide. That is to say, at the time of ignition +the chief product of combustion is carbonic oxide, and, unless +sufficient air be added to convert the oxide to carbonic acid, a +decidedly dangerous product is given off into the room. Yet, by +means of a flue to carry off the poisonous gases from burning jets, +the combustion of gas, creating a current, is made an aid to +ventilation. Unfortunately, this important fact, if commonly known, +is not much heeded by heads of families or builders of houses. But +in any large community where gas comes into general use as an +article of fuel, this fact will gradually become recognized and +respected.</p> + +<p>The property of indicating the presence of very minute +quantities of gas in a room is claimed for an instrument recently +described by C. Von Jahn in the <i>Revue Industrielle</i>. This is +a porous cup, inverted and closed by a perforated rubber stopper. +Through the perforation in the stopper the interior of the cup is +connected with a pressure gauge containing colored water. It is +claimed that the diffusion of gas through the earthenware raises +the level of the water in the gauge so delicately that the presence +of one-half of one per cent, of gas may be detected by it. Other +instruments of a slightly different character are credited by their +inventors with most sensitive power of indicating gas-leakages, but +their practical efficiency remains to be demonstrated. An automatic +cut-off for use outside of houses in which natural gas is consumed +has been invented, but this writer knows nothing of either its mode +of action or its effectiveness.</p> + +<p>The great economic question, however, connected with the use of +natural gas is, how will it affect the industrial interests of the +country? There are grounds for the belief that a sufficient supply +of natural gas may be found in the vicinity of Pittsburg to reduce +the cost of fuel to such a degree as to make competition in the +manufacture of iron, steel, and glass, in any part of the country +where coal must be used, out of the question. Such a condition of +affairs would probably result in driving the great manufacturing +concerns of the country into the region where natural gas is to +obtained. That may be anywhere from the western slope of the +Alleghanies to Lake Erie or to Lake Michigan. And, if the cost of +producing iron, steel, and glass can be so cheapened by the new +fuel, the tariff question may undergo some important modification +in politics. For, if the reduction in the cost of fuel should ever +become an offset to the lower rate of wages in Europe, the +manufacturers of Pennsylvania, who have long been the chief support +of the protective policy of the country, may lose their present +interest in that question, and leave the tariff to shift for itself +elsewhere. It should be remembered that natural gas is not, as yet, +much cheaper than coal in Pittsburg. But it may safely be assumed +that it will cheapen, as petroleum has done, by a development of +the territory in which it is known to exist in enormous quantities. +It is quite possible that, instead of buying gas, many factories +will bore for it with success, or remove convenient to its natural +sources, so that a gas well may ultimately become an essential part +of the "plant" of a mill or factory. Even now coal cannot compete +with gas in the manufacture of window glass, for, the gas being +free from sulphur and other impurities contained in coal, produces +a superior quality of glass; so that in this branch of industry the +question of superiority seems already settled.</p> + +<p>Having said thus much of an industry now in its infancy but +promising great growth, I submit tables of analyses of common and +of the natural or marsh gas, the latter from a paper recently +prepared by a committee of the Engineers' Society of Western +Pennsylvania, and for the use of which I am indebted to that +association:</p> + +<p>COMMON GAS.</p> + +<pre> + Hydrogen 46.0 + Light carbureted hydrogen (marsh gas) 39.5 + Condensible hydrocarbon 3.8 + Carbonic oxide 7.5 + " acid 0.6 + Aqueous vapor 2.0 + Oxygen 0.1 + Nitrogen 0.5 + ----- + 100.0 +</pre> + +<p>Natural gas is now conveyed to Pittsburg through four lines of +5-5/8 inch pipe and one line of eight inch pipe. A line of ten inch +pipe is also being laid. The pressure of the gas at the wells is +from 150 to 230 pounds to the square inch. As the wells are on one +side eighteen and on the other about twenty-five miles distant, and +as the consumption is variable, the pressure at the city cannot be +given. Greater pressure might be obtained at the wells, but this +would increase the liability to leakage and bursting of pipes. For +the prevention of such casualties safety valves are provided at the +wells, permitting the escape of all superfluous gas. The enormous +force of this gas may be appreciated from a comparison of, say, 200 +pounds pressure at the wells with a two ounce pressure of common +gas for ordinary lighting. The amount of natural gas now furnished +for use in Pittsburg is supposed to be something like 25,000,000 +cubic feet per day; the ten inch pipe now laying is estimated to +increase the supply to 40,000,000 feet. The amount of manufactured +gas used for lighting the same city probably falls below 3,000,000 +feet.</p> + +<p>About fifty mills and factories of various kinds in Pittsburg +now use natural gas. It is used for domestic purposes in two +hundred houses. Its superiority over coal in the manufacture of +window glass is unquestioned. That it is not used in all the glass +houses of Pittsburg is due to the fact that its advantages were not +fully known when the furnaces were fired last summer, and it costs +a large sum to permit the furnaces to cool off after being heated +for melting. When the fires cool down, and before they are started +up again, the furnaces now using coal will doubtless all be changed +so as to admit natural gas. The superiority of French over American +glass is said to be due to the fact that the French use wood and +the Americans coal in their furnaces, wood being free from sulphur, +phosphorus, etc. The substitution of gas for coal, while not +increasing the cost, improves the quality of American glass, making +it as nearly perfect as possible.</p> + +<p>While the gas is not used as yet in any smelting furnace nor in +the Bessemer converters, it is preferred in open hearth and +crucible steel furnaces, and is said to be vastly superior to coal +for puddling. The charge of a puddling furnace, consisting of 500 +pounds of pig-metal and eighty pounds of "fix," produces with coal +fuel 490 to 500 pounds of iron. With gas for fuel, it is claimed +that the same charge will yield 520 to 530 pounds of iron. In an +iron mill of thirty furnaces, running eight heats each for +twenty-four hours, this would make a difference in favor of the gas +of, say, 8 x 30 x 25 = 6,000 pounds of iron per day. This is an +important item of itself, leaving out the cost of firing with coal +and hauling ashes.</p> + +<p>For generating steam in large establishments, one man will +attend a battery of twelve or twenty boilers, using gas as fuel, +keep the pressure uniform, and have the fire room clean as a +parlor. For burning brick and earthenware, gas offers the double +advantage of freedom from smoke and a uniform heat. The use of gas +in public bakeries promises the abolition of the ash-box and its +accumulation of miscellaneous filth, which is said to often +impregnate the "sponge" with impurities.</p> + +<p>In short, the advantages of natural gas as a fuel are so obvious +to those who have given it a trial, that the prediction is made +that, should the supply fail, many who are now using it will never +return to the consumption of crude coal in factories, but, if +necessary, convert it or petroleum into gas at their own works.</p> + +<p>It seems, indeed, that until we shall have acquired the wisdom +enabling us to conserve and concentrate the heat of the sun, gas +must be the fuel of the future.--<i>Popular Science +Monthly</i>.</p> + +<pre> + TABLE OF ANALYSIS OF NATURAL GAS--FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. + _____________________________________________________________________ + | | | | | | | | + | CONSTITUENTS | [2.] | [3.] | [6.] | [7.] | [8.] | [9.] | + |_______________|________|________|________|________|________|_________ + | | | | | | | | + | Hydrogen | .... | .... | 6.10 | 13.50 | 22.50 | 4.79 | + | | | | | | | | + | Marsh Gas | 82.41 | 96.50 | 75.44 | 80.11 | 60.27 | 89.65 | + | | | | | | | | + | Ethane | .... | .... | 18.12 | 5.72 | 6.80 | 4.39 | + | | | | | | | | + | Propane | .... | .... | trace. | .... | .... | trace. | + | | | | | | | | + | Carbonic acid | 10.11 | .... | 0.34 | 0.66 | 2.28 | 0.35 | + | | | | | | | | + | Carbonic oxide| .... | 0.50 | trace. | trace. | trace. | 0.26 | + | | | | | | | | + | Nitrogen | 4.31 | .... | .... | .... | 7.32 | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Oxygen | 0.23 | 2.00 | .... | .... | 0.83 | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | "Illuminating | 2.94 | 1.00 | .... | .... | .... | 0.56 | + | hydrocarbons."|________|________|________|________|________|________| + | | | | | | | | + | | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 99.99 | 100.00 | 100.00 | + |_______________|________|________|________|________|________|________| + | | + | Specific gravity 0.693 0.692 0.6148 0.5119 0.5580 | + |_____________________________________________________________________| + ______________________________________________________________________ + | | | | | | | | + | CONSTITUENTS | [10.] | [12.] | [14.] | [15.] | [16.] | [17.] | + |_______________|________|________|________|________|________|_________ + | | | | | | | | + | Hydrogen | .... | 19.56 | .... | 0.98 | .... | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Marsh Gas | 96.34 | 78.24 | 47.37 | 93.09 | 80.69 | 95.42 | + | | | | | | | | + | Ethane | .... | .... | .... | .... | 4.75 | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Propane | .... | .... | .... | .... | .... | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Carbonic acid | 3.64 | .... | 3.10 | 2.18 | 6.44 | 0.60 | + | | | | | | | | + | Carbonic oxide| | .... | .... | .... | .... | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Nitrogen | | .... | 49.39 | 0.49 | 8.12 | 3.98 | + | | | | | | | | + | Oxygen | | 2.20 | 0.17 | .... | .... | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | "Illuminating | [10.] | .... | .... | 3.26 | .... | .... | + | hydrocarbons."|________|________|________|________|________|________| + | | | | | | | | + | | | 100.00 | 100.03 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | + |_______________|________|________|________|________|________|________| + | | + |Specific gravity 0.5923 0.56 | + |_____________________________________________________________________| +<br> + Petroleum is composed of about 85 per cent of carbon and 15 per cent of + nitrogen. +<br> + Locations: +<br> + 1. Petrolia, Canada. + 2. West Bloomfield, N.Y. + 3. Olean, N.Y. + 4. Fredonis, N.Y. + 5. Pioneer Run, Venango Co., Pa. + 6. Burn's Well, near St. Joe., Butler Co., Pa. + 7. Harvey Well, Butler Co., Pa. + 8. Cherry Tree, Indiana Co., Pa. + 9. Leechburg, Pa. + 10. Creighton, Pa. + 11. Penn Fuel Co.'s Well, Murraysville, Pa. + 12. Fuel Gas Co.'s Well, Murraysville. + 13. Roger's Gulch, Wirt Co., W. Va. + 14. Gas from Marsh Ground + 15. Baku, on the Caspian Sea. + 16. Gas occluded in Wigan cannel-coal. + 17. Blower in coal-mine. South Wales. +<br> + Notes: +<br> + 1. Chiefly marsh-gas with ethane and some carbonic acid. + 4. A mixture of marsh-gas, ethane and butane. + 5. Chiefly propane, with small quantities of carbonic acid and + nitrogen. + 10. Trace of heavy hydrocarbons. + 11. Marsh-gas, with a little carbonic acid. + 13. Chiefly marsh-gas, with small quantities of nitrogen and + 15.86 per cent + carbonic acid. +<br> + References: +<br> + 1. Fouqué, "Comptes Rendus," lxvii, p. 1045. + 2. H. Wurtz, "Am. Jour. Arts and Sci." (2), xlix, p. 336. + 3. Robert Young. + 4. Fouqué, "Comptes Rendus," lxvii. p. 1045. + 5. Fouqué, "Comptes Rendus," lxvii. p. 1045. + 6. S.P. Sadler, "Report L, 2d Geol. Sur. Pa.," p. 153. + 7. S.P. Sadler, "Report L, 3d Geol. Sur. Pa.," p. 152. + 8. S.P. Sadler, "Report L, 3d Geol. Sur. Pa.," p. 153. + 9. S.P. Sadler, "Report L, 3d Geol. Sur. Pa.," p. 153. + 10. F.C. Phillips. + 11. Robert Young. + 12. Rogers. + 13. Fouqué, "Comptes Rendus," lxvii, p. 1045. + 14. Bischof's Chemical Geology," I, p. 730. + 15. Bischof's Chemical Geology," I, p. 730. + 16. J.W. Thomas, London, "Chemical Society's Journal," 1876, p. 793. + 17. Same, 1875, p. 793. +</pre> + +<hr> +<p><a name="11"></a></p> + +<h2>CLOSING LEAKAGES FOR PACKING.</h2> + +<h3>By L. C. LEVOIR.</h3> + +<p>The mineral asbestos is but a very poor packing material in +steam-boilers. Moreover, it acts as a strong grinding material on +all moving parts.</p> + +<p>For some years I have tested the applicability of artificial +precipitates to close the holes in boilers, cylinder-covers, and +stuffing boxes. I took, generally with the best success, alternate +layers of hemp-cotton, thread, and absorbent paper, all well +saturated with the chlorides of calcium and magnesium. The next +layers of the same fiber are moistened with silicate of soda. By +pressure the fluids are mixed and the pores are closed. A stuffing +box filled with this mixture has worked three years without +grinding the piston-rod.</p> + +<p>In the same manner I close the screw-thread hole in gas tubes +used for conducting steam. I moisten the thread in the sockets with +oleic acid from the candle-works, and dust over it a mixture of 1 +part of minium, 2 parts of quick-lime, and 1 part of linseed powder +(without the oil). When the tube is screwed in the socket, the +powder mixes with the oleic acid. The water coming in at first +makes the linseed powder viscid. Later the steam forming the oleate +of lime and the oleate of lead, on its way to the outer air, +presses it in the holes and closes them perfectly.</p> + +<p>After a year in use the tubes can be unscrewed with ease, and +the screw threads are perfectly smooth.</p> + +<p>With this kind of packing only one exception must be made--that +is, it is only tight under pressure; condensation or vacuum must be +thoroughly avoided.--<i>Chem. News</i>.</p> + +<hr> +<h2>LUMINOUS PAINT.</h2> + +<p>In answer to various inquiries concerning the manufacture of +this article, we give herewith the process of William Henry +Balmain, the original discoverer of luminous paint, and also other +processes. These particulars are derived from the letters patent +granted in this country to the parties named.</p> + +<p>Balmain's invention was patented in England in 1877, and in this +country in 1882. It is styled as Improvements in Painting, +Varnishing, and Whitewashing, of which the following is a +specification:</p> + +<p>The said invention consists in a luminous paint, the body of +which is a phosphorescent compound, or is composed in part of such +a compound, and the vehicle of which is such as is used as the +vehicle in ordinary paint compounds, viz., one which becomes dry by +evaporation or oxidation.</p> + +<p>The objector article to which such paint or varnish or wash is +applied is itself rendered visible in the darkest place, and more +or less capable of imparting light to other objects, so as to +render them visible also. The phosphorescent substance found most +suitable for the purpose is a compound obtained by simply heating +together a mixture of lime and sulphur, or carbonate of lime and +sulphur, or some of the various substances containing in themselves +both lime and sulphur--such, for example, as alabaster, gypsum, and +the like--with carbon or other agent to remove a portion of the +oxygen contained in them, or by heating lime or carbonate of lime +in a gas or vapor containing sulphur.</p> + +<p>The vehicle to be used for the luminous paint must be one which +will dry by evaporation or oxidation, in order that the paint may +not become soft or fluid by heat or be liable to be easily rubbed +off by accident or use from the articles to which it has been +applied. It may be any of the vehicles commonly used in +oil-painting or any of those commonly used in what is known as +"distemper" painting or whitewashing, according to the place or +purpose in or for which the paint is to be used.</p> + +<p>It is found the best results are obtained by mixing the +phosphorescent substance with a colorless varnish made with mastic +or other resinous body and turpentine or spirit, making the paint +as thick as convenient to apply with a brush, and with as much +turpentine or spirit as can be added without impairing the required +thickness. Good results may, however, be obtained with drying oils, +spirit varnishes, gums, pastes, sizes, and gelatine solutions of +every description, the choice being varied to meet the object in +view or the nature of the article in hand.</p> + +<p>The mode of applying the paint, varnish, or wash will also +depend upon the circumstances of the case. For example, it may be +applied by a brush, as in ordinary painting, or by dipping or +steeping the article in the paint, varnish, or wash; or a block or +type may be used to advantage, as in calico-printing and the like. +For outdoor work, or wherever the surface illuminated is exposed to +the vicissitudes of weather or to injury from mechanical +contingencies, it is desirable to cover it with glass, or, if the +article will admit of it, to glaze it over with a flux, as in +enameling, or as in ordinary pottery, and this may be accomplished +without injury to the effect, even when the flux or glaze requires +a red heat for fusion.</p> + +<p>Among other applications of the said invention which may be +enumerated, it is particularly advantageous for rendering visible +clock or watch faces and other indicators--such, for example, as +compasses and the scales of barometers or thermometers--during the +night or in dark places during the night time. In applying the +invention to these and other like purposes there may be used either +phosphorescent grounds with dark figures or dark grounds and +phosphorescent figures or letters, preferring the former. In like +manner there may be produced figures and letters for use on +house-doors and ends of streets, wherever it is not convenient or +economical to have external source of light, signposts, and +signals, and names or marks to show entries to avenues or gates, +and the like.</p> + +<p>The invention is also applicable to the illumination of railway +carriages by painting with phosphorescent paint a portion of the +interior, thus obviating the necessity for the expense and +inconvenience of the use of lamps in passing through tunnels. It +may also be applied externally as warning-lights at the front and +end of trains passing through tunnels, and in other similar cases, +also to ordinary carriages, either internally or externally. As a +night-light in a bed-room or in a room habitually dark, the +application has been found quite effectual, a very small proportion +of the surface rendered phosphorescent affording sufficient light +for moving about the room, or for fixing upon and selecting an +article in the midst of a number of complicated scientific +instruments or other objects.</p> + +<p>The invention may also be applied to private and public +buildings in cases where it would be economical and advantageous to +maintain for a short time a waning or twilight, so as to obviate +the necessity for lighting earlier the gas or other artificial +light. It may also be used in powder-mills and stores of powder, +and in other cases where combustion or heat would be a constant +source of danger, and generally for all purposes of artificial +light where it is applicable.</p> + +<p>In order to produce and maintain the phosphorescent light, full +sunshine is not necessary, but, on the contrary, is undesirable. +The illumination is best started by leaving the article or surface +exposed for a short time to ordinary daylight or even artificial +light, which need not be strong in order to make the illumination +continue for many hours, even twenty hours, without, the necessity +of renewed exposure.</p> + +<p>The advantages of the invention consist in obtaining for the +purposes of daily life a light which is maintained at no cost +whatever, is free from the defects and contingent dangers arising +from combustion or heat, and can be applied in many cases where all +other sources of light would be inconvenient or incapable of +application.</p> + +<p>Heretofore phosphorus has been mixed with earthy oxides, +carbonates, and sulphates, and with oxides and carbonates of metal, +as tin, zinc, magnesia, antimony, and chlorides of the same, also +crystallized acids and salts and mineral substances, and same have +been inclosed and exhibited in closely-stopped bottles as a +phosphorus; but such union I do not claim; but what I claim is:</p> + +<p>A luminous paint, the body of which is a phosphorescent +substance, or composed in part of such substance, the vehicle of +which is such as is ordinarily used in paints, viz., one which will +become dry by oxidation or evaporation, substantially as herein +described.</p> + +<p>A. Krause, of Buffalo, N.Y., obtained a patent for improvement +in phosphorescent substances dated December 30, 1879. The patentee +says: This invention relates to a substance which, by exposure to +direct or indirect sun-light, or to artificial light, is so +affected or brought into such a peculiar condition that it will +emit rays of light or become luminous in the dark.</p> + +<p>It is a well-known fact that various bodies and compositions of +matter, more especially compositions containing sulphur in +combination with earthy salts, possess the property of emitting +rays of light in the dark after having been exposed to sun-light. +All of these bodies and compositions of matter are, however, not +well adapted for practical purposes, because the light emitted by +them is either too feeble to be of any practicable utility, or +because the luminous condition is not of sufficient duration, or +because the substances are decomposed by exposure to the +atmosphere.</p> + +<p>Among the materials which have been employed with the best +results for producing these luminous compositions are sea-shells, +especially oyster-shells. I have found by practical experiments +that only the inner surface of these shells is of considerable +value in the production of luminous compositions, while the body of +the shell, although substantially of the same chemical composition, +does not, to any appreciable extent, aid in producing the desired +result. It follows from this observation that the smallest shells, +which contain the largest surface as compared with their cubic +contents, will be best adapted for this purpose.</p> + +<p>I have found that chalk, which is composed of the shells of +microscopic animals, possesses the desired property in the highest +degree; and my invention consists, therefore, of a luminous +substance composed of such chalk, sulphur, and bismuth, as will be +hereinafter fully set forth.</p> + +<p>In preparing my improved composition I take cleaned or +precipitated chalk, and subject it to the process of calcination in +a suitable crucible over a clear coal or charcoal fire for three or +four hours, or thereabout. I then add to the calcined chalk about +one-third of its weight of sulphur, and heat the mixture for from +forty-five to ninety minutes, or thereabout. A small quantity of +bismuth, in the proportion of about one per cent, or less of the +mixture, is added together with the sulphur.</p> + +<p>The metal may be introduced in the metallic form in the shape of +fillings, or in the form of a carbonate, sulphuret, sulphate, or +sulphide, or oxide, as may be most convenient.</p> + +<p>The substance produced in this manner possesses the property of +emitting light in the dark in a very high degree. An exposure to +light of very short duration, sometimes but for a moment, will +cause the substance to become luminous and to remain in this +luminous condition, under favorable circumstances, for upward of +twenty-four hours.</p> + +<p>The intensity of the light emitted by this composition after +exposure is considerable, and largely greater than the light +produced by any of the substances heretofore known.</p> + +<p>The hereinbefore described substance may be ground with oil and +used like ordinary paint; or it may be ground with any suitable +varnish or be mixed in the manner of water colors; or it may be +employed in any other suitable and well-known manner in which +paints are employed.</p> + +<p>My improved luminous substance is adapted for a great variety of +uses--for instance, for painting business and other signs, guide +boards, clock and watch dials, for making the numbers on houses and +railway cars, and for painting all surfaces which are exposed +periodically to direct or indirect light and desired to be easily +seen during the night.</p> + +<p>When applied with oil or varnish, my improved luminous substance +can be exposed to the weather in the same manner as ordinary paint +without suffering any diminution of its luminous property. I claim +as my invention the herein described luminous substance, consisting +of calcined chalk, sulphur, and bismuth, substantially as set +forth.</p> + +<p>Merrill B. Sherwood, Jr., of Buffalo, N. Y., obtained a patent +for a phosphorescent composition, dated August 9, 1881.</p> + +<p>The author says: My invention relates to an improvement in +phosphorescent illuminants.</p> + +<p>I have taken advantage of the peculiar property which obtains in +many bodies of absorbing light during the day and emitting it +during the night time.</p> + +<p>The object of my invention is the preparation by a prescribed +formula, to be hereinafter given, of a composition embodying one of +the well-known phosphorescent substances above referred to, which +will be applicable to many practical uses.</p> + +<p>With this end in view my invention consists in a phosphorescent +composition in which the chief illuminating element is monosulphide +of calcium.</p> + +<p>The composition obtained by the formula may be used either in a +powdered condition by dusting it over articles previously coated, +in whole or in part, with an adhesive substance, or it may be +intimately mixed with paints, inks, or varnishes, serving as +vehicles for its application, and in this way be applied to bodies +to render them luminous.</p> + +<p>The formula for obtaining the composition is as follows: To one +hundred parts of unslaked lime, that obtained from calcined oyster +shells producing the best results, add five parts of carbonate of +magnesia and five parts of ground silex. Introduce these elements +into a graphite or fire-clay crucible containing forty parts of +sulphur and twenty-five parts of charcoal, raise the whole mass +nearly or quite to a white heat, remove from the fire, allow it to +cool slowly, and, when it is cold or sufficiently lowered in +temperature to be conveniently handled, remove it from the crucible +and grind it. The method of reducing the composition will depend +upon the mode of its use. If it is to be applied as a loose powder +by the dusting process, it should be simply ground dry; but if it +is to be mixed with paint or other similar substance, it should be +ground with linseed or other suitable oil. In heating the elements +aforesaid, certain chemical combinations will have taken place, and +monosulphide of calcium, combined with carbonate of lime, magnesia, +and silex, will be the result of such ignition.</p> + +<p>If, in the firing of the elements, as above set forth, all of +the charcoal does not unite with the other elements, such +uncombined portion should be removed from the fused mass before it +is ground.</p> + +<p>If it is designed to mix the composition with paints, those +composed of zinc-white and baryta should be chosen in preference to +those composed of white lead and colored by vegetable matter, as +chemical action will take place between the composition and paint +last mentioned, and its color will be destroyed or changed by the +gradual action of the sulphureted hydrogen produced. However, by +the addition of a weak solution of gum in alcohol or other suitable +sizing to the composition, it may be used with paints containing +elements sensitive to sulphureted hydrogen without danger of +decomposing them and destroying their color.</p> + +<p>In many, and possibly in a majority of cases, the illuminating +composition applied as a dry powder will give the most satisfactory +results, in view of the tendency to chemical action between the +paint and composition when intimately mixed; in view of the fact +that by the addition to paint of any color of a sufficient quantity +of the composition to render the product luminous, the original +color of the paint will be modified or destroyed; and, also, in +view of the fact that the illuminating composition is so greatly in +excess of the paint, the proportions in which they are united being +substantially ten parts of the former to one of the latter, it will +be difficult to impart a particular color to the product of the +union without detracting from its luminosity. On the other hand, +the union of dry powder with a body already painted by the simple +force of adhesion does not establish a sufficiently intimate +relation between it and the paint to cause chemical action, the +application of a light coat of powder does not materially change +the color of the article to which it is applied; and, further, by +the use of the powder in an uncombined state its greatest +illuminating effects are obtained. Again, if the appearance in the +daytime of the article which it is desired to have appear luminous +at night is not material, it may be left unpainted and simply sized +to retain the powder.</p> + +<p>In printing it is probable that the composition will be employed +almost exclusively in the form of dry powder, as printing-ink, +normally pasty, becomes too thick to be well handled when it is +combined with powder in sufficient quantity to render the printed +surface luminous. However, the printed surface of a freshly printed +sheet may be rendered luminous by dusting the sheet with powder, +which will adhere to all of the inked and may be easily shaken from +the unmoistened surfaces thereof.</p> + +<p>I am aware that monosulphide of calcium and magnesia have before +been used together in phosphorescent compounds. What I claim is a +phosphorescent composition consisting of monosulphide of calcium, +combined with carbonate of lime, magnesia, and silex, substantially +as described.</p> + +<p>Orlando Thowless, of Newark, N.J., obtained a patent for a +process of manufacturing phosphorescent substances dated November +8, 1881. The inventor says: The object of my invention is to +manufacture phosphorescent materials of intense luminosity at low +cost and little loss of materials.</p> + +<p>I first take clam shells and, after cleaning, place them in a +solution composed of about one part of commercial nitric acid and +three parts of water, in which the shells are allowed to remain +about twenty minutes. The shells are then to be well rinsed in +water, placed in a crucible, and heated to a red heat for about +four hours. They are then removed and placed, while still red-hot, +in a saturated solution of sea salt, from which they are +immediately removed and dried. After this treatment and exposure to +light the shells will have a blood-red luminous appearance in the +dark. The shells thus prepared are used with sulphur and the +phosphide and sulphide of calcium to produce a phosphorescent +composition, as follows: One hundred parts, by weight, of the +shells, prepared as above, are intimately mixed with twenty parts, +by weight, of sulphur. This mixture is placed in a crucible or +retort and heated to a white heat for four or five hours, when it +is to be removed and forty parts more of sulphur, one and one-half +parts of calcium phosphide, and one-half part of chemically pure +sulphide of calcium added. The mixture is then heated for about +ninety minutes to an extreme white heat. When cold, and after +exposure to light, this mixture will become luminous. Instead of +these two ignitions, the same object may be in a measure +accomplished by the addition of the full amount of sulphur with the +phosphide and sulphide of calcium and raising it to a white heat +but once. The calcium phosphide is prepared by igniting phosphorus +in connection with newly slaked lime made chemically pure by +calcination. The condition of the shells when the sulphur is added +is not material; but the heat renders them porous and without +moisture, so that they will absorb the salt to as great an extent +as possible. Where calcined shells are mixed with solid salt, the +absorbing power of the shells is greatly diminished by the +necessary exposure, and there will be a lack of uniformity in the +saturation. On the contrary, by plunging the red-hot shells in the +saline solution the greatest uniformity is attained.</p> + +<p>Instead of using clam shells as the base of my improved +composition, I may use other forms of sea shells--such as oyster +shells, etc.</p> + +<p>I claim as new:</p> + +<p>1. The herein described process of manufacturing phosphorescent +materials, which consists in heating sea shells red-hot, treating +them while heated with a bath of brine, then, after removal from +the bath, mixing sulphur and phosphide and sulphide of calcium +therewith, and finally subjecting the mixture to a white heat, +substantially as and for the purpose described.</p> + +<p>2. The described process, which consists in placing clean and +red-hot clam shells in a saturated solution of sea salt, and then +drying them, for the purpose specified.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="12"></a></p> + +<h2>BOXWOOD AND ITS SUBSTITUTES.</h2> + +<p>[Footnote: Prize essay written for the International Forestry +Exhibition, Edinburgh.]</p> + +<h3>By JOHN R. JACKSON. A.L.S., Curator of the Museums, Royal +Gardens, Ken.</h3> + +<p>The importance of the discovery of a hard, compact, and even +grained wood, having all the characteristics of boxwood, and for +which it would form an efficient substitute, cannot be +overestimated; and if such a discovery should be one of the results +of the present Forestry Exhibition, one of its aims will have been +fulfilled.</p> + +<p>For several years past the gradual diminution in the supplies of +boxwood, and the deterioration in its quality, have occupied the +attention of hardwood merchants, of engravers, and of scientific +men.</p> + +<p>Of merchants, because of the difficulties in obtaining supplies +to meet the ever increasing demand; of engravers, because of the +higher prices asked for the wood, and the difficulty of securing +wood of good size and firm texture, so that the artistic excellence +of the engraving might be maintained; and of the man of science, +who was specially interested in the preservation of the indigenous +boxwood forests, and in the utilization of other woods, natives, it +might be, of far distant countries, whose adaptation would open not +only a new source of revenue, but would also be the means of +relieving the strain upon existing boxwood forests.</p> + +<p>While by far the most important use of boxwood is for engraving +purposes, it must be borne in mind that the wood is also applied to +numerous other uses, such, for instance, as weaving shuttles, for +mathematical instruments, turnery purposes, carving, and for +various ornamental articles, as well as for inlaying in cabinet +work. The question, therefore, of finding suitable substitutes for +boxwood divides itself into two branches, first, directly for +engraving purposes, and, secondly, to supply its place for the +other uses to which it is now put. This, to a certain extent, might +set free some of the boxwood so used, and leave it available for +the higher purposes of art. At the same time, it must not be +forgotten that much of the wood used for general purposes is +unsuited for engraving, and can only therefore be used by the +turner or cabinet maker. Nevertheless, the application of woods +other than box for purposes for which that wood is now used would +tend to lessen the demand for box, and thus might have an effect in +lowering the price.</p> + +<p>So far back as 1875 a real uneasiness began to be felt as to the +future supplies of box. In the <i>Gardeners' Chronicle</i> for +September 25, of that year, page 398, it is said that the boxwood +forests of Mingrelia in the Caucasian range were almost exhausted. +Old forests, long abandoned, were even then explored in search of +trees that might have escaped the notice of former proprietors, and +wood that was rejected by them was, in 1875, eagerly purchased at +high prices for England. The export of wood was at that time +prohibited from Abhasia and all the government forests in the +Caucasus. A report, dated at about the same period from Trebizond, +points out that the Porte had prohibited the cutting of boxwood in +the crown forests. (<i>Gardeners' Chronicle</i>, Aug. 19, 1876, p. +239.) Later on, the British Consul at Tiflis says: "<i>Bona +fide</i> Caucasian boxwood may be said to be commercially +non-existent, almost every marketable tree having been exported." +(<i>Gardeners' Chronicle</i>, Dec. 6, 1879, p. 726.)</p> + +<p>The characters of boxwood are so marked and so distinct from +those of most other woods that some extracts from a report of +Messrs. J. Gardner & Sons, of London and Liverpool, addressed +to the Inspector-General of Forests in India, bearing on this +subject, will not be without value; indeed, its more general +circulation than its reprint in Mr. J.S. Gamble's "Manual of Indian +Timbers" will, it is hoped, be the means of directing attention to +this very important matter, and by pointing out the characters that +make boxwood so valuable, may be the means of directing observation +to the detection of similar characters in other woods. Messrs. +Gardner say:</p> + +<p>"The most suitable texture of wood will be found growing upon +the sides of mountains. If grown in the plains the growth is +usually too quick, and consequently the grain is too coarse, the +wood of best texture being of slow growth, and very fine in the +grain.</p> + +<p>"It should be cut down in the winter, and, if possible, stored +at once in airy wooden sheds well protected from sun and rain, and +not to have too much air through the sides of the sheds, more +especially for the wood under four inches diameter.</p> + +<p>"The boxwood also must not be piled upon the ground, but be well +skidded under, so as to be kept quite free from the effects of any +damp from the soil.</p> + +<p>"After the trees are cut down, the longer they are exposed the +more danger is there afterward of the wood splitting more than is +absolutely necessary during the necessary seasoning before shipment +to this country.</p> + +<p>"If shipped green, there is great danger of the wood sweating +and becoming mildewed during transit, which causes the wood +afterward to dry light and of a defective color, and in fact +rendering it of little value for commercial purposes.</p> + +<p>"There is no occasion to strip the bark off or to put cowdung or +anything else upon the ends of the pieces to prevent their +splitting.</p> + +<p>"Boxwood is the nearest approach to ivory of any wood known, and +will, therefore, probably gradually increase in value, as it, as +well as ivory, becomes scarcer. It is now used very considerably in +manufacturing concerns, but on account of its gradual advance in +price during the past few years, cheaper woods are in some +instances being substituted.</p> + +<p>"Small wood under four inches is used principally by flax +spinners for rollers, and by turners for various purposes, rollers +for rink skates, etc., etc., and if free from splits, is of equal +value with the larger wood. It is imported here as small as one a +half inches in diameter, but the most useful sizes are from +2½ to 3½ inches, and would therefore, we suppose, be +from fifteen to thirty or forty years in growing, while larger wood +would require fifty years and upward at least, perhaps we ought to +say one hundred years and upward. It is used principally for +shuttles, for weaving silk, linen, and cotton, and also for rule +making and wood engraving. <i>Punch, The Illustrated London News, +The Graphic</i>, and all the first class pictorial papers use large +quantities of boxwood."</p> + +<p>In 1880, Messrs. Churchill and Sim reported favorably on some +consignments of Indian boxwood, concluding with the remarks that if +the wood could be regularly placed on the market at a moderate +figure, there was no reason why a trade should not be developed in +it. Notwithstanding these prospects, which seemed promising in 1877 +and 1880, little or nothing has been accually done up to the +present time in bringing Indian boxwood into general use, in +consequence, as Mr. Gamble shows, of the cost of transit through +India. The necessity, therefore, of the discovery of some wood akin +to box is even more important now than ever it was.</p> + +<h3>BOXWOOD SUBSTITUTES.</h3> + +<p>First among the substitutes that have been proposed to replace +boxwood may be mentioned an invention of Mr. Edward Badoureau, +referred to in the <i>Gardeners' Chronicle</i>, March 23, 1878, p. +374, under the title of artificial boxwood. It is stated to consist +of some soft wood which has been subject to heavy pressure. It is +stated that some English engravers have given their opinion on this +prepared wood as follows:</p> + +<p>It has not the power of resistance of boxwood, so that it would +be imposible to make use of it, except in the shape of an electro +obtained from it, as it is too soft to sustain the pressure of a +machine, and would be easily worn out. In reply to these opinions, +Mr. Badoureau wrote: "My wood resists the wear and tear of the +press as well as boxwood, and I can show engravings of English and +French artists which have been obtained direct from the wood, and +are as perfect as they are possible to be; several of them have +been drawn by Mr. Gustave Dore."</p> + +<p>Mr. Badoureau further says that "while as an engraver he has so +high an opinion of the qualities of compressed wood as a substitute +for boxwood, as the inventor of the new process he considered that +it possesses numerous advantages both for artistic and industrial +purposes." In short, he says, "My wood is to other wood what steel +is to iron."</p> + +<p>The following woods are those which have, from time to time, +been proposed or experimented upon as substitutes for boxwood, for +engraving purposes. They are arranged according to their scientific +classification in the natural orders to which they belong:</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Pittosporeæ</i>.</h3> + +<p>1. <i>Pittosporum undulatum</i>. Vent.--A tree growing in +favorable situations to a height of forty or even sixty feet, and +is a native of New South Wales and Victoria. It furnishes a light, +even grained wood, which attracted some attention at the +International Exhibition in 1862; blocks were prepared from it, and +submitted to Prof. De la Motte, of King's College, who reported as +follows:</p> + +<p>"I consider this wood well adapted to certain kinds of wood +engraving. It is not equal to Turkey box, but it is superior to +that generally used for posters, and I have no doubt that it would +answer for the rollers of mangles and wringing machines." Mr. W.G. +Smith, in a report in the <i>Gardeners' Chronicle</i> for July 26, +1873, p. 1017, on some foreign woods which I submitted to him for +trial, says that the wood of <i>Pittosporum undulatum</i> is +suitable only for bold outlines; compared with box, it is soft and +tough, and requires more force to cut than box. The toughness of +the wood causes the tools to drag back, so that great care is +required in cutting to prevent the lines clipping. The average +diameter of the wood is from 18 to 30 inches.</p> + +<p>2. <i>Pittosporum bicolor</i>, Hook.--A closely allied species, +sometimes forty feet high, native of New South Wales and Tasmania. +This wood is stated to be decidedly superior to the last named.</p> + +<p>3. <i>Bursaria spinosa</i>, Cav.--A tree about forty feet high, +native of North, South, and West Australia, Queensland, New South +Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania, in which island it is known as +boxwood. It has been reported upon as being equal to common or +inferior box, and with further trials might be found suitable for +common subjects; it has the disadvantage, however, of blunting the +edges and points of the tools.</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Meliaceæ</i>.</h3> + +<p>4. <i>Swietenia mahagoni</i>, L. (mahogany).--A large timber +tree of Honduras, Cuba, Central America, and Mexico. It is one of +the most valuable of furniture woods, but for engraving purposes it +is but of little value, nevertheless it has been used for large, +coarse subjects. Spanish mahogany is the kind which has been so +used.</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Ilicineæ</i></h3> + +. + +<p><i>Ilex opaca</i>, L. (North American holly).--It is a widely +diffused tree, the wood of which is said to closely resemble +English holly, being white in color, and hard, with a fine grain, +so that it is used for a great number of purposes by turners, +engineers, cabinet makers, and philosophical instrument makers. For +engraving purposes it is not equal to the dog-wood of America +(<i>Cornus florida</i>); it yields, however, more readily to the +graver's tools.</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Celastrineæ</i></h3> + +. + +<p>6. <i>Elæodendron australe</i>, Vent.--A tree twenty to +twenty-five feet high, native of Queensland and New South Wales. +The wood is used in the colony for turning and cabinet work, and +Mr. W.G. Smith reports that for engraving purposes it seems +suitable only for rough work, as diagrams, posters, etc.</p> + +<p>7. <i>Euonymus sieboldianus</i>, Blume.--A Chinese tree, where +the wood, which is known as pai'cha, is used for carving and +engraving. Attention was first drawn to this wood by Mr. Jean von +Volxem, in the <i>Gardeners' Chronicle</i> for April 20, 1878. In +the Kew Report for 1878, p. 41, the following extract of a letter +from Mr. W.M. Cooper, Her Majesty's Consul at Ningpo, is given: +"The wood in universal use for book blocks, wood engravings, seals, +etc., is that of the pear tree, of which large quantities are grown +in Shantung, and Shan-se, especially. Pai'cha is sometimes used as +an indifferent substitute. Pai'cha is a very fine white wood of +fine fiber, without apparent grains, and cuts easily; is well +suited for carved frames, cabinets, caskets, etc., for which large +quantities are manufactured here for export. The tree itself +resembles somewhat the <i>Stillingia</i>, but has a rougher bark, +larger and thinner leaves, which are serrated at the edge, more +delicate twigs, and is deciduous." In 1879, a block of this wood +was received at the Kew Museum, from Mr. Cooper, a specimen of +which was submitted to Mr. Robson J. Scott, of Whitefriars Street, +to whom I am much indebted for reports on various occasions, and +upon this wood Mr. Scott reported as follows: "The most striking +quality I have observed in this wood is its capacity for retaining +water, and the facility with which it surrenders it. This section +(one prepared and sent to the Kew Museum), which represents +one-tenth of the original piece, weighed 3 lb. 4½ ounces. At +the end of twenty one days it had lost 1 lb. 6¾ ounces in an +unheated chamber. At the end of another fourteen days, in a much +elevated temperature, it only lost ¼ ounce. In its present +state of reduced bulk its weight is 1 lb. 10 ounces. It is not at +all likely to supersede box, but it may be fit for coarser work +than that for which box is necessary." Later on, namely in the Kew +Report for 1880, p. 51, Mr. R.D. Keene, an engraver, to whom Mr. +Scott submitted specimens of the wood for trial, writes: "I like +the wood very much, and prefer it to box in some instances; it is +freer to work, and consequently quicker, and its being uniform in +color and quality is a great advantage; we often have great +difficulty in box in having to work from a hard piece into a soft. +I think it a very useful wood, especially for solid bold work. I +question if you could get so extreme a fine black line as on box, +but am sure there would be a large demand for it at a moderate +price." Referring to this letter, Mr. Scott remarks that the writer +does not intend it to be understood that pai'cha is qualified to +supersede box, but for inferior subjects for which coarse brittle +box is used. Mr. Scott further says that of the woods he has tried +he prefers pear and hawthorn to pai'cha.</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Sapindaceæ</i>.</h3> + +<p>8. <i>Acer saccharinum</i>, L. (sugar or bird's eye maple).--A +North American tree, forming extensive forests in Canada, New +Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. The wood is well known as a cabinet or +furniture wood. It has been tried for engraving, but it does not +seem to have attracted much notice. Mr. Scott says it is +sufficiently good, so far as the grain is concerned. From this it +would seem not to promise favorably.</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Leguminoseæ. Sub-order +Papilionaceæ</i>.</h3> + +<p>9. <i>Brya ebenus</i>, Δ. DC.--A small tree of Jamaica, +where the wood is known as green ebony, and is used for making +various small articles. It is imported into this country under the +name of cocus wood, and is used with us for making flutes and other +wind instruments. Mr. Worthington Smith considers that the wood +equals bad box for engraving purposes.</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Rosaceæ</i>.</h3> + +<p>10. <i>Pyrus communis</i>, L. (common pear).--A tree averaging +from 20 to 40 feet high. Found in a wild state, and very +extensively cultivated as a fruit tree. The wood is of a light +brown color, and somewhat resembles limewood in grain. It is, +however, harder and tougher. It is considered a good wood for +carving, because it can be cut with or across the grain with equal +facility. It stands well when well seasoned, and is used for +engraved blocks for calico printers, paper stainers, and for +various other purposes. Pear-wood has been tried for engraving +purposes, but with no great success. Mr. Scott's opinion of its +relative value is referred to under pai'cha wood <i>(Euonymus +sieboldianus)</i>.</p> + +<p>11. <i>Amelanchier canadensis</i>. L. (shade tree or service +tree of America).--A shrub or small tree found throughout Canada, +Newfoundland, and Virginia. Of this wood, Porcher says, in his +"Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests": "Upon examining +with a sharp instrument the specimens of various southern woods +deposited in the museum of the Elliott Society, ... I was struck +with the singular weight, density, and fineness of this wood. I +think I can confidently recommend it as one of the best to be +experimented upon by the wood engraver."</p> + +<p>12. <i>Cratoegus oxyacantha</i>, L. (hawthorn).--A well-known +shrub or small tree in forests and hedges in this country. The wood +is very dense and close grained. Of this wood, Mr. Scott reports +that it is by far the best wood after box that he has had the +opportunity of testing.</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Myrtaceæ</i>.</h3> + +<p>13. <i>Eugenia procera</i>, Poir.--A tree 20 to 30 feet high, +native of Jamaica, Antigua, Martinique, and Santa Cruz. A badly +seasoned sample of this wood was submitted to Mr. R.H. Keene, who +reported that "it is suited for bold, solid newspaper work."</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Cornaceæ</i>.</h3> + +<p>14. <i>Cornus florida</i>, L. (North American dogwood).--A +deciduous tree, about 30 feet high, common in the woods in various +parts of North America. The wood is hard, heavy, and very fine +grained. It is used in America for making the handles of light +tools, as mallets, plane stocks, harrow teeth, cogwheels, etc. It +has also been used in America for engraving.</p> + +<p>In a letter from Prof. Sargent, Director of the Arnold +Arboretum, Brookline, Massachusetts, quoted in the Kew Report for +1882, p. 35, he says: "I have been now, for a long time, examining +our native woods in the hope of finding something to take the place +of boxwood for engraving, but so far I am sorry to say with no very +brilliant success. The best work here is entirely done from +boxwood, and some <i>Cornus florida</i> is used for less expensive +engraving. This wood answers fairly well for coarse work, but it is +a difficult wood to manage, splitting, or rather 'checking,' very +badly in drying." This, however, he states in a later letter, "can +be overcome by sawing the logs through the center as soon as cut. +It can be obtained in large quantities." Mr. R.H. Keene, the +engraver before referred to, reports that the wood is very rough, +and suitable for bold work.</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Ericaceæ</i>.</h3> + +<p>15. <i>Rhododendron maximum</i>, L. (mountain laurel of North +America).--Of this wood it is stated in Porcher's "Resources of the +Southern Fields and Forests," p. 419, that upon the authority of a +well-known engraver at Nashville, Tennessee, the wood is equaled +only by the best boxwood. This species of <i>Rhododendron</i> +"abounds on every mountain from Mason and Dixon's line to North +Georgia that has a rocky branch." Specimens of this wood submitted +to Mr. Scott were so badly selected and seasoned that it was almost +impossible to give it a trial. In consideration of its hardness and +apparent good qualities, further experiments should be made with +it.</p> + +<p>16. <i>Rhododendron californicum</i>.--Likewise a North American +species, the wood of which is similar to the last named. Specimens +were sent to Kew by Professor Sargent for report in 1882, but were +so badly seasoned that no satisfactory opinion could be obtained +regarding it.</p> + +<p>17. <i>Kalmia latifolia</i>, L. (calico bush or ivy bush of +North America).--The wood is hard and dense, and is much used in +America for mechanical purposes. It has been recommended as a +substitute for boxwood for engraving, and trials should, therefore, +be made with it.</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Epacrideæ</i>.</h3> + +<p>18. <i>Monotoca elliptica</i>, R. Br.--A tall shrub or tree 20 +or 30 feet high, native of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, +and Tasmania. The wood has been experimented upon in this country, +and though to all appearances it is an excellent wood, yet Mr. +Worthington Smith reported upon it as having a bad surface, and +readily breaking away so that the cuts require much retouching +after engraving.</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Ebenaceæ</i>.</h3> + +<p>19. <i>Diospyros texana</i>.--A North American tree, of the wood +of which Professor Sargent speaks favorably. "It is, however," he +says, "in Texas, at least, rather small, scarcely six inches in +diameter, and not very common. In northern Mexico it is said to +grow much larger, and could probably be obtained with some trouble +in sufficient quantities to become an article of commerce." Of this +wood Mr. Scott says: "It is sufficiently good as regards the grain, +but the specimen sent for trial was much too small for practical +purposes." Mr. R.H. Keene, the engraver, says it "is nearly equal +to the best box."</p> + +<p>20. <i>Diospyros virginiana</i>, L. (the persimmon of +America).--A good-sized tree, widely diffused, and common in some +districts. The wood is of a very dark color, hard, and of a fairly +close grain. It has been used in America for engraving, but so far +as I am aware has not been tried in this country. It has, however, +been lately introduced for making shuttles.</p> + +<p>21. <i>Dyospyros ebenum</i>, Koenig (ebony).--A wood so well +known as to need no description. It has been tried for engraving by +Mr. Worthington Smith, who considers it nearly as good as box.</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Apocyneæ</i>.</h3> + +<p>22. <i>Hunteria zeylanica</i>, Gard.--A small tree, common in +the warmer parts of Ceylon. This is a very hard and compact wood, +and is used for engraving purposes in Ceylon, where it is said, by +residents, to come nearer to box than any other wood known. On this +wood Mr. Worthington Smith gave a very favorable opinion, but it is +doubtful whether it would ever be brought from Ceylon in sufficient +quantities to meet a demand.</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Bignoniaceæ</i>.</h3> + +<p>23. <i>Tecoma pentaphylla</i>, Dl.--A moderate-sized tree, +native of the West Indies and Brazil. The wood is compact, very +fine, and even grained, and much resembles box in general +appearance. Blocks for engraving have been prepared from it by Mr. +R.J. Scott, who reported upon it as follows: "It is the only likely +successor to box that I have yet seen, but it is not embraced as a +deliverer should be, but its time may not be far off."</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Corylaceæ</i>.</h3> + +<p>24. <i>Carpinus betulus</i>, L. (hornbeam).--A tree from 20 to +70 feet high, with a trunk sometimes 10 feet in girth, indigenous +in the southern counties of England. The wood is very tough, heavy, +and close grained. It is largely used in France for handles for +agricultural and mining implements, and of late years has been much +used in this country for lasts. The wood of large growth is apt to +became shaky, and it is consequently not used as a building wood. +It is said to have been used as a substitute for box in engraving, +but with what success does not appear.</p> + +<p>25. <i>Ostrya virginica</i>, Willd (ironwood, or American +hornbeam).--A moderate-sized tree, widely spread over North +America. The wood is light-colored, and extremely hard and heavy; +hence the name of ironwood. It is used in America by turners, as +well as for mill cogs, etc., and has been suggested as a substitute +for boxwood for engraving, though no actual trials, so far as I am +aware, have been made with it.</p> + +<p>Besides the foregoing list of woods, there are others that have +been occasionally used for posters and the coarser kinds of +engraving, such, for instance, as lime, sycamore, yew, beech, and +even pine; and in America, <i>Vaccinium arboreum</i> and <i>Azalea +nudiflora</i>. Of these, however, but little is known as to their +value.</p> + +<p>It will be noticed that in those woods that have passed through +the engraver's hands, some which promised best, so far as their +texture or grain is concerned, have been tried upon very imperfect +or badly seasoned samples.</p> + +<p>The subject is one of so much importance, as was pointed out at +the commencement of this paper, that a thoroughly organized series +of experiments should be undertaken upon carefully seasoned and +properly prepared woods, not only of those mentioned in the +preceding list, but also of any others that may suggest themselves, +as being suitable, It must, moreover, always be borne in mind that +the questions of price, and the considerations of supply and +demand, must, to a great extent, regulate the adaptation of any +particular wood.</p> + +<p>With regard to those woods referred to as being tried by Mr. +Worthington Smith, he remarks in his report that any of them would +be useful for some classes of work, if they could be imported, +prepared, and sold for a farthing, or less than a halfpenny, per +square inch.</p> + +<p>Specimens of all the woods here enumerated are contained in the +Kew Museum.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="18"></a></p> + +<h2>COMPOSITE PORTRAITS</h2> + +. + +<p>Not long since we gave a figure from a drawing by Mr. Grallieni, +which, looked at from a distance, seemed to be a death's head, but +which, when examined more closely, was seen to represent two +children caressing a dog. Since then we have had occasion to +publish some landscapes of Kircher and his imitators, which, looked +at sideways, exhibited human profiles. This sort of amusement has +exercised the skill of artists of all times, and engravings, and +even paintings, of double aspect are very numerous. Chance has +recently put into our hands a very curious work of this kind, which +is due to a skillful artist named Gaillot. It is an album of quite +ancient lithographs, which was published at Berlin by Senefelder. +The author, under the title of "Arts and Trades," has drawn some +very amusing faces that are formed through the tools and objects +used in the profession represented. We reproduce a few specimens of +these essentially original compositions of Gaillot. The green +grocer is formed of a melon for the head, of an artichoke and its +stem for the forehead and nose, of a pannier for the bust, etc. The +hunter is made up of a gun, of a powder horn, and of a hunting +horn, etc.; and so on for the other professions. This is an amusing +exercise in drawing that we have thought worthy of reproducing. Any +one who is skillful with his pencil might exercise himself in +imagining other compositions of the same kind.--<i>La +Nature</i>.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><a href="images//12a.png"><img src= +"images//12a_th.jpg" alt=""></a></p> + +<p class="ctr">COMPOSITE PORTRAITS.--OCCUPATIONS.<br> +1. Green-grocer. 2. Hunter. 3. Artist. 4. Cobbler. 5. Chemist 6. +Cooper.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="18b"></a></p> + +<h2>HAND-CRAFT AND REDE-CRAFT.--A PLEA FOR THE FIRST NAMED.</h2> + +<p>[Footnote: Read before the Worcester Free Industrial Institute, +June 25, 1885.]</p> + +<h3>By DANIEL C. GILMAN, President of the Johns Hopkins University, +Baltimore.</h3> + +<p>I cannot think of a theme more fit for this hour and place than +handy-craft. I begin by saying "handy-craft," for that is the form +of the word now in vogue, that which we are wonted to see in print +and hear in speech; but I like rather the old form, "hand-craft," +which was used by our sires so long ago as the Anglo-Saxon days. +Both words mean the same thing, the power of the hand to seize, +hold, shape, match, carve, paint, dig, bake, make, or weave. +Neither form is in fashion, as we know very well, for people choose +nowadays such Latin words as "technical ability," "manual labor," +"industrial pursuits," "dexterity," "professional artisanship," +"manufacture," "decorative art," and "technological occupations," +not one of which is half as good as the plain, old, strong term +"hand-craft."</p> + +<p>An aid to hand-craft is rede-craft--the power to read, to +reason, and to think; or, as it is said in the book of Common +Prayer, "to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest." By rede craft +we find out what other men have done; we get our book learning, we +are made heirs to thoughts that breathe and words that burn, we +enter into the life, the acts, the arts, the loves, the lore of the +wise, the witty, the cunning, and the worthy of all ages and all +places; we learn, as says the peasant poet of Scotland,</p> + +<pre> + "The song whose thunderous chime + Eternal echoes render-- + The mournful Tuscan's haunted rhyme, + And Milton's starry splendor!" +</pre> + +<p>I do not pit rede-craft against hand-craft. Quite otherwise, I +call them not foes (as some would), but friends. They are brothers, +partners, consorts, who can work together, as right hand and left +hand, as science and art, as theory and practice. Rede-craft may +call for books and hand-craft for tools, but it is by the help of +both books and tools that mankind moves on. Indeed, we shall not +err wide of the mark if we say that a book is a tool, for it is the +instrument which we make use of in certain cases when we wish to +find out what other men have thought and done. Perhaps you will not +be as ready to admit that a tool is a book. But take for example +the plow. Compare the form in use to-day on a first-rate farm with +that which is pictured on ancient stones long hid in Egypt--ages +old. See how the idea of the plow has grown, and bear in mind that +its graceful curves, it fitness for a special soil, or for a +special crop, its labor-saving shape, came not by chance, but by +thought. Indeed, a plow is made up from the thoughts and toils of +generations of plowmen. Look at a Collins ax; it is also the record +of man's thought. Lay it side by side with the hatchet of Uncas or +Miantonomoh, or with an ax of the age of bronze, and think how many +minds have worked on the head and on the helve, how much skill has +been spent in getting the metal, in making it hard, in shaping the +edge, in fixing the weight, in forming the handle. From simple +tools, turn to complex; to the printing press, the sewing machine, +the locomotive, the telegraph, the ocean steamer; all are full of +ideas. All are the offspring of hand-craft and rede craft, of skill +and thought, of practice put on record, of science and art.</p> + +<p>Now, the welfare of each one of us, the welfare of our land, the +welfare of our race, rests on this union. You may almost take the +measure of a man's brain, if you can find out what he sees with his +eyes and what he does with hands; you may judge of a country, or of +a city, if you know what it makes.</p> + +<p>I do not know that we need ask which is best, hand-craft or +rede-craft. Certainly "the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no +need of thee." At times, hand-craft becomes rede-craft, for when +the eye is blind the hand takes its place, and the finger learns to +read, running over the printed page to find out what is written, as +quickly as the eye.</p> + +<p>In these days, there are too many who look down on hand-craft. +They think only of the tasks of a drudge or a char-boy. They do not +know the pleasure there is in working, and especially in making. +They have never learned to guide the fingers by the brain. They +like to hear, or see, or own, or eat, what others have made, but +they do not like to put their own hands to work. If you doubt what +I say, put a notice in the paper asking for a clerk, and you will +have a, hundred answers for every one that will come when you ask +for a workman. So it comes to pass that young men grow up whose +hands have not been trained to any kind of skill; they wish, +therefore, to be buyers and sellers, traders, dealers, and so the +market is overstocked with clerks, book-keepers, salesmen, and +small shop-keepers, while it is understocked in all the higher +walks of hand-craft. Some men can only get on by force of arms, +lifting, pounding, heaving, or by power of sitting at counter or a +desk and "clerking it."</p> + +<p>Machinery works against hand-craft. In many branches of labor, +the hand now has but little to do, and that little is always the +same, so that labor becomes tiresome and the workman dull. Machines +can be made to cut statuary, to weave beautiful tapestry, to +fashion needles, to grind out music, to make long calculations; +alas! the machine has also been brought into politics. Of course, a +land cannot thrive without machinery; it is that mechanical giant, +the steam engine, which carries the corn, the cotton, and the sugar +from our rich valleys to the hungry of other lands, and brings back +to us the product of their looms. Nevertheless, he who lives by the +machine alone lives but half a life; while he who uses his hand to +contrive and to adorn drives dullness from his path. A true artist +and a true artisan are one. Hand-craft, the power to shape, to +curve, to beautify, to create, gives pleasure and dignity to +labor.</p> + +<p>In other times and in other lands, hand-craft has had more honor +than it has had with us. Let me give some examples. Not long ago, I +went to one of the shrines of education, the Sorbonne in Paris. Two +paintings adorn the chapel walls, not of saints or martyrs, nor of +apostles or prophets, perhaps I should say of both saints and +prophets, <i>Labor</i> and <i>Humilitas</i>, Industry and +Modesty.</p> + +<p>The touch of Phidias was his own, and so inimitable that a few +months ago, an American, scanning, with his practiced eye, the +galleries of the Louvre, recognized a fragment of the work of +Phidias, long separated from the Parthenon frieze which Lord Elgin +sent to London. The sculptor's touch could not be mistaken. It was +as truly his own as his signature, his autograph. Ruskin, in a +lecture on the relation of Art to Morals, calls attention to a note +which Durer made on some drawings sent him by Raphael: "These +figures Raphael drew and sent to Albert Durer in Nurnberg, to show +him his hand, '<i>sein hand zu weisen</i>."' Ruskin compares this +phrase with other contests of hand-craft, Apelles and Protogenes +showing their skill by drawing a line; Giotto in striking a +circle.</p> + +<p>In the household of the Kings of Prussia, there is a custom, if +not a law, that every boy shall learn a trade. I believe this is a +fact, though I have no certain proof of it. The Emperor Wilhelm is +said to be a glazier, the Crown Prince a compositor, and on the +Emperor's birthday not long ago his majesty received an engraving +by Prince Henry and a, book bound by Prince Waldemar, two younger +sons of the Crown Prince. Let me refer to sacred writ; the prophet +Isaiah, telling of the golden days which are to come, when the +voice of weeping shall be no more heard in the land, nor the voice +of crying, when the child shall die an hundred years old, and men +shall eat of the fruit of the vineyards they have planted, adds +this striking promise, as the culm of all hope, that the elect of +the Lord shall long enjoy the work of their hands.</p> + +<p>Now, in view of what has been said, my first point is this: We +who have to deal with the young, we all who love our fellow-men, we +all who desire that our times, our city, our country, should be +thrifty, happy, and content, must each in his place and way give +high honor to labor. We, especially, who are teachers and parents, +should see to it that the young get "hand-craft" while they are +getting "rede-craft." How can this be done?</p> + +<p>Mothers begin right in the nursery, teaching little fingers to +play before the tongue can lisp a sentence. Alas! this natural +training has often been stopped at school. Hitherto, until quite +lately, in schools both low and high, rede-craft has had the place +of honor, hand-craft has had no chance. But a change is coming. In +the highest of all schools, universities, for example, work rooms, +labor places, "laboratories," are now thought to be as useful as +book rooms, reading rooms, libraries.</p> + +<p>What mean those buildings which you have seen spring up within a +few years past in all the college greens of New England? They are +libraries and laboratories. They show that rede-craft and +hand-craft are alike held in honor, and that a liberal education +means skill in getting and skill in using knowledge; that knowledge +comes from searching books and searching nature; that the brain and +the hand are in close league. So too, in the lowest school, as far +as possible from the university, the kindergarten has won its place +and the blocks, and straws, and bands, the chalk, the clay, the +scissors, are in use to make young fingers deft. Between the +highest and the lowest schools there is a like call for hand-craft. +Seeing this need, the authorities in our public schools have begun +to project special schools for such training, and are looking for +guidance far and near. At this intermediate stage, for boy and +girls who are between the age of the kindergarten and the age of +the college or the shop, for youth between eight and sixteen, there +is much to be done; people are hardly aware how much is needed to +secure fit training for the rising generation.</p> + +<p>It seems sometimes as if one of the most needed forms of +hand-craft would become a lost art, even good handwriting. We +cannot give much credit to schools if they send out many who are +skilled in algebra, or in Latin, but who cannot write a page of +English so that it can be read without effort.</p> + +<p>Drawing is another kind of hand-craft, quite too much neglected. +I think it should be laid down as a law of the road to knowledge, +that everybody must learn to draw as well as to write. The pencil +maybe mastered just as readily as the pen. It is a simpler tool. +The child draws before he writes, and savages begin their language +with pictures; but, we wiseacres of this age of books let our young +folks drop their slate pencils and their Fabers, and practice with +their Gillotts and their Esterbrooks. Let us say, in every school +and in every house, the child must not only learn to read and +write, he must learn to draw. We cannot afford to let our young +folks grow up without this power. A new French book is just now +much talked about, with this droll title, "The Life of a Wise Man, +by an Ignoramus." It is the story of the great Pasteur, whose +discoveries in respect to life have made him world renowned. I +turned to the book, eager to find out the key to such success, and +I found the old story--"the child was father of the man." This +philosopher, whose eye is so skilled in observing nature, and whose +hand is so apt in experiments, is the boy grown up whose pictures +were so good that the villagers thought him at thirteen an artist +of rank.</p> + +<p>Girls should learn the first lesson of hand-craft with the +needle; boys may (and they will always prize the knowledge), but +girls must. It is wise that our schools are going back to old +fashioned ways, and saying that girls must be taught to sew.</p> + +<p>Boys should practice their hands upon the knife. John Bull used +to laugh at Brother Jonathan for whittling, and Mr. Punch always +drew the Yankee with a blade in his fingers; but they found out +long ago in Great Britain that whittling in this land led to +something, a Boston notion, a wooden clock, a yacht America, a +labor-saving machine, a cargo of wooden-ware, a shop full of +knick-knacks, an age of inventions. Boys need not be kept back to +the hand-craft of the knife. For in-doors there are the type case +and printing press, the paint box, the tool box, the lathe; and for +out doors, the trowel, the spade, the grafting knife. It matters +not how many of the minor arts the youth acquires. The more the +merrier. Let each one gain the most he can in all such ways; for +arts like these bring no harm in their train; quite otherwise, they +lure good fortune to their company.</p> + +<p>Play, as well as work, may bring out hand-craft. The gun, the +bat, the rein, the rod, the oar, all manly sports, are good +training for the hand. Walking insures fresh air, but it does not +train the body or mind like games and sports which are played out +of doors. A man of great fame as an explorer and as a student of +nature (he who discovered, in the West, bones of horses with two, +three, and four toes, and who found the remains of birds with +teeth) once told me that his success was largely due to the sports +of his youth. His boyish love of fishing gave him his manly skill +in exploration.</p> + +<p>I speak as if hand-craft was to be learned by sport. So it may. +It may also be learned by labor. Day by day for weeks I have been +watching from my study window a stately inn rise from the cellar +just across the road. A bricklayer has been there employed whose +touch is like the stroke of an artist. He handled each brick as if +it were porcelain, balanced it carefully in his hand, measured with +his eye just the amount of mortar which it needed, and dropped the +block into its bed, without staining its edge, without varying from +the plumb line, by a stroke of hand-craft as true as the +sculptor's. Toil gave him skill.</p> + +<p>The second point I make is this: If you really value hand-craft, +buy that which shows hand-craft, encourage those who are engaged in +hand-craft, help on with your voice and with your pocket, those who +bring taste and skill and art into the works of their hand. If your +means are so small that you only buy what you need for your daily +wants, you cannot have much choice, you must buy that which is +cheapest; but hardly any one within the sound of my voice is so +restricted as that; almost if not quite every one buys something +every year for his pleasure, a curtain, a rug, a wall paper, a +chair, or a table not certainly needed, a vase, a clock, a, mantel +ornament, a piece of jewelry, a portrait, an etching, a picture. +Now whenever you make such a purchase, to please your taste, to +make your parlor or your chamber more attractive, choose that which +shows good handiwork. Such a choice will last. You will not tire of +it as you will of that which has but a commonplace form or +pattern.</p> + +<p>I come now to a third point. That which has just been said +applies chiefly to things whose price is fixed by beauty. But +handicraft gives us many works not pleasing to the eye, yet of the +highest skill--a Jacquard loom, a Corliss engine, a Hoe printing +press, a Winchester rifle, an Edison dynamo, a Bell telephone. +Ruskin may scout the work of machinery, and up to a certain point +may take us with him. Let us allow that works of art marked by the +artist's own touch--the gates of Paradise by Ghiberti, a shield by +Cellini, a statue by Michael Angelo, are better than all +reproductions and imitations, better than plaster casts by Eichler, +electrotypes by Barbedienne, or chromos by Prang. But even Ruskin +cannot suppress the fact that machinery brings to every thrifty +cottage in New England comforts and adornments which, in the days +of Queen Bess, were not known outside of the palace. Be mindful, +then, that handicraft makes machines which are wonders of +productive force--weaving tissues such as Penelope never saw, of +woolen, cotton, linen, and silk, to carpet our floors, cover our +tables, cushion our chairs, and clothe our bodies; machines of +which Vulcan never dreamed, to point a needle, bore a rifle, cut a +watch wheel, or rule a series of lines, measuring forty thousand to +an inch, with sureness which the unaided hand can never equal. +Machinery is a triumph of handicraft as truly as sculpture and +architecture. The fingers which can plan and build a steamship or a +suspension bridge, which can make the Quinebaug and the Blackstone +turn spindles by the hundred thousand, which can turn a rag heap +into spotless paper, and make myriads of useful and artful articles +from rough metal, are fingers which this age alone has evolved. The +craft which makes useful things cheap can make cheap things +beautiful. The Japanese will teach us how to form and finish, if we +do not first teach them how to slight and sham.</p> + +<p>A fourth point is this. If hand-craft is of such worth, boys and +girls must be trained in it. This, I am well aware is no new +thought. Forty years ago schools of applied science were added to +Harvard and Yale colleges; twenty years ago Congress gave enough +land-scrip to aid in founding at least one such school in every +state; men of wealth, like many whom you have known and whom you +honor, have given large sums for like ends. Now the people at large +are waking up. They see their needs; they have the means to supply +what they want. Is there the will? Know they the way? Far and near +the cry is heard for a different training from that now given in +the public schools. Many are trying to find it. Almost every large +town has its experiment--and many smaller places have theirs. +Nobody seems to know just what is best. Even the words which +express the want are vague. Bright and thoughtful people differ as +to what might, can, and should be done. A society has been formed +in New York to bring together the needed data. The Slater trustees, +charged with the care of a large fund for the training of freedmen, +have said that manual training must be given in all the schools +they aid. The town of Toledo in Ohio opened, some time since, a +school of practical training for boys, which worked so well that +another has lately been opened for girls. St. Louis is doing +famously. Philadelphia has several experiments in progress. +Baltimore has made a start. In New York there are many noteworthy +movements--half a dozen at least full of life and hope. Boston was +never behindhand in knowledge, and in the new education is very +alert, the efforts of a single lady deserving praise of high +degree. These are but signs of the times.</p> + +<p>Some things may be set down as fixed; for example, most of those +who have thought on this theme will agree on the points I am about +to name, though they may or may not like the names which I venture +to propose:</p> + +<p>1. Kindergarten work should be taught in the nurseries and +infant schools of rich and poor.</p> + +<p>2. Drawing should be taught in schools of every grade, till the +hand uses the pencil as readily as the pen.</p> + +<p>3. Every girl at school if not at home should learn to sew.</p> + +<p>4. Every boy should learn the use of tools, the gardener's or +the carpenter's, or both.</p> + +<p>5. Well planned exercises, fitted to strengthen the various +bodily organs, arms, fingers, wrists, lungs, etc., are good. +Driving, swimming, rowing, and other manly sports should be +favored.</p> + +<p>What precedes is at the basis of good work.</p> + +<p>In addition:</p> + +<p>6. With good teachers, quite young children may learn the minor +decorative arts, carving, leather stamping, brass beating and the +like, as is shown in the Leland classes of Philadelphia.</p> + +<p>7. In towns, boys who begin to earn a living when they enter +their teens may be taught in evening schools to practice the craft +of carpentry, bricklaying, plastering, plumbing, gas fitting, etc., +as is shown successfully in the Auchmuty schools of New York. Trade +schools they are called; schools of practice for workmen would be a +better name.</p> + +<p>8. Boys who can carry their studies through the later teens may +learn, while at the high school or technical school or college, to +work in wood and metals with precision, as I have lately seen in +the College of the City of New York, at Cornell University, and +elsewhere-colleges or high schools with work-shops and practice +classes. If they can take the time to fit themselves to be foremen +and leaders in machine shops and factories, they may be trained in +theoretical and practical mechanics, as in the Worcester Industrial +Institute and in a score of other places; but the youth must have +talent as well as time to win the race in these hard paths. These +are schools for foremen, or, if we may use a foreign word like +Kindergarten, they are Meisterschaft schools.</p> + +<p>9. Youths who wish to enter the highest departments of +engineering must follow advanced courses of mathematics and +physics, and must learn to apply this knowledge. The better +colleges and universities afford abundant opportunities for such +training, but their scientific laboratories are fitted only for +those who love long study as well as hard. These are schools for +engineers.</p> + +<p>10. Girls are most likely to excel in the lighter arts--to +design (for furniture or fabrics), to embroider, to carve, to +engrave, to etch, to model, to paint. Here also success depends +largely upon that which was inborn, though girls of moderate talent +in art, by patience, may become skilled in many kinds of art work. +Schools for this instruction are schools of art (elementary, +decorative, professional, etc.).</p> + +<p>If there be those in this hall who think that hand-craft is +adverse to rede-craft, let me ask them to study the lives of men of +mark. Isaac Newton began his life as a farm-boy who carried truck +to a market town; Spinoza, the philosopher of Amsterdam, ground +lenses for his livelihood; Watt, the inventor of the steam engine, +was mechanic to the University of Glasgow; Porson, the great +professor of Greek, was trained as a weaver; George Washington was +a land surveyor; Benjamin Franklin a printer.</p> + +<p>Before I close let me draw a lesson from the history of our +land. Some of you doubtless bear in mind that before the late war +men used to say, "Cotton is king;" and why so? Because the trades +which hung on this crop were so many and so strong that they ruled +all others. The rise or fall of a penny in the price of cotton at +Liverpool affected planters in the South, spinners in the North, +seamen on the ocean, bankers and money-changers everywhere. Now +wheat and petroleum share the sovereignty; but then cotton was +king. Who enthroned this harmless plant? Two masters of hand-craft, +one of whom was born a few miles east of this place in Westborough; +the other was a native of England who spent most of his days a few +miles south of this city. Within five years--not quite a century +ago--these two men were putting in forms which could be seen, ideas +which brought our countrymen large measures of both weal and woe. +In 1790, Samuel Slater, once an apprentice to Strutt and Arkwright, +built the mill at Pawtucket which taught Americans the art of +cotton-spinning; and before 1795, Eli Whitney had invented the gin +which easily cleansed the cotton boll of its seeds, and so made +marketable the great crop we have spoken of. Many men have made +more noise in the world than Slater and Whitney; few if any can be +named whose peaceable hand-craft has done so much to give this +country its front place in the markets of the globe.</p> + +<p>Let me come nearer home, and as I take my seat let me name a son +of this very town who loved hand-craft and rede-craft, and worthily +aided both--Isaiah Thomas, the patriot printer, editor, and +publisher, historian of the printer's craft in this land, and +founder of the far famed antiquarian library, eldest in that group +of institutions which gave to Worcester its rank in the world of +letters, as its many products give it standing in the world of +industry and art.</p> + +<p>Mindful of three such worthies, it is not strange that +Salisbury, Washburn, Boylston, and many more have built up this +high school of handicraft; it will be no wonder if others like +minded build on the foundations which have been so fitly laid.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="1"></a></p> + +<h2>MAKING SEA WATER POTABLE.</h2> + +<p>[Footnote: Read lately before the Manchester Literary and +Philosophical Society]</p> + +<h3>By THOMAS KAY, President of the Stockport Natural History +Society.</h3> + +<p>The author called attention to the absence of research in this +direction, and how man, endowed to overcome every physical +disability which encompassed him on land, was powerless to live on +the wide ocean, although it is teeming with life.</p> + +<p>The water for experiment was taken from the English Channel, +about fifty miles southwest of the Eddystone Lighthouse, and it was +found to correspond closely with the analysis of the Atlantic +published by Roscoe, viz.: Total solids 35.976, of which the total +chlorides, are 32.730, representing 19.868 of chlorine.</p> + +<p>The waters of the Irish Sea and the English Channel nearer to +the German Ocean, from their neighborhood to great rivers, are +weaker than the above.</p> + +<p>Schweitzer's analysis of the waters of the English Channel, near +Brighton, was taken as representing the composition of the sea, and +is here given:</p> + +<pre> + Sodium chloride 27.059 + Potassium " 0.766 + Magnesium " 3.666 + " bromide 0.029 + " sulphate 2.296 + Calcium " 1.406 + " carbonate 0.033 + Iodine and ammoniacal salts traces + Water 964.795 + ________ + 1000.000 +</pre> + +<p>The chlorides in the--</p> + +<pre> + Irish Sea are about 30 per mille. + English Channel are about 31 " + Beyond the Eddystone are 32 " +</pre> + +<p>As the requirement for a potable sea water does not arise except +in mid-ocean, the proportion of 32 per mille must be taken as the +basis of calculation.</p> + +<p>This represents as near 20 per mille of chlorine as +possible.</p> + +<p>From the analysis shown it will be perceived that the chlorides +of sodium and magnesium are in great preponderance.</p> + +<p>It is to the former of these that the baneful effects of sea +water when drunk are to be ascribed, for chloride of sodium or +common salt produces thirst probably by its styptic action on the +salivary glands, and scurvy by its deleterious action on the blood +when taken in excess.</p> + +<p>Sodium chloride being the principal noxious element in sea +water, and soda in combination with a vegetable or organic acid, +such as citric acid, tartaric acid, or malic acid, being innocuous, +the conclusion is that the element of evil to be avoided is +<i>chlorine</i>.</p> + +<p>After describing various experiments, and calling attention to +the power of earthy matters in abstracting salts from solutions by +which he hoped the process would be perfected, an imperial pint of +water from beyond the Eddystone was shown mixed with 960 grains of +citrate of silver and 4 grains of the free citric acid.</p> + +<p>Each part of the chlorides requires three parts by weight of the +silver citrate to throw down the chlorine, thus:</p> + +<p>3NaCl + Ag<sub>3</sub>C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>5</sub>O<sub>7</sub> = +Na3.C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>5</sub>O<sub>7</sub>+3AgCl.</p> + +<p>The silver chloride formed a dense insoluble precipitate, and +the supernatant fluid was decanted and filtered through a rubber +tube and handed round as a beverage.</p> + +<p>It contained in each fluid ounce by calculation about:</p> + +<pre> + 18 grains of citrate of soda. + 1-1/2 " " magnesia. + 1/2 " " potash. + 1 " sulphate of magnesia. + 1/2 " " lime. + 1/5 " citric acid. +</pre> + +<p>with less than half a grain of undecomposed chlorides.</p> + +<p>To analyze this liquid therapeutically, it may be broadly stated +that salts of potash are <i>diuretic</i>, salts of magnesia +<i>aperient</i>, and salts of soda <i>neutral</i>, except in +excessive doses, or in combination with acids of varying medicinal +action; thus, soda in nitric acid, nitrate of soda, is a +<i>diuretic</i>, following the law of nitrates as nitrate of +potash, a most powerful diuretic, nitrous ether, etc.; while soda +in combination with sulphuric acid as sulphate of soda is +<i>aperient</i>, following the law of sulphates, which increase +aperient action, as in sulphate of magnesia, etc.</p> + +<p>Thus it would seem that soda holds the scales evenly between +potash and magnesia in this medical sense, and that it is weighed, +so to speak, on either side by the kind of mineral acid with which +it may be combined.</p> + +<p>With non-poisonous vegetable acids, and these slightly in +excess, there is not such an effect produced.</p> + +<p>Sodium is an important constituent of the human body, and citric +acid, from its carbon, almost a food. Although no one would +advocate saline drinks in excess, yet, under especial +circumstances, the solution of it in the form of citrate can hardly +be hurtful when used to moisten the throat and tongue, for it will +never be used under circumstances where it can be taken in large +quantities.</p> + +<p>In the converted sea water the bulk of the solids is composed of +inert citrate of soda. There is a little citrate of potash, which +is a feeble diuretic; a little citrate and sulphate of magnesia, a +slight aperient, corrected, however, by the constipatory half grain +of sulphate of lime; so that the whole practically is +inoperative.</p> + +<p>The combination of these salts in nature's proportions would +seem to indicate that they must be the best for administration in +those ailments to which their use would be beneficial.</p> + +<p>Citrate of silver is an almost insoluble salt, and requires to +be kept from the light, air, and organic matter, it being very +easily decomposed.</p> + +<p>A stoppered bottle covered with India-rubber was exhibited as +indicating a suitable preserver of the salt, as it affords +protection against light, air, and breakage. As one ounce of silver +citrate will convert half a pint of sea water into a drinkable +fluid, and a man can keep alive upon it a day, then seven ounces of +it will keep him a week, and so on, it may not unreasonably be +hoped, in proportion.</p> + +<p>It is proposed to pack the silver citrate in hermetically sealed +rubber covered bottles or tubes, to be inserted under the canisters +or thwarts of the life-boats in ocean-going vessels, and this can +be done at a simple interest on the first outlay, without any loss +by depreciation, as it will always be worth its cost, and be +invaluable in case of need.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="2"></a></p> + +<h2>THE ACIDS OF WOOL OIL.</h2> + +<p>All wools contain a certain amount of animal oil or grease, +which permeates every portion of the fleece. The proportion of oil +varies with the breed of sheep. A difference in climate and soil +materially affects the yield of oil. This is shown by analyses made +of different kinds of wool, both foreign and domestic. Spanish wool +was found to have but eight per cent. grease; Australian wool +fifteen per cent.; while in some fleeces of Pennsylvania wool as +high as forty per cent. was obtained. To extract the oil from the +wool, a fleece was put in a tall cylinder and naphtha poured on it. +The naphtha on being allowed to drain through slowly dissolved out +the grease. This naphtha solution was distilled; the naphtha +passing off while grease remained--a dark oil having high specific +gravity and remaining nearly solid at the ordinary temperature. I +am indebted to Mrs. Richards for this method of extracting the oil. +The process is quick and inexpensive, and is applicable to the +treatment of large quantities of wool.</p> + +<p>The object of these experiments was to find the readiest method +of separating wool oil into its bases and acids, and further to +identify the various fatty acids. A solution of the oil in naphtha +was cooled to 15° C. This caused a separation of the oil into +two portions: a white solid fat and a fluid dark oil. The first on +examination proved to be a mixture of palmitic and stearic acids +existing uncombined in the wool oil. The original wool oil was +saponified by boiling with alcoholic potash.</p> + +<p>The soap formed was separated into two portions by shaking with +ether and water. On standing, the solution separated into two +layers, the upper or murial solution containing the bases, the +lower or aqueous solution containing the acids. This method of +separation is very slow. In one case it worked very well, but as a +rule appeared to be almost impracticable. Benzol and naphtha were +tried, instead of ether, but the results were less satisfactory. On +suggestion of Prof. Ordway, potassium chloride was added to the +soap solution partially separated by ether and water. This caused +an immediate and complete separation. By the use of potassium +chloride it was found possible to effect a separation with benzol +and water, also with naphtha and water.</p> + +<p>Another means of separation was tried by precipitating the +calcium salts, from a solution of the potash soap. From the portion +of the calcium salts insoluble in alcohol, a fatty acid was +obtained with a melting point and composition almost identical with +the melting point and composition of palmitic acid. The aqueous +portion of the separation effected by water and ether was examined +for the fatty acid. The lead salts of the fatty acids were digested +with ether, which dissolved out the lead oleate. From this oleic +acid was obtained. This was further purified by forming the Boreum +salt of oleic acid. The lead salts not soluble in ether were +decomposed by acid. The fatty acids set free were saponified by +carbonate of potassium. A fractional precipitation was effected by +adding lead acetate in successive portions; each portion sufficient +to precipitate one-fourth of all the acids present.</p> + +<p>The acid obtained from the first fractionation had the melting +point at 75°-76°, indicating an acid either in carbon then +stearic or palmitic acids.</p> + +<p>The acids obtained from the third fractionation had a melting +point of 53°-54° C. This acid in composition and general +properties was very similar to that obtained by freezing the +naphtha solution of the oil, and is probably a mixture of stearic +and palmitic acids. These acids, being in combination with the +bases of the oil, would be set free only on saponifying the oil and +subsequently decomposing with acid.</p> + +<p>In conclusion, I should say that but a small proportion of the +fatty acids exist in the wool oil uncombined; that the proportion +of oleic acid is small, and can only be obtained in an oxidized +condition; that the main portion of the fatty acids is composed of +stearic and palmitic acids in nearly equal proportions; that the +existence of a fatty acid, containing a higher per cent. of carbon +than those mentioned, is not fully established.--<i>N.W. Shedd, +M.I.T.</i></p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="3"></a></p> + +<h2>A NEW ABSORBENT FOR OXYGEN.</h2> + +<p>OTTO, BARON V.D. PFORDTEN.--The author makes use of a solution +of chromous chloride, which he prepares as follows:</p> + +<p>He first heats chromic acid with concentrated hydrochloric acid, +so as to obtain a strong green solution of chromic chloride free +from chlorine. This is then reduced with zinc and hydrochloric +acid. The blue chromous chloride solution thus obtained is poured +into a saturated solution of sodium acetate in an atmosphere of +carbonic acid. A red precipitate of chromous acetate is formed, +which is washed by decantation in water containing carbonic acid. +This salt is relatively stable, and can be preserved for an +indefinite time in a moist condition in stoppered bottles filled +with carbonic acid.</p> + +<p>In this process the following precautions are to be +observed:</p> + +<p>Spongy flocks always separate from the zinc used in the +reduction, which float about in the acid liquid for a long time and +give off minute gas bubbles. If poured into the solution of sodium +acetate, they would contaminate the precipitate; and when dissolved +in hydrochloric acid, would occasion a slight escape of hydrogen. +The solution of chromous chloride must therefore be freed from the +zinc by filtration in the absence of air. For this purpose the +reduction is carried on in a flask fitted up like a washing bottle. +The long tube is bent down outside the flask, and is here provided +with a small bulb tube containing glass wool or asbestos. The +hydrogen gas liberated during reduction is at first let escape +through this tube; afterward its outer end is closed, and it is +pressed down into the liquid. The hydrogen must now pass through +the shorter tube (the mouthpiece of the washing bottle), which has +an India rubber valve. When the reduction is complete, the blue +liquid is driven up in the long tube by introducing carbonic acid +through the short tube, so that it filters through the asbestos +into the solution of sodium acetate into which the reopened end of +the long tube dips. When washing out the red precipitate, at first +a little acetic acid is added to dissolve any basic zinc carbonate +which has been deposited. In this manner a chromous acetate is +obtained perfectly free from zinc.</p> + +<p>For the absorption of oxygen the compound just described is +decomposed with hydrochloric acid in the following simple washing +apparatus: Upon a shelf there are fixed side by side two ordinary +preparation glasses, closed with caoutchouc stoppers, each having +three perforations. Each two apertures receive the glass tubes used +in gas washing bottles, while the third holds a dropping funnel. It +is filled with dilute hydrochloric acid, and after the expulsion of +the air by a current of gas, plentiful quantities of chromous +acetate are passed into the bottles. When the current of gas has +been passed in for some time, the hydrochloric acid is let enter, +which dissolves the chromous acetate, and thus, in the absence of +air, produces a solution of blue chromous chloride. It is advisable +to use an excess of chromous acetate or an insufficient quantity of +hydrochloric acid, so that there may be no free hydrochloric acid +in the liquid. To keep back any free acetic acid which might be +swept over by the current of gas, there is introduced after the +washing apparatus another washing bottle with sodium carbonate. +Also solid potassium carbonate may be used instead of calcium +chloride for drying the gas. If the two apertures of the washing +apparatus are fitted with small pinch cocks, it is ready for use, +and merely requires to be connected with the gas apparatus in +action in order to free the gas generated from oxygen. As but +little chromous salt is decomposed by the oxygen such a washing +apparatus may serve for many experiments.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="16"></a></p> + +<h2>GAIFFE'S NEW MEDICAL GALVANOMETER.</h2> + +<p>In this apparatus, which contains but one needle, and has no +directing magnet, proportionability between the intensities and +deflections is obtained by means of a special form given the frame +upon which the wire is wound.</p> + +<p>We give herewith a figure of the curve that Mr. Gaiffe has fixed +upon after numerous experiments. Upon examination it will be seen +that the needle approaches the current in measure as the directing +action of the earth increases; and experiment proves that the two +actions counterbalance each other, and render the deflections very +sensibly proportional to the intensities up to an angle of from 65 +to 75 degrees.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><img src="images//14a.png" alt=""></p> + +<p>Another important fact has likewise been ascertained, and that +is that, under such circumstances, the magnetic intensity of the +needle may change without the indications ceasing to have the same +exactness up to 65 degrees. As well known, Mr. Desains has +demonstrated that this occurs likewise in sinus or tangent +galvanometers; but these have helices that are very large in +proportion to the needle. In medical galvanometers the proportions +are no longer the same, and the needle is always very near the +directing helix. If this latter is square, or even elliptical, it +is found that, beyond an angle of 15 degrees, there are differences +of 4 or 5 degrees in the indications given with the same intensity +of current by the same needle, according to the latter's intensity +of magnetism. This inconvenience is quite grave, for it often +happens that a needle changes magnetic intensity, either under the +influence of too strong currents sent into the apparatus, or of +other magnets in its vicinity, or as a consequence of the bad +quality of the steel, etc. It was therefore urgently required that +this should be remedied, and from this point of view the new mode +of winding the wire is an important improvement introduced into +medical galvanometers.--<i>La Lumiere Electrique</i>.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="17"></a></p> + +<h2>THE SUSPENSION OF LIFE.</h2> + +<p>Every one knows that life exists in a latent state in the seeds +of plants, and may be preserved therein, so to speak, indefinitely. +In 1853, Ridolfi deposited in the Egyptian Museum of Florence a +sheaf of wheat that he had obtained from seeds found in a mummy +case dating back about 3,000 years. This aptitude of revivification +is found to a high degree in animalcules of low order. The air +which we breathe is loaded with impalpable dust that awaits, for +ages perhaps, proper conditions of heat and moisture to give it an +ephemeral life that it will lose and acquire by turns.</p> + +<p>In 1707, Spallanzani found it possible, eleven times in +succession, to suspend the life of rotifers submitted to +desiccation, and to call it back again by moistening this organic +dust with water. A few years ago Doyere brought to life some +tardigrades that had been dried at a temperature of 150° and +kept four weeks in a vacuum. If we ascend the scale of beings, we +find analogous phenomena produced by diverse causes. Flies that +have been imported in casks of Madeira have been resuscitated in +Europe, and chrysalids have been kept in this state for years. +Cockchafers drowned, and then dried in the sun, have been revived +after a lapse of twenty-four hours, two days, and even five days, +after submersion. Frogs, salamanders, and spiders poisoned by +curare or nicotine, have returned to life after several days of +apparent death.</p> + +<p>Cold produces some extraordinary effects. Spallanzani kept +several frogs in the center of a lump of ice for two years, and, +although they became dry, rigid, almost friable, and gave no +external appearance of being alive, it was only necessary to expose +them to a gradual and moderate heat to put an end to the lethargic +state in which they lay.</p> + +<p>Pikes and salamanders have at different epochs been revived +before the eyes of Maupertuis and Constant Dumeril (members of the +Academy of Sciences) after being frozen stiff. Auguste Dumeril, son +of Constant, and who was the reporter of the committee relative to +the Blois toad in 1851, published a curious memoir the following +year in which he narrates how he interrupted life through +congelation of the liquids and solids of the organism. Some frogs, +whose internal temperature had been reduced to -2° in an +atmosphere of -12°, returned to life before his eyes, and he +observed their tissues regain their usual elasticity and their +heart pass from absolute immobility to its normal motion.</p> + +<p>There is therefore no reason for doubting the assertions of +travelers who tell us that the inhabitants of North America and +Russia transport fish that are frozen stiff, and bring them to life +again by dipping them into water of ordinary temperature ten or +fifteen days afterward. But I think too much reliance should not be +put in the process devised by the great English physiologist, +Hunter, for prolonging the life of man indefinitely by successive +freezings. It has been allowed to no one but a romancer, Mr. Edmond +About, to be present at this curious operation.</p> + +<p>Among the mammifera we find appearances of death in their winter +sleep; but these are incomplete, since the temperature of +hibernating animals remains greater by one degree than that of the +surrounding air, and the motions of the heart and respiration are +simply retarded. Dr. Preyer has observed that a hamster sometimes +goes five minutes without breathing appreciably after a fortnight's +sleep.</p> + +<p>In man himself a suspension of life, or at least phenomena that +seem inseparable therefrom, has been observed many times. In the +<i>Journal des Savants</i> for 1741 we read that a Col. Russel, +having witnessed the death of his wife, whom he tenderly loved, did +not wish her buried, and threatened to kill any one who should +attempt to remove the body before he witnessed its decomposition +himself. Eight days passed by without the woman giving the +slightest sign of life, "when, at a moment when he was holding her +hand and shedding tears over her, the church bell began to ring, +and, to his indescribable surprise, his wife sat up and said, 'It +is the last stroke, we shall be too late.' She recovered."</p> + +<p>At a session of the Academy of Sciences, Oct. 17, 1864, Mr. +Blaudet communicated a report upon a young woman of thirty summers +who, being subject to nervous attacks, fell, after her crises, into +a sort of lethargic sleep which lasted several weeks and sometimes +several months. One of her sleeps, especially, lasted from the +beginning of the year 1862 until March, 1863.</p> + +<p>Dr. Paul Levasseur relates that, in a certain English family, +lethargy seemed to have become hereditary. The first case was +exhibited in an old lady who remained for fifteen days in an +immovable and insensible state, and who afterward, on regaining her +consciousness, lived for quite a long time. Warned by this fact, +the family preserved a young man for several weeks who appeared to +be dead, but who came to life again.</p> + +<p>Dr. Pfendler, in an inaugural thesis (Paris, 1833), minutely +describes a case of apparent death of which he himself was a +witness. A young girl of Vienna at the age of 15 was attacked by a +nervous affection that brought on violent crises followed by +lethargic states which lasted three or four days. After a time she +became so exhausted that the first physicians of the city declared +that there was no more hope. It was not long, in fact, before she +was observed to rise in her bed and fall back as if struck with +death. "For four hours she appeared to me," says Dr. Pfendler, +"completely inanimate. With Messrs. Franck and Schaeffer, I made +every possible effort to rekindle the spark of life. Neither +mirror, nor burned feather, nor ammonia, nor pricking succeeded in +giving us a sign of sensibility. Galvanism was tried without the +patient showing any contractility. Mr. Franck believed her to be +dead, but nevertheless advised me to leave her on the bed. For +twenty-eight hours no change supervened, although it was thought +that a little putrefaction was observed. The death bell was +sounded, the friends of the girl had dressed her in white and had +crowned her with flowers, and all was arranged for her burial. +Desiring to convince myself of the course of the putrefaction, I +visited the body again, and found that no further advance had been +made than before. What was my astonishment when I believed that I +saw a slight respiratory motion. I looked again, and saw that I was +not mistaken. I at once used friction and irritants, and in an hour +and a half the respiration increased. The patient opened her eyes, +and, struck with the funereal paraphernalia around her, returned to +consciousness, and said, 'I am too young to die.'" All this was +followed by a ten hours' sleep. Convalescence proceeded rapidly, +and the girl became free from all her nervous troubles. During her +crisis she heard everything. She quoted some Latin words that Mr. +Franck had used. Her most fearful agony had been to hear the +preparations for her burial without being able to get rid of her +torpor. Medical dictionaries are full of anecdotes of this nature, +but I shall cite but two more.</p> + +<p>On the 10th of November, 1812, during the fatal retreat from +Russia, Commandant Tascher, desiring to bring back to France the +body of his general, who had been killed by a bullet, and who had +been buried since the day before, disinterred him, and, upon +putting him into a landau, and noticing that he was still +breathing, brought him to life again by dint of care. A long time +afterward this same general was one of the pall bearers at the +funeral obsequies of the aide-de-camp who had buried him. In 1826 a +young priest returned to life at the moment the bishop of the +diocese was pronouncing the <i>De Profundis</i> over his body. +Forty years afterward, this priest, who had become Cardinal +Donnett, preached a feeling sermon upon the danger of premature +burial.</p> + +<p>I trust I have now sufficiently prepared the mind of the reader +for an examination of the phenomena of the voluntary suspension of +life that I shall now treat of.</p> + +<p>The body of an animal may be compared to a machine that converts +the food that it receives into motion. It receives nothing, it will +produce nothing; but there is no reason why it should get out of +order if it is not deteriorated by external agents. The legendary +rustic who wanted to accustom his ass to go without food was +therefore theoretically wrong only because he at the same time +wanted the animal to work. The whole difficulty consists in +breaking with old habits. To return to the comparison that we just +made, we shall run the risk of exploding the boiler of a steam +engine if we heat it or cool it abruptly, but we can run it very +slowly and for a very long time with but very little fuel. We may +even preserve a little fire under the ashes, and this, although it +may not be capable of setting the parts running, will suffice later +on to revivify the fireplace after it has been charged anew with +fuel.</p> + +<p>We have recently had the example of Dr. Tanner, who went forty +days without any other nourishment than water. Not very long ago +Liedovine de Schiedam, who had been bedridden for twenty years, +affirmed that she had taken no food for eight of them. It is said +that Saint Catharine of Sienna gradually accustomed herself to do +without food, and that she lived twenty years in total abstinence. +We know of several examples of prolonged sleep during which the +sleeper naturally took no nourishment. In his Magic Disquisitions, +Delvis cites the case of a countryman who slept for an entire +autumn and winter. Pfendler relates that a certain young and +hysterical woman fell twice into a deep slumber which each time +lasted six months. In 1883 an <i>enceinte</i> woman was found +asleep on a bench in the Grand Armee Avenue. She was taken to the +Beaujon Hospital, where she was delivered a few days after while +still asleep, and it was not till the end of three months that she +could be awakened from her lethargy. At this very moment, at +Tremeille, a woman named Marguerite Bouyenvalle is sleeping a sleep +that has lasted nearly a year, during which the only food that she +has had is a few drops of soup daily.</p> + +<p>What is more remarkable, Dr. Fournier says in his Dictionary of +Medical Sciences that he knew of a distinguished writer at Paris, +who sometimes went for months at a time without taking anything but +emollient drinks, while at the same time living along like other +people.</p> + +<p>Respiration is certainly more necessary to life than food is; +but it is not absolutely indispensable, as we have seen in the +cases of apparent death cited in our previous article. It is +possible, through exercise, for a person to accustom himself, up to +a certain point, to abstinence from air as he can from food. Those +who dive for pearls, corals, or sponges succeed in remaining from +two to three minutes under water. Miss Lurline, who exhibited in +Paris in 1882, remained two and a half minutes beneath the water of +her aquarium without breathing. In his treatise De la Nature, Henri +de Rochas, physician to Louis XIII., gives six minutes as the +maximum length of time that can elapse between successive +inspirations of air. It is probable that this figure was based upon +an observation of hibernating animals.</p> + +<p>In his Encyclopedic Dictionary, Dr. Dechambre relates the +history of a Hindoo who hid himself in the waters of the Ganges +where women were bathing, seized one of them by the legs, drowned +her, and then removed her jewels. Her disappearance was attributed +to crocodiles. One woman who succeeded in escaping him denounced +the assassin, who was seized and hanged in 1817.</p> + +<p>A well known case, is that of Col. Townshend, who possessed the +remarkable faculty of stopping at will not only his respiration, +but also the beating of his heart. He performed the experiment one +day in the presence of Surgeon Gosch, who cared for him in his old +age, two physicians, and his apothecary, Mr. Shrine. In their +presence, says Gosch, the Colonel lay upon his back, Dr. Cheyne +watched his pulse, Dr. Baynard put his hand upon his heart, and Mr. +Shrine held a mirror to his mouth. After a few seconds no pulse, +movement of the heart, or respiration could be observed. At the end +of half an hour, as the spectators were beginning to get +frightened, they observed the functions progressively resuming +their course, and the Colonel came back to life.</p> + +<p>The fakirs of India habituate themselves to abstinence from air, +either by introducing into the nostrils strings that come out +through the mouth, or by dwelling in subterranean cells that air +and light never enter except through narrow crevices that are +sometimes filled with clay. Here they remain seated in profound +silence, for hours at a time, without any other motion than that of +the fingers as the latter slowly take beads from a chaplet, the +mind absorbed by the mental pronunciation of OM (the holy triune +name), which they must repeat incessantly while endeavoring to +breathe as little as possible. They gradually lengthen the +intervals between their inspirations and expirations, until, in +three or four months, they succeed in making them an hour and a +half. This is not the ideal, for one of their sacred books says, in +speaking of a saint: "At the fourth month he no longer takes any +food but air, and that only every twelve days, and, master of his +respiration he embraces God in his thought. At the fifth he stands +as still as a pole; he no longer sees anything but Baghavat, and +God touches his cheek to bring him out of his ecstasy."</p> + +<p>It will be conceived that by submitting themselves to such +gymnastics from infancy, certain men, already predisposed by +atavism or a peculiar conformation, might succeed in doing things +that would seem impossible to the common run of mortals. Do we not +daily see acrobats remaining head downward for a length of time +that would suffice to kill 99 per cent, of their spectators through +congestion if they were to place themselves in the same posture? +Can the savage who laboriously learns to spell, letter by letter, +comprehend how many people get the general sense of an entire page +at a single glance?</p> + +<p>There is no reason, then, <i>a priori</i>, for assigning to the +domain of legerdemain the astonishing facts that are told us by a +large number of witnesses, worthy of credence, regarding a young +fakir who, forty years ago, was accustomed to allow himself to be +buried, and resuscitated several months afterward.</p> + +<p>An English officer, Mr. Osborne, gives the following account of +one of these operations, which took place in 1838 at the camp of +King Randjet Singh:</p> + +<p>"After a few preparations, which lasted some days, and that it +would prove repugnant to enumerate, the fakir declared himself +ready to undergo the ordeal. The Maharajah, the Sikhs chiefs, and +Gen. Ventura, assembled near a masonry tomb that had been +constructed expressly to receive him. Before their eyes, the fakir +closed with wax all the apertures in his body (except his mouth) +that could give entrance to air. Then, having taken off the +clothing that he had on, he was enveloped in a canvas sack, and, +according to his wish, his tongue was turned back in such a way as +to close the entrance to his windpipe. Immediately after this he +fell into a sort of trance. The bag that held him was closed and a +seal was put upon it by the Maharajah. The bag was then put into a +wooden box, which was fastened by a padlock, sealed, and let down +into the tomb. A large quantity of earth was thrown into the hole +and rammed down, and then barley was sown on the surface and +sentinels placed around with orders to watch day and night.</p> + +<p>"Despite all such precautions, the Maharajah had his doubts; so +he came twice in the space of ten months (the time during which the +fakir was buried), and had the tomb opened in his presence. The +fakir was in the bag into which he had been put, cold and +inanimate. The ten months having expired, he was disinterred, Gen. +Ventura and Capt. Ward saw the padlock removed, the seals broken, +and the box taken from the tomb. The fakir was taken out, and no +pulsation either at the heart or pulse indicated the presence of +life. As a first measure for reviving him, a person introduced a +finger gently into his mouth and placed his tongue in its natural +position. The top of his head was the only place where there was +any perceptible heat. By slowly pouring warm water over his body, +signs of life were gradually obtained, and after about two hours of +care the patient got up and began to walk.</p> + +<p>"This truly extraordinary man says that during his burial he has +delightful dreams, but that the moment of awakening is always very +painful to him. Before returning to a consciousness of his +existence he experiences vertigoes. His nails and hair cease to +grow. His only fear is that he may be harmed by worms and insects, +and it is to protect himself from these that he has the box +suspended in the center of the tomb."</p> + +<p>This sketch was published in the <i>Magasin Pittoresque</i> in +1842 by a writer who had just seen Gen. Ventura in Paris, and had +obtained from him a complete confirmation of the story told by +Capt. Wade.</p> + +<p>Another English officer, Mr. Boileau, in a work published in +1840, and Dr. MacGregor, in his medical topography of Lodhiana, +narrate two analogous exhumations that they separately witnessed. +The question therefore merits serious examination.--<i>A. de +Rochas, in La Nature</i>.</p> + +<hr> +<p>Some experiments recently made by M. Olszewsky appear to show +that liquid oxygen is one of the best of refrigerants. He found +that when liquefied oxygen was allowed to vaporize under the +pressure of one atmosphere, a temperature as low as -181.4° C. +was produced. The temperature fell still further when the pressure +on the liquid oxygen was reduced to nine millimeters of mercury. +Though the pressure was reduced still further to four millimeters +of mercury, yet the oxygen remained liquid. Liquefied nitrogen, +when allowed to evaporate under a pressure of sixty millimeters of +mercury, gave a temperature of -214° C., only the surface of +the liquid gas became opaque from incipient solidification. Under +lower pressures the nitrogen solidified, and temperatures as low as +-225° C. were recorded by the hydrogen thermometer. The lowest +temperature obtained by allowing liquefied carbonic oxide to +vaporize was -220.5° C.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="15"></a></p> + +<h2>CONVALLARIA</h2> + +. + +<h3>By OTTO A. WALL, M.D., Ph.G.</h3> + +<p>Cnovallaria Majalis is a stemless perennial plant, found in both +the eastern and western hemispheres, with two elliptic leaves and a +one-sided raceme bearing eight or ten bell-shaped flowers. The +flowers are fragrant, and perfumes called "Lily of the Valley" are +among the popular odors.</p> + +<p>Both leaves and flowers have been used in medicine, but the +rhizome is the part most frequently used.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><a href="images//15a.png"><img src= +"images//15a_th.jpg" alt="CONVALLARIA."></a></p> + +<p class="ctr">CONVALLARIA.</p> + +<p>The fresh rhizome is a creeping, branching rhizome of a pale +yellowish white color, which, on drying, darkens to a straw color, +or even a brown in places. When dry it is about the thickness of a +thick knitting needle, swelling to the thickness of a quill when +soaked in water. It is of uniform thickness, except near the +leaf-bearing ends, which are thicker marked with numerous +leafscars, or bare buds covered with scales, and often having +attached the tattered remains of former leaves. Fig. A shows a +portion of rhizome, natural size, and Fig. B shows another piece +enlarged to double linear size.</p> + +<p>The internodes are smooth, the rootlets being attached at the +nodes. The rootlets are filiform, and darker in color.</p> + +<p>The rhizome is covered by an epidermis, composed of muriform +cells of a bright yellow color, after having been treated with +liquor potassæ to clear up the tissues. These cells are shown +in Fig. G. An examination of the transverse section shows us the +endogenous structure, as we find it also in various other drugs +(sarsaparilla, etc.), namely, a nucleus sheath, inclosing the +fibrovascular bundles and pith, and surrounded by a peri-ligneous +or peri-nuclear portion, consisting of soft-walled parenchyma +cells, loosely arranged with many small, irregularly triangular, +intercellular spaces in the tranverse section. Some of these cells +contain bundles of raphides (Fig. 2), one of which bundles is shown +crushed in Fig. J. Sometimes these crystals are coarser and less +needle-like, as in Fig. K. Fig. C shows a transverse section +through the leaf-bearing portion of the rhizome (at a), and is +rather irregular on account of the fibrovascular bundles diverging +into the base of the leaves of flower-stalks. A more regular +appearance is seen in Fig. D, which is a section through the +internode (b). In it we see the nuclear sheath, varying in width +from one to three cells, and inclosing a number of crescent-shaped +fibrovascular bundles, with their convexities toward the center and +their horns toward the nuclear sheath. There are also from two to +four or five free closed fibrovascular bundles in the central +pith.</p> + +<p>These fibrovascular bundles consist mainly of dotted or +reticulated ducts (Fig. F), but all gradations from, this to the +spiroids, or even true spiral ducts (Fig. E). may be found, though +the annular and spiral ducts are quite rare. These ducts are often +prismatically compressed by each other. The fibrovascular bundles +also contain soft-walled prosenchyma cells. The peri-nuclear +portion consists of soft-walled parenchyma, smaller near the +nuclear sheath and the epidermis, and larger about midway between, +and of the same character as the cells of the pith. In longitudinal +section they appear rectangular, similar to the walls of the +epidermis (G), but with thinner walls.</p> + +<p>All parts of the plant have been used in medicine, either +separately or together, and according to some authorities the whole +flowering plant is the best form in which to use this drug.</p> + +<p>The active principles are <i>convallaramin</i> and +<i>convallarin</i>.</p> + +<p>It is considered to act similarly to digitalis as a +heart-stimulant, especially when the failure of the heart's action +is due to mechanical impediments rather than to organic +degeneration. It is best given in the form of fluid extract in the +dose of 1 to 5 cubic centimeters (15 to 75 minims), commencing with +the smaller doses, and increasing, if necessary, according to the +effects produced in each individual case.--<i>The +Pharmacist</i>.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="14"></a></p> + +<h2>FLIGHT OF THE BUZZARD.</h2> + +<p>During my visit to the Southern States of America, I have had +several opportunities of watching, under favorable conditions, the +flight of the buzzard, the scavenger of Southern cities. Although +in most respect this bird's manner of flight resembles that of the +various sea-birds which I have often watched for hours sailing +steadily after ocean steamships, yet, being a land bird, the +buzzard is more apt to give examples of that kind of flight in +which a bird remains long over the same place. Instead of sailing +steadily on upon outstretched pinions, the buzzard often ascends in +a series of spirals, or descends along a similar course. I have not +been able to time the continuance of the longest flights during +which the wings have not once been flapped, for the simple reason +that, in every case where I have attempted to do so, the bird has +passed out of view either by upward or horizontal traveling. But I +am satisfied that in many cases the bird sweeps onward or about on +unflapping wings for more than half an hour.</p> + +<p>Now, many treat this problem of aerial flotation as if it were +of the nature of a miracle--something not to be explained. +Explanations which have been advanced have, it is true, been in +many cases altogether untenable. For instance, some have asserted +that the albatross, the condor, and other birds which float for a +long time without moving their wings--and that, too, in some cases, +at great heights above the sea-level, where the air is very +thin--are supported by some gas within the hollow parts of their +bones, as the balloon is supported by the hydrogen within it. The +answer to this is that a balloon is <i>not</i> supported by the +hydrogen within it, but by the surrounding air, and in just such +degree as the air is displaced by the lighter gas. The air around a +bird is only displaced by the bird's volume, and the pressure of +the air corresponding to this displacement is not equivalent to +more than one five-hundredth part of the bird's weight. Another +idea is that when a bird seems to be floating on unmoving wings +there is really a rapid fluttering of the feathers of the wings, by +which a sustaining power is obtained. But no one who knows anything +of the anatomy of the bird will adopt this idea for an instant, and +no one who has ever watched with a good field-glass a floating bird +of the albatross or buzzard kind will suppose they are fluttering +their feathers in this way, even though he should be utterly +ignorant of the anatomy of the wings. Moreover, any one acquainted +with the laws of dynamics will know that there would be tremendous +loss of power in the fluttering movement imagined as compared with +the effect of sweeping downward and backward the whole of each +wing.</p> + +<p>There is only one possible way of explaining the floating power +of birds, and that is by associating it with the rapid motion +acquired originally by wing flapping, and afterward husbanded, so +to speak, by absolutely perfect adjustment and balancing. To this +the answer is often advanced that it implies ignorance of the laws +of dynamics to suppose that rapid advance can affect the rate of +falling, as is implied by the theory that it enables the bird to +float.</p> + +<p>Now, as a matter of fact, a slight slope of the wings would +undoubtedly produce a raising power, and so an answer is at one +obtained to this objection. But I venture to assert, with the +utmost confidence, that a perfectly horizontal plane, advancing +swiftly in a horizontal direction at first, will not sink as +quickly, or anything like as quickly, as a similar plane let fall +from a position of rest. A cannon-ball, rushing horizontally from +the mouth of a cannon, begins to fall just as if it were simply +dropped. But the case of a horizontal plane is altogether +different. If rapidly advancing, it passes continually over still +air; if simply let fall, the air beneath it yields, and presently +currents are set up which facilitate the descent of the flat body; +but there is no time to set up these aerial movements as the flat +body passes rapidly over still air.</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact, we know that this difference exists, from +the difference in the observed behavior of a flat card set flying +horizontally through the air and a similar card held horizontally +and then allowed to fall.</p> + +<p>I believe the whole mystery of aerial flotation lies here, and +that as soon as aerial floating machines are planned on this +system, it will be found that the problem of aerial transit--though +presenting still many difficulties of detail--is, nevertheless, +perfectly soluble.--<i>R.A. Proctor, in Newcastle Weekly +Chronicle</i>.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="13"></a></p> + +<h2>AN ASSYRIAN BASS-RELIEF 2,700 YEARS OLD.</h2> + +<p>There was exhibited at the last meeting of the Numismatic and +Antiquarian Society, in Philadelphia, on May 7, an object of great +interest to archæologists, with which, says <i>The +Church</i>, is also connected a very curious history.</p> + +<p>It appears that about forty years ago a young American minister, +Rev. W.F. Williams, went as a missionary to Syria, and he visited +among places of interest the site of ancient Nineveh about the time +that Austin Henry Layard was making his famous explorations and +discoveries; he wrote to a friend in Philadelphia that he had +secured for him a fine piece of Assyrian sculpture from one of the +recently opened temples or palaces, representing a life size figure +of a king, clad in royal robes, bearing in one hand a basket and in +the other a fir cone. One portion of the stone was covered with +hieroglyphics, and was as sharply cut as though it had been carved +by a modern hand instead of by an artist who was sleeping in his +grave when Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, was yet an infant.</p> + +<p>The letter describing this treasure arrived duly, but the stones +did not come. It appears that the caravan bringing them down to +Alexandretta, from whence they were to be shipped to Philadelphia, +was attacked by robbers, and the sculptured stones were thrown upon +the desert as useless, and there they remained for some years. +Finally they were recovered, shipped to this country (about +twenty-five years ago), and arriving at their destination during +the absence of the consignee, were deposited temporarily in a +subterranean storeroom at his manufactory. In some way they were +overlooked, and here they have remained unopened until they were +rediscovered a few days ago; meanwhile the missionary and his +friend have both passed away, ignorant of the fact that the rare +gift had finally reached its destination and had become again +lost.</p> + +<p>The cuneiform inscription is now being translated by an Assyrian +scholar (Rev. Dr. J.P. Peters, of the Divinity School), and its +identity is established; it came from the temple of King +Assur-nazir-pal, a famous conqueror who reigned from 883 to 859 +B.C.</p> + +<p>The slab was cut into three sections, 3x3½ feet each, for +convenience of transportation, and they have been somewhat broken +on the journey; fortunately, however, this does not obliterate the +writing.</p> + +<p>Mr. Tolcott Williams, a son of the late missionary, was present +at the meeting of the Society, and gave an interesting account of +the classic ground from which the slab was obtained. It was one of +a number lining the walls of the palace of Assur-nazir-pal. The +inscriptions, as translated by Dr. Peters, indicate that this +particular slab was carved during the first portion of this king's +reign, and some conception of its great antiquity may be gained +when it is stated that he was a contemporary of Ahab and +Jehosaphat; he was born not more than a century later than Solomon, +and he reigned three centuries before Nebuchadnezzar, King of +Babylon. After the slabs were procured, it was necessary to send +them on the backs of camels a journey of eight hundred miles across +the Great Desert, through a region which was more or less infested +at all seasons with roving bands of robbers. Mr. Williams well +remembered the interview between his father and the Arab camel +owner, who told several conflicting stories by way of preliminary +to the confession of the actual facts, in order to account for the +non-arrival of the stones at Alexandretta, the sea coast town from +whence they were to be shipped to Philadelphia.</p> + +<p>Mr. A.E. Outerbridge, Jr., gave a brief account of the finding +of these stones in the subterranean storeroom where they had +reposed for a period of a quarter of a century. The space between +the slabs and the boxes had been packed with camels' hair, which +had in progress of time become eaten by insects and reduced to a +fine powder. The nails with which the cases were fastened were +remarkable both for their peculiar shape and for the extraordinary +toughness of the iron, far excelling in this respect the wrought +iron made in America to day.</p> + +<p>The Rev. Dr. J.P. Peters gave a very instructive exposition of +the chronology of the kings of Assyria, their social and religious +customs and ceremonies, their methods of warfare, their systems of +architecture, etc. He stated that the finest Assyrian bass-reliefs +in the British Museum came from the same palace as this specimen, +the carving of which is not excelled by any period of the ancient +glyptic art. The particular piece of alabaster selected by the +artist for this slab was unusually fine, being mottled with nodules +of crystallized gypsum.</p> + +<p>The cuneiform inscription is not unlike the Hebrew in its +character, resembling it about as closely as the Yorkshire dialect +resembles good English. The characters are so large and clearly cut +that it is a pleasure to read them after the laborious scrutiny of +the minute Babylonish clay tablets. The inscription on this slab is +identical with a portion of that of the great "Standard Monolith," +on which this king subsequently caused to be transcribed the pages, +as it were, from the different slabs which were apparently cut at +intervals in his reign.</p> + +<p><i>Translation of a Portion of the Cuneiform, +Inscription</i>.--"The palace of Assur-nazir-pal, servant of Assur, +servant of the god Beltis, the god Ninit, the shining one of Anu +and Dagon, servant of the Great Gods, Mighty King, king of hosts, +king of the land of Assyria; son of Bin-nirari, a strong warrior, +who in the service of Assur his Lord marched vigorously among the +princes of the four regions, who had no equal, a mighty leader who +had no rival, a king subduing all disobedient to him; who rules +multitudes of men; crushing all his foes, even the masses of the +rebels.... The city of Calah, which my predecessor, Shalmanezer, +King of Assyria had built had fallen into decay: His city I +rebuilt; a palace of cedar, box, cypress, for the seat of my +royalty, for the fullness of my princedom, to endure for +generations, I placed upon it. With plates of copper I roofed it, I +hung in its gates folding doors of cedar wood, silver, gold, +copper, and iron which my hands had acquired in the lands which I +ruled, I gathered in great quantities, and placed them in the midst +thereof." O.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="4"></a></p> + +<h2>DEPOSITING NICKEL UPON ZINC.</h2> + +<h3>By H.B. SLATER.</h3> + +<p>To those interested in the electro deposition of nickel upon +zinc, the formula given below for a solution and a brief +explanation of its use will be of service.</p> + +<p>The first sample of this solution was made as an experiment to +see what substances could be added to a solution of the double +sulphate of nickel and ammonium without spoiling it.</p> + +<p>In addition to several other combinations and mixtures of +solutions from which I succeeded in obtaining a good deposit, I +found that the solution here given would plate almost anything I +put into it, and worked especially well upon zinc. In its use no +"scraping" or rescouring or any of the many operations which I have +seen recommended for zinc needs be resorted to, as the metal +"strikes" at once and is deposited in a continuous adherent film of +reguline metal, and can be laid on as heavily as nickel is +deposited generally.</p> + +<p>I believe that the addition of the ammonium chloride simply +reduces the resistance of the double sulphate solution, but the +office of the potassium chloride is not so easily explained. At +least, I have never been able to explain it satisfactorily to +myself. It is certain, however, that the solution does not work as +well without it, nor does the addition of ammonium chloride in its +stead give as fine a result.</p> + +<p>Some care is necessary in the management of the current, which +should have a density of about 17 amperes per square foot of +surface--not much above or below. This may seem a high figure, +especially when it is discovered that there is a considerable +evolution of gas during the operation.</p> + +<p>I have repeatedly used this solution for coating articles of +zinc, and always with good success. I have exhibited samples of +zinc plated in this solution to those conversant with the +deposition of nickel, and they have expressed surprise at the +appearance of the work. Some strips of sheet-zinc in my possession +have been bent and cut into every conceivable shape without a sign +of fracture or curling up at the edges of the nickel coating.</p> + +<p>The solution is composed of--</p> + +<pre> + Double sulphate of nickel and ammonium 10 ounces. + Ammonium chloride 4 " + Potassium chloride 2 " + Distilled water 1 gallon. +</pre> + +<p>The salts are dissolved in the water (hot), and the solution is +worked at the ordinary temperature, about 16 degrees C.</p> + +<p>The zinc may be cleansed in any suitable manner, but must be +perfectly clean, of course, and finally rinsed in clean cold water +and placed in the bath as quickly as possible; care being taken +that it is connected before it touches the solution.--<i>Electrical +World</i>.</p> + +<hr> +<p>A catalogue, containing brief notices of many important +scientific papers heretofore published in the SUPPLEMENT, may be +had gratis at this office.</p> + +<hr> +<h2>THE SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT.</h2> + +<h3>PUBLISHED WEEKLY.</h3> + +<p><b>Terms of Subscription, $5 a Year.</b></p> + +<p>Sent by mail, postage prepaid, to subscribers in any part of the +United States or Canada. Six dollars a year, sent, prepaid, to any +foreign country.</p> + +<p>All the back numbers of THE SUPPLEMENT, from the commencement, +January 1, 1876, can be had. Price, 10 cents each.</p> + +<p>All the back volumes of THE SUPPLEMENT can likewise be supplied. +Two volumes are issued yearly. Price of each volume, $2.50, +stitched in paper, or $3.50, bound in stiff covers.</p> + +<p>COMBINED RATES--One copy of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN and one copy of +SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT, one year, postpaid, $7.00.</p> + +<p>A liberal discount to booksellers, news agents, and +canvassers.</p> + +<p><b>MUNN & CO., Publishers,</b></p> + +<p><b>361 Broadway, New York, N. Y.</b></p> + +<hr> +<h2><b>PATENTS.</b></h2> + +<p>In connection with the <b>Scientific American</b>, Messrs. MUNN +& Co. are Solicitors of American and Foreign Patents, have had +40 years' experience, and now have the largest establishment in the +world. Patents are obtained on the best terms.</p> + +<p>A special notice is made in the <b>Scientific American</b> of +all Inventions patented through this Agency, with the name and +residence of the Patentee. By the immense circulation thus given, +public attention is directed to the merits of the new patent, and +sales or introduction often easily effected.</p> + +<p>Any person who has made a new discovery or invention can +ascertain, free of charge, whether a patent can probably be +obtained, by writing to MUNN & Co.</p> + +<p>We also send free our Hand Book about the Patent Laws, Patents, +Caveats. Trade Marks, their costs, and how procured, with hints for +procuring advances on inventions. Address</p> + +<p><b>MUNN & CO., 361 Broadway, New York.</b></p> + +<p>Branch Office, cor. F and 7th Sts., Washington, D. C.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Scientific American Supplement, No. +497, July 11, 1885, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPP., JULY 11, 1885 *** + +***** This file should be named 9666-h.htm or 9666-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/9/6/6/9666/ + +Produced by Josephine Paolucci, Don Kretz, Juliet Sutherland +and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Scientific American Supplement, No. 497, July 11, 1885 + +Author: Various + +Posting Date: November 3, 2011 [EBook #9666] +Release Date: January, 2006 +First Posted: October 14, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPP., JULY 11, 1885 *** + + + + +Produced by Josephine Paolucci, Don Kretz, Juliet Sutherland +and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT NO. 497 + + + + +NEW YORK, JULY 11, 1885 + +Scientific American Supplement. Vol. XX, No. 497. + +Scientific American established 1845 + +Scientific American Supplement, $5 a year. + +Scientific American and Supplement, $7 a year. + + + * * * * * + +TABLE OF CONTENTS. + +I. CHEMISTRY AND METALLURGY.--Making Sea Water Potable. + --By THOS. KAY + + The Acids of Wool Oil + + The New Absorbent for Oxygen + + Depositing Nickel upon Zinc.--By H.B. SLATER + +II. ENGINEERING AND MECHANICS.--Foundations in Quicksand, + Lift Bridge over the Ourcq Canal.--3 figures + + St. Petersburg a Seaport.--A canal cut from Cronstadt to + St. Petersburg.--Opening of same by the Emperor and + Empress.--With full page engraving + + The New French Dispatch Boat Milan.--With engraving + + The Launching and Docking of Ships Sidewise.--4 figures + + Improved High Speed Engine.--12 figures + + The National Transit Co.'s Pipe Lines for the Transportation + of Oil to the Seaboard.--With map and diagram + + The Fuel of the Future.--History of natural gas.--Relation to + petroleum.--Duration of gas, etc.--With table of analyses + Closing Leakages for Packing.--Use of asbestos in stuffing + boxes + +III. TECHNOLOGY.--Luminous Paint.--Processes of manufacture + Boxwood and its Substitutes.--Preparation of same for market, + etc.--A paper written by J.A. JACKSON for the International + Forestry Exhibition + +IV. ARCHAEOLOGY.--An Assyrian Bass-Relief 2,700 years old + +V. NATURAL HISTORY.-The Flight of the Buzzard.--By R.A. + PROCTOR + +VI. BOTANY, ETC.--Convallaria.--A stemless perennial.--By OTTO + A. WALL, M.D.--Several figures + +VII. MEDICINE, HYGIENE, ETC.--Gaiffe's New Medical + Galvanometer.--1 figure + + The Suspension of Life in Plants and Animals + +VIII. MISCELLANEOUS.--Composite Portraits.--6 illustrations + Hand-Craft and Rede-Craft.--A plea for the first + named.--By D.G. GILMAN + + * * * * * + + + + +FOUNDATIONS IN QUICKSAND. + + +Foundations in quicksand often have to be built in places where least +expected, and sometimes the writer has been able to conveniently +span the vein with an arch and avoid trouble; but where it cannot be +conveniently arched over, it will be necessary to sheath pile for a +trench and lay in broad sections of concrete until the space is crossed, +the sheath piling being drawn and reset in sections as fast as the +trenches are leveled up. The piling is left in permanently if it is not +wanted again for use. + +Sometimes these bottoms are too soft to be treated in this manner; in +that case boxes or caissons are formed, loaded with stone and sunk into +place with pig iron until the weight they are to carry is approximated. +When settled, the weights are removed and building begins. + +Foundations on shifting sand are met with in banks of streams, which +swell and become rapids as each winter breaks up. This kind is most +troublesome and dangerous to rest upon if not properly treated. + +Retaining walls are frequently built season after season, and as +regularly become undermined by the scouring of the water. Regular +docking with piles and timbers is resorted to, but it is so expensive +for small works that it is not often tried. + +Foundations are formed often with rock well planted out; and again +success has attended the use of bags of sand where rough rock was not +convenient or too expensive. + +In such cases it is well to try a mattress foundation, which may be +formed of brushwood and small saplings with butts from 1/2 inch to +21/2 inches in diameter, compressed into bundles from 8 to 12 inches +diameter, and from 12 to 16 feet long, and well tied with ropes every +four feet. Other bundles, from 4 to 6 inches diameter and 16 feet long, +are used as binders, and these bundles are now cross-woven and make a +good network, the long parts protruding and making whip ends. One or +more sets of netting are used as necessity seems to require. This kind +of foundation may be filled in with a concrete of hydraulic cement and +sand, and the walls built on them with usual footings, and it is very +durable, suiting the purpose as well as anything we have seen or heard +of.--_Inland Architect_. + + * * * * * + + + + +LIFT BRIDGE OVER THE OURCQ CANAL. + + +This bridge, which was inaugurated in 1868, was constructed under the +direction of Mr. Mantion, then engineer-in-chief of the Belt Railway. +Fig. 1 shows the bridge raised. + +The solution adopted in this case was the only feasible one that +presented itself, in view of the slight difference between the level +of the railway tracks and the maximum plane of the canal water. This +circumstance did not even permit of a thought of an ordinary revolving +bridge, since this, on a space of 10 inches being reserved between the +level of the water and the bottom of the bridge, and on giving the +latter a minimum thickness of 33 inches up to the level of the rails, +would have required the introduction into the profile of the railroad +of approaches of at least one-quarter inch gradient, that would have +interfered with operations at the station close by. + +[Illustration: FIG. 1.--LIFT BRIDGE OVER THE OURCQ CANAL.] + +Besides, in the case of a revolving bridge, since the bottom of the +latter would be but ten inches above the water level, and the rollers +would have to be of larger diameter than that, it would have been +necessary to suppose the roller channel placed beneath the level of the +water, and it would consequently have been necessary to isolate this +channel from the canal by a tight wall. The least fissure in the latter +would have inundated the channel. + +As the Ourcq Canal had no regular period of closing, it was necessary +to construct the bridge without hinderance to navigation. The idea of +altering the canal's course could not be thought of, for the proximity +of the fortifications and of the bridge over the military road was +opposed to it. Moreover, the canal administration insisted upon a free +width of 26 feet, which is that of the sluices of the St. Denis Canal, +and which would have led to the projection of a revolving bridge of 28 +feet actual opening in order to permit of building foundations with +caissons in such a way as to leave a passageway of 26 feet during +operations. + +For these reasons it was decided to construct a metallic bridge that +should be lifted by means of counterpoises and balanced after the manner +of gasometers. + +The free width secured to navigation is 28 feet. The bridge is usually +kept raised to a height of 16 feet above the level of the water in order +to allow boats to pass (Fig. 2). In this position it is balanced by four +counterpoises suspended from the extremities of chains that pass over +pulleys. These counterpoises are of cast iron, and weigh, altogether, +44,000 pounds--the weight of the bridge to be balanced, say 11,000 +pounds per counterpoise. Moreover, each of the four chains is prolonged +beneath the corresponding counterpoise by a chain of the same weight, +called a compensating chain. + +The pulleys, B and C, that support the suspension chains have +projections in their channels which engage with the links and thus +prevent the chains from slipping. They are mounted at the extremity of +four latticed girders that likewise carry girder pulleys, D. The pulleys +that are situated at the side of the bridge are provided laterally +with a conical toothing which gears with a pinion connected with the +maneuvering apparatus. + +The two pinions of the same side of the bridge are keyed to a +longitudinal shaft which is set in motion at one point of its length by +a system of gearings. The winch upon which is exerted the stress that +is to effect the lifting or the descent of the bridge is fixed upon the +shaft of the pinion of the said gearing, which is also provided with a +flywheel, c. The longitudinal shafts are connected by a transverse one. +e, which renders the two motions interdependent. This transverse shaft +is provided with collars, against which bear stiff rods that give it the +aspect of an elongated spindle, and that permit it to resist twisting +stresses. + +The windlasses that lift the bridge are actuated by manual power. Two +men (or even one) suffice to do the maneuvering. + +This entire collection of pulleys and mechanism is established upon two +brick foot bridges between which the bridge moves. These arched bridges +offer no obstruction to navigation. Moreover, they always allow free +passage to foot passengers, whatever be the position of the bridge. They +are provided with four vertical apertures to the right of the suspension +chains, in order to allow of the passage of the latter. The girders that +support the pulleys rest at one extremity upon the upper part of the +bridges, and at the other upon solid brick pillars with stone caps. + +Finally, in order to render the descent of the bridge easier, there are +added to it two water tanks that are filled from the station reservoir +when the bridge is in its upper position, and that empty themselves +automatically as soon as it reaches the level of the railroad tracks. + +A very simple system of fastening has been devised for keeping the +bridge in a stationary position when raised. When it reaches the end of +its upward travel, four bolts engage with an aperture in the suspension +rod and prevent it from descending. These bolts are set in motion by +two connecting rods carried by a longitudinal shaft and maneuvered by a +lever at the end of the windlass. + +At the lower part the bridge rests upon iron plates set into sills. It +is guided in its descent longitudinally by iron plates that have an +inclination which is reproduced at the extremities of the bridge +girders, and transversely by two inclined angle irons into which fit the +external edges of the bottoms of the extreme girders. + +[Illustration: FIG. 2.--ELEVATION AND PLAN.] + +The total weight of the bridge is, as we have said, 44,000 pounds, which +is much less than would have been that of a revolving bridge of the same +span. The maneuvering of the bridge is performed with the greatest ease +and requires about two minutes. + +This system has been in operation at the market station of La Vilette +since the year 1868, and has required but insignificant repairs. We +think the adoption of it might be recommended for all cases in which a +slight difference between the level of a railroad and that of a water +course would not permit of the establishment of a revolving bridge.--_Le +Genie Civil_. + + * * * * * + + + + +ST. PETERSBURG A SEAPORT. + + +The Emperor and Empress of Russia, on Wednesday, May 27. 1885, the +second anniversary of their coronation at Moscow, opened the Maritime +Canal, in the Bay of Cronstadt, the shallow upper extremity of the Gulf +of Finland, by which great work the city of St. Petersburg is made a +seaport as much as London. St. Petersburg, indeed, stands almost on the +sea shore, at the very mouth of the Neva, though behind several low +islands which crowd the head of the Gulf; and though this is an inland +sea without saltness or tides, it is closed by ice in winter. Seventeen +miles to the west is the island of Cronstadt, a great fortress, with +naval dockyards and arsenals for the imperial fleet, and with a spacious +harbor for ships of commerce. The navigable entrance channel up the +Bay of Cronstadt to the mouth of the Neva lies under the south side of +Cronstadt, and is commanded by its batteries. As the bay eastward has a +depth not exceeding 12 ft., and the depth of the Neva at its bar is but +9 ft., all large vessels have been obliged hitherto to discharge their +cargoes at Cronstadt, to be there transferred to lighters and barges +which brought the goods up to the capital. "The delay and expense of +this process," says Mr. William Simpson, our special artist, "will be +understood by stating that a cargo might be brought from England by a +steamer in a week, but it would take three weeks at least to transport +the same cargo from Cronstadt to St. Petersburg. Of course, much of this +time was lost by custom house formalities. Sometimes it has taken even +longer than is here stated, which made the delivery of goods at St. +Petersburg a matter of great uncertainty, thus rendering time contracts +almost an impossibility. This state of things had continued from the +time of Peter the Great, and his great scheme had never been fully +realized. The increase of commerce and shipping had long made this a +crying evil; but even with all these difficulties, the trade here has +been rapidly growing. A scheme to bring the shipping direct to the +capital had thus become almost a necessity. As Manchester wishes to +bring the ocean traffic to her doors without the intervention of +Liverpool, so St. Petersburg desired to have its steamers sailing up to +the city, delivering and loading their cargoes direct at the stores and +warehouses in her streets. If Glasgow had not improved the Clyde, and +had up to the present day to bring up all goods carried by her ocean +going steamers from Port Glasgow--a place constructed for that purpose +last century, and which is twenty miles from Glasgow--she would have +been handicapped exactly as St. Petersburg has been till now in the +commercial race. + +"For some years the subject was discussed at St. Petersburg, and +more than one scheme was proposed; at last the project of General N. +Pooteeloff was adopted. According to this plan, a canal has been cut +through the shallow bottom of the Gulf of Finland, all the way from +Cronstadt to St. Petersburg. The line of this canal is from northwest to +southeast; it may be said to run very nearly parallel to the coast line +on the south side of the Gulf, and about three miles distant from it. +This line brings the canal to the southwest end of St. Petersburg, where +there are a number of islands, which have formed themselves, in the +course of ages, where the Bolshaya, or Great Neva, flows into the Gulf. +It is on these islands that the new port is to be formed. It is a very +large harbor, and capable of almost any amount of extension. It will be +in connection with the whole railway system of Russia. One part of the +scheme is that of a new canal, on the south side of the city, to connect +the maritime canal, as well as the new harbor, with the Neva, so that +the large barges may pass, by a short route, to the river on the east, +and thus avoid the bridges and traffic of the city. + +"The whole length of the canal is about eighteen miles. The longer +portion of it is an open channel, which is made 350 feet wide at bottom. +Its course will be marked by large iron floating buoys; these it is +proposed to light with gas by a new self-acting process which has been +very successful in other parts of the world; by this means the canal +will be navigable by night as well as by day. The original plan was to +have made the canal 20 feet deep, but this has been increased to 22 +feet. The Gulf of Finland gradually deepens toward Cronstadt, so that +the dredging was less at the western end. This part was all done by +dredgers, and the earth brought up was removed to a safe distance by +means of steam hopper barges. The contract for this part of the work +was sublet to an American firm--Morris and Cummings, of New York. The +eastern portion of the work on the canal is by far the most important, +and about six miles of it is protected by large and strong embankments +on each side. These embankments were formed by the output of the +dredgers, and are all faced with granite bowlders brought from Finland; +at their outer termination the work is of a more durable kind, the +facing is made of squared blocks of granite, so that it may stand the +heavy surf which at times is raised by a west wind in the Gulf. These +embankments, as already stated, extend over a space of nearly six miles, +and represent a mass of work to which there is no counterpart in the +Suez Canal; nor does the plan of the new Manchester Canal present +anything equivalent to it. The width of this canal also far exceeds any +of those notable undertakings. The open channel is, as stated above, 350 +ft. wide; within the embankments the full depth of 22 ft. extends to 280 +ft., and the surface between the embankments is 700 ft. This is nearly +twice the size of the Suez Canal at the surface, which is 100 meters, +or about 320 ft., while it is only about 75 ft. at the bottom; the +Amsterdam Canal is 78 ft. wide. The new Manchester Canal is to be 100 +ft. of full depth, and it boasts of this superiority over the great work +of Lesseps. The figures given above will show how far short it comes of +the dimensions of the St. Petersburg Canal. The Manchester Canal is to +be 24 ft. in depth; in that it has the advantage of 2 ft. more than the +St. Petersburg Canal; but with the ample width this one possesses, this, +or even a greater depth, can be given if it should be found necessary. +Most probably this will have ultimately to be done, for ocean going +steamers are rapidly increasing in size since the St. Petersburg Canal +was planned, and in a very few years the larger class of steamers might +have to deliver their cargoes at Cronstadt, as before, if the waterway +to St. Petersburg be not adapted to their growing dimensions. + +[Illustration: THE ST. PETERSBURG AND CRONSTADT MARITIME CANAL, OPENED +BY THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA, ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 1885.] + +"The dredging between the embankments of the canal was done by an +improved process, which may interest those connected with such works. It +may be remembered that the Suez Canal was mostly made by dredging, and +that the dredgers had attached to them what the French called 'long +couloirs' or spouts, into which water was pumped, and by this means the +stuff brought up by the dredgers was carried to the sides of the canal, +and there deposited. The great width of the St. Petersburg Canal was too +much for the long couloirs, hence some other plan had to be found. The +plan adopted was that invented by Mr. James Burt, and which had been +used with the greatest success on the New Amsterdam Canal. Instead of +the couloir, floating pipes, made of wood, are in this system employed; +the earth or mud brought up has a copious stream of water poured on it, +which mixes in the process of descending, and the whole becomes a thick +liquid. This, by means of a centrifugal pump, is propelled through the +floating pipes to any point required, where it can be deposited. The +couloir can only run the output a comparatively short distance, while +this system can send it a quarter of a mile, or even further, if +necessary. Its power is not limited to the level surface of the water. +I saw on my visit to the canal one of the dredgers at work, and the +floating pipes lay on the water like a veritable sea-serpent, extending +to a long distance where the stuff had to be carried. At that point the +pipe emerged from the water, and what looked very much like a vertebra +or two of the serpent crossed the embankment, went down the other side, +and there the muddy deposit was pouring out in a steady flow. Mr. Burt +pointed out to me one part of the works where his pump had sent the +stuff nearly half a mile away, and over undulating ground. This system +will not suit all soils. Hard clay, for instance, will not mix with the +water; but where the matter brought up is soft and easily diluted, this +plan possesses many advantages, and its success here affords ample +evidence of its merits. + +"About five miles below St. Petersburg, a basin had been already +finished, with landing quays, sheds, and offices; and there is an +embankment connecting it with the railways of St. Petersburg, all ready +for ships to arrive. When the ships of all nations sail up to the +capital, then the ideas of Peter the Great, when he laid the foundations +of St. Petersburg, will be realized. St. Petersburg will be no longer an +inland port. It will, with its ample harbor and numerous canals among +its streets, become the Venice of the North. Its era of commercial +greatness is now about to commence. The ceremony of letting the waters +of the canal into the new docks was performed by the Emperor in October, +1883. The Empress and heir apparent, with a large number of the Court, +were present on the occasion. The works on the canal, costing about a +million and a half sterling, were begun in 1876, and have been carried +out under the direction of a committee appointed by the Government, +presided over by his Excellency, N. Sarloff. The resident engineer is M. +Phofiesky; and the contractors are Messrs. Maximovitch and Boreysha." + +We heartily congratulate the Russian government and the Russian nation +upon the accomplishment of this great and useful work of peace. It will +certainly benefit English trade. The value of British imports from the +northern ports of Russia for the year 1883 was L13,799,033; British +exports, L6,459,993; while from the southern ports of Russia our trade +was: British imports, L7,177,149; British exports, L1,169,890--making a +total British commerce with European Russia of L20,976,182 imports from +Russia and L7,629,883 exports to Russia. It cannot be to the interest of +nations which are such large customers of each other to go to war +about a few miles of Afguhan frontier. The London _Chamber of Commerce +Journal_, ably edited by Mr. Kenric B. Murray, Secretary to the Chamber, +has in its May number an article upon this subject well deserving of +perusal. It points out that in case of war most of the British export +trade to Russia would go through Germany, and might possibly never again +return under British control. In spite of Russian protective duties, +this trade has been well maintained, even while the British import +of Russian commodities, wheat, flax, hemp, tallow, and timber, was +declining 40 per cent. from 1883 to 1884. The St. Petersburg Maritime +Canal will evidently give much improved facilities to the direct export +of English goods to Russia. Without reference to our own manufactures, +it should be observed that the Russian cotton mills, including those of +Poland, consume yearly 264 million pounds of cotton, most of which comes +through England. The importation of English coal to Russia has afforded +a noteworthy instance of the disadvantage hitherto occasioned by the +want of direct navigation to St. Petersburg; the freight of a ton of +coal from Newcastle to Cronstadt was six shillings and sixpence, but +from Cronstadt to St. Petersburg it cost two shillings more. It is often +said, in a tone of alarm and reproach, that Russia is very eager to get +to the sea. The more Russia gets to the sea everywhere, the better it +will be for British trade with Russia; and friendly intercourse with +an empire containing nearly a hundred millions of people is not to be +lightly rejected.--_Illustrated London News_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE NEW FRENCH DISPATCH BOAT MILAN. + + +The Milan, a new dispatch boat, has recently been making trial trips at +Brest. It was constructed at Saint Nazaire, by the "Societe des Ateliers +et Chantiers de la Loire," and is the fastest man-of-war afloat. It +has registered 17 knots with ordinary pressure, and with increase +of pressure can make 18 knots, but to attain such high speed a very +powerful engine is necessary. In fact, a vessel 303 ft. long, 33 ft. +wide, and drawing 12 ft. of water, requires an engine which can develop +4,000 H.P. + +[Illustration: THE NEW FRENCH DISPATCH BOAT MILAN.] + +The hull of the Milan is of steel, and is distinguished for its extreme +lightness. The vessel has two screws, actuated by four engines arranged +two by two on each shaft. + +The armament consists of five three inch cannons, eight revolvers, and +four tubes for throwing torpedoes. + +The Milan can carry 300 tons of coal, an insufficient quantity for +a long cruise, but this vessel, which is a dispatch boat in every +acceptation of the word, was constructed for a definite purpose. It +is the first of a series of very rapid cruisers to be constructed in +France, and yet many English packets can attain a speed at least equal +to that of the Milan. We need war vessels which can attain twenty knots, +to be master of the sea.--_L'Illustration_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE LAUNCHING AND DOCKING OF SHIPS SIDEWISE. + + +The slips of the shipyards at Alt-Hofen (Hungary) belonging to the +Imperial and Royal Navigation Company of the Danube are so arranged that +the vessels belonging to its fleet can be hauled up high and dry or +be launched sidewise. They comprise three distinct groups, which are +adapted, according to needs, for the construction or repair of steamers, +twenty of which can be put into the yard at a time. The operation, which +is facilitated by the current of the Danube, consists in receiving the +ships upon frames beneath the water and at the extremity of inclined +planes running at right angles with them. After the ship has been made +secure by means of wedges, the frame is drawn up by chains that +wind round fixed windlasses. These apparatus are established upon a +horizontal surface 25.5 feet above low-water mark so as to give the +necessary slope, and at which terminate the tracks. They may, moreover, +be removed after the ships have been taken off, and be put down again +for launching. For 136 feet of their length the lower part of the +sliding ways is permanent, and fixed first upon rubble masonry and then +upon the earth. + +Fig. 1 gives a general view of the arrangement. The eight sliding ways +of the central part are usually reserved for the largest vessels. The +two extreme ones comprise, one of them 7, and the other 6, tracks only, +and are maneuvered by means of the same windlasses as the others. A +track, FF, is laid parallel with the river, in order to facilitate, +through lorries, the loading and unloading of the traction chains. These +latter are 3/4 inch in diameter, while those that pass around the hulls +are 1 inch. + +The motive power is furnished by a 10 H.P. steam engine, which serves at +the same time for actuating the machine tools employed in construction +or repairs. The shaft is situated at the head of the ways, and sets in +motion four double-gear windlasses of the type shown in Fig. 2. The +ratio of the wheels is as 9 to 1. The speed at which the ships move +forward is from 10 to 13 feet per minute. Traction is effected +continuously and without shock. After the cables have been passed around +the hull, and fastened, they are attached to four pairs of blocks each +comprising three pulleys. The lower one of these is carried by rollers +that run over a special track laid for this purpose on the inclined +plane. + +[Illustration: FIG. 1.--WAYS OF LAUNCHING VESSELS SIDEWISE.] + +The three successive positions that a boat takes are shown in Fig. 1. +In the first it has just passed on to the frame, and is waiting to be +hauled up on the ways; in the second it is being hauled up; and in the +third the frame has been removed and the boat is shoved up on framework, +so that it can be examined and receive whatever repairs may be +necessary. This arrangement, which is from plans by Mr. Murray Jackson, +suffices to launch 16 or 18 new boats annually, and for the repair +of sixty steamers and lighters. These latter are usually 180 feet in +length, 24 feet in width, and 8 feet in depth, and their displacement, +when empty, is 120 tons. The dimensions of the largest steamers vary +between 205 and 244 feet in length, and 25 and 26 feet in width. They +are 10 feet in depth, and, when empty, displace from 440 to 460 tons. +The Austrian government has two monitors repaired from time to time in +the yards of the company. The short and wide forms of these impose a +heavier load per running foot upon the ways than ordinary boats do, but +nevertheless no difficulty has ever been experienced, either in hauling +them out or putting them back into the water.--_Le Genie Civil_. + +[Illustration: FIG. 2.--DETAILS OF WINDLASS.] + + * * * * * + + + + +IMPROVED HIGH-SPEED ENGINE. + + +This engine, exhibited at South Kensington by Fielding and Platt, of +Gloucester, consists virtually of a universal joint connecting two +shafts whose axes form an obtuse angle of about 157 degrees. It has four +cylinders, two being mounted on a chair coupling on each shaft. The word +cylinder is used in a conventional sense only, since the cavities acting +as such are circular, whose axes, instead of being straight lines, are +arcs of circles struck from the center at which the axes of the shafts +would, if continued, intersect. The four pistons are carried upon +the gimbal ring, which connects, by means of pivots, the two chair +couplings. + +[Illustration: THE FIELDING HIGH SPEED ENGINE.] + +Fig. 10 shows clearly the parts constituting the coupling, cylinders, +and pistons of a compound engine. CC are the high-pressure cylinders; DD +the low pressure; EEEE the four parts forming the gimbal ring, to which +are fixed in pairs the high and low pressure pistons, GG and FF; HHHH +are the chair arms formed with the cylinders carrying pivots, IIII, +which latter fit into the bearings, JJJJ, in the gimbal ring. Figs. +1, 2, 3, 4 show these parts connected and at different points of the +shaft's rotation. The direction of rotation is shown by the arrow. In +Fig. 1 the lower high-pressure cylinder, C, is just about taking steam, +the upper one just closing the exhaust; the low-pressure pistons are at +half stroke, that in sight exhausting, the opposite one, which cannot be +seen in this view, taking steam. + +In Fig 2 the shaft has turned through one-eighth of a revolution; in +Fig. 3, a quarter turn; Fig. 4, three-eighths of a turn. Another eighth +turn brings two parts into position represented by Fig. 1, except the +second pair of cylinders now replace the first pair. The bearings, KL, +support the two shafts and act as stationary valves, against which faces +formed on the cylinders revolve; steam and exhaust ports are provided in +the faces of K and L, and two ports in the revolving faces, one to each +cylinder. The point at which steam is cut off is determined by the +length of the admission ports in K and L. The exhaust port is made of +such a length that steam may escape from the cylinders during the whole +of the return stroke of pistons. + +Fig. 5 shows the complete engine. It will be seen that the engine is +entirely incased in a box frame, with, however, a lid for ready access +to the parts for examination, one great advantage being that the engine +can be worked with the cover removed, thus enabling any leakage past the +pistons or valve faces to be at once detected. The casing also serves to +retain a certain amount of lubricant. + +The lubrication is effected by means of a triple sight-feed lubricator, +one feeder delivering to steam inlet, and two serving the main shaft +bearings. + +Figs, 6 and 7 are an end elevation and plan of the same engine. There is +nothing in the other details calling for special notice. + +Figs. 8 and 9 show the method of machining the cylinders and pistons, +the whole of which can be done by ordinary lathes, which is evidently a +great advantage in the event of reboring, etc., being required in the +colonies or other countries where special tools are inaccessible. + +Figs. 11 and 12 are sections which explain themselves.--_The Engineer_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE NATIONAL TRANSIT CO'S PIPE LINES FOR THE TRANSPORTATION OF PETROLEUM +TO THE SEABOARD. + + +While Englishmen and Americans have been alike interested in the late +project for forcing water by a pipe line over the mountainous region +lying between Suakim and Berber in the far-off Soudan, few men of either +nation have any proper conception of the vast expenditure of capital, +natural and engineering difficulties overcome, and the bold and +successful enterprise which has brought into existence far greater pipe +lines in our own Atlantic States. We refer to the lines of the National +Transit Company, which have for a purpose the economic transportation of +crude petroleum from Western Pennsylvania to the sea coast at New York, +Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and to the Lakes at Cleveland and Buffalo. + +To properly commence our sketch of this truly gigantic enterprise, we +must go back to the discovery of petroleum in the existing oil regions +of Pennsylvania and adjacent States. Its presence as an oily scum on the +surface of ponds and streams had long been known, and among the Indians +this "rock-oil" was highly appreciated as a vehicle for mixing their wax +paint, and for anointing their bodies; in later years it was gathered in +a rude way by soaking it up in blankets, and sold at a high price for +medicinal purposes only, under the name of Seneca rock oil, Genesee oil, +Indian oil, etc. + +But the date of its discovery as an important factor in the useful arts +and as a source of enormous national wealth was about 1854. In the year +named a certain Mr. George H. Bissell of New Orleans accidentally met +with a sample of the "Seneca Oil," and being convinced that it had a +value far beyond that usually accorded it, associated himself with +some friends and leased for 99 years some of the best oil springs near +Titusville, Pa. This lease cost the company $5,000, although only a few +years before a cow had been considered a full equivalent in value for +the same land. The original prospectors began operations by digging +collecting ditches, and then pumping off the oil which gathered upon the +surface of the water. But not long after this first crude attempt at oil +gathering, the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Co. was organized, with Prof. B. +Silliman of Yale College as its president, and a more intelligent method +was introduced into the development of the oil-producing formation. In +1858, Col. Drake of New Haven was employed by the Pennsylvania Co. to +sink an artesian well; and, after considerable preparatory work, on +August 28, 1859, the first oil vein was tapped at a depth of 691/2 feet +below the surface; the flow was at first 10 barrels per day, but in the +following September this increased to 40 barrels daily. + +[Illustration: MAP SHOWING THE NATIONAL TRANSIT CO.'S PIPE LINES.] + +The popular excitement and the fortunes made and lost in the years +following the sinking of the initial well are a matter of history, +with which we have here nothing to do. It is sufficient to say that a +multitude of adventurers were drawn by the "oil-craze" into this late +wilderness, and the sinking of wells extended with unprecedented +rapidity over the region near Titusville and from there into more +distant fields. + +By June 1, 1862, 495 wells had been put down near Titusville, and the +daily output of oil was nearly 6,000 barrels, selling at the wells +at from $4.00 to $6.00 per barrel. But the tapping of this vast +subterranean storehouse of oleaginous wealth continued, until the +estimated annual production was swelled from 82,000 barrels in 1859 to +24,385,966 barrels in 1883; in the latter year 2,949 wells were put +down, many of them, however, being simply dry holes.[1] The total output +of oil in the Pennsylvania regions, between 1859 and 1883, is estimated +at about 234,800,000 barrels--enough oil to fill a tank about 10,000 +feet square, nearly two miles to a side, to a depth of over 131/2 feet. + +[Footnote 1: The total number of wells in the Pennsylvania oil regions +cannot be given. In the years 1876-1884, inclusive, 28,619 wells were +sunk; this is an average of 3,179 per year. During the same period 2,507 +dry holes were drilled at an average cost of $1,500 each.] + +As long as oil could be sold at the wells at from $4.00 to $10.00 +a barrel, the cost of transportation was an item hardly worthy of +consideration, and railroad companies multiplied and waged a bitter +war with each other in their scramble after the traffic. But as the +production increased with rapid strides, the market price of oil fell +with a corresponding rapidity, until the quotations for 1884 show +figures as low as 50 to 60 cents per barrel for the crude product at Oil +City. + +In December, 1865, the freight charge per barrel for a carload of oil +from Titusville to New York, and the return of the empty barrels, +was $3.50.[1] To this figure was added the cost of transportation by +pipe-line from Pithole to Titusville, $1.00; cost of barreling, 25 +cents; freight to Corry, Pa., 80 cents; making the total cost of a +barrel of crude oil in New York, $5.55. In January, 1866, the barrel +of oil in New York cost $10.40, including in this figure, however, the +Government tax of $1.00 and the price of the barrel, $3.25. + +[Footnote 1: It is stated that in 1862 the cost of sending one barrel of +oil to New York was $7.45. Steamboats charged $2.00 per barrel from Oil +City to Pittsburg, and the hauling from Oil Creek to Meadville cost +$2.25 per barrel.] + +The question of reducing these enormous transportation charges was first +broached, apparently, in 1864, when a writer in the _North American_, +of Philadelphia, outlined a scheme for laying a pipe-line down the +Allegheny River to Pittsburg. This project was violently assailed by +both the transportation companies and the people of the oil region, +who feared that its success would interfere with their then great +prosperity. But short pipe-lines, connecting the wells with storage +tanks and shipping points, grew apace and prepared the way for the vast +network of the present day, which covers this region and throws out arms +to the ocean and the lakes. + +Among the very first, if not the first, pipe lines laid was one put down +between the Sherman well and the railway terminus on the Miller farm. +It was about 3 miles long, and designed by a Mr. Hutchinson; he had an +exaggerated idea of the pressure to be exercised, and at intervals of 50 +to 100 feet he set up air chambers 10 inches in diameter. The weak point +in this line, however, proved to be the joints; the pipes were of cast +iron, and the joint-leakage was so great that little, if any, oil ever +reached the end of the line, and the scheme was abandoned in despair. + +In connection with this question of oil transportation, a sketch of the +various methods, other than pipelines, adopted in Pennsylvania may not +be out of place. We are mainly indebted to Mr. S.F. Peckham, in his +article on "Petroleum and its Products" in the U. S. Census Report of +1880, for the information relating to tank-cars immediately following: + +Originally the oil was carried in 40 and 42 gallon barrels, made of oak +and hooped with iron; early in 1866, or possibly in 1865, tank-cars +were introduced. These were at first ordinary flat-cars upon which were +placed two wooden tanks, shaped like tubs, each holding about 2,000 +gallons. + +On the rivers, bulk barges were also, after a time, introduced on the +Ohio and Allegheny; at first these were rude affairs, and often of +inadequate strength; but as now built they are 130 x 22 x 16 feet, in +their general dimensions, and divided into eight compartments, with +water-tight bulkheads; they hold about 2,200 barrels. + +In 1871 iron-tank cars superseded those of wood, with tanks of varying +sizes, ranging from 3,856 to 5,000 gallons each. These tanks were +cylinders, 24 feet 6 inches long, and 66 inches in diameter, and weighed +about 4,500 lb. The heads are made of 5/46 in. flange iron, the bottom +of 1/2 in., and the upper half of the shell of 3/16 in. tank iron. + +In October, 1865, the Oil Transportation Co. completed and tested a +pipe-line 32,000 feet long; three pumps were used upon it, two at +Pithole and one at Little Pithole. July 1, 1876, the pipe-line owners +held a meeting at Parkers to organize a pipe-line company to extend to +the seaboard under the charter of the Pennsylvania Transportation Co., +but the scheme was never carried out. In January, 1878, the Producers' +Union organized for a similar seaboard line, and laid pipes, but they +never reached the sea, stopping their line at Tamanend, Pa. The lines +of the National Transit Co., illustrated in our map, were completed in +1880-81, and this company, to which the United Pipe Lines have also +been transferred, is said to have $15,000,000 invested in plant for the +transport of oil to tide water. + +The National Transit Co. was organized under what was called the +Pennsylvania Co. act, about four years ago, and succeeded to the +properties of the American Transit Co., a corporation operating under +the laws of Pennsylvania. Since its organization the first named company +has constructed and now owns the following systems: + +The line from Olean, N.Y., to Bayonne, N.J., and to Brooklyn, N.Y., of +which a full page profile is given, showing the various pumping stations +and the undulations over its route of about 300 miles. The Pennsylvania +line, 280 miles long, from Colegrove, Pa., to Philadelphia. The +Baltimore line, 70 miles long, from Millway, Pa., to Baltimore. The +Cleveland line, 100 miles long, from Hilliards, Pa., to Cleveland, O. +The Buffalo line, 70 miles long, from Four Mile, Cattaraugus County, +N.Y., to Buffalo, and the line from Carbon Center, Butler County, Pa., +to Pittsburg, 60 miles in length. This amounts to a total of 880 miles +of main pipe-line alone, ranging from 4 inches to 6 inches in diameter; +or, adding the duplicate pipes on the Olean New York line, we have a +round total of 1,330 miles, not including loops and shorter branches and +the immense network of the pipes in the oil regions proper. + +A general description of the longest line will practically suffice for +all, as they differ only in diameter of pipe used and power of the +pumping plant. As shown on the map and profile, this long line starts at +Olean, near the southern boundary of New York State, and proceeds by the +route indicated to tide water at Bayonne, N.J., and by a branch under +the North and East rivers and across the upper end of New York city to +the Long Island refineries. This last named pipe is of unusual strength, +and passes through Central Park; few of the thousands who daily frequent +the latter spot being aware of the yellow stream of crude petroleum that +is constantly flowing beneath their feet. The following table gives the +various pumping stations on this Olean New York line, and some data +relating to distances between stations and elevations overcome: + + |----------------------------------------------------------------| + | | | | Greatest | + | | | | Summit | + | | Miles | Elevation | between | + | | between | above Tide. | Stations. | + | Pumping Stations. | Stations. | Ft. | Ft. | + |______________________|___________|________________|____________| + | Olean | -- | 1,490 | -- | + | Wellsville | 28.20 | 1,510 | 2,490 | + | Cameron | 27.91 | 1,042 | 2,530 | + | West Junction | 29.70 | 911 | 1,917 | + | Catatonk | 27.37 | 869 | 1,768 | + | Osborne | 27.99 | 1,092 | 1,539 | + | Hancock | 29.86 | 922 | 1,873 | + | Cochecton | 26.22 | 748 | 1,854 | + | Swartwout | 28.94 | 475 | 1,478 | + | Newfoundland | 29.00 | 768 | 1,405 | + | Saddle River | 28.77 | 35 | 398 | + |______________________|___________|________________|____________| + +On this line two six-inch pipes are laid the entire length, and a third +six-inch pipe runs between Wellsville and Cameron, and about half way +between each of the other stations, "looped" around them. The pipe used +for the transportation of oil is especially manufactured to withstand +the great strain to which it will be subjected, the most of it being +made by the Chester Pipe and Tube Works, of Chester, Pa., the Allison +Manufacturing Co., of Philadelphia and the Penna. Tube Works, of +Pittsburg, Pa. It is a lap-welded, wrought-iron pipe of superior +material, and made with exceeding care and thoroughly tested at the +works. The pipe is made in lengths of 18 feet, and these pieces are +connected by threaded ends and extra strong sleeves. The pipe-thread and +sleeves used on the ordinary steam and water pipe are not strong enough +for the duty demanded of the oil-pipe. The socket for a 4-inch steam +or water pipe is from 21/2 to to 23/4 inches long, and is tapped with 8 +standard threads to the inch, straight or parallel to the axis of the +pipe; with this straight tap only three or four threads come in contact +with the socket threads, or in any way assist in holding the pipes +together. In the oil-pipe, the pipe ends and sockets are cut on a taper +of 3/4 inch to 1 foot, for a 4-inch pipe, and the socket used is thicker +than the steam and water socket, is 33/4 inches long, and has entrance for +1 5/8 inches of thread on each pipe end tapped with 9 standard threads +to the inch. In this taper socket you have iron to iron the whole length +of the thread, and the joint is perfect and equal by test to the full +strength of the pipe. Up to 1877 the largest pipe used on the oil lines +was 4-inch, with the usual steam thread, but the joints leaked under the +pressure, 1,200 pounds to the square inch being the maximum the 8-thread +pipe would stand. This trouble has been remedied by the 9-thread, +taper-cut pipe of the present day, which is tested at the mill to 1,500 +pounds pressure, while the average duty required is 1,200 pounds; as the +iron used in the manufacture of this line-pipe will average a tensile +test strain of 55,000 pounds per square inch, the safety factor is thus +about one-sixth. + +[Illustration: PROFILE SHOWING NATIONAL TRANSIT CO.'S PIPE-LINE, FROM +OLEAN TO SADDLE RIVER.] + +The line-pipe is laid between the stations in the ordinary manner, +excepting that great care is exercised in perfecting the joints. No +expansion joints or other special appliances of like nature are used on +the line as far as we can learn; the variations in temperature being +compensated for, in exposed locations, by laying the pipe in long +horizontal curves. The usual depth below the surface is about 3 feet, +though in some portions of the route the pipe lies for miles exposed +directly upon the surface. As the oil pumped is crude oil, and this as +it comes from the wells carries with it a considerable proportion of +brine, freezing in the pipes is not to be apprehended. The oil, +however, does thicken in very cold weather, and the temperature has a +considerable influence on the delivery. + +A very ingenious patented device is used for cleaning out the pipes, and +by it the delivery is said to have been increased in certain localities +50 per cent. This is a stem about 21/2 feet long, having at its front end +a diaphragm made of wings which can fold on each other, and thus enable +it to pass an obstruction it cannot remove; this machine carries a set +of steel scrapers, somewhat like those used in cleaning boilers. The +device is put into the pipe, and propelled by the pressure transmitted +from the pumps from one station to another; relays of men follow the +scraper by the noise it makes as it goes through the pipe, one party +taking up the pursuit as the other is exhausted. They must never let it +get out of their hearing, for if it stops unnoticed, its location can +only again be established by cutting the pipe. + +The pumping stations are substantial structures of brick, roofed with +iron. The boiler house is removed some distance from the engine house +for greater safety from fire; the building, about 40 by 50 feet, +contains from six to seven tubular boilers, each 5 by 14 feet, and +containing 80 three-inch tubes. The pump house is a similar brick +structure about 40 by 60 feet, and contains the battery of pumping +engines to be described later. At each station are two iron tanks, 90 +feet in diameter and 30 feet high; into these tanks the oil is delivered +from the preceding station, and from them the oil is pumped into the +tanks at the next station beyond. The pipe-system at each station is +simple, and by means of the "loop-lines" before mentioned the oil can be +pumped directly around any station if occasion would require it. + +The pumps used on all these lines are the Worthington compound, +condensing, pressure pumping engines. The general characteristics of +these pumps are, independent plungers with exterior packing, valve-boxes +subdivided into separate small chambers capable of resisting very heavy +strains, and leather-faced metallic valves with low lift and large +surfaces. These engines vary in power from 200 to 800 horse-power, +according to duty required. They are in continuous use, day and night, +and are required to deliver about 15,000 barrels of crude oil per 24 +hours, under a pressure equivalent to an elevation of 3,500 feet. + +We have lately examined the latest pumping engine plant, and the largest +yet built for this service, by the firm of H.R. Worthington; it is to be +used at the Osborne Hollow Pumping Station. As patents are yet pending +on certain new features in this engine, we must defer a full description +of it for a later issue of our journal. + +The Pennsylvania line has a single 6-inch pipe 280 miles long, with six +pumping stations as shown in the map, and groups of shorter lines, with +a loop extending from the main line to Milton, Pa., a shipping point for +loading on cars. At Millway, Pa., a 5-inch pipe leaves the Pennsylvania +line and runs to Baltimore, a distance of 70 miles, and is operated +from the first named station alone, there being no intermediate pumping +station.[1] The Cleveland pipe, 100 miles long, is 5 inches in diameter, +and has upon it four pumping stations; it carries oil to the very +extensive refineries of the company at the terminal on Lake Erie. The +Buffalo line is 4 inches in diameter and 70 miles long; it has a pumping +station at Four-Mile and at Ashford (omitted on the map). The Pittsburg +line is 4 inches in diameter and 60 miles long; it has pumping stations +at Carbon Center and at Freeport. + +[Footnote 1: Millway is about 400 feet above tide-water at Baltimore, +but the line passes over a very undulating country in its passage to the +last named point. We regret that we have no profile on this 70 mile line +operated by a single pumping plant.--_Ed. Engineering News_.] + +A very necessary and remarkably complete adjunct to the numerous pipe +lines of this company is an independent telegraph system extending to +every point on its widely diverging lines. The storage capacity of the +National Transit Co.'s system is placed at 1,500,000 barrels, and +this tankage is being constantly increased to meet the demands of the +producers.[1] + +[Footnote 1: As showing the extent of the sea-coast transportation of +petroleum, we should mention that the statistics for 1884 show a total +of crude equivalent exported from the United States in that year, +equaling 16,661,086 barrels, of 51 gallons each. This is a daily average +of 42,780 barrels.] + +The company is officially organized as follows: C.A. Griscom, President; +Benjamin Brewster, Vice President; John Bushnell, Secretary; Daniel +O'Day, General Manager; J.H. Snow, General Superintendent. Mr. Snow +was the practical constructor of the entire system, and the general +perfection of the work is mainly due to his personal experience, energy, +and careful supervision. His engineering assistants were Theodore M. +Towe and C.J. Hepburn on the New York line and J.B. Barbour on the +Pennsylvania lines. + +The enterprise has been so far a great engineering success, and the oil +delivery is stated on good authority to be within 2 per cent. of the +theoretical capacity of the pipes. From a commercial standpoint, the +ultimate future of the undertaking will be determined by the lasting +qualities of wrought iron pipe buried in the ground and subjected to +enormous strain; time alone can determine this question. + +In preparing this article we are indebted for information to the firm of +H.R. Worthington, to General Manager O'Day, of the National Transit +Co., to the editor of the _Derrick_ of Oil City, Pa., and to numerous +engineering friends.--_Engineering News_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE FUEL OF THE FUTURE. + +By GEORGE WARDMAN. + + +The practical application of natural gas, as an article of fuel, to the +purpose of manufacturing glass, iron, and steel, promises to work a +revolution in the industrial interests of America--promises to work a +revolution; for notwithstanding the fact that, in many of the largest +iron, steel, and glass factories in Pittsburg and its vicinity, natural +gas has already been substituted for coal, the managers of some such +works are shy of the new fuel, mainly for two reasons: 1. They doubt +the continuity and regularity of its supply. 2. They do not deem the +difference between the price of natural gas and coal sufficient as yet +to justify the expenditure involved in the furnace changes necessary to +the substitution of the one for the other. These two objections will +doubtless disappear with additional experience in the production and +regulation of the gas supply, and with enlarged competition among the +companies engaging in its transmission from the wells to the works. +At present the use of natural gas as a substitute for coal in the +manufacture of glass, iron, and steel is in its infancy. + +Natural gas is as ancient as the universe. It was known to man in +prehistoric times, we must suppose, for the very earliest historical +reference to the Magi of Asia records them as worshiping the eternal +fires which then blazed, and still blaze, in the fissures of the +mountain heights overlooking the Caspian Sea. Those records appertain +to a period at least 600 years before the birth of Christ; but the Magi +must have lived and worshiped long anterior to that time. + +Zoroaster, reputed founder of the Parsee sect, is placed contemporary +with the prophet Daniel, from 2,500 to 600 B.C.; and, although Daniel +has been doubted, and Zoroaster may never have seen the light, the +fissures of the Caucasus have been flaming since the earliest authentic +records. + +The Parsees (Persians) did not originally worship fire. They believed +in two great powers--the Spirit of Light, or Good, and the Spirit of +Darkness, or Evil. Subsequent to Zoroaster, when the Persian empire rose +to its greatest power and importance, overspreading the west to the +shores of the Caspian and beyond, the tribes of the Caucasus suffered +political subjugation; but the creed of the Magi, founded upon the +eternal flame-altars of the mountains, proved sufficiently vigorous to +transform the Parseeism of the conquerors to the fire worship of the +conquered. + +About the beginning of the seventh century of the Christian era, the +Grecian Emperor Heraclius overturned the fire altars of the Magi at +Baku, the chief city on the Caspian, but the fire worshipers were not +expelled from the Caucasus until the Mohammedans subjugated the Persian +Empire, when they were driven into the Rangoon, on the Irrawaddy, in +India, one of the most noted petroleum producing districts of the world. + +Petroleum and natural gas are so intimately related that one would +hardly dare to say whether the gas proceeds from petroleum or the +petroleum is deposited from the gas. It is, however, safe to assume that +they are the products of one material, the lighter element separating +from the heavier under certain degrees of temperature and pressure. +Thus petroleum may separate from the gas as asphaltum separates from +petroleum. But some speculative minds consider natural gas to be a +product of anthracite coal. The fact that the great supply-field of +natural gas in Western Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, and +Eastern Ohio is a bituminous and not an anthracite region does not of +itself confute that theory, as the argument for it is, that the gas may +be tapped at a remote distance from the source of supply; and, whereas +anthracite is not a gas-coal, while bituminous is, we are told to +suppose that the gas which once may have been a component part of the +anthracite was long ago expelled by Nature, and has since been held in +vast reservoirs with slight waste, awaiting the use of man. That is one +theory; and upon that supposition it is suggested that anthracite +may exist below the bituminous beds of the region lying between the +Alleghany Mountains and the Great Lakes. Another theory is, that natural +gas is a product of the sea-weed deposited in the Devonian stratum. But, +leaving modern theories on the origin of natural gas and petroleum, we +may suppose the natural gas jets now burning in the fissures of the +Caucasus to have started up in flames about the time when, according +to the Old Testament, Noah descended from Mount Ararat, or very soon +thereafter. In the language of modern science it would be safe to say +that those flames sprang up when the Caucasus range was raised from +beneath the surface of the universal sea. The believer in biblical +chronology may say that those fires have been burning for four thousand +years--the geologist may say for four millions. + +We know that Alexander the Great penetrated to the Caspian; and in +Plutarch we read: "Hence [Arbela] he marched through the province +Babylon [Media?], which immediately submitted to him, and in Ecbatana +[?] was much surprised at the sight of the place where fire issues in a +continuous stream, like a spring of water, out of a cleft in the earth, +and the stream of naphtha, which not far from this spot flows out so +abundantly as to form a large lake. This naphtha, in other respects +resembling bitumen, is so subject to take fire that, before it touches +the flame, it will kindle at the very light that surrounds it, and often +inflames the intermediate air also. The barbarians, to show the power +and nature of it, sprinkled the street that led to the king's lodgings +with little drops of it, and, when it was almost night, stood at the +farther end with torches, which being applied to the moistened places, +the first taking fire, instantly, as quick as a man could think of it, +it caught from one end to another in such manner that the whole street +was one continued flame. Among those who used to wait upon the king, and +find occasion to amuse him, when he anointed and washed himself, there +was one Athenophanus, an Athenian, who desired him to make an experiment +of the naphtha upon Stephanus, who stood by in the bathing place, a +youth with a ridiculously ugly face, whose talent was singing well. +'For,' said he, 'if it take hold of him, and is not put out, it must +undeniably be allowed to be of the most invincible strength.' The youth, +as it happened, readily consented to undergo the trial, and as soon as +he was anointed and rubbed with it, his whole body was broke out into +such a flame, and was so seized by the fire, that Alexander was in the +greatest perplexity and alarm for him, and not without reason; for +nothing could have prevented him from being consumed by it if, by good +chance, there had not been people at hand with a great many vessels of +water for the service of the bath, with all which they had much ado to +extinguish the fire; and his body was so burned all over that he was +not cured of it a good while after. And thus it was not without some +plausibility that they endeavor to reconcile the fable to truth, who say +this was the drug in the tragedies with which Medea anointed the crown +and veils which she gave to Creon's daughter." + +An interesting reference to the fire-worshipers of the Caucasus is +contained in the "History of Zobeide," a tale of the wonderful Arabian +Nights Entertainment. It runs thus: + +"I bought a ship at Balsora, and freighted it; my sisters chose to go +with me, and we set sail with a fair wind. Some weeks after, we cast +anchor in a harbor which presented itself, with intent to water the +ship. As I was tired with having been so long on board, I landed with +the first boat, and walked up into the country. I soon came in sight of +a great town. When I arrived there, I was much surprised to see vast +numbers of people in different postures, but all immovable. The +merchants were in their shops, the soldiery on guard; every one seemed +engaged in his proper avocation, yet all were become as stone.... I +heard the voice of a man reading Al Koran.... Being curious to know why +he was the only living creature in the town,... he proceeded to tell +me that the city was the metropolis of a kingdom now governed by his +father; that the former king and all his subjects were Magi, worshipers +of fire and of Nardoun. the ancient king of the giants who rebelled +against God. 'Though I was born,' continued he, 'of idolatrous parents, +it was my good fortune to have a woman governess who was a strict +observer of the Mohammedan religion. She taught me Arabic from Al Koran; +by her I was instructed in the true religion, which I would never +afterward renounce. About three years ago a thundering voice was heard +distinctly throughout the city, saying, "Inhabitants, abandon the +worship of Nardoun and of fire, and worship the only true God, who +showeth mercy!" This voice was heard three years successively, but no +one regarded it. At the end of the last year all the inhabitants were in +an instant turned to stone. I alone was preserved.'" + +In the foregoing tale we doubtless have reference to the destruction +of Baku, on the Caspian (though to sail from Balsora to Baku is +impossible), and the driving away into India, by the Arabs under Caliph +Omar, of all who refused to renounce fire-worship and adopt the creed +of the Koran. The turning of the refractory inhabitants into stone is +probably the Arabian storyteller's figurative manner of referring to the +finding of dead bodies in a mummified condition. + +It is known that the Egyptians made use of bitumen, in some form, in +the preservation of their dead, a fact with which the Arabians were +familiar. As the Magi held the four elements of earth, air, fire, and +water to be sacred, they feared to either bury, burn, sink, or expose +to air the corrupting bodies of their deceased. Therefore, it was their +practice to envelop the corpse in a coating of wax or bitumen, so as +to hermetically seal it from immediate contact with either of the four +sacred elements. Hence the idea of all the bodies of the Magi left at +Baku being turned to stone, while only the true believer in Mohammed +remained in the flesh. + +Marco Polo, the famous traveler of the thirteenth century, makes +reference to the burning jets of the Caucasus, and those fires are known +to the Russians as continuing in existence since the army of Peter the +Great wrested the regions about the Caspian from the modern Persians. +The record of those flaming jets of natural gas is thus brought down in +an unbroken chain of evidence from remote antiquity to the present day, +and they are still burning. + +Numerous Greek and Latin writers testify to the known existence of +petroleum about the shores of the Mediterranean two thousand years ago. +More modern citations may, however, be read with equal interest. In the +"Journal of Sir Philip Skippon's Travels in France," in 1663, we find +the following curious entries: + +"We stayed in Grenoble till August 1st, and one day rode out, and, after +twice fording the river Drac (which makes a great wash) at a league's +distance, went over to Pont de Clef, a large arch across that river, +where we paid one sol a man; a league further we passed through a large +village called Vif, and about a league thence by S. Bathomew, another +village, and Chasteau Bernard, where we saw a flame breaking out of the +side of a bank, which is vulgarly called La Fountaine qui Brule; it +is by a small rivulet, and sometimes breaks out in other places; just +before our coming some other strangers had fried eggs here. The soil +hereabouts is full of a black stone, like our coal, which, perhaps, is +the continual fuel of the fire.... Near Peroul, about a league from +Montpelier, we saw a boiling fountain (as they call it), that is, the +water did heave up and bubble as if it boiled. This phenomenon in the +water was caused by a vapor ascending out of the earth through the +water, as was manifest, for if that one did but dig anywhere near the +place, and pour water upon the place new digged, one should observe in +it the like bubbling, the vapor arising not only in that place where the +fountain was, but all thereabout; the like vapor ascending out of the +earth and causing such ebullition in water it passes through hath been +observed in Mr. Hawkley's ground, about a mile from the town of Wigan, +in Lancashire, which vapor, by the application of a lighted candle, +paper; or the like, catches fire and flames vigorously. Whether or not +this vapor at Peroul would in like manner catch fire and burn I cannot +say, it coming not in our minds to make the experiment.... At Gabian, +about a day's journey from Montpelier, in the way to Beziers, is a +fountain of petroleum. It burns like oil, is of a pungent scent, and a +blackish color. It distills out of several places of the rock all the +year long, but most in the summer time. They gather it up with ladles +and put it in a barrel set on end, which hath a spigot just at the +bottom. When they have put in a good quantity, they open the spigot to +let out the water, and when the oil begins to come presently stop it. +They pay for the farm of this fountain about fifty crowns per annum. +We were told by one Monsieur Beaushoste, a chymist in Montpelier, that +petroleum was the very same with oil of jet, and not to be distinguished +from it by color, taste, smell, consistency, virtues, or any other +accident, as he had by experience found upon the coast of the +Mediterranean Sea, in several places, as at Berre, near Martague, in +Provence; at Messina, in Sicily, etc." + +In Harris' "Voyages," published in 1764, an article on the empire of +Persia thus refers to petroleum: + +"In several parts of Persia we meet with naphtha, both white and black; +it is used in painting and varnish, and sometimes in physic, and there +is an oil extracted from it which is applied to several uses. The most +famous springs of naphtha are in the neighborhood of Baku, which furnish +vast quantities, and there are also upward of thirty springs about +Shamasky, both in the province of Schirwan. The Persians use it as oil +for their lamps and in making fireworks, of which they are extremely +fond, and in which they are great proficients." + +Petroleum has long been known to exist also in the northern part of +Italy, the cities of Parma and Genoa having been for many years lighted +with it. + +In the province of Szechuen, China, natural gas is obtained from beds of +rock-salt at a depth of fifteen to sixteen hundred feet. Being brought +to the surface, it is conveyed in bamboo tubes and used for lighting as +well as for evaporating water in the manufacture of salt. It is asserted +that the Chinese used this natural gas for illuminating purposes +long before gas-lighting was known to the Europeans. Remembering the +unprogressive character of Chinese arts and industries, there is ground +for the belief that they may have been using this natural gas as an +illuminant these hundreds of years. + +In the United States the existence of petroleum was known to the Pilgrim +Fathers, who doubtless obtained their first information of it from the +Indians, from whom, in New York and western Pennsylvania, it was called +Seneka oil. It was otherwise known as "British" oil and oil of naphtha, +and was considered "a sovereign remedy for an inward bruise." + +The record of natural gas in this country is not so complete as that of +petroleum, but we learn that an important gas spring was known in West +Bloomfleld, N.Y., seventy years ago. In 1864 a well was sunk to a depth +of three hundred feet upon that vein, from which a sufficient supply +of gas was obtained to illuminate and heat the city of Rochester +(twenty-five miles distant), it was supposed. But the pipes which were +laid for that purpose, being of wood, were unfitted to withstand the +pressure, in consequence of which the scheme was abandoned; but gas from +that well is now in use as an illuminant and as fuel both in the town of +West Bloomfield and at Honeoye Falls. The village of Fredonia, N.Y., has +been using natural gas in lighting the streets for thirty years or there +about. On Big Sewickley Creek, in Westmoreland County, Pa., natural gas +was used for evaporating water in the manufacture of salt thirty years +ago, and gas is still issuing at the same place. Natural gas has been in +use in several localities in eastern Ohio for twenty-five years, and the +wells are flowing as vigorously as when first known. It has also been +in use in West Virginia for a quarter of a century, as well as in +the petroleum region of western Pennsylvania, where it has long been +utilized in generating steam for drilling oil wells. + +In 1826 the _American Journal of Science_ contained a letter from Dr. +S.P. Hildreth, who, in writing of the products of the Muskingum (Ohio) +Valley, said: "They have sunk two wells, which are now more than four +hundred feet in depth; one of them affords a very strong and pure +salt water, but not in great quantity; the other discharges such vast +quantities of petroleum, or, as it is vulgarly called, 'Seneka oil,' and +besides is so subject to such tremendous explosions of gas, as to force +out all the water and afford nothing but gas for several days, that they +make little or no salt." + +The value of the foregoing references is to be found in the testimony +they offer as to the duration of the supply of natural gas. Whether we +look to the eternal flaming fissures of the Caucasus, or to New York, +Pennsylvania, and Ohio, there is much to encourage the belief that the +flow of natural gas may be, like the production of petroleum, increased +rather than diminished by the draughts made upon it. Petroleum, instead +of diminishing in quantity by the millions of barrels drawn from western +Pennsylvania in the last quarter of a century, seems to increase, +greater wells being known in 1884 than in any previous year, and prices +having fallen from two dollars per bottle for "Seneka oil" to sixty +cents per barrel for the same article under the name of crude petroleum. +Hence we may assume that, as new pipe-lines are laid, the supply of +natural gas available for use in the great manufacturing district of +Pittsburg and vicinity will be increased, and the price of this fuel +diminished in a corresponding ratio. + +Natural gas is now supplied in Pittsburg at a small discount on +the actual cost of coal used last year in the large manufacturing +establishments, an additional saving being made in dispensing with +firemen and avoidance of hauling ashes from the boiler-room. It is +supplied, for domestic purposes, at twenty cents per thousand cubic +feet, which is not cheaper than coal in Pittsburg, but it is a thousand +per cent cleaner, and in that respect it promises to prove a great +blessing, not only to those who can afford to use it, but to the +community at large, in the hope held out that the smoke and soot +nuisance may be abated in part, if not wholly subdued, and that gleams +of sunshine there may become less phenomenal in the future than they are +at the present time. Twenty cents per thousand feet is too high a price +to bring gas into general use for domestic purposes in a city where +coal is cheap. Ten cents would be too much, and no doubt five cents per +thousand would pay a profit. The fact is, the dealers in natural gas +appear to be somewhat doubtful of the continuity of supply, and +anxious to get back the cost of wells and pipes in one year, which, if +successful, would be an enormous return on the investment. + +There are objections to the use of natural gas by mill operators--that +it costs too much, and that the continuity of the supply is uncertain; +by heads of families, that it is odorless, and, in case of leakage from +the pipes, may fill a room and be ready to explode without giving the +fragrant warning offered by common gas. Both of these objections will +probably disappear under the experience that time must furnish. More +wells and tributary lines will lessen the cost and tend to regulate the +pressure for manufacturers. Cut-offs and escape pipes outside of the +house will reduce the risk of explosions within. The danger in the +house may also be lessened by providing healthful ventilation in all +apartments wherein gas shall be consumed. + +This subject of, the ventilation of rooms in which common gas is +ordinarily used is beginning to attract attention. It is stated, upon +scientific authority, that a jet of common gas, equivalent to twelve +sperm candles, consumes 5.45 cubic feet of oxygen per hour, producing +3.21 feet of carbonic acid gas, vitiating, according to Dr. Tidy's +"Handbook of Chemistry," 348.25 cubic feet of air. In every five cubic +feet of pure air in a room there is one cubic foot of oxygen and four +of nitrogen. Without oxygen human life, as well as light, would become +extinct. It is asserted that one common gas-jet consumes as much oxygen +as five persons. + +Carbonic acid gas is the element which, in deep mines and vaults, causes +almost instant insensibility and suffocation to persons subjected to its +influences, and instantly extinguishes the flame of any light lowered +into it. The normal quantity of this gas contained in the air we breathe +is 0.04; one per cent, of it causes distress in breathing; two per cent, +is dangerous; four per cent, extinguishes life, and four per cent of it +is contained in air expelled from the lungs. According to Dr. Tidy's +table, each ordinary jet of common gas contributes to the air of a room +sixteen by ten feet on the sides and nine feet high, containing 1,440 +cubic feet of air, twenty-two per cent, of carbonic acid gas, which, +continued for twenty-four hours without ventilation, would reach the +fatal four per cent. + +Prof. Huxley gives, as a result of chemical analyses, the following +table of ratio of carbonic-acid gas in the atmosphere at the points +named: + + On the Thames, at London 0.0343 + In the streets of London 0.0380 + Top of Ben Nevis 0.0327 + Dress circle of Haymarket theater (11:30 P.M.) 0.0757 + Chancery Court (seven feet from the ground) 0.1930 + From working mines (average of 339 samples) 0.7853 + Largest amount in a Cornish mine 2.0500 + +In addition to the consumption of oxygen and production of carbonic acid +by the use of common gas, the gas itself, owing to defectiveness of the +burner, is projected into the air. Now, considering the deleterious +nature of all illuminating gases, the reasons for perfect ventilation of +rooms in which natural gas is used for heating and culinary purposes are +self-evident, not alone as a protection against explosions, but for the +health of the occupants of the house, remembering that a larger supply +of oxygen is said to be necessary for the perfect combustion of natural +than of common gas. + +Carbonic oxide, formed by the consumption of carbon, with an +insufficient supply of air, is the fatal poison of the charcoal furnace, +not infrequently resorted to, in close rooms, as a means of suicide. +The less sufficient the air toward perfect combustion, the smaller the +quantity of carbonic acid and the greater the amount of carbonic oxide. +That is to say, at the time of ignition the chief product of combustion +is carbonic oxide, and, unless sufficient air be added to convert the +oxide to carbonic acid, a decidedly dangerous product is given off into +the room. Yet, by means of a flue to carry off the poisonous gases from +burning jets, the combustion of gas, creating a current, is made an aid +to ventilation. Unfortunately, this important fact, if commonly known, +is not much heeded by heads of families or builders of houses. But in +any large community where gas comes into general use as an article of +fuel, this fact will gradually become recognized and respected. + +The property of indicating the presence of very minute quantities of gas +in a room is claimed for an instrument recently described by C. Von Jahn +in the _Revue Industrielle_. This is a porous cup, inverted and closed +by a perforated rubber stopper. Through the perforation in the stopper +the interior of the cup is connected with a pressure gauge containing +colored water. It is claimed that the diffusion of gas through the +earthenware raises the level of the water in the gauge so delicately +that the presence of one-half of one per cent, of gas may be detected by +it. Other instruments of a slightly different character are credited by +their inventors with most sensitive power of indicating gas-leakages, +but their practical efficiency remains to be demonstrated. An automatic +cut-off for use outside of houses in which natural gas is consumed has +been invented, but this writer knows nothing of either its mode of +action or its effectiveness. + +The great economic question, however, connected with the use of natural +gas is, how will it affect the industrial interests of the country? +There are grounds for the belief that a sufficient supply of natural gas +may be found in the vicinity of Pittsburg to reduce the cost of fuel to +such a degree as to make competition in the manufacture of iron, steel, +and glass, in any part of the country where coal must be used, out of +the question. Such a condition of affairs would probably result in +driving the great manufacturing concerns of the country into the region +where natural gas is to obtained. That may be anywhere from the western +slope of the Alleghanies to Lake Erie or to Lake Michigan. And, if the +cost of producing iron, steel, and glass can be so cheapened by the new +fuel, the tariff question may undergo some important modification in +politics. For, if the reduction in the cost of fuel should ever become +an offset to the lower rate of wages in Europe, the manufacturers of +Pennsylvania, who have long been the chief support of the protective +policy of the country, may lose their present interest in that question, +and leave the tariff to shift for itself elsewhere. It should be +remembered that natural gas is not, as yet, much cheaper than coal +in Pittsburg. But it may safely be assumed that it will cheapen, as +petroleum has done, by a development of the territory in which it is +known to exist in enormous quantities. It is quite possible that, +instead of buying gas, many factories will bore for it with success, +or remove convenient to its natural sources, so that a gas well may +ultimately become an essential part of the "plant" of a mill or factory. +Even now coal cannot compete with gas in the manufacture of window +glass, for, the gas being free from sulphur and other impurities +contained in coal, produces a superior quality of glass; so that in this +branch of industry the question of superiority seems already settled. + +Having said thus much of an industry now in its infancy but promising +great growth, I submit tables of analyses of common and of the natural +or marsh gas, the latter from a paper recently prepared by a committee +of the Engineers' Society of Western Pennsylvania, and for the use of +which I am indebted to that association: + +COMMON GAS. + + Hydrogen 46.0 + Light carbureted hydrogen (marsh gas) 39.5 + Condensible hydrocarbon 3.8 + Carbonic oxide 7.5 + " acid 0.6 + Aqueous vapor 2.0 + Oxygen 0.1 + Nitrogen 0.5 + ----- + 100.0 + +Natural gas is now conveyed to Pittsburg through four lines of 5-5/8 +inch pipe and one line of eight inch pipe. A line of ten inch pipe is +also being laid. The pressure of the gas at the wells is from 150 to 230 +pounds to the square inch. As the wells are on one side eighteen and on +the other about twenty-five miles distant, and as the consumption is +variable, the pressure at the city cannot be given. Greater pressure +might be obtained at the wells, but this would increase the liability +to leakage and bursting of pipes. For the prevention of such casualties +safety valves are provided at the wells, permitting the escape of all +superfluous gas. The enormous force of this gas may be appreciated from +a comparison of, say, 200 pounds pressure at the wells with a two ounce +pressure of common gas for ordinary lighting. The amount of natural gas +now furnished for use in Pittsburg is supposed to be something like +25,000,000 cubic feet per day; the ten inch pipe now laying is estimated +to increase the supply to 40,000,000 feet. The amount of manufactured +gas used for lighting the same city probably falls below 3,000,000 feet. + +About fifty mills and factories of various kinds in Pittsburg now use +natural gas. It is used for domestic purposes in two hundred houses. +Its superiority over coal in the manufacture of window glass is +unquestioned. That it is not used in all the glass houses of Pittsburg +is due to the fact that its advantages were not fully known when the +furnaces were fired last summer, and it costs a large sum to permit the +furnaces to cool off after being heated for melting. When the fires cool +down, and before they are started up again, the furnaces now using +coal will doubtless all be changed so as to admit natural gas. The +superiority of French over American glass is said to be due to the fact +that the French use wood and the Americans coal in their furnaces, wood +being free from sulphur, phosphorus, etc. The substitution of gas for +coal, while not increasing the cost, improves the quality of American +glass, making it as nearly perfect as possible. + +While the gas is not used as yet in any smelting furnace nor in the +Bessemer converters, it is preferred in open hearth and crucible steel +furnaces, and is said to be vastly superior to coal for puddling. The +charge of a puddling furnace, consisting of 500 pounds of pig-metal and +eighty pounds of "fix," produces with coal fuel 490 to 500 pounds of +iron. With gas for fuel, it is claimed that the same charge will yield +520 to 530 pounds of iron. In an iron mill of thirty furnaces, running +eight heats each for twenty-four hours, this would make a difference in +favor of the gas of, say, 8 x 30 x 25 = 6,000 pounds of iron per day. +This is an important item of itself, leaving out the cost of firing with +coal and hauling ashes. + +For generating steam in large establishments, one man will attend +a battery of twelve or twenty boilers, using gas as fuel, keep the +pressure uniform, and have the fire room clean as a parlor. For burning +brick and earthenware, gas offers the double advantage of freedom from +smoke and a uniform heat. The use of gas in public bakeries promises the +abolition of the ash-box and its accumulation of miscellaneous filth, +which is said to often impregnate the "sponge" with impurities. + +In short, the advantages of natural gas as a fuel are so obvious to +those who have given it a trial, that the prediction is made that, +should the supply fail, many who are now using it will never return to +the consumption of crude coal in factories, but, if necessary, convert +it or petroleum into gas at their own works. + +It seems, indeed, that until we shall have acquired the wisdom enabling +us to conserve and concentrate the heat of the sun, gas must be the fuel +of the future.--_Popular Science Monthly_. + + TABLE OF ANALYSIS OF NATURAL GAS--FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. + _____________________________________________________________________ + | | | | | | | | + | CONSTITUENTS | [2.] | [3.] | [6.] | [7.] | [8.] | [9.] | + |_______________|________|________|________|________|________|_________ + | | | | | | | | + | Hydrogen | .... | .... | 6.10 | 13.50 | 22.50 | 4.79 | + | | | | | | | | + | Marsh Gas | 82.41 | 96.50 | 75.44 | 80.11 | 60.27 | 89.65 | + | | | | | | | | + | Ethane | .... | .... | 18.12 | 5.72 | 6.80 | 4.39 | + | | | | | | | | + | Propane | .... | .... | trace. | .... | .... | trace. | + | | | | | | | | + | Carbonic acid | 10.11 | .... | 0.34 | 0.66 | 2.28 | 0.35 | + | | | | | | | | + | Carbonic oxide| .... | 0.50 | trace. | trace. | trace. | 0.26 | + | | | | | | | | + | Nitrogen | 4.31 | .... | .... | .... | 7.32 | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Oxygen | 0.23 | 2.00 | .... | .... | 0.83 | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | "Illuminating | 2.94 | 1.00 | .... | .... | .... | 0.56 | + | hydrocarbons."|________|________|________|________|________|________| + | | | | | | | | + | | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 99.99 | 100.00 | 100.00 | + |_______________|________|________|________|________|________|________| + | | + | Specific gravity 0.693 0.692 0.6148 0.5119 0.5580 | + |_____________________________________________________________________| + ______________________________________________________________________ + | | | | | | | | + | CONSTITUENTS | [10.] | [12.] | [14.] | [15.] | [16.] | [17.] | + |_______________|________|________|________|________|________|_________ + | | | | | | | | + | Hydrogen | .... | 19.56 | .... | 0.98 | .... | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Marsh Gas | 96.34 | 78.24 | 47.37 | 93.09 | 80.69 | 95.42 | + | | | | | | | | + | Ethane | .... | .... | .... | .... | 4.75 | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Propane | .... | .... | .... | .... | .... | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Carbonic acid | 3.64 | .... | 3.10 | 2.18 | 6.44 | 0.60 | + | | | | | | | | + | Carbonic oxide| | .... | .... | .... | .... | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Nitrogen | | .... | 49.39 | 0.49 | 8.12 | 3.98 | + | | | | | | | | + | Oxygen | | 2.20 | 0.17 | .... | .... | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | "Illuminating | [10.] | .... | .... | 3.26 | .... | .... | + | hydrocarbons."|________|________|________|________|________|________| + | | | | | | | | + | | | 100.00 | 100.03 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | + |_______________|________|________|________|________|________|________| + | | + |Specific gravity 0.5923 0.56 | + |_____________________________________________________________________| + + Petroleum is composed of about 85 per cent of carbon and 15 per cent of + nitrogen. + + Locations: + + 1. Petrolia, Canada. + 2. West Bloomfield, N.Y. + 3. Olean, N.Y. + 4. Fredonis, N.Y. + 5. Pioneer Run, Venango Co., Pa. + 6. Burn's Well, near St. Joe., Butler Co., Pa. + 7. Harvey Well, Butler Co., Pa. + 8. Cherry Tree, Indiana Co., Pa. + 9. Leechburg, Pa. + 10. Creighton, Pa. + 11. Penn Fuel Co.'s Well, Murraysville, Pa. + 12. Fuel Gas Co.'s Well, Murraysville. + 13. Roger's Gulch, Wirt Co., W. Va. + 14. Gas from Marsh Ground + 15. Baku, on the Caspian Sea. + 16. Gas occluded in Wigan cannel-coal. + 17. Blower in coal-mine. South Wales. + + Notes: + + 1. Chiefly marsh-gas with ethane and some carbonic acid. + 4. A mixture of marsh-gas, ethane and butane. + 5. Chiefly propane, with small quantities of carbonic acid and + nitrogen. + 10. Trace of heavy hydrocarbons. + 11. Marsh-gas, with a little carbonic acid. + 13. Chiefly marsh-gas, with small quantities of nitrogen and + 15.86 per cent + carbonic acid. + + References: + + 1. Fouque, "Comptes Rendus," lxvii, p. 1045. + 2. H. Wurtz, "Am. Jour. Arts and Sci." (2), xlix, p. 336. + 3. Robert Young. + 4. Fouque, "Comptes Rendus," lxvii. p. 1045. + 5. Fouque, "Comptes Rendus," lxvii. p. 1045. + 6. S.P. Sadler, "Report L, 2d Geol. Sur. Pa.," p. 153. + 7. S.P. Sadler, "Report L, 3d Geol. Sur. Pa.," p. 152. + 8. S.P. Sadler, "Report L, 3d Geol. Sur. Pa.," p. 153. + 9. S.P. Sadler, "Report L, 3d Geol. Sur. Pa.," p. 153. + 10. F.C. Phillips. + 11. Robert Young. + 12. Rogers. + 13. Fouque, "Comptes Rendus," lxvii, p. 1045. + 14. Bischof's Chemical Geology," I, p. 730. + 15. Bischof's Chemical Geology," I, p. 730. + 16. J.W. Thomas, London, "Chemical Society's Journal," 1876, p. 793. + 17. Same, 1875, p. 793. + + * * * * * + + + + +CLOSING LEAKAGES FOR PACKING. + +By L. C. LEVOIR. + + +The mineral asbestos is but a very poor packing material in +steam-boilers. Moreover, it acts as a strong grinding material on all +moving parts. + +For some years I have tested the applicability of artificial +precipitates to close the holes in boilers, cylinder-covers, and +stuffing boxes. I took, generally with the best success, alternate +layers of hemp-cotton, thread, and absorbent paper, all well saturated +with the chlorides of calcium and magnesium. The next layers of the same +fiber are moistened with silicate of soda. By pressure the fluids are +mixed and the pores are closed. A stuffing box filled with this mixture +has worked three years without grinding the piston-rod. + +In the same manner I close the screw-thread hole in gas tubes used for +conducting steam. I moisten the thread in the sockets with oleic acid +from the candle-works, and dust over it a mixture of 1 part of minium, +2 parts of quick-lime, and 1 part of linseed powder (without the oil). +When the tube is screwed in the socket, the powder mixes with the oleic +acid. The water coming in at first makes the linseed powder viscid. +Later the steam forming the oleate of lime and the oleate of lead, +on its way to the outer air, presses it in the holes and closes them +perfectly. + +After a year in use the tubes can be unscrewed with ease, and the screw +threads are perfectly smooth. + +With this kind of packing only one exception must be made--that is, it +is only tight under pressure; condensation or vacuum must be thoroughly +avoided.--_Chem. News_. + + * * * * * + + + + +LUMINOUS PAINT. + + +In answer to various inquiries concerning the manufacture of this +article, we give herewith the process of William Henry Balmain, the +original discoverer of luminous paint, and also other processes. These +particulars are derived from the letters patent granted in this country +to the parties named. + +Balmain's invention was patented in England in 1877, and in this country +in 1882. It is styled as Improvements in Painting, Varnishing, and +Whitewashing, of which the following is a specification: + +The said invention consists in a luminous paint, the body of which is a +phosphorescent compound, or is composed in part of such a compound, and +the vehicle of which is such as is used as the vehicle in ordinary paint +compounds, viz., one which becomes dry by evaporation or oxidation. + +The objector article to which such paint or varnish or wash is applied +is itself rendered visible in the darkest place, and more or less +capable of imparting light to other objects, so as to render them +visible also. The phosphorescent substance found most suitable for the +purpose is a compound obtained by simply heating together a mixture +of lime and sulphur, or carbonate of lime and sulphur, or some of the +various substances containing in themselves both lime and sulphur--such, +for example, as alabaster, gypsum, and the like--with carbon or other +agent to remove a portion of the oxygen contained in them, or by heating +lime or carbonate of lime in a gas or vapor containing sulphur. + +The vehicle to be used for the luminous paint must be one which will dry +by evaporation or oxidation, in order that the paint may not become soft +or fluid by heat or be liable to be easily rubbed off by accident or use +from the articles to which it has been applied. It may be any of the +vehicles commonly used in oil-painting or any of those commonly used in +what is known as "distemper" painting or whitewashing, according to the +place or purpose in or for which the paint is to be used. + +It is found the best results are obtained by mixing the phosphorescent +substance with a colorless varnish made with mastic or other resinous +body and turpentine or spirit, making the paint as thick as convenient +to apply with a brush, and with as much turpentine or spirit as can +be added without impairing the required thickness. Good results may, +however, be obtained with drying oils, spirit varnishes, gums, pastes, +sizes, and gelatine solutions of every description, the choice being +varied to meet the object in view or the nature of the article in hand. + +The mode of applying the paint, varnish, or wash will also depend upon +the circumstances of the case. For example, it may be applied by a +brush, as in ordinary painting, or by dipping or steeping the article +in the paint, varnish, or wash; or a block or type may be used to +advantage, as in calico-printing and the like. For outdoor work, or +wherever the surface illuminated is exposed to the vicissitudes of +weather or to injury from mechanical contingencies, it is desirable to +cover it with glass, or, if the article will admit of it, to glaze it +over with a flux, as in enameling, or as in ordinary pottery, and this +may be accomplished without injury to the effect, even when the flux or +glaze requires a red heat for fusion. + +Among other applications of the said invention which may be enumerated, +it is particularly advantageous for rendering visible clock or watch +faces and other indicators--such, for example, as compasses and the +scales of barometers or thermometers--during the night or in dark places +during the night time. In applying the invention to these and other +like purposes there may be used either phosphorescent grounds with +dark figures or dark grounds and phosphorescent figures or letters, +preferring the former. In like manner there may be produced figures and +letters for use on house-doors and ends of streets, wherever it is not +convenient or economical to have external source of light, signposts, +and signals, and names or marks to show entries to avenues or gates, and +the like. + +The invention is also applicable to the illumination of railway +carriages by painting with phosphorescent paint a portion of the +interior, thus obviating the necessity for the expense and inconvenience +of the use of lamps in passing through tunnels. It may also be applied +externally as warning-lights at the front and end of trains passing +through tunnels, and in other similar cases, also to ordinary carriages, +either internally or externally. As a night-light in a bed-room or in a +room habitually dark, the application has been found quite effectual, a +very small proportion of the surface rendered phosphorescent affording +sufficient light for moving about the room, or for fixing upon and +selecting an article in the midst of a number of complicated scientific +instruments or other objects. + +The invention may also be applied to private and public buildings in +cases where it would be economical and advantageous to maintain for a +short time a waning or twilight, so as to obviate the necessity for +lighting earlier the gas or other artificial light. It may also be +used in powder-mills and stores of powder, and in other cases where +combustion or heat would be a constant source of danger, and generally +for all purposes of artificial light where it is applicable. + +In order to produce and maintain the phosphorescent light, full sunshine +is not necessary, but, on the contrary, is undesirable. The illumination +is best started by leaving the article or surface exposed for a short +time to ordinary daylight or even artificial light, which need not be +strong in order to make the illumination continue for many hours, even +twenty hours, without, the necessity of renewed exposure. + +The advantages of the invention consist in obtaining for the purposes of +daily life a light which is maintained at no cost whatever, is free from +the defects and contingent dangers arising from combustion or heat, and +can be applied in many cases where all other sources of light would be +inconvenient or incapable of application. + +Heretofore phosphorus has been mixed with earthy oxides, carbonates, +and sulphates, and with oxides and carbonates of metal, as tin, zinc, +magnesia, antimony, and chlorides of the same, also crystallized acids +and salts and mineral substances, and same have been inclosed and +exhibited in closely-stopped bottles as a phosphorus; but such union I +do not claim; but what I claim is: + +A luminous paint, the body of which is a phosphorescent substance, or +composed in part of such substance, the vehicle of which is such as is +ordinarily used in paints, viz., one which will become dry by oxidation +or evaporation, substantially as herein described. + +A. Krause, of Buffalo, N.Y., obtained a patent for improvement in +phosphorescent substances dated December 30, 1879. The patentee says: +This invention relates to a substance which, by exposure to direct or +indirect sun-light, or to artificial light, is so affected or brought +into such a peculiar condition that it will emit rays of light or become +luminous in the dark. + +It is a well-known fact that various bodies and compositions of matter, +more especially compositions containing sulphur in combination with +earthy salts, possess the property of emitting rays of light in the +dark after having been exposed to sun-light. All of these bodies and +compositions of matter are, however, not well adapted for practical +purposes, because the light emitted by them is either too feeble to be +of any practicable utility, or because the luminous condition is not +of sufficient duration, or because the substances are decomposed by +exposure to the atmosphere. + +Among the materials which have been employed with the best results +for producing these luminous compositions are sea-shells, especially +oyster-shells. I have found by practical experiments that only the inner +surface of these shells is of considerable value in the production +of luminous compositions, while the body of the shell, although +substantially of the same chemical composition, does not, to any +appreciable extent, aid in producing the desired result. It follows from +this observation that the smallest shells, which contain the largest +surface as compared with their cubic contents, will be best adapted for +this purpose. + +I have found that chalk, which is composed of the shells of microscopic +animals, possesses the desired property in the highest degree; and my +invention consists, therefore, of a luminous substance composed of such +chalk, sulphur, and bismuth, as will be hereinafter fully set forth. + +In preparing my improved composition I take cleaned or precipitated +chalk, and subject it to the process of calcination in a suitable +crucible over a clear coal or charcoal fire for three or four hours, +or thereabout. I then add to the calcined chalk about one-third of its +weight of sulphur, and heat the mixture for from forty-five to ninety +minutes, or thereabout. A small quantity of bismuth, in the proportion +of about one per cent, or less of the mixture, is added together with +the sulphur. + +The metal may be introduced in the metallic form in the shape of +fillings, or in the form of a carbonate, sulphuret, sulphate, or +sulphide, or oxide, as may be most convenient. + +The substance produced in this manner possesses the property of emitting +light in the dark in a very high degree. An exposure to light of very +short duration, sometimes but for a moment, will cause the substance +to become luminous and to remain in this luminous condition, under +favorable circumstances, for upward of twenty-four hours. + +The intensity of the light emitted by this composition after exposure is +considerable, and largely greater than the light produced by any of the +substances heretofore known. + +The hereinbefore described substance may be ground with oil and used +like ordinary paint; or it may be ground with any suitable varnish or be +mixed in the manner of water colors; or it may be employed in any other +suitable and well-known manner in which paints are employed. + +My improved luminous substance is adapted for a great variety of +uses--for instance, for painting business and other signs, guide boards, +clock and watch dials, for making the numbers on houses and railway +cars, and for painting all surfaces which are exposed periodically to +direct or indirect light and desired to be easily seen during the night. + +When applied with oil or varnish, my improved luminous substance can +be exposed to the weather in the same manner as ordinary paint without +suffering any diminution of its luminous property. I claim as my +invention the herein described luminous substance, consisting of +calcined chalk, sulphur, and bismuth, substantially as set forth. + +Merrill B. Sherwood, Jr., of Buffalo, N. Y., obtained a patent for a +phosphorescent composition, dated August 9, 1881. + +The author says: My invention relates to an improvement in +phosphorescent illuminants. + +I have taken advantage of the peculiar property which obtains in many +bodies of absorbing light during the day and emitting it during the +night time. + +The object of my invention is the preparation by a prescribed formula, +to be hereinafter given, of a composition embodying one of the +well-known phosphorescent substances above referred to, which will be +applicable to many practical uses. + +With this end in view my invention consists in a phosphorescent +composition in which the chief illuminating element is monosulphide of +calcium. + +The composition obtained by the formula may be used either in a powdered +condition by dusting it over articles previously coated, in whole or in +part, with an adhesive substance, or it may be intimately mixed with +paints, inks, or varnishes, serving as vehicles for its application, and +in this way be applied to bodies to render them luminous. + +The formula for obtaining the composition is as follows: To one hundred +parts of unslaked lime, that obtained from calcined oyster shells +producing the best results, add five parts of carbonate of magnesia and +five parts of ground silex. Introduce these elements into a graphite or +fire-clay crucible containing forty parts of sulphur and twenty-five +parts of charcoal, raise the whole mass nearly or quite to a white heat, +remove from the fire, allow it to cool slowly, and, when it is cold or +sufficiently lowered in temperature to be conveniently handled, +remove it from the crucible and grind it. The method of reducing the +composition will depend upon the mode of its use. If it is to be applied +as a loose powder by the dusting process, it should be simply ground +dry; but if it is to be mixed with paint or other similar substance, +it should be ground with linseed or other suitable oil. In heating the +elements aforesaid, certain chemical combinations will have taken place, +and monosulphide of calcium, combined with carbonate of lime, magnesia, +and silex, will be the result of such ignition. + +If, in the firing of the elements, as above set forth, all of the +charcoal does not unite with the other elements, such uncombined portion +should be removed from the fused mass before it is ground. + +If it is designed to mix the composition with paints, those composed of +zinc-white and baryta should be chosen in preference to those composed +of white lead and colored by vegetable matter, as chemical action will +take place between the composition and paint last mentioned, and +its color will be destroyed or changed by the gradual action of the +sulphureted hydrogen produced. However, by the addition of a weak +solution of gum in alcohol or other suitable sizing to the composition, +it may be used with paints containing elements sensitive to sulphureted +hydrogen without danger of decomposing them and destroying their color. + +In many, and possibly in a majority of cases, the illuminating +composition applied as a dry powder will give the most satisfactory +results, in view of the tendency to chemical action between the paint +and composition when intimately mixed; in view of the fact that by +the addition to paint of any color of a sufficient quantity of the +composition to render the product luminous, the original color of the +paint will be modified or destroyed; and, also, in view of the fact that +the illuminating composition is so greatly in excess of the paint, the +proportions in which they are united being substantially ten parts +of the former to one of the latter, it will be difficult to impart a +particular color to the product of the union without detracting from +its luminosity. On the other hand, the union of dry powder with a body +already painted by the simple force of adhesion does not establish +a sufficiently intimate relation between it and the paint to cause +chemical action, the application of a light coat of powder does not +materially change the color of the article to which it is applied; and, +further, by the use of the powder in an uncombined state its greatest +illuminating effects are obtained. Again, if the appearance in the +daytime of the article which it is desired to have appear luminous at +night is not material, it may be left unpainted and simply sized to +retain the powder. + +In printing it is probable that the composition will be employed almost +exclusively in the form of dry powder, as printing-ink, normally pasty, +becomes too thick to be well handled when it is combined with powder in +sufficient quantity to render the printed surface luminous. However, the +printed surface of a freshly printed sheet may be rendered luminous by +dusting the sheet with powder, which will adhere to all of the inked and +may be easily shaken from the unmoistened surfaces thereof. + +I am aware that monosulphide of calcium and magnesia have before +been used together in phosphorescent compounds. What I claim is a +phosphorescent composition consisting of monosulphide of calcium, +combined with carbonate of lime, magnesia, and silex, substantially as +described. + +Orlando Thowless, of Newark, N.J., obtained a patent for a process of +manufacturing phosphorescent substances dated November 8, 1881. +The inventor says: The object of my invention is to manufacture +phosphorescent materials of intense luminosity at low cost and little +loss of materials. + +I first take clam shells and, after cleaning, place them in a solution +composed of about one part of commercial nitric acid and three parts of +water, in which the shells are allowed to remain about twenty minutes. +The shells are then to be well rinsed in water, placed in a crucible, +and heated to a red heat for about four hours. They are then removed and +placed, while still red-hot, in a saturated solution of sea salt, from +which they are immediately removed and dried. After this treatment and +exposure to light the shells will have a blood-red luminous appearance +in the dark. The shells thus prepared are used with sulphur and +the phosphide and sulphide of calcium to produce a phosphorescent +composition, as follows: One hundred parts, by weight, of the shells, +prepared as above, are intimately mixed with twenty parts, by weight, of +sulphur. This mixture is placed in a crucible or retort and heated to a +white heat for four or five hours, when it is to be removed and forty +parts more of sulphur, one and one-half parts of calcium phosphide, and +one-half part of chemically pure sulphide of calcium added. The mixture +is then heated for about ninety minutes to an extreme white heat. When +cold, and after exposure to light, this mixture will become luminous. +Instead of these two ignitions, the same object may be in a measure +accomplished by the addition of the full amount of sulphur with the +phosphide and sulphide of calcium and raising it to a white heat but +once. The calcium phosphide is prepared by igniting phosphorus in +connection with newly slaked lime made chemically pure by calcination. +The condition of the shells when the sulphur is added is not material; +but the heat renders them porous and without moisture, so that they will +absorb the salt to as great an extent as possible. Where calcined shells +are mixed with solid salt, the absorbing power of the shells is greatly +diminished by the necessary exposure, and there will be a lack of +uniformity in the saturation. On the contrary, by plunging the red-hot +shells in the saline solution the greatest uniformity is attained. + +Instead of using clam shells as the base of my improved composition, I +may use other forms of sea shells--such as oyster shells, etc. + +I claim as new: + +1. The herein described process of manufacturing phosphorescent +materials, which consists in heating sea shells red-hot, treating them +while heated with a bath of brine, then, after removal from the bath, +mixing sulphur and phosphide and sulphide of calcium therewith, and +finally subjecting the mixture to a white heat, substantially as and for +the purpose described. + +2. The described process, which consists in placing clean and red-hot +clam shells in a saturated solution of sea salt, and then drying them, +for the purpose specified. + + * * * * * + + + + +BOXWOOD AND ITS SUBSTITUTES. + +[Footnote: Prize essay written for the International Forestry +Exhibition, Edinburgh.] + +By JOHN R. JACKSON. A.L.S., Curator of the Museums, Royal Gardens, Ken. + + +The importance of the discovery of a hard, compact, and even grained +wood, having all the characteristics of boxwood, and for which it would +form an efficient substitute, cannot be overestimated; and if such +a discovery should be one of the results of the present Forestry +Exhibition, one of its aims will have been fulfilled. + +For several years past the gradual diminution in the supplies of +boxwood, and the deterioration in its quality, have occupied the +attention of hardwood merchants, of engravers, and of scientific men. + +Of merchants, because of the difficulties in obtaining supplies to meet +the ever increasing demand; of engravers, because of the higher prices +asked for the wood, and the difficulty of securing wood of good size and +firm texture, so that the artistic excellence of the engraving might be +maintained; and of the man of science, who was specially interested +in the preservation of the indigenous boxwood forests, and in the +utilization of other woods, natives, it might be, of far distant +countries, whose adaptation would open not only a new source of revenue, +but would also be the means of relieving the strain upon existing +boxwood forests. + +While by far the most important use of boxwood is for engraving +purposes, it must be borne in mind that the wood is also applied to +numerous other uses, such, for instance, as weaving shuttles, for +mathematical instruments, turnery purposes, carving, and for various +ornamental articles, as well as for inlaying in cabinet work. The +question, therefore, of finding suitable substitutes for boxwood divides +itself into two branches, first, directly for engraving purposes, and, +secondly, to supply its place for the other uses to which it is now put. +This, to a certain extent, might set free some of the boxwood so used, +and leave it available for the higher purposes of art. At the same time, +it must not be forgotten that much of the wood used for general purposes +is unsuited for engraving, and can only therefore be used by the turner +or cabinet maker. Nevertheless, the application of woods other than box +for purposes for which that wood is now used would tend to lessen the +demand for box, and thus might have an effect in lowering the price. + +So far back as 1875 a real uneasiness began to be felt as to the future +supplies of box. In the _Gardeners' Chronicle_ for September 25, of that +year, page 398, it is said that the boxwood forests of Mingrelia in the +Caucasian range were almost exhausted. Old forests, long abandoned, were +even then explored in search of trees that might have escaped the notice +of former proprietors, and wood that was rejected by them was, in 1875, +eagerly purchased at high prices for England. The export of wood was at +that time prohibited from Abhasia and all the government forests in +the Caucasus. A report, dated at about the same period from Trebizond, +points out that the Porte had prohibited the cutting of boxwood in the +crown forests. (_Gardeners' Chronicle_, Aug. 19, 1876, p. 239.) Later +on, the British Consul at Tiflis says: "_Bona fide_ Caucasian boxwood +may be said to be commercially non-existent, almost every marketable +tree having been exported." (_Gardeners' Chronicle_, Dec. 6, 1879, p. +726.) + +The characters of boxwood are so marked and so distinct from those of +most other woods that some extracts from a report of Messrs. J. Gardner +& Sons, of London and Liverpool, addressed to the Inspector-General of +Forests in India, bearing on this subject, will not be without value; +indeed, its more general circulation than its reprint in Mr. J.S. +Gamble's "Manual of Indian Timbers" will, it is hoped, be the means of +directing attention to this very important matter, and by pointing +out the characters that make boxwood so valuable, may be the means of +directing observation to the detection of similar characters in other +woods. Messrs. Gardner say: + +"The most suitable texture of wood will be found growing upon the sides +of mountains. If grown in the plains the growth is usually too quick, +and consequently the grain is too coarse, the wood of best texture being +of slow growth, and very fine in the grain. + +"It should be cut down in the winter, and, if possible, stored at once +in airy wooden sheds well protected from sun and rain, and not to have +too much air through the sides of the sheds, more especially for the +wood under four inches diameter. + +"The boxwood also must not be piled upon the ground, but be well skidded +under, so as to be kept quite free from the effects of any damp from the +soil. + +"After the trees are cut down, the longer they are exposed the more +danger is there afterward of the wood splitting more than is absolutely +necessary during the necessary seasoning before shipment to this +country. + +"If shipped green, there is great danger of the wood sweating and +becoming mildewed during transit, which causes the wood afterward to dry +light and of a defective color, and in fact rendering it of little value +for commercial purposes. + +"There is no occasion to strip the bark off or to put cowdung or +anything else upon the ends of the pieces to prevent their splitting. + +"Boxwood is the nearest approach to ivory of any wood known, and will, +therefore, probably gradually increase in value, as it, as well +as ivory, becomes scarcer. It is now used very considerably in +manufacturing concerns, but on account of its gradual advance in price +during the past few years, cheaper woods are in some instances being +substituted. + +"Small wood under four inches is used principally by flax spinners for +rollers, and by turners for various purposes, rollers for rink skates, +etc., etc., and if free from splits, is of equal value with the larger +wood. It is imported here as small as one a half inches in diameter, but +the most useful sizes are from 21/2 to 31/2 inches, and would therefore, +we suppose, be from fifteen to thirty or forty years in growing, while +larger wood would require fifty years and upward at least, perhaps we +ought to say one hundred years and upward. It is used principally for +shuttles, for weaving silk, linen, and cotton, and also for rule making +and wood engraving. _Punch, The Illustrated London News, The Graphic_, +and all the first class pictorial papers use large quantities of +boxwood." + +In 1880, Messrs. Churchill and Sim reported favorably on some +consignments of Indian boxwood, concluding with the remarks that if the +wood could be regularly placed on the market at a moderate figure, there +was no reason why a trade should not be developed in it. Notwithstanding +these prospects, which seemed promising in 1877 and 1880, little or +nothing has been accually done up to the present time in bringing Indian +boxwood into general use, in consequence, as Mr. Gamble shows, of +the cost of transit through India. The necessity, therefore, of the +discovery of some wood akin to box is even more important now than ever +it was. + + +BOXWOOD SUBSTITUTES. + +First among the substitutes that have been proposed to replace boxwood +may be mentioned an invention of Mr. Edward Badoureau, referred to in +the _Gardeners' Chronicle_, March 23, 1878, p. 374, under the title of +artificial boxwood. It is stated to consist of some soft wood which has +been subject to heavy pressure. It is stated that some English engravers +have given their opinion on this prepared wood as follows: + +It has not the power of resistance of boxwood, so that it would be +imposible to make use of it, except in the shape of an electro obtained +from it, as it is too soft to sustain the pressure of a machine, and +would be easily worn out. In reply to these opinions, Mr. Badoureau +wrote: "My wood resists the wear and tear of the press as well as +boxwood, and I can show engravings of English and French artists which +have been obtained direct from the wood, and are as perfect as they are +possible to be; several of them have been drawn by Mr. Gustave Dore." + +Mr. Badoureau further says that "while as an engraver he has so high an +opinion of the qualities of compressed wood as a substitute for boxwood, +as the inventor of the new process he considered that it possesses +numerous advantages both for artistic and industrial purposes." In +short, he says, "My wood is to other wood what steel is to iron." + +The following woods are those which have, from time to time, been +proposed or experimented upon as substitutes for boxwood, for engraving +purposes. They are arranged according to their scientific classification +in the natural orders to which they belong: + + +_Natural Order Pittosporeae_. + +1. _Pittosporum undulatum_. Vent.--A tree growing in favorable +situations to a height of forty or even sixty feet, and is a native of +New South Wales and Victoria. It furnishes a light, even grained wood, +which attracted some attention at the International Exhibition in 1862; +blocks were prepared from it, and submitted to Prof. De la Motte, of +King's College, who reported as follows: + +"I consider this wood well adapted to certain kinds of wood engraving. +It is not equal to Turkey box, but it is superior to that generally used +for posters, and I have no doubt that it would answer for the rollers +of mangles and wringing machines." Mr. W.G. Smith, in a report in the +_Gardeners' Chronicle_ for July 26, 1873, p. 1017, on some foreign woods +which I submitted to him for trial, says that the wood of _Pittosporum +undulatum_ is suitable only for bold outlines; compared with box, it is +soft and tough, and requires more force to cut than box. The toughness +of the wood causes the tools to drag back, so that great care is +required in cutting to prevent the lines clipping. The average diameter +of the wood is from 18 to 30 inches. + +2. _Pittosporum bicolor_, Hook.--A closely allied species, sometimes +forty feet high, native of New South Wales and Tasmania. This wood is +stated to be decidedly superior to the last named. + +3. _Bursaria spinosa_, Cav.--A tree about forty feet high, native of +North, South, and West Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, +and Tasmania, in which island it is known as boxwood. It has been +reported upon as being equal to common or inferior box, and with +further trials might be found suitable for common subjects; it has the +disadvantage, however, of blunting the edges and points of the tools. + + +_Natural Order Meliaceae_. + +4. _Swietenia mahagoni_, L. (mahogany).--A large timber tree of +Honduras, Cuba, Central America, and Mexico. It is one of the most +valuable of furniture woods, but for engraving purposes it is but of +little value, nevertheless it has been used for large, coarse subjects. +Spanish mahogany is the kind which has been so used. + + +_Natural Order Ilicineae_. + +_Ilex opaca_, L. (North American holly).--It is a widely diffused tree, +the wood of which is said to closely resemble English holly, being white +in color, and hard, with a fine grain, so that it is used for a +great number of purposes by turners, engineers, cabinet makers, and +philosophical instrument makers. For engraving purposes it is not equal +to the dog-wood of America (_Cornus florida_); it yields, however, more +readily to the graver's tools. + + +_Natural Order Celastrineae_. + +6. _Elaeodendron australe_, Vent.--A tree twenty to twenty-five feet +high, native of Queensland and New South Wales. The wood is used in the +colony for turning and cabinet work, and Mr. W.G. Smith reports that for +engraving purposes it seems suitable only for rough work, as diagrams, +posters, etc. + +7. _Euonymus sieboldianus_, Blume.--A Chinese tree, where the wood, +which is known as pai'cha, is used for carving and engraving. Attention +was first drawn to this wood by Mr. Jean von Volxem, in the _Gardeners' +Chronicle_ for April 20, 1878. In the Kew Report for 1878, p. 41, the +following extract of a letter from Mr. W.M. Cooper, Her Majesty's Consul +at Ningpo, is given: "The wood in universal use for book blocks, wood +engravings, seals, etc., is that of the pear tree, of which large +quantities are grown in Shantung, and Shan-se, especially. Pai'cha is +sometimes used as an indifferent substitute. Pai'cha is a very fine +white wood of fine fiber, without apparent grains, and cuts easily; is +well suited for carved frames, cabinets, caskets, etc., for which large +quantities are manufactured here for export. The tree itself resembles +somewhat the _Stillingia_, but has a rougher bark, larger and thinner +leaves, which are serrated at the edge, more delicate twigs, and is +deciduous." In 1879, a block of this wood was received at the Kew +Museum, from Mr. Cooper, a specimen of which was submitted to Mr. Robson +J. Scott, of Whitefriars Street, to whom I am much indebted for reports +on various occasions, and upon this wood Mr. Scott reported as follows: +"The most striking quality I have observed in this wood is its capacity +for retaining water, and the facility with which it surrenders it. This +section (one prepared and sent to the Kew Museum), which represents +one-tenth of the original piece, weighed 3 lb. 41/2 ounces. At the end of +twenty one days it had lost 1 lb. 63/4 ounces in an unheated chamber. At +the end of another fourteen days, in a much elevated temperature, it +only lost 1/4 ounce. In its present state of reduced bulk its weight is 1 +lb. 10 ounces. It is not at all likely to supersede box, but it may be +fit for coarser work than that for which box is necessary." Later on, +namely in the Kew Report for 1880, p. 51, Mr. R.D. Keene, an engraver, +to whom Mr. Scott submitted specimens of the wood for trial, writes: "I +like the wood very much, and prefer it to box in some instances; it is +freer to work, and consequently quicker, and its being uniform in color +and quality is a great advantage; we often have great difficulty in +box in having to work from a hard piece into a soft. I think it a very +useful wood, especially for solid bold work. I question if you could get +so extreme a fine black line as on box, but am sure there would be a +large demand for it at a moderate price." Referring to this letter, Mr. +Scott remarks that the writer does not intend it to be understood that +pai'cha is qualified to supersede box, but for inferior subjects for +which coarse brittle box is used. Mr. Scott further says that of the +woods he has tried he prefers pear and hawthorn to pai'cha. + + +_Natural Order Sapindaceae_. + +8. _Acer saccharinum_, L. (sugar or bird's eye maple).--A North American +tree, forming extensive forests in Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova +Scotia. The wood is well known as a cabinet or furniture wood. It has +been tried for engraving, but it does not seem to have attracted much +notice. Mr. Scott says it is sufficiently good, so far as the grain is +concerned. From this it would seem not to promise favorably. + + +_Natural Order Leguminoseae. Sub-order Papilionaceae_. + +9. _Brya ebenus_, [Delta]. DC.--A small tree of Jamaica, where the wood +is known as green ebony, and is used for making various small articles. +It is imported into this country under the name of cocus wood, and +is used with us for making flutes and other wind instruments. Mr. +Worthington Smith considers that the wood equals bad box for engraving +purposes. + + +_Natural Order Rosaceae_. + +10. _Pyrus communis_, L. (common pear).--A tree averaging from 20 to 40 +feet high. Found in a wild state, and very extensively cultivated as a +fruit tree. The wood is of a light brown color, and somewhat resembles +limewood in grain. It is, however, harder and tougher. It is considered +a good wood for carving, because it can be cut with or across the grain +with equal facility. It stands well when well seasoned, and is used for +engraved blocks for calico printers, paper stainers, and for various +other purposes. Pear-wood has been tried for engraving purposes, but +with no great success. Mr. Scott's opinion of its relative value is +referred to under pai'cha wood _(Euonymus sieboldianus)_. + +11. _Amelanchier canadensis_. L. (shade tree or service tree of +America).--A shrub or small tree found throughout Canada, Newfoundland, +and Virginia. Of this wood, Porcher says, in his "Resources of the +Southern Fields and Forests": "Upon examining with a sharp instrument +the specimens of various southern woods deposited in the museum of the +Elliott Society, ... I was struck with the singular weight, density, and +fineness of this wood. I think I can confidently recommend it as one of +the best to be experimented upon by the wood engraver." + +12. _Cratoegus oxyacantha_, L. (hawthorn).--A well-known shrub or small +tree in forests and hedges in this country. The wood is very dense and +close grained. Of this wood, Mr. Scott reports that it is by far the +best wood after box that he has had the opportunity of testing. + + +_Natural Order Myrtaceae_. + +13. _Eugenia procera_, Poir.--A tree 20 to 30 feet high, native of +Jamaica, Antigua, Martinique, and Santa Cruz. A badly seasoned sample +of this wood was submitted to Mr. R.H. Keene, who reported that "it is +suited for bold, solid newspaper work." + + +_Natural Order Cornaceae_. + +14. _Cornus florida_, L. (North American dogwood).--A deciduous tree, +about 30 feet high, common in the woods in various parts of North +America. The wood is hard, heavy, and very fine grained. It is used in +America for making the handles of light tools, as mallets, plane stocks, +harrow teeth, cogwheels, etc. It has also been used in America for +engraving. + +In a letter from Prof. Sargent, Director of the Arnold Arboretum, +Brookline, Massachusetts, quoted in the Kew Report for 1882, p. 35, he +says: "I have been now, for a long time, examining our native woods +in the hope of finding something to take the place of boxwood for +engraving, but so far I am sorry to say with no very brilliant success. +The best work here is entirely done from boxwood, and some _Cornus +florida_ is used for less expensive engraving. This wood answers fairly +well for coarse work, but it is a difficult wood to manage, splitting, +or rather 'checking,' very badly in drying." This, however, he states in +a later letter, "can be overcome by sawing the logs through the center +as soon as cut. It can be obtained in large quantities." Mr. R.H. Keene, +the engraver before referred to, reports that the wood is very rough, +and suitable for bold work. + + +_Natural Order Ericaceae_. + +15. _Rhododendron maximum_, L. (mountain laurel of North America).--Of +this wood it is stated in Porcher's "Resources of the Southern Fields +and Forests," p. 419, that upon the authority of a well-known engraver +at Nashville, Tennessee, the wood is equaled only by the best boxwood. +This species of _Rhododendron_ "abounds on every mountain from Mason and +Dixon's line to North Georgia that has a rocky branch." Specimens of +this wood submitted to Mr. Scott were so badly selected and seasoned +that it was almost impossible to give it a trial. In consideration of +its hardness and apparent good qualities, further experiments should be +made with it. + +16. _Rhododendron californicum_.--Likewise a North American species, the +wood of which is similar to the last named. Specimens were sent to Kew +by Professor Sargent for report in 1882, but were so badly seasoned that +no satisfactory opinion could be obtained regarding it. + +17. _Kalmia latifolia_, L. (calico bush or ivy bush of North +America).--The wood is hard and dense, and is much used in America for +mechanical purposes. It has been recommended as a substitute for boxwood +for engraving, and trials should, therefore, be made with it. + + +_Natural Order Epacrideae_. + +18. _Monotoca elliptica_, R. Br.--A tall shrub or tree 20 or 30 feet +high, native of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania. +The wood has been experimented upon in this country, and though to all +appearances it is an excellent wood, yet Mr. Worthington Smith reported +upon it as having a bad surface, and readily breaking away so that the +cuts require much retouching after engraving. + + +_Natural Order Ebenaceae_. + +19. _Diospyros texana_.--A North American tree, of the wood of which +Professor Sargent speaks favorably. "It is, however," he says, "in +Texas, at least, rather small, scarcely six inches in diameter, and not +very common. In northern Mexico it is said to grow much larger, and +could probably be obtained with some trouble in sufficient quantities +to become an article of commerce." Of this wood Mr. Scott says: "It is +sufficiently good as regards the grain, but the specimen sent for +trial was much too small for practical purposes." Mr. R.H. Keene, the +engraver, says it "is nearly equal to the best box." + +20. _Diospyros virginiana_, L. (the persimmon of America).--A good-sized +tree, widely diffused, and common in some districts. The wood is of a +very dark color, hard, and of a fairly close grain. It has been used in +America for engraving, but so far as I am aware has not been tried +in this country. It has, however, been lately introduced for making +shuttles. + +21. _Dyospyros ebenum_, Koenig (ebony).--A wood so well known as to +need no description. It has been tried for engraving by Mr. Worthington +Smith, who considers it nearly as good as box. + + +_Natural Order Apocyneae_. + +22. _Hunteria zeylanica_, Gard.--A small tree, common in the warmer +parts of Ceylon. This is a very hard and compact wood, and is used for +engraving purposes in Ceylon, where it is said, by residents, to come +nearer to box than any other wood known. On this wood Mr. Worthington +Smith gave a very favorable opinion, but it is doubtful whether it would +ever be brought from Ceylon in sufficient quantities to meet a demand. + + +_Natural Order Bignoniaceae_. + +23. _Tecoma pentaphylla_, Dl.--A moderate-sized tree, native of the West +Indies and Brazil. The wood is compact, very fine, and even grained, and +much resembles box in general appearance. Blocks for engraving have been +prepared from it by Mr. R.J. Scott, who reported upon it as follows: "It +is the only likely successor to box that I have yet seen, but it is not +embraced as a deliverer should be, but its time may not be far off." + + +_Natural Order Corylaceae_. + +24. _Carpinus betulus_, L. (hornbeam).--A tree from 20 to 70 feet high, +with a trunk sometimes 10 feet in girth, indigenous in the southern +counties of England. The wood is very tough, heavy, and close grained. +It is largely used in France for handles for agricultural and mining +implements, and of late years has been much used in this country for +lasts. The wood of large growth is apt to became shaky, and it is +consequently not used as a building wood. It is said to have been used +as a substitute for box in engraving, but with what success does not +appear. + +25. _Ostrya virginica_, Willd (ironwood, or American hornbeam).--A +moderate-sized tree, widely spread over North America. The wood is +light-colored, and extremely hard and heavy; hence the name of ironwood. +It is used in America by turners, as well as for mill cogs, etc., and +has been suggested as a substitute for boxwood for engraving, though no +actual trials, so far as I am aware, have been made with it. + +Besides the foregoing list of woods, there are others that have been +occasionally used for posters and the coarser kinds of engraving, such, +for instance, as lime, sycamore, yew, beech, and even pine; and in +America, _Vaccinium arboreum_ and _Azalea nudiflora_. Of these, however, +but little is known as to their value. + +It will be noticed that in those woods that have passed through the +engraver's hands, some which promised best, so far as their texture +or grain is concerned, have been tried upon very imperfect or badly +seasoned samples. + +The subject is one of so much importance, as was pointed out at the +commencement of this paper, that a thoroughly organized series of +experiments should be undertaken upon carefully seasoned and properly +prepared woods, not only of those mentioned in the preceding list, but +also of any others that may suggest themselves, as being suitable, It +must, moreover, always be borne in mind that the questions of price, +and the considerations of supply and demand, must, to a great extent, +regulate the adaptation of any particular wood. + +With regard to those woods referred to as being tried by Mr. Worthington +Smith, he remarks in his report that any of them would be useful for +some classes of work, if they could be imported, prepared, and sold for +a farthing, or less than a halfpenny, per square inch. + +Specimens of all the woods here enumerated are contained in the Kew +Museum. + + * * * * * + + + + +COMPOSITE PORTRAITS. + + +Not long since we gave a figure from a drawing by Mr. Grallieni, which, +looked at from a distance, seemed to be a death's head, but which, when +examined more closely, was seen to represent two children caressing +a dog. Since then we have had occasion to publish some landscapes of +Kircher and his imitators, which, looked at sideways, exhibited human +profiles. This sort of amusement has exercised the skill of artists of +all times, and engravings, and even paintings, of double aspect are very +numerous. Chance has recently put into our hands a very curious work of +this kind, which is due to a skillful artist named Gaillot. It is an +album of quite ancient lithographs, which was published at Berlin by +Senefelder. The author, under the title of "Arts and Trades," has drawn +some very amusing faces that are formed through the tools and objects +used in the profession represented. We reproduce a few specimens of +these essentially original compositions of Gaillot. The green grocer is +formed of a melon for the head, of an artichoke and its stem for the +forehead and nose, of a pannier for the bust, etc. The hunter is made up +of a gun, of a powder horn, and of a hunting horn, etc.; and so on for +the other professions. This is an amusing exercise in drawing that we +have thought worthy of reproducing. Any one who is skillful with his +pencil might exercise himself in imagining other compositions of the +same kind.--_La Nature_. + +[Illustration: COMPOSITE PORTRAITS.--OCCUPATIONS. 1. Green-grocer. 2. +Hunter. 3. Artist. 4. Cobbler. 5. Chemist 6. Cooper.] + + * * * * * + + + + +HAND-CRAFT AND REDE-CRAFT.--A PLEA FOR THE FIRST NAMED. + +[Footnote: Read before the Worcester Free Industrial Institute, June 25, +1885.] + +By DANIEL C. GILMAN, President of the Johns Hopkins University, +Baltimore. + + +I cannot think of a theme more fit for this hour and place than +handy-craft. I begin by saying "handy-craft," for that is the form of +the word now in vogue, that which we are wonted to see in print and hear +in speech; but I like rather the old form, "hand-craft," which was used +by our sires so long ago as the Anglo-Saxon days. Both words mean the +same thing, the power of the hand to seize, hold, shape, match, carve, +paint, dig, bake, make, or weave. Neither form is in fashion, as we know +very well, for people choose nowadays such Latin words as "technical +ability," "manual labor," "industrial pursuits," "dexterity," +"professional artisanship," "manufacture," "decorative art," and +"technological occupations," not one of which is half as good as the +plain, old, strong term "hand-craft." + +An aid to hand-craft is rede-craft--the power to read, to reason, and to +think; or, as it is said in the book of Common Prayer, "to read, mark, +learn, and inwardly digest." By rede craft we find out what other men +have done; we get our book learning, we are made heirs to thoughts that +breathe and words that burn, we enter into the life, the acts, the arts, +the loves, the lore of the wise, the witty, the cunning, and the worthy +of all ages and all places; we learn, as says the peasant poet of +Scotland, + + "The song whose thunderous chime + Eternal echoes render-- + The mournful Tuscan's haunted rhyme, + And Milton's starry splendor!" + +I do not pit rede-craft against hand-craft. Quite otherwise, I call them +not foes (as some would), but friends. They are brothers, partners, +consorts, who can work together, as right hand and left hand, as science +and art, as theory and practice. Rede-craft may call for books and +hand-craft for tools, but it is by the help of both books and tools that +mankind moves on. Indeed, we shall not err wide of the mark if we say +that a book is a tool, for it is the instrument which we make use of in +certain cases when we wish to find out what other men have thought and +done. Perhaps you will not be as ready to admit that a tool is a book. +But take for example the plow. Compare the form in use to-day on a +first-rate farm with that which is pictured on ancient stones long hid +in Egypt--ages old. See how the idea of the plow has grown, and bear in +mind that its graceful curves, it fitness for a special soil, or for +a special crop, its labor-saving shape, came not by chance, but by +thought. Indeed, a plow is made up from the thoughts and toils of +generations of plowmen. Look at a Collins ax; it is also the record +of man's thought. Lay it side by side with the hatchet of Uncas or +Miantonomoh, or with an ax of the age of bronze, and think how many +minds have worked on the head and on the helve, how much skill has been +spent in getting the metal, in making it hard, in shaping the edge, in +fixing the weight, in forming the handle. From simple tools, turn to +complex; to the printing press, the sewing machine, the locomotive, +the telegraph, the ocean steamer; all are full of ideas. All are the +offspring of hand-craft and rede craft, of skill and thought, of +practice put on record, of science and art. + +Now, the welfare of each one of us, the welfare of our land, the welfare +of our race, rests on this union. You may almost take the measure of a +man's brain, if you can find out what he sees with his eyes and what he +does with hands; you may judge of a country, or of a city, if you know +what it makes. + +I do not know that we need ask which is best, hand-craft or rede-craft. +Certainly "the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee." At +times, hand-craft becomes rede-craft, for when the eye is blind the hand +takes its place, and the finger learns to read, running over the printed +page to find out what is written, as quickly as the eye. + +In these days, there are too many who look down on hand-craft. They +think only of the tasks of a drudge or a char-boy. They do not know the +pleasure there is in working, and especially in making. They have never +learned to guide the fingers by the brain. They like to hear, or see, or +own, or eat, what others have made, but they do not like to put their +own hands to work. If you doubt what I say, put a notice in the paper +asking for a clerk, and you will have a, hundred answers for every one +that will come when you ask for a workman. So it comes to pass that +young men grow up whose hands have not been trained to any kind of +skill; they wish, therefore, to be buyers and sellers, traders, dealers, +and so the market is overstocked with clerks, book-keepers, salesmen, +and small shop-keepers, while it is understocked in all the higher walks +of hand-craft. Some men can only get on by force of arms, lifting, +pounding, heaving, or by power of sitting at counter or a desk and +"clerking it." + +Machinery works against hand-craft. In many branches of labor, the hand +now has but little to do, and that little is always the same, so that +labor becomes tiresome and the workman dull. Machines can be made to cut +statuary, to weave beautiful tapestry, to fashion needles, to grind +out music, to make long calculations; alas! the machine has also +been brought into politics. Of course, a land cannot thrive without +machinery; it is that mechanical giant, the steam engine, which carries +the corn, the cotton, and the sugar from our rich valleys to the hungry +of other lands, and brings back to us the product of their looms. +Nevertheless, he who lives by the machine alone lives but half a life; +while he who uses his hand to contrive and to adorn drives dullness from +his path. A true artist and a true artisan are one. Hand-craft, the +power to shape, to curve, to beautify, to create, gives pleasure and +dignity to labor. + +In other times and in other lands, hand-craft has had more honor than it +has had with us. Let me give some examples. Not long ago, I went to one +of the shrines of education, the Sorbonne in Paris. Two paintings adorn +the chapel walls, not of saints or martyrs, nor of apostles or +prophets, perhaps I should say of both saints and prophets, _Labor_ and +_Humilitas_, Industry and Modesty. + +The touch of Phidias was his own, and so inimitable that a few months +ago, an American, scanning, with his practiced eye, the galleries of the +Louvre, recognized a fragment of the work of Phidias, long separated +from the Parthenon frieze which Lord Elgin sent to London. The +sculptor's touch could not be mistaken. It was as truly his own as his +signature, his autograph. Ruskin, in a lecture on the relation of Art to +Morals, calls attention to a note which Durer made on some drawings sent +him by Raphael: "These figures Raphael drew and sent to Albert Durer +in Nurnberg, to show him his hand, '_sein hand zu weisen_."' Ruskin +compares this phrase with other contests of hand-craft, Apelles and +Protogenes showing their skill by drawing a line; Giotto in striking a +circle. + +In the household of the Kings of Prussia, there is a custom, if not +a law, that every boy shall learn a trade. I believe this is a fact, +though I have no certain proof of it. The Emperor Wilhelm is said to be +a glazier, the Crown Prince a compositor, and on the Emperor's birthday +not long ago his majesty received an engraving by Prince Henry and a, +book bound by Prince Waldemar, two younger sons of the Crown Prince. Let +me refer to sacred writ; the prophet Isaiah, telling of the golden days +which are to come, when the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in +the land, nor the voice of crying, when the child shall die an hundred +years old, and men shall eat of the fruit of the vineyards they have +planted, adds this striking promise, as the culm of all hope, that the +elect of the Lord shall long enjoy the work of their hands. + +Now, in view of what has been said, my first point is this: We who have +to deal with the young, we all who love our fellow-men, we all who +desire that our times, our city, our country, should be thrifty, happy, +and content, must each in his place and way give high honor to labor. +We, especially, who are teachers and parents, should see to it that the +young get "hand-craft" while they are getting "rede-craft." How can this +be done? + +Mothers begin right in the nursery, teaching little fingers to play +before the tongue can lisp a sentence. Alas! this natural training has +often been stopped at school. Hitherto, until quite lately, in schools +both low and high, rede-craft has had the place of honor, hand-craft has +had no chance. But a change is coming. In the highest of all schools, +universities, for example, work rooms, labor places, "laboratories," are +now thought to be as useful as book rooms, reading rooms, libraries. + +What mean those buildings which you have seen spring up within a few +years past in all the college greens of New England? They are libraries +and laboratories. They show that rede-craft and hand-craft are alike +held in honor, and that a liberal education means skill in getting and +skill in using knowledge; that knowledge comes from searching books and +searching nature; that the brain and the hand are in close league. So +too, in the lowest school, as far as possible from the university, the +kindergarten has won its place and the blocks, and straws, and bands, +the chalk, the clay, the scissors, are in use to make young fingers +deft. Between the highest and the lowest schools there is a like call +for hand-craft. Seeing this need, the authorities in our public schools +have begun to project special schools for such training, and are looking +for guidance far and near. At this intermediate stage, for boy and girls +who are between the age of the kindergarten and the age of the college +or the shop, for youth between eight and sixteen, there is much to be +done; people are hardly aware how much is needed to secure fit training +for the rising generation. + +It seems sometimes as if one of the most needed forms of hand-craft +would become a lost art, even good handwriting. We cannot give much +credit to schools if they send out many who are skilled in algebra, or +in Latin, but who cannot write a page of English so that it can be read +without effort. + +Drawing is another kind of hand-craft, quite too much neglected. I think +it should be laid down as a law of the road to knowledge, that everybody +must learn to draw as well as to write. The pencil maybe mastered just +as readily as the pen. It is a simpler tool. The child draws before +he writes, and savages begin their language with pictures; but, we +wiseacres of this age of books let our young folks drop their slate +pencils and their Fabers, and practice with their Gillotts and their +Esterbrooks. Let us say, in every school and in every house, the child +must not only learn to read and write, he must learn to draw. We cannot +afford to let our young folks grow up without this power. A new French +book is just now much talked about, with this droll title, "The Life +of a Wise Man, by an Ignoramus." It is the story of the great Pasteur, +whose discoveries in respect to life have made him world renowned. I +turned to the book, eager to find out the key to such success, and +I found the old story--"the child was father of the man." This +philosopher, whose eye is so skilled in observing nature, and whose hand +is so apt in experiments, is the boy grown up whose pictures were so +good that the villagers thought him at thirteen an artist of rank. + +Girls should learn the first lesson of hand-craft with the needle; boys +may (and they will always prize the knowledge), but girls must. It is +wise that our schools are going back to old fashioned ways, and saying +that girls must be taught to sew. + +Boys should practice their hands upon the knife. John Bull used to laugh +at Brother Jonathan for whittling, and Mr. Punch always drew the Yankee +with a blade in his fingers; but they found out long ago in Great +Britain that whittling in this land led to something, a Boston notion, +a wooden clock, a yacht America, a labor-saving machine, a cargo of +wooden-ware, a shop full of knick-knacks, an age of inventions. Boys +need not be kept back to the hand-craft of the knife. For in-doors there +are the type case and printing press, the paint box, the tool box, the +lathe; and for out doors, the trowel, the spade, the grafting knife. It +matters not how many of the minor arts the youth acquires. The more the +merrier. Let each one gain the most he can in all such ways; for arts +like these bring no harm in their train; quite otherwise, they lure good +fortune to their company. + +Play, as well as work, may bring out hand-craft. The gun, the bat, the +rein, the rod, the oar, all manly sports, are good training for the +hand. Walking insures fresh air, but it does not train the body or mind +like games and sports which are played out of doors. A man of great fame +as an explorer and as a student of nature (he who discovered, in the +West, bones of horses with two, three, and four toes, and who found the +remains of birds with teeth) once told me that his success was largely +due to the sports of his youth. His boyish love of fishing gave him his +manly skill in exploration. + +I speak as if hand-craft was to be learned by sport. So it may. It may +also be learned by labor. Day by day for weeks I have been watching from +my study window a stately inn rise from the cellar just across the road. +A bricklayer has been there employed whose touch is like the stroke of +an artist. He handled each brick as if it were porcelain, balanced it +carefully in his hand, measured with his eye just the amount of mortar +which it needed, and dropped the block into its bed, without staining +its edge, without varying from the plumb line, by a stroke of hand-craft +as true as the sculptor's. Toil gave him skill. + +The second point I make is this: If you really value hand-craft, +buy that which shows hand-craft, encourage those who are engaged in +hand-craft, help on with your voice and with your pocket, those who +bring taste and skill and art into the works of their hand. If your +means are so small that you only buy what you need for your daily wants, +you cannot have much choice, you must buy that which is cheapest; but +hardly any one within the sound of my voice is so restricted as that; +almost if not quite every one buys something every year for his +pleasure, a curtain, a rug, a wall paper, a chair, or a table not +certainly needed, a vase, a clock, a, mantel ornament, a piece of +jewelry, a portrait, an etching, a picture. Now whenever you make such a +purchase, to please your taste, to make your parlor or your chamber more +attractive, choose that which shows good handiwork. Such a choice will +last. You will not tire of it as you will of that which has but a +commonplace form or pattern. + +I come now to a third point. That which has just been said applies +chiefly to things whose price is fixed by beauty. But handicraft gives +us many works not pleasing to the eye, yet of the highest skill--a +Jacquard loom, a Corliss engine, a Hoe printing press, a Winchester +rifle, an Edison dynamo, a Bell telephone. Ruskin may scout the work of +machinery, and up to a certain point may take us with him. Let us +allow that works of art marked by the artist's own touch--the gates of +Paradise by Ghiberti, a shield by Cellini, a statue by Michael Angelo, +are better than all reproductions and imitations, better than plaster +casts by Eichler, electrotypes by Barbedienne, or chromos by Prang. But +even Ruskin cannot suppress the fact that machinery brings to every +thrifty cottage in New England comforts and adornments which, in the +days of Queen Bess, were not known outside of the palace. Be mindful, +then, that handicraft makes machines which are wonders of productive +force--weaving tissues such as Penelope never saw, of woolen, cotton, +linen, and silk, to carpet our floors, cover our tables, cushion our +chairs, and clothe our bodies; machines of which Vulcan never dreamed, +to point a needle, bore a rifle, cut a watch wheel, or rule a series +of lines, measuring forty thousand to an inch, with sureness which the +unaided hand can never equal. Machinery is a triumph of handicraft as +truly as sculpture and architecture. The fingers which can plan and +build a steamship or a suspension bridge, which can make the Quinebaug +and the Blackstone turn spindles by the hundred thousand, which can turn +a rag heap into spotless paper, and make myriads of useful and artful +articles from rough metal, are fingers which this age alone has evolved. +The craft which makes useful things cheap can make cheap things +beautiful. The Japanese will teach us how to form and finish, if we do +not first teach them how to slight and sham. + +A fourth point is this. If hand-craft is of such worth, boys and girls +must be trained in it. This, I am well aware is no new thought. Forty +years ago schools of applied science were added to Harvard and Yale +colleges; twenty years ago Congress gave enough land-scrip to aid in +founding at least one such school in every state; men of wealth, like +many whom you have known and whom you honor, have given large sums for +like ends. Now the people at large are waking up. They see their needs; +they have the means to supply what they want. Is there the will? Know +they the way? Far and near the cry is heard for a different training +from that now given in the public schools. Many are trying to find it. +Almost every large town has its experiment--and many smaller places have +theirs. Nobody seems to know just what is best. Even the words which +express the want are vague. Bright and thoughtful people differ as to +what might, can, and should be done. A society has been formed in New +York to bring together the needed data. The Slater trustees, charged +with the care of a large fund for the training of freedmen, have said +that manual training must be given in all the schools they aid. The +town of Toledo in Ohio opened, some time since, a school of practical +training for boys, which worked so well that another has lately been +opened for girls. St. Louis is doing famously. Philadelphia has several +experiments in progress. Baltimore has made a start. In New York there +are many noteworthy movements--half a dozen at least full of life and +hope. Boston was never behindhand in knowledge, and in the new education +is very alert, the efforts of a single lady deserving praise of high +degree. These are but signs of the times. + +Some things may be set down as fixed; for example, most of those who +have thought on this theme will agree on the points I am about to name, +though they may or may not like the names which I venture to propose: + +1. Kindergarten work should be taught in the nurseries and infant +schools of rich and poor. + +2. Drawing should be taught in schools of every grade, till the hand +uses the pencil as readily as the pen. + +3. Every girl at school if not at home should learn to sew. + +4. Every boy should learn the use of tools, the gardener's or the +carpenter's, or both. + +5. Well planned exercises, fitted to strengthen the various bodily +organs, arms, fingers, wrists, lungs, etc., are good. Driving, swimming, +rowing, and other manly sports should be favored. + +What precedes is at the basis of good work. + +In addition: + +6. With good teachers, quite young children may learn the minor +decorative arts, carving, leather stamping, brass beating and the like, +as is shown in the Leland classes of Philadelphia. + +7. In towns, boys who begin to earn a living when they enter their teens +may be taught in evening schools to practice the craft of carpentry, +bricklaying, plastering, plumbing, gas fitting, etc., as is shown +successfully in the Auchmuty schools of New York. Trade schools they are +called; schools of practice for workmen would be a better name. + +8. Boys who can carry their studies through the later teens may learn, +while at the high school or technical school or college, to work in wood +and metals with precision, as I have lately seen in the College of the +City of New York, at Cornell University, and elsewhere-colleges or high +schools with work-shops and practice classes. If they can take the +time to fit themselves to be foremen and leaders in machine shops and +factories, they may be trained in theoretical and practical mechanics, +as in the Worcester Industrial Institute and in a score of other places; +but the youth must have talent as well as time to win the race in these +hard paths. These are schools for foremen, or, if we may use a foreign +word like Kindergarten, they are Meisterschaft schools. + +9. Youths who wish to enter the highest departments of engineering must +follow advanced courses of mathematics and physics, and must learn +to apply this knowledge. The better colleges and universities afford +abundant opportunities for such training, but their scientific +laboratories are fitted only for those who love long study as well as +hard. These are schools for engineers. + +10. Girls are most likely to excel in the lighter arts--to design (for +furniture or fabrics), to embroider, to carve, to engrave, to etch, to +model, to paint. Here also success depends largely upon that which was +inborn, though girls of moderate talent in art, by patience, may become +skilled in many kinds of art work. Schools for this instruction are +schools of art (elementary, decorative, professional, etc.). + +If there be those in this hall who think that hand-craft is adverse to +rede-craft, let me ask them to study the lives of men of mark. Isaac +Newton began his life as a farm-boy who carried truck to a market town; +Spinoza, the philosopher of Amsterdam, ground lenses for his livelihood; +Watt, the inventor of the steam engine, was mechanic to the University +of Glasgow; Porson, the great professor of Greek, was trained as a +weaver; George Washington was a land surveyor; Benjamin Franklin a +printer. + +Before I close let me draw a lesson from the history of our land. Some +of you doubtless bear in mind that before the late war men used to say, +"Cotton is king;" and why so? Because the trades which hung on this crop +were so many and so strong that they ruled all others. The rise or fall +of a penny in the price of cotton at Liverpool affected planters in +the South, spinners in the North, seamen on the ocean, bankers +and money-changers everywhere. Now wheat and petroleum share the +sovereignty; but then cotton was king. Who enthroned this harmless +plant? Two masters of hand-craft, one of whom was born a few miles east +of this place in Westborough; the other was a native of England who +spent most of his days a few miles south of this city. Within five +years--not quite a century ago--these two men were putting in forms +which could be seen, ideas which brought our countrymen large measures +of both weal and woe. In 1790, Samuel Slater, once an apprentice to +Strutt and Arkwright, built the mill at Pawtucket which taught Americans +the art of cotton-spinning; and before 1795, Eli Whitney had invented +the gin which easily cleansed the cotton boll of its seeds, and so made +marketable the great crop we have spoken of. Many men have made more +noise in the world than Slater and Whitney; few if any can be named +whose peaceable hand-craft has done so much to give this country its +front place in the markets of the globe. + +Let me come nearer home, and as I take my seat let me name a son of +this very town who loved hand-craft and rede-craft, and worthily aided +both--Isaiah Thomas, the patriot printer, editor, and publisher, +historian of the printer's craft in this land, and founder of the far +famed antiquarian library, eldest in that group of institutions which +gave to Worcester its rank in the world of letters, as its many products +give it standing in the world of industry and art. + +Mindful of three such worthies, it is not strange that Salisbury, +Washburn, Boylston, and many more have built up this high school of +handicraft; it will be no wonder if others like minded build on the +foundations which have been so fitly laid. + + * * * * * + + + + +MAKING SEA WATER POTABLE. + +[Footnote: Read lately before the Manchester Literary and Philosophical +Society] + +By THOMAS KAY, President of the Stockport Natural History Society. + + +The author called attention to the absence of research in this +direction, and how man, endowed to overcome every physical disability +which encompassed him on land, was powerless to live on the wide ocean, +although it is teeming with life. + +The water for experiment was taken from the English Channel, about +fifty miles southwest of the Eddystone Lighthouse, and it was found +to correspond closely with the analysis of the Atlantic published by +Roscoe, viz.: Total solids 35.976, of which the total chlorides, are +32.730, representing 19.868 of chlorine. + +The waters of the Irish Sea and the English Channel nearer to the German +Ocean, from their neighborhood to great rivers, are weaker than the +above. + +Schweitzer's analysis of the waters of the English Channel, near +Brighton, was taken as representing the composition of the sea, and is +here given: + + Sodium chloride 27.059 + Potassium " 0.766 + Magnesium " 3.666 + " bromide 0.029 + " sulphate 2.296 + Calcium " 1.406 + " carbonate 0.033 + Iodine and ammoniacal salts traces + Water 964.795 + ________ + 1000.000 + +The chlorides in the-- + + Irish Sea are about 30 per mille. + English Channel are about 31 " + Beyond the Eddystone are 32 " + +As the requirement for a potable sea water does not arise except in +mid-ocean, the proportion of 32 per mille must be taken as the basis of +calculation. + +This represents as near 20 per mille of chlorine as possible. + +From the analysis shown it will be perceived that the chlorides of +sodium and magnesium are in great preponderance. + +It is to the former of these that the baneful effects of sea water when +drunk are to be ascribed, for chloride of sodium or common salt produces +thirst probably by its styptic action on the salivary glands, and scurvy +by its deleterious action on the blood when taken in excess. + +Sodium chloride being the principal noxious element in sea water, and +soda in combination with a vegetable or organic acid, such as citric +acid, tartaric acid, or malic acid, being innocuous, the conclusion is +that the element of evil to be avoided is _chlorine_. + +After describing various experiments, and calling attention to the power +of earthy matters in abstracting salts from solutions by which he hoped +the process would be perfected, an imperial pint of water from beyond +the Eddystone was shown mixed with 960 grains of citrate of silver and 4 +grains of the free citric acid. + +Each part of the chlorides requires three parts by weight of the silver +citrate to throw down the chlorine, thus: + +3NaCl + Ag_{3}C_{6}H_{5}O_{7} = Na3.C_{6}H_{5}O_{7}+3AgCl. + +The silver chloride formed a dense insoluble precipitate, and the +supernatant fluid was decanted and filtered through a rubber tube and +handed round as a beverage. + +It contained in each fluid ounce by calculation about: + + 18 grains of citrate of soda. + 1-1/2 " " magnesia. + 1/2 " " potash. + 1 " sulphate of magnesia. + 1/2 " " lime. + 1/5 " citric acid. + +with less than half a grain of undecomposed chlorides. + +To analyze this liquid therapeutically, it may be broadly stated that +salts of potash are _diuretic_, salts of magnesia _aperient_, and salts +of soda _neutral_, except in excessive doses, or in combination with +acids of varying medicinal action; thus, soda in nitric acid, nitrate +of soda, is a _diuretic_, following the law of nitrates as nitrate of +potash, a most powerful diuretic, nitrous ether, etc.; while soda in +combination with sulphuric acid as sulphate of soda is _aperient_, +following the law of sulphates, which increase aperient action, as in +sulphate of magnesia, etc. + +Thus it would seem that soda holds the scales evenly between potash and +magnesia in this medical sense, and that it is weighed, so to speak, on +either side by the kind of mineral acid with which it may be combined. + +With non-poisonous vegetable acids, and these slightly in excess, there +is not such an effect produced. + +Sodium is an important constituent of the human body, and citric acid, +from its carbon, almost a food. Although no one would advocate saline +drinks in excess, yet, under especial circumstances, the solution of it +in the form of citrate can hardly be hurtful when used to moisten the +throat and tongue, for it will never be used under circumstances where +it can be taken in large quantities. + +In the converted sea water the bulk of the solids is composed of inert +citrate of soda. There is a little citrate of potash, which is a feeble +diuretic; a little citrate and sulphate of magnesia, a slight aperient, +corrected, however, by the constipatory half grain of sulphate of lime; +so that the whole practically is inoperative. + +The combination of these salts in nature's proportions would seem to +indicate that they must be the best for administration in those ailments +to which their use would be beneficial. + +Citrate of silver is an almost insoluble salt, and requires to be +kept from the light, air, and organic matter, it being very easily +decomposed. + +A stoppered bottle covered with India-rubber was exhibited as indicating +a suitable preserver of the salt, as it affords protection against +light, air, and breakage. As one ounce of silver citrate will convert +half a pint of sea water into a drinkable fluid, and a man can keep +alive upon it a day, then seven ounces of it will keep him a week, and +so on, it may not unreasonably be hoped, in proportion. + +It is proposed to pack the silver citrate in hermetically sealed rubber +covered bottles or tubes, to be inserted under the canisters or thwarts +of the life-boats in ocean-going vessels, and this can be done at a +simple interest on the first outlay, without any loss by depreciation, +as it will always be worth its cost, and be invaluable in case of need. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE ACIDS OF WOOL OIL. + + +All wools contain a certain amount of animal oil or grease, which +permeates every portion of the fleece. The proportion of oil varies with +the breed of sheep. A difference in climate and soil materially affects +the yield of oil. This is shown by analyses made of different kinds of +wool, both foreign and domestic. Spanish wool was found to have but +eight per cent. grease; Australian wool fifteen per cent.; while in some +fleeces of Pennsylvania wool as high as forty per cent. was obtained. To +extract the oil from the wool, a fleece was put in a tall cylinder and +naphtha poured on it. The naphtha on being allowed to drain through +slowly dissolved out the grease. This naphtha solution was distilled; +the naphtha passing off while grease remained--a dark oil having high +specific gravity and remaining nearly solid at the ordinary temperature. +I am indebted to Mrs. Richards for this method of extracting the oil. +The process is quick and inexpensive, and is applicable to the treatment +of large quantities of wool. + +The object of these experiments was to find the readiest method of +separating wool oil into its bases and acids, and further to identify +the various fatty acids. A solution of the oil in naphtha was cooled to +15 deg. C. This caused a separation of the oil into two portions: a white +solid fat and a fluid dark oil. The first on examination proved to be a +mixture of palmitic and stearic acids existing uncombined in the wool +oil. The original wool oil was saponified by boiling with alcoholic +potash. + +The soap formed was separated into two portions by shaking with ether +and water. On standing, the solution separated into two layers, the +upper or murial solution containing the bases, the lower or aqueous +solution containing the acids. This method of separation is very slow. +In one case it worked very well, but as a rule appeared to be almost +impracticable. Benzol and naphtha were tried, instead of ether, but the +results were less satisfactory. On suggestion of Prof. Ordway, potassium +chloride was added to the soap solution partially separated by ether and +water. This caused an immediate and complete separation. By the use of +potassium chloride it was found possible to effect a separation with +benzol and water, also with naphtha and water. + +Another means of separation was tried by precipitating the calcium +salts, from a solution of the potash soap. From the portion of the +calcium salts insoluble in alcohol, a fatty acid was obtained with a +melting point and composition almost identical with the melting point +and composition of palmitic acid. The aqueous portion of the separation +effected by water and ether was examined for the fatty acid. The lead +salts of the fatty acids were digested with ether, which dissolved out +the lead oleate. From this oleic acid was obtained. This was further +purified by forming the Boreum salt of oleic acid. The lead salts not +soluble in ether were decomposed by acid. The fatty acids set free were +saponified by carbonate of potassium. A fractional precipitation was +effected by adding lead acetate in successive portions; each portion +sufficient to precipitate one-fourth of all the acids present. + +The acid obtained from the first fractionation had the melting point at +75 deg.-76 deg., indicating an acid either in carbon then stearic or palmitic +acids. + +The acids obtained from the third fractionation had a melting point of +53 deg.-54 deg. C. This acid in composition and general properties was very +similar to that obtained by freezing the naphtha solution of the oil, +and is probably a mixture of stearic and palmitic acids. These acids, +being in combination with the bases of the oil, would be set free only +on saponifying the oil and subsequently decomposing with acid. + +In conclusion, I should say that but a small proportion of the fatty +acids exist in the wool oil uncombined; that the proportion of oleic +acid is small, and can only be obtained in an oxidized condition; that +the main portion of the fatty acids is composed of stearic and palmitic +acids in nearly equal proportions; that the existence of a fatty acid, +containing a higher per cent. of carbon than those mentioned, is not +fully established.--_N.W. Shedd, M.I.T._ + + * * * * * + + + + +A NEW ABSORBENT FOR OXYGEN. + + +OTTO, BARON V.D. PFORDTEN.--The author makes use of a solution of +chromous chloride, which he prepares as follows: + +He first heats chromic acid with concentrated hydrochloric acid, so +as to obtain a strong green solution of chromic chloride free from +chlorine. This is then reduced with zinc and hydrochloric acid. The blue +chromous chloride solution thus obtained is poured into a saturated +solution of sodium acetate in an atmosphere of carbonic acid. A +red precipitate of chromous acetate is formed, which is washed by +decantation in water containing carbonic acid. This salt is relatively +stable, and can be preserved for an indefinite time in a moist condition +in stoppered bottles filled with carbonic acid. + +In this process the following precautions are to be observed: + +Spongy flocks always separate from the zinc used in the reduction, which +float about in the acid liquid for a long time and give off minute gas +bubbles. If poured into the solution of sodium acetate, they would +contaminate the precipitate; and when dissolved in hydrochloric acid, +would occasion a slight escape of hydrogen. The solution of chromous +chloride must therefore be freed from the zinc by filtration in the +absence of air. For this purpose the reduction is carried on in a flask +fitted up like a washing bottle. The long tube is bent down outside the +flask, and is here provided with a small bulb tube containing glass wool +or asbestos. The hydrogen gas liberated during reduction is at first let +escape through this tube; afterward its outer end is closed, and it is +pressed down into the liquid. The hydrogen must now pass through the +shorter tube (the mouthpiece of the washing bottle), which has an India +rubber valve. When the reduction is complete, the blue liquid is driven +up in the long tube by introducing carbonic acid through the short tube, +so that it filters through the asbestos into the solution of sodium +acetate into which the reopened end of the long tube dips. When washing +out the red precipitate, at first a little acetic acid is added to +dissolve any basic zinc carbonate which has been deposited. In this +manner a chromous acetate is obtained perfectly free from zinc. + +For the absorption of oxygen the compound just described is decomposed +with hydrochloric acid in the following simple washing apparatus: Upon +a shelf there are fixed side by side two ordinary preparation glasses, +closed with caoutchouc stoppers, each having three perforations. Each +two apertures receive the glass tubes used in gas washing bottles, while +the third holds a dropping funnel. It is filled with dilute hydrochloric +acid, and after the expulsion of the air by a current of gas, plentiful +quantities of chromous acetate are passed into the bottles. When the +current of gas has been passed in for some time, the hydrochloric acid +is let enter, which dissolves the chromous acetate, and thus, in the +absence of air, produces a solution of blue chromous chloride. It is +advisable to use an excess of chromous acetate or an insufficient +quantity of hydrochloric acid, so that there may be no free hydrochloric +acid in the liquid. To keep back any free acetic acid which might be +swept over by the current of gas, there is introduced after the washing +apparatus another washing bottle with sodium carbonate. Also solid +potassium carbonate may be used instead of calcium chloride for drying +the gas. If the two apertures of the washing apparatus are fitted with +small pinch cocks, it is ready for use, and merely requires to be +connected with the gas apparatus in action in order to free the gas +generated from oxygen. As but little chromous salt is decomposed by the +oxygen such a washing apparatus may serve for many experiments. + + * * * * * + + + + +GAIFFE'S NEW MEDICAL GALVANOMETER. + + +In this apparatus, which contains but one needle, and has no directing +magnet, proportionability between the intensities and deflections is +obtained by means of a special form given the frame upon which the wire +is wound. + +We give herewith a figure of the curve that Mr. Gaiffe has fixed upon +after numerous experiments. Upon examination it will be seen that the +needle approaches the current in measure as the directing action of +the earth increases; and experiment proves that the two actions +counterbalance each other, and render the deflections very sensibly +proportional to the intensities up to an angle of from 65 to 75 degrees. + +[Illustration] + +Another important fact has likewise been ascertained, and that is that, +under such circumstances, the magnetic intensity of the needle may +change without the indications ceasing to have the same exactness up to +65 degrees. As well known, Mr. Desains has demonstrated that this occurs +likewise in sinus or tangent galvanometers; but these have helices that +are very large in proportion to the needle. In medical galvanometers the +proportions are no longer the same, and the needle is always very near +the directing helix. If this latter is square, or even elliptical, it is +found that, beyond an angle of 15 degrees, there are differences of 4 or +5 degrees in the indications given with the same intensity of current by +the same needle, according to the latter's intensity of magnetism. This +inconvenience is quite grave, for it often happens that a needle changes +magnetic intensity, either under the influence of too strong currents +sent into the apparatus, or of other magnets in its vicinity, or as +a consequence of the bad quality of the steel, etc. It was therefore +urgently required that this should be remedied, and from this point +of view the new mode of winding the wire is an important improvement +introduced into medical galvanometers.--_La Lumiere Electrique_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE SUSPENSION OF LIFE. + + +Every one knows that life exists in a latent state in the seeds of +plants, and may be preserved therein, so to speak, indefinitely. In +1853, Ridolfi deposited in the Egyptian Museum of Florence a sheaf of +wheat that he had obtained from seeds found in a mummy case dating back +about 3,000 years. This aptitude of revivification is found to a high +degree in animalcules of low order. The air which we breathe is loaded +with impalpable dust that awaits, for ages perhaps, proper conditions +of heat and moisture to give it an ephemeral life that it will lose and +acquire by turns. + +In 1707, Spallanzani found it possible, eleven times in succession, to +suspend the life of rotifers submitted to desiccation, and to call it +back again by moistening this organic dust with water. A few years +ago Doyere brought to life some tardigrades that had been dried at a +temperature of 150 deg. and kept four weeks in a vacuum. If we ascend the +scale of beings, we find analogous phenomena produced by diverse causes. +Flies that have been imported in casks of Madeira have been resuscitated +in Europe, and chrysalids have been kept in this state for years. +Cockchafers drowned, and then dried in the sun, have been revived after +a lapse of twenty-four hours, two days, and even five days, after +submersion. Frogs, salamanders, and spiders poisoned by curare or +nicotine, have returned to life after several days of apparent death. + +Cold produces some extraordinary effects. Spallanzani kept several frogs +in the center of a lump of ice for two years, and, although they became +dry, rigid, almost friable, and gave no external appearance of being +alive, it was only necessary to expose them to a gradual and moderate +heat to put an end to the lethargic state in which they lay. + +Pikes and salamanders have at different epochs been revived before the +eyes of Maupertuis and Constant Dumeril (members of the Academy of +Sciences) after being frozen stiff. Auguste Dumeril, son of Constant, +and who was the reporter of the committee relative to the Blois toad in +1851, published a curious memoir the following year in which he narrates +how he interrupted life through congelation of the liquids and solids of +the organism. Some frogs, whose internal temperature had been reduced to +-2 deg. in an atmosphere of -12 deg., returned to life before his eyes, and he +observed their tissues regain their usual elasticity and their heart +pass from absolute immobility to its normal motion. + +There is therefore no reason for doubting the assertions of travelers +who tell us that the inhabitants of North America and Russia transport +fish that are frozen stiff, and bring them to life again by dipping them +into water of ordinary temperature ten or fifteen days afterward. But I +think too much reliance should not be put in the process devised by +the great English physiologist, Hunter, for prolonging the life of man +indefinitely by successive freezings. It has been allowed to no one but +a romancer, Mr. Edmond About, to be present at this curious operation. + +Among the mammifera we find appearances of death in their winter sleep; +but these are incomplete, since the temperature of hibernating animals +remains greater by one degree than that of the surrounding air, and the +motions of the heart and respiration are simply retarded. Dr. Preyer has +observed that a hamster sometimes goes five minutes without breathing +appreciably after a fortnight's sleep. + +In man himself a suspension of life, or at least phenomena that seem +inseparable therefrom, has been observed many times. In the _Journal des +Savants_ for 1741 we read that a Col. Russel, having witnessed the +death of his wife, whom he tenderly loved, did not wish her buried, and +threatened to kill any one who should attempt to remove the body before +he witnessed its decomposition himself. Eight days passed by without the +woman giving the slightest sign of life, "when, at a moment when he was +holding her hand and shedding tears over her, the church bell began to +ring, and, to his indescribable surprise, his wife sat up and said, 'It +is the last stroke, we shall be too late.' She recovered." + +At a session of the Academy of Sciences, Oct. 17, 1864, Mr. Blaudet +communicated a report upon a young woman of thirty summers who, being +subject to nervous attacks, fell, after her crises, into a sort of +lethargic sleep which lasted several weeks and sometimes several months. +One of her sleeps, especially, lasted from the beginning of the year +1862 until March, 1863. + +Dr. Paul Levasseur relates that, in a certain English family, lethargy +seemed to have become hereditary. The first case was exhibited in an old +lady who remained for fifteen days in an immovable and insensible state, +and who afterward, on regaining her consciousness, lived for quite a +long time. Warned by this fact, the family preserved a young man for +several weeks who appeared to be dead, but who came to life again. + +Dr. Pfendler, in an inaugural thesis (Paris, 1833), minutely describes a +case of apparent death of which he himself was a witness. A young girl +of Vienna at the age of 15 was attacked by a nervous affection that +brought on violent crises followed by lethargic states which lasted +three or four days. After a time she became so exhausted that the first +physicians of the city declared that there was no more hope. It was not +long, in fact, before she was observed to rise in her bed and fall back +as if struck with death. "For four hours she appeared to me," says Dr. +Pfendler, "completely inanimate. With Messrs. Franck and Schaeffer, +I made every possible effort to rekindle the spark of life. Neither +mirror, nor burned feather, nor ammonia, nor pricking succeeded in +giving us a sign of sensibility. Galvanism was tried without the patient +showing any contractility. Mr. Franck believed her to be dead, but +nevertheless advised me to leave her on the bed. For twenty-eight hours +no change supervened, although it was thought that a little putrefaction +was observed. The death bell was sounded, the friends of the girl had +dressed her in white and had crowned her with flowers, and all was +arranged for her burial. Desiring to convince myself of the course of +the putrefaction, I visited the body again, and found that no further +advance had been made than before. What was my astonishment when I +believed that I saw a slight respiratory motion. I looked again, and saw +that I was not mistaken. I at once used friction and irritants, and in +an hour and a half the respiration increased. The patient opened her +eyes, and, struck with the funereal paraphernalia around her, returned +to consciousness, and said, 'I am too young to die.'" All this was +followed by a ten hours' sleep. Convalescence proceeded rapidly, and the +girl became free from all her nervous troubles. During her crisis she +heard everything. She quoted some Latin words that Mr. Franck had used. +Her most fearful agony had been to hear the preparations for her burial +without being able to get rid of her torpor. Medical dictionaries are +full of anecdotes of this nature, but I shall cite but two more. + +On the 10th of November, 1812, during the fatal retreat from Russia, +Commandant Tascher, desiring to bring back to France the body of his +general, who had been killed by a bullet, and who had been buried since +the day before, disinterred him, and, upon putting him into a landau, +and noticing that he was still breathing, brought him to life again by +dint of care. A long time afterward this same general was one of the +pall bearers at the funeral obsequies of the aide-de-camp who had buried +him. In 1826 a young priest returned to life at the moment the bishop +of the diocese was pronouncing the _De Profundis_ over his body. Forty +years afterward, this priest, who had become Cardinal Donnett, preached +a feeling sermon upon the danger of premature burial. + +I trust I have now sufficiently prepared the mind of the reader for an +examination of the phenomena of the voluntary suspension of life that I +shall now treat of. + +The body of an animal may be compared to a machine that converts the +food that it receives into motion. It receives nothing, it will produce +nothing; but there is no reason why it should get out of order if it is +not deteriorated by external agents. The legendary rustic who wanted to +accustom his ass to go without food was therefore theoretically wrong +only because he at the same time wanted the animal to work. The whole +difficulty consists in breaking with old habits. To return to the +comparison that we just made, we shall run the risk of exploding the +boiler of a steam engine if we heat it or cool it abruptly, but we can +run it very slowly and for a very long time with but very little fuel. +We may even preserve a little fire under the ashes, and this, although +it may not be capable of setting the parts running, will suffice later +on to revivify the fireplace after it has been charged anew with fuel. + +We have recently had the example of Dr. Tanner, who went forty days +without any other nourishment than water. Not very long ago Liedovine de +Schiedam, who had been bedridden for twenty years, affirmed that she +had taken no food for eight of them. It is said that Saint Catharine of +Sienna gradually accustomed herself to do without food, and that she +lived twenty years in total abstinence. We know of several examples of +prolonged sleep during which the sleeper naturally took no nourishment. +In his Magic Disquisitions, Delvis cites the case of a countryman who +slept for an entire autumn and winter. Pfendler relates that a certain +young and hysterical woman fell twice into a deep slumber which each +time lasted six months. In 1883 an _enceinte_ woman was found asleep +on a bench in the Grand Armee Avenue. She was taken to the Beaujon +Hospital, where she was delivered a few days after while still asleep, +and it was not till the end of three months that she could be awakened +from her lethargy. At this very moment, at Tremeille, a woman named +Marguerite Bouyenvalle is sleeping a sleep that has lasted nearly a +year, during which the only food that she has had is a few drops of soup +daily. + +What is more remarkable, Dr. Fournier says in his Dictionary of Medical +Sciences that he knew of a distinguished writer at Paris, who sometimes +went for months at a time without taking anything but emollient drinks, +while at the same time living along like other people. + +Respiration is certainly more necessary to life than food is; but it is +not absolutely indispensable, as we have seen in the cases of apparent +death cited in our previous article. It is possible, through exercise, +for a person to accustom himself, up to a certain point, to abstinence +from air as he can from food. Those who dive for pearls, corals, or +sponges succeed in remaining from two to three minutes under water. Miss +Lurline, who exhibited in Paris in 1882, remained two and a half minutes +beneath the water of her aquarium without breathing. In his treatise De +la Nature, Henri de Rochas, physician to Louis XIII., gives six minutes +as the maximum length of time that can elapse between successive +inspirations of air. It is probable that this figure was based upon an +observation of hibernating animals. + +In his Encyclopedic Dictionary, Dr. Dechambre relates the history of +a Hindoo who hid himself in the waters of the Ganges where women were +bathing, seized one of them by the legs, drowned her, and then removed +her jewels. Her disappearance was attributed to crocodiles. One woman +who succeeded in escaping him denounced the assassin, who was seized and +hanged in 1817. + +A well known case, is that of Col. Townshend, who possessed the +remarkable faculty of stopping at will not only his respiration, but +also the beating of his heart. He performed the experiment one day in +the presence of Surgeon Gosch, who cared for him in his old age, two +physicians, and his apothecary, Mr. Shrine. In their presence, says +Gosch, the Colonel lay upon his back, Dr. Cheyne watched his pulse, Dr. +Baynard put his hand upon his heart, and Mr. Shrine held a mirror to +his mouth. After a few seconds no pulse, movement of the heart, or +respiration could be observed. At the end of half an hour, as the +spectators were beginning to get frightened, they observed the functions +progressively resuming their course, and the Colonel came back to life. + +The fakirs of India habituate themselves to abstinence from air, either +by introducing into the nostrils strings that come out through the +mouth, or by dwelling in subterranean cells that air and light never +enter except through narrow crevices that are sometimes filled with +clay. Here they remain seated in profound silence, for hours at a time, +without any other motion than that of the fingers as the latter slowly +take beads from a chaplet, the mind absorbed by the mental pronunciation +of OM (the holy triune name), which they must repeat incessantly while +endeavoring to breathe as little as possible. They gradually lengthen +the intervals between their inspirations and expirations, until, in +three or four months, they succeed in making them an hour and a half. +This is not the ideal, for one of their sacred books says, in speaking +of a saint: "At the fourth month he no longer takes any food but air, +and that only every twelve days, and, master of his respiration he +embraces God in his thought. At the fifth he stands as still as a pole; +he no longer sees anything but Baghavat, and God touches his cheek to +bring him out of his ecstasy." + +It will be conceived that by submitting themselves to such gymnastics +from infancy, certain men, already predisposed by atavism or a peculiar +conformation, might succeed in doing things that would seem impossible +to the common run of mortals. Do we not daily see acrobats remaining +head downward for a length of time that would suffice to kill 99 per +cent, of their spectators through congestion if they were to place +themselves in the same posture? Can the savage who laboriously learns +to spell, letter by letter, comprehend how many people get the general +sense of an entire page at a single glance? + +There is no reason, then, _a priori_, for assigning to the domain of +legerdemain the astonishing facts that are told us by a large number of +witnesses, worthy of credence, regarding a young fakir who, forty years +ago, was accustomed to allow himself to be buried, and resuscitated +several months afterward. + +An English officer, Mr. Osborne, gives the following account of one of +these operations, which took place in 1838 at the camp of King Randjet +Singh: + +"After a few preparations, which lasted some days, and that it would +prove repugnant to enumerate, the fakir declared himself ready to +undergo the ordeal. The Maharajah, the Sikhs chiefs, and Gen. Ventura, +assembled near a masonry tomb that had been constructed expressly to +receive him. Before their eyes, the fakir closed with wax all the +apertures in his body (except his mouth) that could give entrance +to air. Then, having taken off the clothing that he had on, he was +enveloped in a canvas sack, and, according to his wish, his tongue was +turned back in such a way as to close the entrance to his windpipe. +Immediately after this he fell into a sort of trance. The bag that held +him was closed and a seal was put upon it by the Maharajah. The bag was +then put into a wooden box, which was fastened by a padlock, sealed, and +let down into the tomb. A large quantity of earth was thrown into the +hole and rammed down, and then barley was sown on the surface and +sentinels placed around with orders to watch day and night. + +"Despite all such precautions, the Maharajah had his doubts; so he came +twice in the space of ten months (the time during which the fakir was +buried), and had the tomb opened in his presence. The fakir was in the +bag into which he had been put, cold and inanimate. The ten months +having expired, he was disinterred, Gen. Ventura and Capt. Ward saw the +padlock removed, the seals broken, and the box taken from the tomb. +The fakir was taken out, and no pulsation either at the heart or pulse +indicated the presence of life. As a first measure for reviving him, a +person introduced a finger gently into his mouth and placed his tongue +in its natural position. The top of his head was the only place where +there was any perceptible heat. By slowly pouring warm water over his +body, signs of life were gradually obtained, and after about two hours +of care the patient got up and began to walk. + +"This truly extraordinary man says that during his burial he has +delightful dreams, but that the moment of awakening is always very +painful to him. Before returning to a consciousness of his existence he +experiences vertigoes. His nails and hair cease to grow. His only fear +is that he may be harmed by worms and insects, and it is to protect +himself from these that he has the box suspended in the center of the +tomb." + +This sketch was published in the _Magasin Pittoresque_ in 1842 by a +writer who had just seen Gen. Ventura in Paris, and had obtained from +him a complete confirmation of the story told by Capt. Wade. + +Another English officer, Mr. Boileau, in a work published in 1840, +and Dr. MacGregor, in his medical topography of Lodhiana, narrate two +analogous exhumations that they separately witnessed. The question +therefore merits serious examination.--_A. de Rochas, in La Nature_. + + * * * * * + +Some experiments recently made by M. Olszewsky appear to show that +liquid oxygen is one of the best of refrigerants. He found that when +liquefied oxygen was allowed to vaporize under the pressure of one +atmosphere, a temperature as low as -181.4 deg. C. was produced. The +temperature fell still further when the pressure on the liquid oxygen +was reduced to nine millimeters of mercury. Though the pressure was +reduced still further to four millimeters of mercury, yet the oxygen +remained liquid. Liquefied nitrogen, when allowed to evaporate under a +pressure of sixty millimeters of mercury, gave a temperature of -214 deg. +C., only the surface of the liquid gas became opaque from incipient +solidification. Under lower pressures the nitrogen solidified, +and temperatures as low as -225 deg. C. were recorded by the hydrogen +thermometer. The lowest temperature obtained by allowing liquefied +carbonic oxide to vaporize was -220.5 deg. C. + + * * * * * + + + + +CONVALLARIA. + +By OTTO A. WALL, M.D., Ph.G. + + +Cnovallaria Majalis is a stemless perennial plant, found in both +the eastern and western hemispheres, with two elliptic leaves and a +one-sided raceme bearing eight or ten bell-shaped flowers. The flowers +are fragrant, and perfumes called "Lily of the Valley" are among the +popular odors. + +Both leaves and flowers have been used in medicine, but the rhizome is +the part most frequently used. + +[Illustration: CONVALLARIA.] + +The fresh rhizome is a creeping, branching rhizome of a pale yellowish +white color, which, on drying, darkens to a straw color, or even a +brown in places. When dry it is about the thickness of a thick knitting +needle, swelling to the thickness of a quill when soaked in water. It +is of uniform thickness, except near the leaf-bearing ends, which are +thicker marked with numerous leafscars, or bare buds covered with +scales, and often having attached the tattered remains of former leaves. +Fig. A shows a portion of rhizome, natural size, and Fig. B shows +another piece enlarged to double linear size. + +The internodes are smooth, the rootlets being attached at the nodes. The +rootlets are filiform, and darker in color. + +The rhizome is covered by an epidermis, composed of muriform cells of a +bright yellow color, after having been treated with liquor potassae to +clear up the tissues. These cells are shown in Fig. G. An examination of +the transverse section shows us the endogenous structure, as we find +it also in various other drugs (sarsaparilla, etc.), namely, a nucleus +sheath, inclosing the fibrovascular bundles and pith, and surrounded +by a peri-ligneous or peri-nuclear portion, consisting of soft-walled +parenchyma cells, loosely arranged with many small, irregularly +triangular, intercellular spaces in the tranverse section. Some of these +cells contain bundles of raphides (Fig. 2), one of which bundles is +shown crushed in Fig. J. Sometimes these crystals are coarser and less +needle-like, as in Fig. K. Fig. C shows a transverse section through the +leaf-bearing portion of the rhizome (at a), and is rather irregular on +account of the fibrovascular bundles diverging into the base of the +leaves of flower-stalks. A more regular appearance is seen in Fig. D, +which is a section through the internode (b). In it we see the nuclear +sheath, varying in width from one to three cells, and inclosing a number +of crescent-shaped fibrovascular bundles, with their convexities toward +the center and their horns toward the nuclear sheath. There are also +from two to four or five free closed fibrovascular bundles in the +central pith. + +These fibrovascular bundles consist mainly of dotted or reticulated +ducts (Fig. F), but all gradations from, this to the spiroids, or even +true spiral ducts (Fig. E). may be found, though the annular and spiral +ducts are quite rare. These ducts are often prismatically compressed +by each other. The fibrovascular bundles also contain soft-walled +prosenchyma cells. The peri-nuclear portion consists of soft-walled +parenchyma, smaller near the nuclear sheath and the epidermis, and +larger about midway between, and of the same character as the cells of +the pith. In longitudinal section they appear rectangular, similar to +the walls of the epidermis (G), but with thinner walls. + +All parts of the plant have been used in medicine, either separately or +together, and according to some authorities the whole flowering plant is +the best form in which to use this drug. + +The active principles are _convallaramin_ and _convallarin_. + +It is considered to act similarly to digitalis as a heart-stimulant, +especially when the failure of the heart's action is due to mechanical +impediments rather than to organic degeneration. It is best given in the +form of fluid extract in the dose of 1 to 5 cubic centimeters (15 to +75 minims), commencing with the smaller doses, and increasing, if +necessary, according to the effects produced in each individual +case.--_The Pharmacist_. + + * * * * * + + + + +FLIGHT OF THE BUZZARD. + + +During my visit to the Southern States of America, I have had several +opportunities of watching, under favorable conditions, the flight of the +buzzard, the scavenger of Southern cities. Although in most respect this +bird's manner of flight resembles that of the various sea-birds which I +have often watched for hours sailing steadily after ocean steamships, +yet, being a land bird, the buzzard is more apt to give examples of that +kind of flight in which a bird remains long over the same place. Instead +of sailing steadily on upon outstretched pinions, the buzzard often +ascends in a series of spirals, or descends along a similar course. I +have not been able to time the continuance of the longest flights during +which the wings have not once been flapped, for the simple reason that, +in every case where I have attempted to do so, the bird has passed out +of view either by upward or horizontal traveling. But I am satisfied +that in many cases the bird sweeps onward or about on unflapping wings +for more than half an hour. + +Now, many treat this problem of aerial flotation as if it were of the +nature of a miracle--something not to be explained. Explanations which +have been advanced have, it is true, been in many cases altogether +untenable. For instance, some have asserted that the albatross, the +condor, and other birds which float for a long time without moving +their wings--and that, too, in some cases, at great heights above the +sea-level, where the air is very thin--are supported by some gas within +the hollow parts of their bones, as the balloon is supported by the +hydrogen within it. The answer to this is that a balloon is _not_ +supported by the hydrogen within it, but by the surrounding air, and in +just such degree as the air is displaced by the lighter gas. The air +around a bird is only displaced by the bird's volume, and the pressure +of the air corresponding to this displacement is not equivalent to more +than one five-hundredth part of the bird's weight. Another idea is that +when a bird seems to be floating on unmoving wings there is really a +rapid fluttering of the feathers of the wings, by which a sustaining +power is obtained. But no one who knows anything of the anatomy of +the bird will adopt this idea for an instant, and no one who has ever +watched with a good field-glass a floating bird of the albatross or +buzzard kind will suppose they are fluttering their feathers in this +way, even though he should be utterly ignorant of the anatomy of the +wings. Moreover, any one acquainted with the laws of dynamics will know +that there would be tremendous loss of power in the fluttering movement +imagined as compared with the effect of sweeping downward and backward +the whole of each wing. + +There is only one possible way of explaining the floating power of +birds, and that is by associating it with the rapid motion acquired +originally by wing flapping, and afterward husbanded, so to speak, by +absolutely perfect adjustment and balancing. To this the answer is often +advanced that it implies ignorance of the laws of dynamics to suppose +that rapid advance can affect the rate of falling, as is implied by the +theory that it enables the bird to float. + +Now, as a matter of fact, a slight slope of the wings would undoubtedly +produce a raising power, and so an answer is at one obtained to this +objection. But I venture to assert, with the utmost confidence, that a +perfectly horizontal plane, advancing swiftly in a horizontal direction +at first, will not sink as quickly, or anything like as quickly, as a +similar plane let fall from a position of rest. A cannon-ball, rushing +horizontally from the mouth of a cannon, begins to fall just as if it +were simply dropped. But the case of a horizontal plane is altogether +different. If rapidly advancing, it passes continually over still air; +if simply let fall, the air beneath it yields, and presently currents +are set up which facilitate the descent of the flat body; but there is +no time to set up these aerial movements as the flat body passes rapidly +over still air. + +As a matter of fact, we know that this difference exists, from +the difference in the observed behavior of a flat card set flying +horizontally through the air and a similar card held horizontally and +then allowed to fall. + +I believe the whole mystery of aerial flotation lies here, and that as +soon as aerial floating machines are planned on this system, it will be +found that the problem of aerial transit--though presenting still many +difficulties of detail--is, nevertheless, perfectly soluble.--_R.A. +Proctor, in Newcastle Weekly Chronicle_. + + * * * * * + + + + +AN ASSYRIAN BASS-RELIEF 2,700 YEARS OLD. + + +There was exhibited at the last meeting of the Numismatic and +Antiquarian Society, in Philadelphia, on May 7, an object of great +interest to archaeologists, with which, says _The Church_, is also +connected a very curious history. + +It appears that about forty years ago a young American minister, Rev. +W.F. Williams, went as a missionary to Syria, and he visited among +places of interest the site of ancient Nineveh about the time that +Austin Henry Layard was making his famous explorations and discoveries; +he wrote to a friend in Philadelphia that he had secured for him a fine +piece of Assyrian sculpture from one of the recently opened temples or +palaces, representing a life size figure of a king, clad in royal robes, +bearing in one hand a basket and in the other a fir cone. One portion +of the stone was covered with hieroglyphics, and was as sharply cut as +though it had been carved by a modern hand instead of by an artist who +was sleeping in his grave when Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, was yet +an infant. + +The letter describing this treasure arrived duly, but the stones did not +come. It appears that the caravan bringing them down to Alexandretta, +from whence they were to be shipped to Philadelphia, was attacked by +robbers, and the sculptured stones were thrown upon the desert as +useless, and there they remained for some years. Finally they were +recovered, shipped to this country (about twenty-five years ago), and +arriving at their destination during the absence of the consignee, were +deposited temporarily in a subterranean storeroom at his manufactory. +In some way they were overlooked, and here they have remained unopened +until they were rediscovered a few days ago; meanwhile the missionary +and his friend have both passed away, ignorant of the fact that the rare +gift had finally reached its destination and had become again lost. + +The cuneiform inscription is now being translated by an Assyrian scholar +(Rev. Dr. J.P. Peters, of the Divinity School), and its identity is +established; it came from the temple of King Assur-nazir-pal, a famous +conqueror who reigned from 883 to 859 B.C. + +The slab was cut into three sections, 3x31/2 feet each, for convenience +of transportation, and they have been somewhat broken on the journey; +fortunately, however, this does not obliterate the writing. + +Mr. Tolcott Williams, a son of the late missionary, was present at the +meeting of the Society, and gave an interesting account of the classic +ground from which the slab was obtained. It was one of a number lining +the walls of the palace of Assur-nazir-pal. The inscriptions, as +translated by Dr. Peters, indicate that this particular slab was carved +during the first portion of this king's reign, and some conception +of its great antiquity may be gained when it is stated that he was a +contemporary of Ahab and Jehosaphat; he was born not more than a +century later than Solomon, and he reigned three centuries before +Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. After the slabs were procured, it was +necessary to send them on the backs of camels a journey of eight hundred +miles across the Great Desert, through a region which was more or less +infested at all seasons with roving bands of robbers. Mr. Williams well +remembered the interview between his father and the Arab camel owner, +who told several conflicting stories by way of preliminary to the +confession of the actual facts, in order to account for the non-arrival +of the stones at Alexandretta, the sea coast town from whence they were +to be shipped to Philadelphia. + +Mr. A.E. Outerbridge, Jr., gave a brief account of the finding of these +stones in the subterranean storeroom where they had reposed for a period +of a quarter of a century. The space between the slabs and the boxes +had been packed with camels' hair, which had in progress of time become +eaten by insects and reduced to a fine powder. The nails with which the +cases were fastened were remarkable both for their peculiar shape and +for the extraordinary toughness of the iron, far excelling in this +respect the wrought iron made in America to day. + +The Rev. Dr. J.P. Peters gave a very instructive exposition of the +chronology of the kings of Assyria, their social and religious customs +and ceremonies, their methods of warfare, their systems of architecture, +etc. He stated that the finest Assyrian bass-reliefs in the British +Museum came from the same palace as this specimen, the carving of which +is not excelled by any period of the ancient glyptic art. The particular +piece of alabaster selected by the artist for this slab was unusually +fine, being mottled with nodules of crystallized gypsum. + +The cuneiform inscription is not unlike the Hebrew in its character, +resembling it about as closely as the Yorkshire dialect resembles good +English. The characters are so large and clearly cut that it is a +pleasure to read them after the laborious scrutiny of the minute +Babylonish clay tablets. The inscription on this slab is identical with +a portion of that of the great "Standard Monolith," on which this king +subsequently caused to be transcribed the pages, as it were, from the +different slabs which were apparently cut at intervals in his reign. + +_Translation of a Portion of the Cuneiform, Inscription_.--"The palace +of Assur-nazir-pal, servant of Assur, servant of the god Beltis, the +god Ninit, the shining one of Anu and Dagon, servant of the Great +Gods, Mighty King, king of hosts, king of the land of Assyria; son of +Bin-nirari, a strong warrior, who in the service of Assur his Lord +marched vigorously among the princes of the four regions, who had no +equal, a mighty leader who had no rival, a king subduing all disobedient +to him; who rules multitudes of men; crushing all his foes, even the +masses of the rebels.... The city of Calah, which my predecessor, +Shalmanezer, King of Assyria had built had fallen into decay: His city +I rebuilt; a palace of cedar, box, cypress, for the seat of my royalty, +for the fullness of my princedom, to endure for generations, I placed +upon it. With plates of copper I roofed it, I hung in its gates folding +doors of cedar wood, silver, gold, copper, and iron which my hands had +acquired in the lands which I ruled, I gathered in great quantities, and +placed them in the midst thereof." O. + + * * * * * + + + + +DEPOSITING NICKEL UPON ZINC. + +By H.B. SLATER. + + +To those interested in the electro deposition of nickel upon zinc, the +formula given below for a solution and a brief explanation of its use +will be of service. + +The first sample of this solution was made as an experiment to see what +substances could be added to a solution of the double sulphate of nickel +and ammonium without spoiling it. + +In addition to several other combinations and mixtures of solutions from +which I succeeded in obtaining a good deposit, I found that the solution +here given would plate almost anything I put into it, and worked +especially well upon zinc. In its use no "scraping" or rescouring or any +of the many operations which I have seen recommended for zinc needs +be resorted to, as the metal "strikes" at once and is deposited in +a continuous adherent film of reguline metal, and can be laid on as +heavily as nickel is deposited generally. + +I believe that the addition of the ammonium chloride simply reduces +the resistance of the double sulphate solution, but the office of the +potassium chloride is not so easily explained. At least, I have never +been able to explain it satisfactorily to myself. It is certain, +however, that the solution does not work as well without it, nor does +the addition of ammonium chloride in its stead give as fine a result. + +Some care is necessary in the management of the current, which should +have a density of about 17 amperes per square foot of surface--not much +above or below. This may seem a high figure, especially when it is +discovered that there is a considerable evolution of gas during the +operation. + +I have repeatedly used this solution for coating articles of zinc, and +always with good success. I have exhibited samples of zinc plated in +this solution to those conversant with the deposition of nickel, and +they have expressed surprise at the appearance of the work. Some strips +of sheet-zinc in my possession have been bent and cut into every +conceivable shape without a sign of fracture or curling up at the edges +of the nickel coating. + +The solution is composed of-- + + Double sulphate of nickel and ammonium 10 ounces. + Ammonium chloride 4 " + Potassium chloride 2 " + Distilled water 1 gallon. + +The salts are dissolved in the water (hot), and the solution is worked +at the ordinary temperature, about 16 degrees C. + +The zinc may be cleansed in any suitable manner, but must be perfectly +clean, of course, and finally rinsed in clean cold water and placed in +the bath as quickly as possible; care being taken that it is connected +before it touches the solution.--_Electrical World_. + + * * * * * + +A catalogue, containing brief notices of many important scientific +papers heretofore published in the SUPPLEMENT, may be had gratis at this +office. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT. + +PUBLISHED WEEKLY. + +TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION, $5 A YEAR. + + +Sent by mail, postage prepaid, to subscribers in any part of the United +States or Canada. 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Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Scientific American Supplement, No. 497, July 11, 1885 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: January, 2006 [EBook #9666] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on October 14, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPP. NO. 497 *** + + + + +Produced by Josephine Paolucci, Don Kretz, Juliet Sutherland +and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT NO. 497 + + + + +NEW YORK, JULY 11, 1885 + +Scientific American Supplement. Vol. XX, No. 497. + +Scientific American established 1845 + +Scientific American Supplement, $5 a year. + +Scientific American and Supplement, $7 a year. + + + * * * * * + +TABLE OF CONTENTS. + +I. CHEMISTRY AND METALLURGY.--Making Sea Water Potable. + --By THOS. KAY + + The Acids of Wool Oil + + The New Absorbent for Oxygen + + Depositing Nickel upon Zinc.--By H.B. SLATER + +II. ENGINEERING AND MECHANICS.--Foundations in Quicksand, + Lift Bridge over the Ourcq Canal.--3 figures + + St. Petersburg a Seaport.--A canal cut from Cronstadt to + St. Petersburg.--Opening of same by the Emperor and + Empress.--With full page engraving + + The New French Dispatch Boat Milan.--With engraving + + The Launching and Docking of Ships Sidewise.--4 figures + + Improved High Speed Engine.--12 figures + + The National Transit Co.'s Pipe Lines for the Transportation + of Oil to the Seaboard.--With map and diagram + + The Fuel of the Future.--History of natural gas.--Relation to + petroleum.--Duration of gas, etc.--With table of analyses + Closing Leakages for Packing.--Use of asbestos in stuffing + boxes + +III. TECHNOLOGY.--Luminous Paint.--Processes of manufacture + Boxwood and its Substitutes.--Preparation of same for market, + etc.--A paper written by J.A. JACKSON for the International + Forestry Exhibition + +IV. ARCHAEOLOGY.--An Assyrian Bass-Relief 2,700 years old + +V. NATURAL HISTORY.-The Flight of the Buzzard.--By R.A. + PROCTOR + +VI. BOTANY, ETC.--Convallaria.--A stemless perennial.--By OTTO + A. WALL, M.D.--Several figures + +VII. MEDICINE, HYGIENE, ETC.--Gaiffe's New Medical + Galvanometer.--1 figure + + The Suspension of Life in Plants and Animals + +VIII. MISCELLANEOUS.--Composite Portraits.--6 illustrations + Hand-Craft and Rede-Craft.--A plea for the first + named.--By D.G. GILMAN + + * * * * * + + + + +FOUNDATIONS IN QUICKSAND. + + +Foundations in quicksand often have to be built in places where least +expected, and sometimes the writer has been able to conveniently +span the vein with an arch and avoid trouble; but where it cannot be +conveniently arched over, it will be necessary to sheath pile for a +trench and lay in broad sections of concrete until the space is crossed, +the sheath piling being drawn and reset in sections as fast as the +trenches are leveled up. The piling is left in permanently if it is not +wanted again for use. + +Sometimes these bottoms are too soft to be treated in this manner; in +that case boxes or caissons are formed, loaded with stone and sunk into +place with pig iron until the weight they are to carry is approximated. +When settled, the weights are removed and building begins. + +Foundations on shifting sand are met with in banks of streams, which +swell and become rapids as each winter breaks up. This kind is most +troublesome and dangerous to rest upon if not properly treated. + +Retaining walls are frequently built season after season, and as +regularly become undermined by the scouring of the water. Regular +docking with piles and timbers is resorted to, but it is so expensive +for small works that it is not often tried. + +Foundations are formed often with rock well planted out; and again +success has attended the use of bags of sand where rough rock was not +convenient or too expensive. + +In such cases it is well to try a mattress foundation, which may be +formed of brushwood and small saplings with butts from 1/2 inch to +21/2 inches in diameter, compressed into bundles from 8 to 12 inches +diameter, and from 12 to 16 feet long, and well tied with ropes every +four feet. Other bundles, from 4 to 6 inches diameter and 16 feet long, +are used as binders, and these bundles are now cross-woven and make a +good network, the long parts protruding and making whip ends. One or +more sets of netting are used as necessity seems to require. This kind +of foundation may be filled in with a concrete of hydraulic cement and +sand, and the walls built on them with usual footings, and it is very +durable, suiting the purpose as well as anything we have seen or heard +of.--_Inland Architect_. + + * * * * * + + + + +LIFT BRIDGE OVER THE OURCQ CANAL. + + +This bridge, which was inaugurated in 1868, was constructed under the +direction of Mr. Mantion, then engineer-in-chief of the Belt Railway. +Fig. 1 shows the bridge raised. + +The solution adopted in this case was the only feasible one that +presented itself, in view of the slight difference between the level +of the railway tracks and the maximum plane of the canal water. This +circumstance did not even permit of a thought of an ordinary revolving +bridge, since this, on a space of 10 inches being reserved between the +level of the water and the bottom of the bridge, and on giving the +latter a minimum thickness of 33 inches up to the level of the rails, +would have required the introduction into the profile of the railroad +of approaches of at least one-quarter inch gradient, that would have +interfered with operations at the station close by. + +[Illustration: FIG. 1.--LIFT BRIDGE OVER THE OURCQ CANAL.] + +Besides, in the case of a revolving bridge, since the bottom of the +latter would be but ten inches above the water level, and the rollers +would have to be of larger diameter than that, it would have been +necessary to suppose the roller channel placed beneath the level of the +water, and it would consequently have been necessary to isolate this +channel from the canal by a tight wall. The least fissure in the latter +would have inundated the channel. + +As the Ourcq Canal had no regular period of closing, it was necessary +to construct the bridge without hinderance to navigation. The idea of +altering the canal's course could not be thought of, for the proximity +of the fortifications and of the bridge over the military road was +opposed to it. Moreover, the canal administration insisted upon a free +width of 26 feet, which is that of the sluices of the St. Denis Canal, +and which would have led to the projection of a revolving bridge of 28 +feet actual opening in order to permit of building foundations with +caissons in such a way as to leave a passageway of 26 feet during +operations. + +For these reasons it was decided to construct a metallic bridge that +should be lifted by means of counterpoises and balanced after the manner +of gasometers. + +The free width secured to navigation is 28 feet. The bridge is usually +kept raised to a height of 16 feet above the level of the water in order +to allow boats to pass (Fig. 2). In this position it is balanced by four +counterpoises suspended from the extremities of chains that pass over +pulleys. These counterpoises are of cast iron, and weigh, altogether, +44,000 pounds--the weight of the bridge to be balanced, say 11,000 +pounds per counterpoise. Moreover, each of the four chains is prolonged +beneath the corresponding counterpoise by a chain of the same weight, +called a compensating chain. + +The pulleys, B and C, that support the suspension chains have +projections in their channels which engage with the links and thus +prevent the chains from slipping. They are mounted at the extremity of +four latticed girders that likewise carry girder pulleys, D. The pulleys +that are situated at the side of the bridge are provided laterally +with a conical toothing which gears with a pinion connected with the +maneuvering apparatus. + +The two pinions of the same side of the bridge are keyed to a +longitudinal shaft which is set in motion at one point of its length by +a system of gearings. The winch upon which is exerted the stress that +is to effect the lifting or the descent of the bridge is fixed upon the +shaft of the pinion of the said gearing, which is also provided with a +flywheel, c. The longitudinal shafts are connected by a transverse one. +e, which renders the two motions interdependent. This transverse shaft +is provided with collars, against which bear stiff rods that give it the +aspect of an elongated spindle, and that permit it to resist twisting +stresses. + +The windlasses that lift the bridge are actuated by manual power. Two +men (or even one) suffice to do the maneuvering. + +This entire collection of pulleys and mechanism is established upon two +brick foot bridges between which the bridge moves. These arched bridges +offer no obstruction to navigation. Moreover, they always allow free +passage to foot passengers, whatever be the position of the bridge. They +are provided with four vertical apertures to the right of the suspension +chains, in order to allow of the passage of the latter. The girders that +support the pulleys rest at one extremity upon the upper part of the +bridges, and at the other upon solid brick pillars with stone caps. + +Finally, in order to render the descent of the bridge easier, there are +added to it two water tanks that are filled from the station reservoir +when the bridge is in its upper position, and that empty themselves +automatically as soon as it reaches the level of the railroad tracks. + +A very simple system of fastening has been devised for keeping the +bridge in a stationary position when raised. When it reaches the end of +its upward travel, four bolts engage with an aperture in the suspension +rod and prevent it from descending. These bolts are set in motion by +two connecting rods carried by a longitudinal shaft and maneuvered by a +lever at the end of the windlass. + +At the lower part the bridge rests upon iron plates set into sills. It +is guided in its descent longitudinally by iron plates that have an +inclination which is reproduced at the extremities of the bridge +girders, and transversely by two inclined angle irons into which fit the +external edges of the bottoms of the extreme girders. + +[Illustration: FIG. 2.--ELEVATION AND PLAN.] + +The total weight of the bridge is, as we have said, 44,000 pounds, which +is much less than would have been that of a revolving bridge of the same +span. The maneuvering of the bridge is performed with the greatest ease +and requires about two minutes. + +This system has been in operation at the market station of La Vilette +since the year 1868, and has required but insignificant repairs. We +think the adoption of it might be recommended for all cases in which a +slight difference between the level of a railroad and that of a water +course would not permit of the establishment of a revolving bridge.--_Le +Genie Civil_. + + * * * * * + + + + +ST. PETERSBURG A SEAPORT. + + +The Emperor and Empress of Russia, on Wednesday, May 27. 1885, the +second anniversary of their coronation at Moscow, opened the Maritime +Canal, in the Bay of Cronstadt, the shallow upper extremity of the Gulf +of Finland, by which great work the city of St. Petersburg is made a +seaport as much as London. St. Petersburg, indeed, stands almost on the +sea shore, at the very mouth of the Neva, though behind several low +islands which crowd the head of the Gulf; and though this is an inland +sea without saltness or tides, it is closed by ice in winter. Seventeen +miles to the west is the island of Cronstadt, a great fortress, with +naval dockyards and arsenals for the imperial fleet, and with a spacious +harbor for ships of commerce. The navigable entrance channel up the +Bay of Cronstadt to the mouth of the Neva lies under the south side of +Cronstadt, and is commanded by its batteries. As the bay eastward has a +depth not exceeding 12 ft., and the depth of the Neva at its bar is but +9 ft., all large vessels have been obliged hitherto to discharge their +cargoes at Cronstadt, to be there transferred to lighters and barges +which brought the goods up to the capital. "The delay and expense of +this process," says Mr. William Simpson, our special artist, "will be +understood by stating that a cargo might be brought from England by a +steamer in a week, but it would take three weeks at least to transport +the same cargo from Cronstadt to St. Petersburg. Of course, much of this +time was lost by custom house formalities. Sometimes it has taken even +longer than is here stated, which made the delivery of goods at St. +Petersburg a matter of great uncertainty, thus rendering time contracts +almost an impossibility. This state of things had continued from the +time of Peter the Great, and his great scheme had never been fully +realized. The increase of commerce and shipping had long made this a +crying evil; but even with all these difficulties, the trade here has +been rapidly growing. A scheme to bring the shipping direct to the +capital had thus become almost a necessity. As Manchester wishes to +bring the ocean traffic to her doors without the intervention of +Liverpool, so St. Petersburg desired to have its steamers sailing up to +the city, delivering and loading their cargoes direct at the stores and +warehouses in her streets. If Glasgow had not improved the Clyde, and +had up to the present day to bring up all goods carried by her ocean +going steamers from Port Glasgow--a place constructed for that purpose +last century, and which is twenty miles from Glasgow--she would have +been handicapped exactly as St. Petersburg has been till now in the +commercial race. + +"For some years the subject was discussed at St. Petersburg, and +more than one scheme was proposed; at last the project of General N. +Pooteeloff was adopted. According to this plan, a canal has been cut +through the shallow bottom of the Gulf of Finland, all the way from +Cronstadt to St. Petersburg. The line of this canal is from northwest to +southeast; it may be said to run very nearly parallel to the coast line +on the south side of the Gulf, and about three miles distant from it. +This line brings the canal to the southwest end of St. Petersburg, where +there are a number of islands, which have formed themselves, in the +course of ages, where the Bolshaya, or Great Neva, flows into the Gulf. +It is on these islands that the new port is to be formed. It is a very +large harbor, and capable of almost any amount of extension. It will be +in connection with the whole railway system of Russia. One part of the +scheme is that of a new canal, on the south side of the city, to connect +the maritime canal, as well as the new harbor, with the Neva, so that +the large barges may pass, by a short route, to the river on the east, +and thus avoid the bridges and traffic of the city. + +"The whole length of the canal is about eighteen miles. The longer +portion of it is an open channel, which is made 350 feet wide at bottom. +Its course will be marked by large iron floating buoys; these it is +proposed to light with gas by a new self-acting process which has been +very successful in other parts of the world; by this means the canal +will be navigable by night as well as by day. The original plan was to +have made the canal 20 feet deep, but this has been increased to 22 +feet. The Gulf of Finland gradually deepens toward Cronstadt, so that +the dredging was less at the western end. This part was all done by +dredgers, and the earth brought up was removed to a safe distance by +means of steam hopper barges. The contract for this part of the work +was sublet to an American firm--Morris and Cummings, of New York. The +eastern portion of the work on the canal is by far the most important, +and about six miles of it is protected by large and strong embankments +on each side. These embankments were formed by the output of the +dredgers, and are all faced with granite bowlders brought from Finland; +at their outer termination the work is of a more durable kind, the +facing is made of squared blocks of granite, so that it may stand the +heavy surf which at times is raised by a west wind in the Gulf. These +embankments, as already stated, extend over a space of nearly six miles, +and represent a mass of work to which there is no counterpart in the +Suez Canal; nor does the plan of the new Manchester Canal present +anything equivalent to it. The width of this canal also far exceeds any +of those notable undertakings. The open channel is, as stated above, 350 +ft. wide; within the embankments the full depth of 22 ft. extends to 280 +ft., and the surface between the embankments is 700 ft. This is nearly +twice the size of the Suez Canal at the surface, which is 100 meters, +or about 320 ft., while it is only about 75 ft. at the bottom; the +Amsterdam Canal is 78 ft. wide. The new Manchester Canal is to be 100 +ft. of full depth, and it boasts of this superiority over the great work +of Lesseps. The figures given above will show how far short it comes of +the dimensions of the St. Petersburg Canal. The Manchester Canal is to +be 24 ft. in depth; in that it has the advantage of 2 ft. more than the +St. Petersburg Canal; but with the ample width this one possesses, this, +or even a greater depth, can be given if it should be found necessary. +Most probably this will have ultimately to be done, for ocean going +steamers are rapidly increasing in size since the St. Petersburg Canal +was planned, and in a very few years the larger class of steamers might +have to deliver their cargoes at Cronstadt, as before, if the waterway +to St. Petersburg be not adapted to their growing dimensions. + +[Illustration: THE ST. PETERSBURG AND CRONSTADT MARITIME CANAL, OPENED +BY THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA, ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 1885.] + +"The dredging between the embankments of the canal was done by an +improved process, which may interest those connected with such works. It +may be remembered that the Suez Canal was mostly made by dredging, and +that the dredgers had attached to them what the French called 'long +couloirs' or spouts, into which water was pumped, and by this means the +stuff brought up by the dredgers was carried to the sides of the canal, +and there deposited. The great width of the St. Petersburg Canal was too +much for the long couloirs, hence some other plan had to be found. The +plan adopted was that invented by Mr. James Burt, and which had been +used with the greatest success on the New Amsterdam Canal. Instead of +the couloir, floating pipes, made of wood, are in this system employed; +the earth or mud brought up has a copious stream of water poured on it, +which mixes in the process of descending, and the whole becomes a thick +liquid. This, by means of a centrifugal pump, is propelled through the +floating pipes to any point required, where it can be deposited. The +couloir can only run the output a comparatively short distance, while +this system can send it a quarter of a mile, or even further, if +necessary. Its power is not limited to the level surface of the water. +I saw on my visit to the canal one of the dredgers at work, and the +floating pipes lay on the water like a veritable sea-serpent, extending +to a long distance where the stuff had to be carried. At that point the +pipe emerged from the water, and what looked very much like a vertebra +or two of the serpent crossed the embankment, went down the other side, +and there the muddy deposit was pouring out in a steady flow. Mr. Burt +pointed out to me one part of the works where his pump had sent the +stuff nearly half a mile away, and over undulating ground. This system +will not suit all soils. Hard clay, for instance, will not mix with the +water; but where the matter brought up is soft and easily diluted, this +plan possesses many advantages, and its success here affords ample +evidence of its merits. + +"About five miles below St. Petersburg, a basin had been already +finished, with landing quays, sheds, and offices; and there is an +embankment connecting it with the railways of St. Petersburg, all ready +for ships to arrive. When the ships of all nations sail up to the +capital, then the ideas of Peter the Great, when he laid the foundations +of St. Petersburg, will be realized. St. Petersburg will be no longer an +inland port. It will, with its ample harbor and numerous canals among +its streets, become the Venice of the North. Its era of commercial +greatness is now about to commence. The ceremony of letting the waters +of the canal into the new docks was performed by the Emperor in October, +1883. The Empress and heir apparent, with a large number of the Court, +were present on the occasion. The works on the canal, costing about a +million and a half sterling, were begun in 1876, and have been carried +out under the direction of a committee appointed by the Government, +presided over by his Excellency, N. Sarloff. The resident engineer is M. +Phofiesky; and the contractors are Messrs. Maximovitch and Boreysha." + +We heartily congratulate the Russian government and the Russian nation +upon the accomplishment of this great and useful work of peace. It will +certainly benefit English trade. The value of British imports from the +northern ports of Russia for the year 1883 was L13,799,033; British +exports, L6,459,993; while from the southern ports of Russia our trade +was: British imports, L7,177,149; British exports, L1,169,890--making a +total British commerce with European Russia of L20,976,182 imports from +Russia and L7,629,883 exports to Russia. It cannot be to the interest of +nations which are such large customers of each other to go to war +about a few miles of Afguhan frontier. The London _Chamber of Commerce +Journal_, ably edited by Mr. Kenric B. Murray, Secretary to the Chamber, +has in its May number an article upon this subject well deserving of +perusal. It points out that in case of war most of the British export +trade to Russia would go through Germany, and might possibly never again +return under British control. In spite of Russian protective duties, +this trade has been well maintained, even while the British import +of Russian commodities, wheat, flax, hemp, tallow, and timber, was +declining 40 per cent. from 1883 to 1884. The St. Petersburg Maritime +Canal will evidently give much improved facilities to the direct export +of English goods to Russia. Without reference to our own manufactures, +it should be observed that the Russian cotton mills, including those of +Poland, consume yearly 264 million pounds of cotton, most of which comes +through England. The importation of English coal to Russia has afforded +a noteworthy instance of the disadvantage hitherto occasioned by the +want of direct navigation to St. Petersburg; the freight of a ton of +coal from Newcastle to Cronstadt was six shillings and sixpence, but +from Cronstadt to St. Petersburg it cost two shillings more. It is often +said, in a tone of alarm and reproach, that Russia is very eager to get +to the sea. The more Russia gets to the sea everywhere, the better it +will be for British trade with Russia; and friendly intercourse with +an empire containing nearly a hundred millions of people is not to be +lightly rejected.--_Illustrated London News_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE NEW FRENCH DISPATCH BOAT MILAN. + + +The Milan, a new dispatch boat, has recently been making trial trips at +Brest. It was constructed at Saint Nazaire, by the "Societe des Ateliers +et Chantiers de la Loire," and is the fastest man-of-war afloat. It +has registered 17 knots with ordinary pressure, and with increase +of pressure can make 18 knots, but to attain such high speed a very +powerful engine is necessary. In fact, a vessel 303 ft. long, 33 ft. +wide, and drawing 12 ft. of water, requires an engine which can develop +4,000 H.P. + +[Illustration: THE NEW FRENCH DISPATCH BOAT MILAN.] + +The hull of the Milan is of steel, and is distinguished for its extreme +lightness. The vessel has two screws, actuated by four engines arranged +two by two on each shaft. + +The armament consists of five three inch cannons, eight revolvers, and +four tubes for throwing torpedoes. + +The Milan can carry 300 tons of coal, an insufficient quantity for +a long cruise, but this vessel, which is a dispatch boat in every +acceptation of the word, was constructed for a definite purpose. It +is the first of a series of very rapid cruisers to be constructed in +France, and yet many English packets can attain a speed at least equal +to that of the Milan. We need war vessels which can attain twenty knots, +to be master of the sea.--_L'Illustration_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE LAUNCHING AND DOCKING OF SHIPS SIDEWISE. + + +The slips of the shipyards at Alt-Hofen (Hungary) belonging to the +Imperial and Royal Navigation Company of the Danube are so arranged that +the vessels belonging to its fleet can be hauled up high and dry or +be launched sidewise. They comprise three distinct groups, which are +adapted, according to needs, for the construction or repair of steamers, +twenty of which can be put into the yard at a time. The operation, which +is facilitated by the current of the Danube, consists in receiving the +ships upon frames beneath the water and at the extremity of inclined +planes running at right angles with them. After the ship has been made +secure by means of wedges, the frame is drawn up by chains that +wind round fixed windlasses. These apparatus are established upon a +horizontal surface 25.5 feet above low-water mark so as to give the +necessary slope, and at which terminate the tracks. They may, moreover, +be removed after the ships have been taken off, and be put down again +for launching. For 136 feet of their length the lower part of the +sliding ways is permanent, and fixed first upon rubble masonry and then +upon the earth. + +Fig. 1 gives a general view of the arrangement. The eight sliding ways +of the central part are usually reserved for the largest vessels. The +two extreme ones comprise, one of them 7, and the other 6, tracks only, +and are maneuvered by means of the same windlasses as the others. A +track, FF, is laid parallel with the river, in order to facilitate, +through lorries, the loading and unloading of the traction chains. These +latter are 3/4 inch in diameter, while those that pass around the hulls +are 1 inch. + +The motive power is furnished by a 10 H.P. steam engine, which serves at +the same time for actuating the machine tools employed in construction +or repairs. The shaft is situated at the head of the ways, and sets in +motion four double-gear windlasses of the type shown in Fig. 2. The +ratio of the wheels is as 9 to 1. The speed at which the ships move +forward is from 10 to 13 feet per minute. Traction is effected +continuously and without shock. After the cables have been passed around +the hull, and fastened, they are attached to four pairs of blocks each +comprising three pulleys. The lower one of these is carried by rollers +that run over a special track laid for this purpose on the inclined +plane. + +[Illustration: FIG. 1.--WAYS OF LAUNCHING VESSELS SIDEWISE.] + +The three successive positions that a boat takes are shown in Fig. 1. +In the first it has just passed on to the frame, and is waiting to be +hauled up on the ways; in the second it is being hauled up; and in the +third the frame has been removed and the boat is shoved up on framework, +so that it can be examined and receive whatever repairs may be +necessary. This arrangement, which is from plans by Mr. Murray Jackson, +suffices to launch 16 or 18 new boats annually, and for the repair +of sixty steamers and lighters. These latter are usually 180 feet in +length, 24 feet in width, and 8 feet in depth, and their displacement, +when empty, is 120 tons. The dimensions of the largest steamers vary +between 205 and 244 feet in length, and 25 and 26 feet in width. They +are 10 feet in depth, and, when empty, displace from 440 to 460 tons. +The Austrian government has two monitors repaired from time to time in +the yards of the company. The short and wide forms of these impose a +heavier load per running foot upon the ways than ordinary boats do, but +nevertheless no difficulty has ever been experienced, either in hauling +them out or putting them back into the water.--_Le Genie Civil_. + +[Illustration: FIG. 2.--DETAILS OF WINDLASS.] + + * * * * * + + + + +IMPROVED HIGH-SPEED ENGINE. + + +This engine, exhibited at South Kensington by Fielding and Platt, of +Gloucester, consists virtually of a universal joint connecting two +shafts whose axes form an obtuse angle of about 157 degrees. It has four +cylinders, two being mounted on a chair coupling on each shaft. The word +cylinder is used in a conventional sense only, since the cavities acting +as such are circular, whose axes, instead of being straight lines, are +arcs of circles struck from the center at which the axes of the shafts +would, if continued, intersect. The four pistons are carried upon +the gimbal ring, which connects, by means of pivots, the two chair +couplings. + +[Illustration: THE FIELDING HIGH SPEED ENGINE.] + +Fig. 10 shows clearly the parts constituting the coupling, cylinders, +and pistons of a compound engine. CC are the high-pressure cylinders; DD +the low pressure; EEEE the four parts forming the gimbal ring, to which +are fixed in pairs the high and low pressure pistons, GG and FF; HHHH +are the chair arms formed with the cylinders carrying pivots, IIII, +which latter fit into the bearings, JJJJ, in the gimbal ring. Figs. +1, 2, 3, 4 show these parts connected and at different points of the +shaft's rotation. The direction of rotation is shown by the arrow. In +Fig. 1 the lower high-pressure cylinder, C, is just about taking steam, +the upper one just closing the exhaust; the low-pressure pistons are at +half stroke, that in sight exhausting, the opposite one, which cannot be +seen in this view, taking steam. + +In Fig 2 the shaft has turned through one-eighth of a revolution; in +Fig. 3, a quarter turn; Fig. 4, three-eighths of a turn. Another eighth +turn brings two parts into position represented by Fig. 1, except the +second pair of cylinders now replace the first pair. The bearings, KL, +support the two shafts and act as stationary valves, against which faces +formed on the cylinders revolve; steam and exhaust ports are provided in +the faces of K and L, and two ports in the revolving faces, one to each +cylinder. The point at which steam is cut off is determined by the +length of the admission ports in K and L. The exhaust port is made of +such a length that steam may escape from the cylinders during the whole +of the return stroke of pistons. + +Fig. 5 shows the complete engine. It will be seen that the engine is +entirely incased in a box frame, with, however, a lid for ready access +to the parts for examination, one great advantage being that the engine +can be worked with the cover removed, thus enabling any leakage past the +pistons or valve faces to be at once detected. The casing also serves to +retain a certain amount of lubricant. + +The lubrication is effected by means of a triple sight-feed lubricator, +one feeder delivering to steam inlet, and two serving the main shaft +bearings. + +Figs, 6 and 7 are an end elevation and plan of the same engine. There is +nothing in the other details calling for special notice. + +Figs. 8 and 9 show the method of machining the cylinders and pistons, +the whole of which can be done by ordinary lathes, which is evidently a +great advantage in the event of reboring, etc., being required in the +colonies or other countries where special tools are inaccessible. + +Figs. 11 and 12 are sections which explain themselves.--_The Engineer_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE NATIONAL TRANSIT CO'S PIPE LINES FOR THE TRANSPORTATION OF PETROLEUM +TO THE SEABOARD. + + +While Englishmen and Americans have been alike interested in the late +project for forcing water by a pipe line over the mountainous region +lying between Suakim and Berber in the far-off Soudan, few men of either +nation have any proper conception of the vast expenditure of capital, +natural and engineering difficulties overcome, and the bold and +successful enterprise which has brought into existence far greater pipe +lines in our own Atlantic States. We refer to the lines of the National +Transit Company, which have for a purpose the economic transportation of +crude petroleum from Western Pennsylvania to the sea coast at New York, +Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and to the Lakes at Cleveland and Buffalo. + +To properly commence our sketch of this truly gigantic enterprise, we +must go back to the discovery of petroleum in the existing oil regions +of Pennsylvania and adjacent States. Its presence as an oily scum on the +surface of ponds and streams had long been known, and among the Indians +this "rock-oil" was highly appreciated as a vehicle for mixing their wax +paint, and for anointing their bodies; in later years it was gathered in +a rude way by soaking it up in blankets, and sold at a high price for +medicinal purposes only, under the name of Seneca rock oil, Genesee oil, +Indian oil, etc. + +But the date of its discovery as an important factor in the useful arts +and as a source of enormous national wealth was about 1854. In the year +named a certain Mr. George H. Bissell of New Orleans accidentally met +with a sample of the "Seneca Oil," and being convinced that it had a +value far beyond that usually accorded it, associated himself with +some friends and leased for 99 years some of the best oil springs near +Titusville, Pa. This lease cost the company $5,000, although only a few +years before a cow had been considered a full equivalent in value for +the same land. The original prospectors began operations by digging +collecting ditches, and then pumping off the oil which gathered upon the +surface of the water. But not long after this first crude attempt at oil +gathering, the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Co. was organized, with Prof. B. +Silliman of Yale College as its president, and a more intelligent method +was introduced into the development of the oil-producing formation. In +1858, Col. Drake of New Haven was employed by the Pennsylvania Co. to +sink an artesian well; and, after considerable preparatory work, on +August 28, 1859, the first oil vein was tapped at a depth of 691/2 feet +below the surface; the flow was at first 10 barrels per day, but in the +following September this increased to 40 barrels daily. + +[Illustration: MAP SHOWING THE NATIONAL TRANSIT CO.'S PIPE LINES.] + +The popular excitement and the fortunes made and lost in the years +following the sinking of the initial well are a matter of history, +with which we have here nothing to do. It is sufficient to say that a +multitude of adventurers were drawn by the "oil-craze" into this late +wilderness, and the sinking of wells extended with unprecedented +rapidity over the region near Titusville and from there into more +distant fields. + +By June 1, 1862, 495 wells had been put down near Titusville, and the +daily output of oil was nearly 6,000 barrels, selling at the wells +at from $4.00 to $6.00 per barrel. But the tapping of this vast +subterranean storehouse of oleaginous wealth continued, until the +estimated annual production was swelled from 82,000 barrels in 1859 to +24,385,966 barrels in 1883; in the latter year 2,949 wells were put +down, many of them, however, being simply dry holes.[1] The total output +of oil in the Pennsylvania regions, between 1859 and 1883, is estimated +at about 234,800,000 barrels--enough oil to fill a tank about 10,000 +feet square, nearly two miles to a side, to a depth of over 131/2 feet. + +[Footnote 1: The total number of wells in the Pennsylvania oil regions +cannot be given. In the years 1876-1884, inclusive, 28,619 wells were +sunk; this is an average of 3,179 per year. During the same period 2,507 +dry holes were drilled at an average cost of $1,500 each.] + +As long as oil could be sold at the wells at from $4.00 to $10.00 +a barrel, the cost of transportation was an item hardly worthy of +consideration, and railroad companies multiplied and waged a bitter +war with each other in their scramble after the traffic. But as the +production increased with rapid strides, the market price of oil fell +with a corresponding rapidity, until the quotations for 1884 show +figures as low as 50 to 60 cents per barrel for the crude product at Oil +City. + +In December, 1865, the freight charge per barrel for a carload of oil +from Titusville to New York, and the return of the empty barrels, +was $3.50.[1] To this figure was added the cost of transportation by +pipe-line from Pithole to Titusville, $1.00; cost of barreling, 25 +cents; freight to Corry, Pa., 80 cents; making the total cost of a +barrel of crude oil in New York, $5.55. In January, 1866, the barrel +of oil in New York cost $10.40, including in this figure, however, the +Government tax of $1.00 and the price of the barrel, $3.25. + +[Footnote 1: It is stated that in 1862 the cost of sending one barrel of +oil to New York was $7.45. Steamboats charged $2.00 per barrel from Oil +City to Pittsburg, and the hauling from Oil Creek to Meadville cost +$2.25 per barrel.] + +The question of reducing these enormous transportation charges was first +broached, apparently, in 1864, when a writer in the _North American_, +of Philadelphia, outlined a scheme for laying a pipe-line down the +Allegheny River to Pittsburg. This project was violently assailed by +both the transportation companies and the people of the oil region, +who feared that its success would interfere with their then great +prosperity. But short pipe-lines, connecting the wells with storage +tanks and shipping points, grew apace and prepared the way for the vast +network of the present day, which covers this region and throws out arms +to the ocean and the lakes. + +Among the very first, if not the first, pipe lines laid was one put down +between the Sherman well and the railway terminus on the Miller farm. +It was about 3 miles long, and designed by a Mr. Hutchinson; he had an +exaggerated idea of the pressure to be exercised, and at intervals of 50 +to 100 feet he set up air chambers 10 inches in diameter. The weak point +in this line, however, proved to be the joints; the pipes were of cast +iron, and the joint-leakage was so great that little, if any, oil ever +reached the end of the line, and the scheme was abandoned in despair. + +In connection with this question of oil transportation, a sketch of the +various methods, other than pipelines, adopted in Pennsylvania may not +be out of place. We are mainly indebted to Mr. S.F. Peckham, in his +article on "Petroleum and its Products" in the U. S. Census Report of +1880, for the information relating to tank-cars immediately following: + +Originally the oil was carried in 40 and 42 gallon barrels, made of oak +and hooped with iron; early in 1866, or possibly in 1865, tank-cars +were introduced. These were at first ordinary flat-cars upon which were +placed two wooden tanks, shaped like tubs, each holding about 2,000 +gallons. + +On the rivers, bulk barges were also, after a time, introduced on the +Ohio and Allegheny; at first these were rude affairs, and often of +inadequate strength; but as now built they are 130 x 22 x 16 feet, in +their general dimensions, and divided into eight compartments, with +water-tight bulkheads; they hold about 2,200 barrels. + +In 1871 iron-tank cars superseded those of wood, with tanks of varying +sizes, ranging from 3,856 to 5,000 gallons each. These tanks were +cylinders, 24 feet 6 inches long, and 66 inches in diameter, and weighed +about 4,500 lb. The heads are made of 5/46 in. flange iron, the bottom +of 1/2 in., and the upper half of the shell of 3/16 in. tank iron. + +In October, 1865, the Oil Transportation Co. completed and tested a +pipe-line 32,000 feet long; three pumps were used upon it, two at +Pithole and one at Little Pithole. July 1, 1876, the pipe-line owners +held a meeting at Parkers to organize a pipe-line company to extend to +the seaboard under the charter of the Pennsylvania Transportation Co., +but the scheme was never carried out. In January, 1878, the Producers' +Union organized for a similar seaboard line, and laid pipes, but they +never reached the sea, stopping their line at Tamanend, Pa. The lines +of the National Transit Co., illustrated in our map, were completed in +1880-81, and this company, to which the United Pipe Lines have also +been transferred, is said to have $15,000,000 invested in plant for the +transport of oil to tide water. + +The National Transit Co. was organized under what was called the +Pennsylvania Co. act, about four years ago, and succeeded to the +properties of the American Transit Co., a corporation operating under +the laws of Pennsylvania. Since its organization the first named company +has constructed and now owns the following systems: + +The line from Olean, N.Y., to Bayonne, N.J., and to Brooklyn, N.Y., of +which a full page profile is given, showing the various pumping stations +and the undulations over its route of about 300 miles. The Pennsylvania +line, 280 miles long, from Colegrove, Pa., to Philadelphia. The +Baltimore line, 70 miles long, from Millway, Pa., to Baltimore. The +Cleveland line, 100 miles long, from Hilliards, Pa., to Cleveland, O. +The Buffalo line, 70 miles long, from Four Mile, Cattaraugus County, +N.Y., to Buffalo, and the line from Carbon Center, Butler County, Pa., +to Pittsburg, 60 miles in length. This amounts to a total of 880 miles +of main pipe-line alone, ranging from 4 inches to 6 inches in diameter; +or, adding the duplicate pipes on the Olean New York line, we have a +round total of 1,330 miles, not including loops and shorter branches and +the immense network of the pipes in the oil regions proper. + +A general description of the longest line will practically suffice for +all, as they differ only in diameter of pipe used and power of the +pumping plant. As shown on the map and profile, this long line starts at +Olean, near the southern boundary of New York State, and proceeds by the +route indicated to tide water at Bayonne, N.J., and by a branch under +the North and East rivers and across the upper end of New York city to +the Long Island refineries. This last named pipe is of unusual strength, +and passes through Central Park; few of the thousands who daily frequent +the latter spot being aware of the yellow stream of crude petroleum that +is constantly flowing beneath their feet. The following table gives the +various pumping stations on this Olean New York line, and some data +relating to distances between stations and elevations overcome: + + |----------------------------------------------------------------| + | | | | Greatest | + | | | | Summit | + | | Miles | Elevation | between | + | | between | above Tide. | Stations. | + | Pumping Stations. | Stations. | Ft. | Ft. | + |______________________|___________|________________|____________| + | Olean | -- | 1,490 | -- | + | Wellsville | 28.20 | 1,510 | 2,490 | + | Cameron | 27.91 | 1,042 | 2,530 | + | West Junction | 29.70 | 911 | 1,917 | + | Catatonk | 27.37 | 869 | 1,768 | + | Osborne | 27.99 | 1,092 | 1,539 | + | Hancock | 29.86 | 922 | 1,873 | + | Cochecton | 26.22 | 748 | 1,854 | + | Swartwout | 28.94 | 475 | 1,478 | + | Newfoundland | 29.00 | 768 | 1,405 | + | Saddle River | 28.77 | 35 | 398 | + |______________________|___________|________________|____________| + +On this line two six-inch pipes are laid the entire length, and a third +six-inch pipe runs between Wellsville and Cameron, and about half way +between each of the other stations, "looped" around them. The pipe used +for the transportation of oil is especially manufactured to withstand +the great strain to which it will be subjected, the most of it being +made by the Chester Pipe and Tube Works, of Chester, Pa., the Allison +Manufacturing Co., of Philadelphia and the Penna. Tube Works, of +Pittsburg, Pa. It is a lap-welded, wrought-iron pipe of superior +material, and made with exceeding care and thoroughly tested at the +works. The pipe is made in lengths of 18 feet, and these pieces are +connected by threaded ends and extra strong sleeves. The pipe-thread and +sleeves used on the ordinary steam and water pipe are not strong enough +for the duty demanded of the oil-pipe. The socket for a 4-inch steam +or water pipe is from 21/2 to to 23/4 inches long, and is tapped with 8 +standard threads to the inch, straight or parallel to the axis of the +pipe; with this straight tap only three or four threads come in contact +with the socket threads, or in any way assist in holding the pipes +together. In the oil-pipe, the pipe ends and sockets are cut on a taper +of 3/4 inch to 1 foot, for a 4-inch pipe, and the socket used is thicker +than the steam and water socket, is 33/4 inches long, and has entrance for +1 5/8 inches of thread on each pipe end tapped with 9 standard threads +to the inch. In this taper socket you have iron to iron the whole length +of the thread, and the joint is perfect and equal by test to the full +strength of the pipe. Up to 1877 the largest pipe used on the oil lines +was 4-inch, with the usual steam thread, but the joints leaked under the +pressure, 1,200 pounds to the square inch being the maximum the 8-thread +pipe would stand. This trouble has been remedied by the 9-thread, +taper-cut pipe of the present day, which is tested at the mill to 1,500 +pounds pressure, while the average duty required is 1,200 pounds; as the +iron used in the manufacture of this line-pipe will average a tensile +test strain of 55,000 pounds per square inch, the safety factor is thus +about one-sixth. + +[Illustration: PROFILE SHOWING NATIONAL TRANSIT CO.'S PIPE-LINE, FROM +OLEAN TO SADDLE RIVER.] + +The line-pipe is laid between the stations in the ordinary manner, +excepting that great care is exercised in perfecting the joints. No +expansion joints or other special appliances of like nature are used on +the line as far as we can learn; the variations in temperature being +compensated for, in exposed locations, by laying the pipe in long +horizontal curves. The usual depth below the surface is about 3 feet, +though in some portions of the route the pipe lies for miles exposed +directly upon the surface. As the oil pumped is crude oil, and this as +it comes from the wells carries with it a considerable proportion of +brine, freezing in the pipes is not to be apprehended. The oil, +however, does thicken in very cold weather, and the temperature has a +considerable influence on the delivery. + +A very ingenious patented device is used for cleaning out the pipes, and +by it the delivery is said to have been increased in certain localities +50 per cent. This is a stem about 21/2 feet long, having at its front end +a diaphragm made of wings which can fold on each other, and thus enable +it to pass an obstruction it cannot remove; this machine carries a set +of steel scrapers, somewhat like those used in cleaning boilers. The +device is put into the pipe, and propelled by the pressure transmitted +from the pumps from one station to another; relays of men follow the +scraper by the noise it makes as it goes through the pipe, one party +taking up the pursuit as the other is exhausted. They must never let it +get out of their hearing, for if it stops unnoticed, its location can +only again be established by cutting the pipe. + +The pumping stations are substantial structures of brick, roofed with +iron. The boiler house is removed some distance from the engine house +for greater safety from fire; the building, about 40 by 50 feet, +contains from six to seven tubular boilers, each 5 by 14 feet, and +containing 80 three-inch tubes. The pump house is a similar brick +structure about 40 by 60 feet, and contains the battery of pumping +engines to be described later. At each station are two iron tanks, 90 +feet in diameter and 30 feet high; into these tanks the oil is delivered +from the preceding station, and from them the oil is pumped into the +tanks at the next station beyond. The pipe-system at each station is +simple, and by means of the "loop-lines" before mentioned the oil can be +pumped directly around any station if occasion would require it. + +The pumps used on all these lines are the Worthington compound, +condensing, pressure pumping engines. The general characteristics of +these pumps are, independent plungers with exterior packing, valve-boxes +subdivided into separate small chambers capable of resisting very heavy +strains, and leather-faced metallic valves with low lift and large +surfaces. These engines vary in power from 200 to 800 horse-power, +according to duty required. They are in continuous use, day and night, +and are required to deliver about 15,000 barrels of crude oil per 24 +hours, under a pressure equivalent to an elevation of 3,500 feet. + +We have lately examined the latest pumping engine plant, and the largest +yet built for this service, by the firm of H.R. Worthington; it is to be +used at the Osborne Hollow Pumping Station. As patents are yet pending +on certain new features in this engine, we must defer a full description +of it for a later issue of our journal. + +The Pennsylvania line has a single 6-inch pipe 280 miles long, with six +pumping stations as shown in the map, and groups of shorter lines, with +a loop extending from the main line to Milton, Pa., a shipping point for +loading on cars. At Millway, Pa., a 5-inch pipe leaves the Pennsylvania +line and runs to Baltimore, a distance of 70 miles, and is operated +from the first named station alone, there being no intermediate pumping +station.[1] The Cleveland pipe, 100 miles long, is 5 inches in diameter, +and has upon it four pumping stations; it carries oil to the very +extensive refineries of the company at the terminal on Lake Erie. The +Buffalo line is 4 inches in diameter and 70 miles long; it has a pumping +station at Four-Mile and at Ashford (omitted on the map). The Pittsburg +line is 4 inches in diameter and 60 miles long; it has pumping stations +at Carbon Center and at Freeport. + +[Footnote 1: Millway is about 400 feet above tide-water at Baltimore, +but the line passes over a very undulating country in its passage to the +last named point. We regret that we have no profile on this 70 mile line +operated by a single pumping plant.--_Ed. Engineering News_.] + +A very necessary and remarkably complete adjunct to the numerous pipe +lines of this company is an independent telegraph system extending to +every point on its widely diverging lines. The storage capacity of the +National Transit Co.'s system is placed at 1,500,000 barrels, and +this tankage is being constantly increased to meet the demands of the +producers.[1] + +[Footnote 1: As showing the extent of the sea-coast transportation of +petroleum, we should mention that the statistics for 1884 show a total +of crude equivalent exported from the United States in that year, +equaling 16,661,086 barrels, of 51 gallons each. This is a daily average +of 42,780 barrels.] + +The company is officially organized as follows: C.A. Griscom, President; +Benjamin Brewster, Vice President; John Bushnell, Secretary; Daniel +O'Day, General Manager; J.H. Snow, General Superintendent. Mr. Snow +was the practical constructor of the entire system, and the general +perfection of the work is mainly due to his personal experience, energy, +and careful supervision. His engineering assistants were Theodore M. +Towe and C.J. Hepburn on the New York line and J.B. Barbour on the +Pennsylvania lines. + +The enterprise has been so far a great engineering success, and the oil +delivery is stated on good authority to be within 2 per cent. of the +theoretical capacity of the pipes. From a commercial standpoint, the +ultimate future of the undertaking will be determined by the lasting +qualities of wrought iron pipe buried in the ground and subjected to +enormous strain; time alone can determine this question. + +In preparing this article we are indebted for information to the firm of +H.R. Worthington, to General Manager O'Day, of the National Transit +Co., to the editor of the _Derrick_ of Oil City, Pa., and to numerous +engineering friends.--_Engineering News_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE FUEL OF THE FUTURE. + +By GEORGE WARDMAN. + + +The practical application of natural gas, as an article of fuel, to the +purpose of manufacturing glass, iron, and steel, promises to work a +revolution in the industrial interests of America--promises to work a +revolution; for notwithstanding the fact that, in many of the largest +iron, steel, and glass factories in Pittsburg and its vicinity, natural +gas has already been substituted for coal, the managers of some such +works are shy of the new fuel, mainly for two reasons: 1. They doubt +the continuity and regularity of its supply. 2. They do not deem the +difference between the price of natural gas and coal sufficient as yet +to justify the expenditure involved in the furnace changes necessary to +the substitution of the one for the other. These two objections will +doubtless disappear with additional experience in the production and +regulation of the gas supply, and with enlarged competition among the +companies engaging in its transmission from the wells to the works. +At present the use of natural gas as a substitute for coal in the +manufacture of glass, iron, and steel is in its infancy. + +Natural gas is as ancient as the universe. It was known to man in +prehistoric times, we must suppose, for the very earliest historical +reference to the Magi of Asia records them as worshiping the eternal +fires which then blazed, and still blaze, in the fissures of the +mountain heights overlooking the Caspian Sea. Those records appertain +to a period at least 600 years before the birth of Christ; but the Magi +must have lived and worshiped long anterior to that time. + +Zoroaster, reputed founder of the Parsee sect, is placed contemporary +with the prophet Daniel, from 2,500 to 600 B.C.; and, although Daniel +has been doubted, and Zoroaster may never have seen the light, the +fissures of the Caucasus have been flaming since the earliest authentic +records. + +The Parsees (Persians) did not originally worship fire. They believed +in two great powers--the Spirit of Light, or Good, and the Spirit of +Darkness, or Evil. Subsequent to Zoroaster, when the Persian empire rose +to its greatest power and importance, overspreading the west to the +shores of the Caspian and beyond, the tribes of the Caucasus suffered +political subjugation; but the creed of the Magi, founded upon the +eternal flame-altars of the mountains, proved sufficiently vigorous to +transform the Parseeism of the conquerors to the fire worship of the +conquered. + +About the beginning of the seventh century of the Christian era, the +Grecian Emperor Heraclius overturned the fire altars of the Magi at +Baku, the chief city on the Caspian, but the fire worshipers were not +expelled from the Caucasus until the Mohammedans subjugated the Persian +Empire, when they were driven into the Rangoon, on the Irrawaddy, in +India, one of the most noted petroleum producing districts of the world. + +Petroleum and natural gas are so intimately related that one would +hardly dare to say whether the gas proceeds from petroleum or the +petroleum is deposited from the gas. It is, however, safe to assume that +they are the products of one material, the lighter element separating +from the heavier under certain degrees of temperature and pressure. +Thus petroleum may separate from the gas as asphaltum separates from +petroleum. But some speculative minds consider natural gas to be a +product of anthracite coal. The fact that the great supply-field of +natural gas in Western Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, and +Eastern Ohio is a bituminous and not an anthracite region does not of +itself confute that theory, as the argument for it is, that the gas may +be tapped at a remote distance from the source of supply; and, whereas +anthracite is not a gas-coal, while bituminous is, we are told to +suppose that the gas which once may have been a component part of the +anthracite was long ago expelled by Nature, and has since been held in +vast reservoirs with slight waste, awaiting the use of man. That is one +theory; and upon that supposition it is suggested that anthracite +may exist below the bituminous beds of the region lying between the +Alleghany Mountains and the Great Lakes. Another theory is, that natural +gas is a product of the sea-weed deposited in the Devonian stratum. But, +leaving modern theories on the origin of natural gas and petroleum, we +may suppose the natural gas jets now burning in the fissures of the +Caucasus to have started up in flames about the time when, according +to the Old Testament, Noah descended from Mount Ararat, or very soon +thereafter. In the language of modern science it would be safe to say +that those flames sprang up when the Caucasus range was raised from +beneath the surface of the universal sea. The believer in biblical +chronology may say that those fires have been burning for four thousand +years--the geologist may say for four millions. + +We know that Alexander the Great penetrated to the Caspian; and in +Plutarch we read: "Hence [Arbela] he marched through the province +Babylon [Media?], which immediately submitted to him, and in Ecbatana +[?] was much surprised at the sight of the place where fire issues in a +continuous stream, like a spring of water, out of a cleft in the earth, +and the stream of naphtha, which not far from this spot flows out so +abundantly as to form a large lake. This naphtha, in other respects +resembling bitumen, is so subject to take fire that, before it touches +the flame, it will kindle at the very light that surrounds it, and often +inflames the intermediate air also. The barbarians, to show the power +and nature of it, sprinkled the street that led to the king's lodgings +with little drops of it, and, when it was almost night, stood at the +farther end with torches, which being applied to the moistened places, +the first taking fire, instantly, as quick as a man could think of it, +it caught from one end to another in such manner that the whole street +was one continued flame. Among those who used to wait upon the king, and +find occasion to amuse him, when he anointed and washed himself, there +was one Athenophanus, an Athenian, who desired him to make an experiment +of the naphtha upon Stephanus, who stood by in the bathing place, a +youth with a ridiculously ugly face, whose talent was singing well. +'For,' said he, 'if it take hold of him, and is not put out, it must +undeniably be allowed to be of the most invincible strength.' The youth, +as it happened, readily consented to undergo the trial, and as soon as +he was anointed and rubbed with it, his whole body was broke out into +such a flame, and was so seized by the fire, that Alexander was in the +greatest perplexity and alarm for him, and not without reason; for +nothing could have prevented him from being consumed by it if, by good +chance, there had not been people at hand with a great many vessels of +water for the service of the bath, with all which they had much ado to +extinguish the fire; and his body was so burned all over that he was +not cured of it a good while after. And thus it was not without some +plausibility that they endeavor to reconcile the fable to truth, who say +this was the drug in the tragedies with which Medea anointed the crown +and veils which she gave to Creon's daughter." + +An interesting reference to the fire-worshipers of the Caucasus is +contained in the "History of Zobeide," a tale of the wonderful Arabian +Nights Entertainment. It runs thus: + +"I bought a ship at Balsora, and freighted it; my sisters chose to go +with me, and we set sail with a fair wind. Some weeks after, we cast +anchor in a harbor which presented itself, with intent to water the +ship. As I was tired with having been so long on board, I landed with +the first boat, and walked up into the country. I soon came in sight of +a great town. When I arrived there, I was much surprised to see vast +numbers of people in different postures, but all immovable. The +merchants were in their shops, the soldiery on guard; every one seemed +engaged in his proper avocation, yet all were become as stone.... I +heard the voice of a man reading Al Koran.... Being curious to know why +he was the only living creature in the town,... he proceeded to tell +me that the city was the metropolis of a kingdom now governed by his +father; that the former king and all his subjects were Magi, worshipers +of fire and of Nardoun. the ancient king of the giants who rebelled +against God. 'Though I was born,' continued he, 'of idolatrous parents, +it was my good fortune to have a woman governess who was a strict +observer of the Mohammedan religion. She taught me Arabic from Al Koran; +by her I was instructed in the true religion, which I would never +afterward renounce. About three years ago a thundering voice was heard +distinctly throughout the city, saying, "Inhabitants, abandon the +worship of Nardoun and of fire, and worship the only true God, who +showeth mercy!" This voice was heard three years successively, but no +one regarded it. At the end of the last year all the inhabitants were in +an instant turned to stone. I alone was preserved.'" + +In the foregoing tale we doubtless have reference to the destruction +of Baku, on the Caspian (though to sail from Balsora to Baku is +impossible), and the driving away into India, by the Arabs under Caliph +Omar, of all who refused to renounce fire-worship and adopt the creed +of the Koran. The turning of the refractory inhabitants into stone is +probably the Arabian storyteller's figurative manner of referring to the +finding of dead bodies in a mummified condition. + +It is known that the Egyptians made use of bitumen, in some form, in +the preservation of their dead, a fact with which the Arabians were +familiar. As the Magi held the four elements of earth, air, fire, and +water to be sacred, they feared to either bury, burn, sink, or expose +to air the corrupting bodies of their deceased. Therefore, it was their +practice to envelop the corpse in a coating of wax or bitumen, so as +to hermetically seal it from immediate contact with either of the four +sacred elements. Hence the idea of all the bodies of the Magi left at +Baku being turned to stone, while only the true believer in Mohammed +remained in the flesh. + +Marco Polo, the famous traveler of the thirteenth century, makes +reference to the burning jets of the Caucasus, and those fires are known +to the Russians as continuing in existence since the army of Peter the +Great wrested the regions about the Caspian from the modern Persians. +The record of those flaming jets of natural gas is thus brought down in +an unbroken chain of evidence from remote antiquity to the present day, +and they are still burning. + +Numerous Greek and Latin writers testify to the known existence of +petroleum about the shores of the Mediterranean two thousand years ago. +More modern citations may, however, be read with equal interest. In the +"Journal of Sir Philip Skippon's Travels in France," in 1663, we find +the following curious entries: + +"We stayed in Grenoble till August 1st, and one day rode out, and, after +twice fording the river Drac (which makes a great wash) at a league's +distance, went over to Pont de Clef, a large arch across that river, +where we paid one sol a man; a league further we passed through a large +village called Vif, and about a league thence by S. Bathomew, another +village, and Chasteau Bernard, where we saw a flame breaking out of the +side of a bank, which is vulgarly called La Fountaine qui Brule; it +is by a small rivulet, and sometimes breaks out in other places; just +before our coming some other strangers had fried eggs here. The soil +hereabouts is full of a black stone, like our coal, which, perhaps, is +the continual fuel of the fire.... Near Peroul, about a league from +Montpelier, we saw a boiling fountain (as they call it), that is, the +water did heave up and bubble as if it boiled. This phenomenon in the +water was caused by a vapor ascending out of the earth through the +water, as was manifest, for if that one did but dig anywhere near the +place, and pour water upon the place new digged, one should observe in +it the like bubbling, the vapor arising not only in that place where the +fountain was, but all thereabout; the like vapor ascending out of the +earth and causing such ebullition in water it passes through hath been +observed in Mr. Hawkley's ground, about a mile from the town of Wigan, +in Lancashire, which vapor, by the application of a lighted candle, +paper; or the like, catches fire and flames vigorously. Whether or not +this vapor at Peroul would in like manner catch fire and burn I cannot +say, it coming not in our minds to make the experiment.... At Gabian, +about a day's journey from Montpelier, in the way to Beziers, is a +fountain of petroleum. It burns like oil, is of a pungent scent, and a +blackish color. It distills out of several places of the rock all the +year long, but most in the summer time. They gather it up with ladles +and put it in a barrel set on end, which hath a spigot just at the +bottom. When they have put in a good quantity, they open the spigot to +let out the water, and when the oil begins to come presently stop it. +They pay for the farm of this fountain about fifty crowns per annum. +We were told by one Monsieur Beaushoste, a chymist in Montpelier, that +petroleum was the very same with oil of jet, and not to be distinguished +from it by color, taste, smell, consistency, virtues, or any other +accident, as he had by experience found upon the coast of the +Mediterranean Sea, in several places, as at Berre, near Martague, in +Provence; at Messina, in Sicily, etc." + +In Harris' "Voyages," published in 1764, an article on the empire of +Persia thus refers to petroleum: + +"In several parts of Persia we meet with naphtha, both white and black; +it is used in painting and varnish, and sometimes in physic, and there +is an oil extracted from it which is applied to several uses. The most +famous springs of naphtha are in the neighborhood of Baku, which furnish +vast quantities, and there are also upward of thirty springs about +Shamasky, both in the province of Schirwan. The Persians use it as oil +for their lamps and in making fireworks, of which they are extremely +fond, and in which they are great proficients." + +Petroleum has long been known to exist also in the northern part of +Italy, the cities of Parma and Genoa having been for many years lighted +with it. + +In the province of Szechuen, China, natural gas is obtained from beds of +rock-salt at a depth of fifteen to sixteen hundred feet. Being brought +to the surface, it is conveyed in bamboo tubes and used for lighting as +well as for evaporating water in the manufacture of salt. It is asserted +that the Chinese used this natural gas for illuminating purposes +long before gas-lighting was known to the Europeans. Remembering the +unprogressive character of Chinese arts and industries, there is ground +for the belief that they may have been using this natural gas as an +illuminant these hundreds of years. + +In the United States the existence of petroleum was known to the Pilgrim +Fathers, who doubtless obtained their first information of it from the +Indians, from whom, in New York and western Pennsylvania, it was called +Seneka oil. It was otherwise known as "British" oil and oil of naphtha, +and was considered "a sovereign remedy for an inward bruise." + +The record of natural gas in this country is not so complete as that of +petroleum, but we learn that an important gas spring was known in West +Bloomfleld, N.Y., seventy years ago. In 1864 a well was sunk to a depth +of three hundred feet upon that vein, from which a sufficient supply +of gas was obtained to illuminate and heat the city of Rochester +(twenty-five miles distant), it was supposed. But the pipes which were +laid for that purpose, being of wood, were unfitted to withstand the +pressure, in consequence of which the scheme was abandoned; but gas from +that well is now in use as an illuminant and as fuel both in the town of +West Bloomfield and at Honeoye Falls. The village of Fredonia, N.Y., has +been using natural gas in lighting the streets for thirty years or there +about. On Big Sewickley Creek, in Westmoreland County, Pa., natural gas +was used for evaporating water in the manufacture of salt thirty years +ago, and gas is still issuing at the same place. Natural gas has been in +use in several localities in eastern Ohio for twenty-five years, and the +wells are flowing as vigorously as when first known. It has also been +in use in West Virginia for a quarter of a century, as well as in +the petroleum region of western Pennsylvania, where it has long been +utilized in generating steam for drilling oil wells. + +In 1826 the _American Journal of Science_ contained a letter from Dr. +S.P. Hildreth, who, in writing of the products of the Muskingum (Ohio) +Valley, said: "They have sunk two wells, which are now more than four +hundred feet in depth; one of them affords a very strong and pure +salt water, but not in great quantity; the other discharges such vast +quantities of petroleum, or, as it is vulgarly called, 'Seneka oil,' and +besides is so subject to such tremendous explosions of gas, as to force +out all the water and afford nothing but gas for several days, that they +make little or no salt." + +The value of the foregoing references is to be found in the testimony +they offer as to the duration of the supply of natural gas. Whether we +look to the eternal flaming fissures of the Caucasus, or to New York, +Pennsylvania, and Ohio, there is much to encourage the belief that the +flow of natural gas may be, like the production of petroleum, increased +rather than diminished by the draughts made upon it. Petroleum, instead +of diminishing in quantity by the millions of barrels drawn from western +Pennsylvania in the last quarter of a century, seems to increase, +greater wells being known in 1884 than in any previous year, and prices +having fallen from two dollars per bottle for "Seneka oil" to sixty +cents per barrel for the same article under the name of crude petroleum. +Hence we may assume that, as new pipe-lines are laid, the supply of +natural gas available for use in the great manufacturing district of +Pittsburg and vicinity will be increased, and the price of this fuel +diminished in a corresponding ratio. + +Natural gas is now supplied in Pittsburg at a small discount on +the actual cost of coal used last year in the large manufacturing +establishments, an additional saving being made in dispensing with +firemen and avoidance of hauling ashes from the boiler-room. It is +supplied, for domestic purposes, at twenty cents per thousand cubic +feet, which is not cheaper than coal in Pittsburg, but it is a thousand +per cent cleaner, and in that respect it promises to prove a great +blessing, not only to those who can afford to use it, but to the +community at large, in the hope held out that the smoke and soot +nuisance may be abated in part, if not wholly subdued, and that gleams +of sunshine there may become less phenomenal in the future than they are +at the present time. Twenty cents per thousand feet is too high a price +to bring gas into general use for domestic purposes in a city where +coal is cheap. Ten cents would be too much, and no doubt five cents per +thousand would pay a profit. The fact is, the dealers in natural gas +appear to be somewhat doubtful of the continuity of supply, and +anxious to get back the cost of wells and pipes in one year, which, if +successful, would be an enormous return on the investment. + +There are objections to the use of natural gas by mill operators--that +it costs too much, and that the continuity of the supply is uncertain; +by heads of families, that it is odorless, and, in case of leakage from +the pipes, may fill a room and be ready to explode without giving the +fragrant warning offered by common gas. Both of these objections will +probably disappear under the experience that time must furnish. More +wells and tributary lines will lessen the cost and tend to regulate the +pressure for manufacturers. Cut-offs and escape pipes outside of the +house will reduce the risk of explosions within. The danger in the +house may also be lessened by providing healthful ventilation in all +apartments wherein gas shall be consumed. + +This subject of, the ventilation of rooms in which common gas is +ordinarily used is beginning to attract attention. It is stated, upon +scientific authority, that a jet of common gas, equivalent to twelve +sperm candles, consumes 5.45 cubic feet of oxygen per hour, producing +3.21 feet of carbonic acid gas, vitiating, according to Dr. Tidy's +"Handbook of Chemistry," 348.25 cubic feet of air. In every five cubic +feet of pure air in a room there is one cubic foot of oxygen and four +of nitrogen. Without oxygen human life, as well as light, would become +extinct. It is asserted that one common gas-jet consumes as much oxygen +as five persons. + +Carbonic acid gas is the element which, in deep mines and vaults, causes +almost instant insensibility and suffocation to persons subjected to its +influences, and instantly extinguishes the flame of any light lowered +into it. The normal quantity of this gas contained in the air we breathe +is 0.04; one per cent, of it causes distress in breathing; two per cent, +is dangerous; four per cent, extinguishes life, and four per cent of it +is contained in air expelled from the lungs. According to Dr. Tidy's +table, each ordinary jet of common gas contributes to the air of a room +sixteen by ten feet on the sides and nine feet high, containing 1,440 +cubic feet of air, twenty-two per cent, of carbonic acid gas, which, +continued for twenty-four hours without ventilation, would reach the +fatal four per cent. + +Prof. Huxley gives, as a result of chemical analyses, the following +table of ratio of carbonic-acid gas in the atmosphere at the points +named: + + On the Thames, at London 0.0343 + In the streets of London 0.0380 + Top of Ben Nevis 0.0327 + Dress circle of Haymarket theater (11:30 P.M.) 0.0757 + Chancery Court (seven feet from the ground) 0.1930 + From working mines (average of 339 samples) 0.7853 + Largest amount in a Cornish mine 2.0500 + +In addition to the consumption of oxygen and production of carbonic acid +by the use of common gas, the gas itself, owing to defectiveness of the +burner, is projected into the air. Now, considering the deleterious +nature of all illuminating gases, the reasons for perfect ventilation of +rooms in which natural gas is used for heating and culinary purposes are +self-evident, not alone as a protection against explosions, but for the +health of the occupants of the house, remembering that a larger supply +of oxygen is said to be necessary for the perfect combustion of natural +than of common gas. + +Carbonic oxide, formed by the consumption of carbon, with an +insufficient supply of air, is the fatal poison of the charcoal furnace, +not infrequently resorted to, in close rooms, as a means of suicide. +The less sufficient the air toward perfect combustion, the smaller the +quantity of carbonic acid and the greater the amount of carbonic oxide. +That is to say, at the time of ignition the chief product of combustion +is carbonic oxide, and, unless sufficient air be added to convert the +oxide to carbonic acid, a decidedly dangerous product is given off into +the room. Yet, by means of a flue to carry off the poisonous gases from +burning jets, the combustion of gas, creating a current, is made an aid +to ventilation. Unfortunately, this important fact, if commonly known, +is not much heeded by heads of families or builders of houses. But in +any large community where gas comes into general use as an article of +fuel, this fact will gradually become recognized and respected. + +The property of indicating the presence of very minute quantities of gas +in a room is claimed for an instrument recently described by C. Von Jahn +in the _Revue Industrielle_. This is a porous cup, inverted and closed +by a perforated rubber stopper. Through the perforation in the stopper +the interior of the cup is connected with a pressure gauge containing +colored water. It is claimed that the diffusion of gas through the +earthenware raises the level of the water in the gauge so delicately +that the presence of one-half of one per cent, of gas may be detected by +it. Other instruments of a slightly different character are credited by +their inventors with most sensitive power of indicating gas-leakages, +but their practical efficiency remains to be demonstrated. An automatic +cut-off for use outside of houses in which natural gas is consumed has +been invented, but this writer knows nothing of either its mode of +action or its effectiveness. + +The great economic question, however, connected with the use of natural +gas is, how will it affect the industrial interests of the country? +There are grounds for the belief that a sufficient supply of natural gas +may be found in the vicinity of Pittsburg to reduce the cost of fuel to +such a degree as to make competition in the manufacture of iron, steel, +and glass, in any part of the country where coal must be used, out of +the question. Such a condition of affairs would probably result in +driving the great manufacturing concerns of the country into the region +where natural gas is to obtained. That may be anywhere from the western +slope of the Alleghanies to Lake Erie or to Lake Michigan. And, if the +cost of producing iron, steel, and glass can be so cheapened by the new +fuel, the tariff question may undergo some important modification in +politics. For, if the reduction in the cost of fuel should ever become +an offset to the lower rate of wages in Europe, the manufacturers of +Pennsylvania, who have long been the chief support of the protective +policy of the country, may lose their present interest in that question, +and leave the tariff to shift for itself elsewhere. It should be +remembered that natural gas is not, as yet, much cheaper than coal +in Pittsburg. But it may safely be assumed that it will cheapen, as +petroleum has done, by a development of the territory in which it is +known to exist in enormous quantities. It is quite possible that, +instead of buying gas, many factories will bore for it with success, +or remove convenient to its natural sources, so that a gas well may +ultimately become an essential part of the "plant" of a mill or factory. +Even now coal cannot compete with gas in the manufacture of window +glass, for, the gas being free from sulphur and other impurities +contained in coal, produces a superior quality of glass; so that in this +branch of industry the question of superiority seems already settled. + +Having said thus much of an industry now in its infancy but promising +great growth, I submit tables of analyses of common and of the natural +or marsh gas, the latter from a paper recently prepared by a committee +of the Engineers' Society of Western Pennsylvania, and for the use of +which I am indebted to that association: + +COMMON GAS. + + Hydrogen 46.0 + Light carbureted hydrogen (marsh gas) 39.5 + Condensible hydrocarbon 3.8 + Carbonic oxide 7.5 + " acid 0.6 + Aqueous vapor 2.0 + Oxygen 0.1 + Nitrogen 0.5 + ----- + 100.0 + +Natural gas is now conveyed to Pittsburg through four lines of 5-5/8 +inch pipe and one line of eight inch pipe. A line of ten inch pipe is +also being laid. The pressure of the gas at the wells is from 150 to 230 +pounds to the square inch. As the wells are on one side eighteen and on +the other about twenty-five miles distant, and as the consumption is +variable, the pressure at the city cannot be given. Greater pressure +might be obtained at the wells, but this would increase the liability +to leakage and bursting of pipes. For the prevention of such casualties +safety valves are provided at the wells, permitting the escape of all +superfluous gas. The enormous force of this gas may be appreciated from +a comparison of, say, 200 pounds pressure at the wells with a two ounce +pressure of common gas for ordinary lighting. The amount of natural gas +now furnished for use in Pittsburg is supposed to be something like +25,000,000 cubic feet per day; the ten inch pipe now laying is estimated +to increase the supply to 40,000,000 feet. The amount of manufactured +gas used for lighting the same city probably falls below 3,000,000 feet. + +About fifty mills and factories of various kinds in Pittsburg now use +natural gas. It is used for domestic purposes in two hundred houses. +Its superiority over coal in the manufacture of window glass is +unquestioned. That it is not used in all the glass houses of Pittsburg +is due to the fact that its advantages were not fully known when the +furnaces were fired last summer, and it costs a large sum to permit the +furnaces to cool off after being heated for melting. When the fires cool +down, and before they are started up again, the furnaces now using +coal will doubtless all be changed so as to admit natural gas. The +superiority of French over American glass is said to be due to the fact +that the French use wood and the Americans coal in their furnaces, wood +being free from sulphur, phosphorus, etc. The substitution of gas for +coal, while not increasing the cost, improves the quality of American +glass, making it as nearly perfect as possible. + +While the gas is not used as yet in any smelting furnace nor in the +Bessemer converters, it is preferred in open hearth and crucible steel +furnaces, and is said to be vastly superior to coal for puddling. The +charge of a puddling furnace, consisting of 500 pounds of pig-metal and +eighty pounds of "fix," produces with coal fuel 490 to 500 pounds of +iron. With gas for fuel, it is claimed that the same charge will yield +520 to 530 pounds of iron. In an iron mill of thirty furnaces, running +eight heats each for twenty-four hours, this would make a difference in +favor of the gas of, say, 8 x 30 x 25 = 6,000 pounds of iron per day. +This is an important item of itself, leaving out the cost of firing with +coal and hauling ashes. + +For generating steam in large establishments, one man will attend +a battery of twelve or twenty boilers, using gas as fuel, keep the +pressure uniform, and have the fire room clean as a parlor. For burning +brick and earthenware, gas offers the double advantage of freedom from +smoke and a uniform heat. The use of gas in public bakeries promises the +abolition of the ash-box and its accumulation of miscellaneous filth, +which is said to often impregnate the "sponge" with impurities. + +In short, the advantages of natural gas as a fuel are so obvious to +those who have given it a trial, that the prediction is made that, +should the supply fail, many who are now using it will never return to +the consumption of crude coal in factories, but, if necessary, convert +it or petroleum into gas at their own works. + +It seems, indeed, that until we shall have acquired the wisdom enabling +us to conserve and concentrate the heat of the sun, gas must be the fuel +of the future.--_Popular Science Monthly_. + + TABLE OF ANALYSIS OF NATURAL GAS--FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. + _____________________________________________________________________ + | | | | | | | | + | CONSTITUENTS | [2.] | [3.] | [6.] | [7.] | [8.] | [9.] | + |_______________|________|________|________|________|________|_________ + | | | | | | | | + | Hydrogen | .... | .... | 6.10 | 13.50 | 22.50 | 4.79 | + | | | | | | | | + | Marsh Gas | 82.41 | 96.50 | 75.44 | 80.11 | 60.27 | 89.65 | + | | | | | | | | + | Ethane | .... | .... | 18.12 | 5.72 | 6.80 | 4.39 | + | | | | | | | | + | Propane | .... | .... | trace. | .... | .... | trace. | + | | | | | | | | + | Carbonic acid | 10.11 | .... | 0.34 | 0.66 | 2.28 | 0.35 | + | | | | | | | | + | Carbonic oxide| .... | 0.50 | trace. | trace. | trace. | 0.26 | + | | | | | | | | + | Nitrogen | 4.31 | .... | .... | .... | 7.32 | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Oxygen | 0.23 | 2.00 | .... | .... | 0.83 | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | "Illuminating | 2.94 | 1.00 | .... | .... | .... | 0.56 | + | hydrocarbons."|________|________|________|________|________|________| + | | | | | | | | + | | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 99.99 | 100.00 | 100.00 | + |_______________|________|________|________|________|________|________| + | | + | Specific gravity 0.693 0.692 0.6148 0.5119 0.5580 | + |_____________________________________________________________________| + ______________________________________________________________________ + | | | | | | | | + | CONSTITUENTS | [10.] | [12.] | [14.] | [15.] | [16.] | [17.] | + |_______________|________|________|________|________|________|_________ + | | | | | | | | + | Hydrogen | .... | 19.56 | .... | 0.98 | .... | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Marsh Gas | 96.34 | 78.24 | 47.37 | 93.09 | 80.69 | 95.42 | + | | | | | | | | + | Ethane | .... | .... | .... | .... | 4.75 | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Propane | .... | .... | .... | .... | .... | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Carbonic acid | 3.64 | .... | 3.10 | 2.18 | 6.44 | 0.60 | + | | | | | | | | + | Carbonic oxide| | .... | .... | .... | .... | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Nitrogen | | .... | 49.39 | 0.49 | 8.12 | 3.98 | + | | | | | | | | + | Oxygen | | 2.20 | 0.17 | .... | .... | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | "Illuminating | [10.] | .... | .... | 3.26 | .... | .... | + | hydrocarbons."|________|________|________|________|________|________| + | | | | | | | | + | | | 100.00 | 100.03 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | + |_______________|________|________|________|________|________|________| + | | + |Specific gravity 0.5923 0.56 | + |_____________________________________________________________________| + + Petroleum is composed of about 85 per cent of carbon and 15 per cent of + nitrogen. + + Locations: + + 1. Petrolia, Canada. + 2. West Bloomfield, N.Y. + 3. Olean, N.Y. + 4. Fredonis, N.Y. + 5. Pioneer Run, Venango Co., Pa. + 6. Burn's Well, near St. Joe., Butler Co., Pa. + 7. Harvey Well, Butler Co., Pa. + 8. Cherry Tree, Indiana Co., Pa. + 9. Leechburg, Pa. + 10. Creighton, Pa. + 11. Penn Fuel Co.'s Well, Murraysville, Pa. + 12. Fuel Gas Co.'s Well, Murraysville. + 13. Roger's Gulch, Wirt Co., W. Va. + 14. Gas from Marsh Ground + 15. Baku, on the Caspian Sea. + 16. Gas occluded in Wigan cannel-coal. + 17. Blower in coal-mine. South Wales. + + Notes: + + 1. Chiefly marsh-gas with ethane and some carbonic acid. + 4. A mixture of marsh-gas, ethane and butane. + 5. Chiefly propane, with small quantities of carbonic acid and + nitrogen. + 10. Trace of heavy hydrocarbons. + 11. Marsh-gas, with a little carbonic acid. + 13. Chiefly marsh-gas, with small quantities of nitrogen and + 15.86 per cent + carbonic acid. + + References: + + 1. Fouque, "Comptes Rendus," lxvii, p. 1045. + 2. H. Wurtz, "Am. Jour. Arts and Sci." (2), xlix, p. 336. + 3. Robert Young. + 4. Fouque, "Comptes Rendus," lxvii. p. 1045. + 5. Fouque, "Comptes Rendus," lxvii. p. 1045. + 6. S.P. Sadler, "Report L, 2d Geol. Sur. Pa.," p. 153. + 7. S.P. Sadler, "Report L, 3d Geol. Sur. Pa.," p. 152. + 8. S.P. Sadler, "Report L, 3d Geol. Sur. Pa.," p. 153. + 9. S.P. Sadler, "Report L, 3d Geol. Sur. Pa.," p. 153. + 10. F.C. Phillips. + 11. Robert Young. + 12. Rogers. + 13. Fouque, "Comptes Rendus," lxvii, p. 1045. + 14. Bischof's Chemical Geology," I, p. 730. + 15. Bischof's Chemical Geology," I, p. 730. + 16. J.W. Thomas, London, "Chemical Society's Journal," 1876, p. 793. + 17. Same, 1875, p. 793. + + * * * * * + + + + +CLOSING LEAKAGES FOR PACKING. + +By L. C. LEVOIR. + + +The mineral asbestos is but a very poor packing material in +steam-boilers. Moreover, it acts as a strong grinding material on all +moving parts. + +For some years I have tested the applicability of artificial +precipitates to close the holes in boilers, cylinder-covers, and +stuffing boxes. I took, generally with the best success, alternate +layers of hemp-cotton, thread, and absorbent paper, all well saturated +with the chlorides of calcium and magnesium. The next layers of the same +fiber are moistened with silicate of soda. By pressure the fluids are +mixed and the pores are closed. A stuffing box filled with this mixture +has worked three years without grinding the piston-rod. + +In the same manner I close the screw-thread hole in gas tubes used for +conducting steam. I moisten the thread in the sockets with oleic acid +from the candle-works, and dust over it a mixture of 1 part of minium, +2 parts of quick-lime, and 1 part of linseed powder (without the oil). +When the tube is screwed in the socket, the powder mixes with the oleic +acid. The water coming in at first makes the linseed powder viscid. +Later the steam forming the oleate of lime and the oleate of lead, +on its way to the outer air, presses it in the holes and closes them +perfectly. + +After a year in use the tubes can be unscrewed with ease, and the screw +threads are perfectly smooth. + +With this kind of packing only one exception must be made--that is, it +is only tight under pressure; condensation or vacuum must be thoroughly +avoided.--_Chem. News_. + + * * * * * + + + + +LUMINOUS PAINT. + + +In answer to various inquiries concerning the manufacture of this +article, we give herewith the process of William Henry Balmain, the +original discoverer of luminous paint, and also other processes. These +particulars are derived from the letters patent granted in this country +to the parties named. + +Balmain's invention was patented in England in 1877, and in this country +in 1882. It is styled as Improvements in Painting, Varnishing, and +Whitewashing, of which the following is a specification: + +The said invention consists in a luminous paint, the body of which is a +phosphorescent compound, or is composed in part of such a compound, and +the vehicle of which is such as is used as the vehicle in ordinary paint +compounds, viz., one which becomes dry by evaporation or oxidation. + +The objector article to which such paint or varnish or wash is applied +is itself rendered visible in the darkest place, and more or less +capable of imparting light to other objects, so as to render them +visible also. The phosphorescent substance found most suitable for the +purpose is a compound obtained by simply heating together a mixture +of lime and sulphur, or carbonate of lime and sulphur, or some of the +various substances containing in themselves both lime and sulphur--such, +for example, as alabaster, gypsum, and the like--with carbon or other +agent to remove a portion of the oxygen contained in them, or by heating +lime or carbonate of lime in a gas or vapor containing sulphur. + +The vehicle to be used for the luminous paint must be one which will dry +by evaporation or oxidation, in order that the paint may not become soft +or fluid by heat or be liable to be easily rubbed off by accident or use +from the articles to which it has been applied. It may be any of the +vehicles commonly used in oil-painting or any of those commonly used in +what is known as "distemper" painting or whitewashing, according to the +place or purpose in or for which the paint is to be used. + +It is found the best results are obtained by mixing the phosphorescent +substance with a colorless varnish made with mastic or other resinous +body and turpentine or spirit, making the paint as thick as convenient +to apply with a brush, and with as much turpentine or spirit as can +be added without impairing the required thickness. Good results may, +however, be obtained with drying oils, spirit varnishes, gums, pastes, +sizes, and gelatine solutions of every description, the choice being +varied to meet the object in view or the nature of the article in hand. + +The mode of applying the paint, varnish, or wash will also depend upon +the circumstances of the case. For example, it may be applied by a +brush, as in ordinary painting, or by dipping or steeping the article +in the paint, varnish, or wash; or a block or type may be used to +advantage, as in calico-printing and the like. For outdoor work, or +wherever the surface illuminated is exposed to the vicissitudes of +weather or to injury from mechanical contingencies, it is desirable to +cover it with glass, or, if the article will admit of it, to glaze it +over with a flux, as in enameling, or as in ordinary pottery, and this +may be accomplished without injury to the effect, even when the flux or +glaze requires a red heat for fusion. + +Among other applications of the said invention which may be enumerated, +it is particularly advantageous for rendering visible clock or watch +faces and other indicators--such, for example, as compasses and the +scales of barometers or thermometers--during the night or in dark places +during the night time. In applying the invention to these and other +like purposes there may be used either phosphorescent grounds with +dark figures or dark grounds and phosphorescent figures or letters, +preferring the former. In like manner there may be produced figures and +letters for use on house-doors and ends of streets, wherever it is not +convenient or economical to have external source of light, signposts, +and signals, and names or marks to show entries to avenues or gates, and +the like. + +The invention is also applicable to the illumination of railway +carriages by painting with phosphorescent paint a portion of the +interior, thus obviating the necessity for the expense and inconvenience +of the use of lamps in passing through tunnels. It may also be applied +externally as warning-lights at the front and end of trains passing +through tunnels, and in other similar cases, also to ordinary carriages, +either internally or externally. As a night-light in a bed-room or in a +room habitually dark, the application has been found quite effectual, a +very small proportion of the surface rendered phosphorescent affording +sufficient light for moving about the room, or for fixing upon and +selecting an article in the midst of a number of complicated scientific +instruments or other objects. + +The invention may also be applied to private and public buildings in +cases where it would be economical and advantageous to maintain for a +short time a waning or twilight, so as to obviate the necessity for +lighting earlier the gas or other artificial light. It may also be +used in powder-mills and stores of powder, and in other cases where +combustion or heat would be a constant source of danger, and generally +for all purposes of artificial light where it is applicable. + +In order to produce and maintain the phosphorescent light, full sunshine +is not necessary, but, on the contrary, is undesirable. The illumination +is best started by leaving the article or surface exposed for a short +time to ordinary daylight or even artificial light, which need not be +strong in order to make the illumination continue for many hours, even +twenty hours, without, the necessity of renewed exposure. + +The advantages of the invention consist in obtaining for the purposes of +daily life a light which is maintained at no cost whatever, is free from +the defects and contingent dangers arising from combustion or heat, and +can be applied in many cases where all other sources of light would be +inconvenient or incapable of application. + +Heretofore phosphorus has been mixed with earthy oxides, carbonates, +and sulphates, and with oxides and carbonates of metal, as tin, zinc, +magnesia, antimony, and chlorides of the same, also crystallized acids +and salts and mineral substances, and same have been inclosed and +exhibited in closely-stopped bottles as a phosphorus; but such union I +do not claim; but what I claim is: + +A luminous paint, the body of which is a phosphorescent substance, or +composed in part of such substance, the vehicle of which is such as is +ordinarily used in paints, viz., one which will become dry by oxidation +or evaporation, substantially as herein described. + +A. Krause, of Buffalo, N.Y., obtained a patent for improvement in +phosphorescent substances dated December 30, 1879. The patentee says: +This invention relates to a substance which, by exposure to direct or +indirect sun-light, or to artificial light, is so affected or brought +into such a peculiar condition that it will emit rays of light or become +luminous in the dark. + +It is a well-known fact that various bodies and compositions of matter, +more especially compositions containing sulphur in combination with +earthy salts, possess the property of emitting rays of light in the +dark after having been exposed to sun-light. All of these bodies and +compositions of matter are, however, not well adapted for practical +purposes, because the light emitted by them is either too feeble to be +of any practicable utility, or because the luminous condition is not +of sufficient duration, or because the substances are decomposed by +exposure to the atmosphere. + +Among the materials which have been employed with the best results +for producing these luminous compositions are sea-shells, especially +oyster-shells. I have found by practical experiments that only the inner +surface of these shells is of considerable value in the production +of luminous compositions, while the body of the shell, although +substantially of the same chemical composition, does not, to any +appreciable extent, aid in producing the desired result. It follows from +this observation that the smallest shells, which contain the largest +surface as compared with their cubic contents, will be best adapted for +this purpose. + +I have found that chalk, which is composed of the shells of microscopic +animals, possesses the desired property in the highest degree; and my +invention consists, therefore, of a luminous substance composed of such +chalk, sulphur, and bismuth, as will be hereinafter fully set forth. + +In preparing my improved composition I take cleaned or precipitated +chalk, and subject it to the process of calcination in a suitable +crucible over a clear coal or charcoal fire for three or four hours, +or thereabout. I then add to the calcined chalk about one-third of its +weight of sulphur, and heat the mixture for from forty-five to ninety +minutes, or thereabout. A small quantity of bismuth, in the proportion +of about one per cent, or less of the mixture, is added together with +the sulphur. + +The metal may be introduced in the metallic form in the shape of +fillings, or in the form of a carbonate, sulphuret, sulphate, or +sulphide, or oxide, as may be most convenient. + +The substance produced in this manner possesses the property of emitting +light in the dark in a very high degree. An exposure to light of very +short duration, sometimes but for a moment, will cause the substance +to become luminous and to remain in this luminous condition, under +favorable circumstances, for upward of twenty-four hours. + +The intensity of the light emitted by this composition after exposure is +considerable, and largely greater than the light produced by any of the +substances heretofore known. + +The hereinbefore described substance may be ground with oil and used +like ordinary paint; or it may be ground with any suitable varnish or be +mixed in the manner of water colors; or it may be employed in any other +suitable and well-known manner in which paints are employed. + +My improved luminous substance is adapted for a great variety of +uses--for instance, for painting business and other signs, guide boards, +clock and watch dials, for making the numbers on houses and railway +cars, and for painting all surfaces which are exposed periodically to +direct or indirect light and desired to be easily seen during the night. + +When applied with oil or varnish, my improved luminous substance can +be exposed to the weather in the same manner as ordinary paint without +suffering any diminution of its luminous property. I claim as my +invention the herein described luminous substance, consisting of +calcined chalk, sulphur, and bismuth, substantially as set forth. + +Merrill B. Sherwood, Jr., of Buffalo, N. Y., obtained a patent for a +phosphorescent composition, dated August 9, 1881. + +The author says: My invention relates to an improvement in +phosphorescent illuminants. + +I have taken advantage of the peculiar property which obtains in many +bodies of absorbing light during the day and emitting it during the +night time. + +The object of my invention is the preparation by a prescribed formula, +to be hereinafter given, of a composition embodying one of the +well-known phosphorescent substances above referred to, which will be +applicable to many practical uses. + +With this end in view my invention consists in a phosphorescent +composition in which the chief illuminating element is monosulphide of +calcium. + +The composition obtained by the formula may be used either in a powdered +condition by dusting it over articles previously coated, in whole or in +part, with an adhesive substance, or it may be intimately mixed with +paints, inks, or varnishes, serving as vehicles for its application, and +in this way be applied to bodies to render them luminous. + +The formula for obtaining the composition is as follows: To one hundred +parts of unslaked lime, that obtained from calcined oyster shells +producing the best results, add five parts of carbonate of magnesia and +five parts of ground silex. Introduce these elements into a graphite or +fire-clay crucible containing forty parts of sulphur and twenty-five +parts of charcoal, raise the whole mass nearly or quite to a white heat, +remove from the fire, allow it to cool slowly, and, when it is cold or +sufficiently lowered in temperature to be conveniently handled, +remove it from the crucible and grind it. The method of reducing the +composition will depend upon the mode of its use. If it is to be applied +as a loose powder by the dusting process, it should be simply ground +dry; but if it is to be mixed with paint or other similar substance, +it should be ground with linseed or other suitable oil. In heating the +elements aforesaid, certain chemical combinations will have taken place, +and monosulphide of calcium, combined with carbonate of lime, magnesia, +and silex, will be the result of such ignition. + +If, in the firing of the elements, as above set forth, all of the +charcoal does not unite with the other elements, such uncombined portion +should be removed from the fused mass before it is ground. + +If it is designed to mix the composition with paints, those composed of +zinc-white and baryta should be chosen in preference to those composed +of white lead and colored by vegetable matter, as chemical action will +take place between the composition and paint last mentioned, and +its color will be destroyed or changed by the gradual action of the +sulphureted hydrogen produced. However, by the addition of a weak +solution of gum in alcohol or other suitable sizing to the composition, +it may be used with paints containing elements sensitive to sulphureted +hydrogen without danger of decomposing them and destroying their color. + +In many, and possibly in a majority of cases, the illuminating +composition applied as a dry powder will give the most satisfactory +results, in view of the tendency to chemical action between the paint +and composition when intimately mixed; in view of the fact that by +the addition to paint of any color of a sufficient quantity of the +composition to render the product luminous, the original color of the +paint will be modified or destroyed; and, also, in view of the fact that +the illuminating composition is so greatly in excess of the paint, the +proportions in which they are united being substantially ten parts +of the former to one of the latter, it will be difficult to impart a +particular color to the product of the union without detracting from +its luminosity. On the other hand, the union of dry powder with a body +already painted by the simple force of adhesion does not establish +a sufficiently intimate relation between it and the paint to cause +chemical action, the application of a light coat of powder does not +materially change the color of the article to which it is applied; and, +further, by the use of the powder in an uncombined state its greatest +illuminating effects are obtained. Again, if the appearance in the +daytime of the article which it is desired to have appear luminous at +night is not material, it may be left unpainted and simply sized to +retain the powder. + +In printing it is probable that the composition will be employed almost +exclusively in the form of dry powder, as printing-ink, normally pasty, +becomes too thick to be well handled when it is combined with powder in +sufficient quantity to render the printed surface luminous. However, the +printed surface of a freshly printed sheet may be rendered luminous by +dusting the sheet with powder, which will adhere to all of the inked and +may be easily shaken from the unmoistened surfaces thereof. + +I am aware that monosulphide of calcium and magnesia have before +been used together in phosphorescent compounds. What I claim is a +phosphorescent composition consisting of monosulphide of calcium, +combined with carbonate of lime, magnesia, and silex, substantially as +described. + +Orlando Thowless, of Newark, N.J., obtained a patent for a process of +manufacturing phosphorescent substances dated November 8, 1881. +The inventor says: The object of my invention is to manufacture +phosphorescent materials of intense luminosity at low cost and little +loss of materials. + +I first take clam shells and, after cleaning, place them in a solution +composed of about one part of commercial nitric acid and three parts of +water, in which the shells are allowed to remain about twenty minutes. +The shells are then to be well rinsed in water, placed in a crucible, +and heated to a red heat for about four hours. They are then removed and +placed, while still red-hot, in a saturated solution of sea salt, from +which they are immediately removed and dried. After this treatment and +exposure to light the shells will have a blood-red luminous appearance +in the dark. The shells thus prepared are used with sulphur and +the phosphide and sulphide of calcium to produce a phosphorescent +composition, as follows: One hundred parts, by weight, of the shells, +prepared as above, are intimately mixed with twenty parts, by weight, of +sulphur. This mixture is placed in a crucible or retort and heated to a +white heat for four or five hours, when it is to be removed and forty +parts more of sulphur, one and one-half parts of calcium phosphide, and +one-half part of chemically pure sulphide of calcium added. The mixture +is then heated for about ninety minutes to an extreme white heat. When +cold, and after exposure to light, this mixture will become luminous. +Instead of these two ignitions, the same object may be in a measure +accomplished by the addition of the full amount of sulphur with the +phosphide and sulphide of calcium and raising it to a white heat but +once. The calcium phosphide is prepared by igniting phosphorus in +connection with newly slaked lime made chemically pure by calcination. +The condition of the shells when the sulphur is added is not material; +but the heat renders them porous and without moisture, so that they will +absorb the salt to as great an extent as possible. Where calcined shells +are mixed with solid salt, the absorbing power of the shells is greatly +diminished by the necessary exposure, and there will be a lack of +uniformity in the saturation. On the contrary, by plunging the red-hot +shells in the saline solution the greatest uniformity is attained. + +Instead of using clam shells as the base of my improved composition, I +may use other forms of sea shells--such as oyster shells, etc. + +I claim as new: + +1. The herein described process of manufacturing phosphorescent +materials, which consists in heating sea shells red-hot, treating them +while heated with a bath of brine, then, after removal from the bath, +mixing sulphur and phosphide and sulphide of calcium therewith, and +finally subjecting the mixture to a white heat, substantially as and for +the purpose described. + +2. The described process, which consists in placing clean and red-hot +clam shells in a saturated solution of sea salt, and then drying them, +for the purpose specified. + + * * * * * + + + + +BOXWOOD AND ITS SUBSTITUTES. + +[Footnote: Prize essay written for the International Forestry +Exhibition, Edinburgh.] + +By JOHN R. JACKSON. A.L.S., Curator of the Museums, Royal Gardens, Ken. + + +The importance of the discovery of a hard, compact, and even grained +wood, having all the characteristics of boxwood, and for which it would +form an efficient substitute, cannot be overestimated; and if such +a discovery should be one of the results of the present Forestry +Exhibition, one of its aims will have been fulfilled. + +For several years past the gradual diminution in the supplies of +boxwood, and the deterioration in its quality, have occupied the +attention of hardwood merchants, of engravers, and of scientific men. + +Of merchants, because of the difficulties in obtaining supplies to meet +the ever increasing demand; of engravers, because of the higher prices +asked for the wood, and the difficulty of securing wood of good size and +firm texture, so that the artistic excellence of the engraving might be +maintained; and of the man of science, who was specially interested +in the preservation of the indigenous boxwood forests, and in the +utilization of other woods, natives, it might be, of far distant +countries, whose adaptation would open not only a new source of revenue, +but would also be the means of relieving the strain upon existing +boxwood forests. + +While by far the most important use of boxwood is for engraving +purposes, it must be borne in mind that the wood is also applied to +numerous other uses, such, for instance, as weaving shuttles, for +mathematical instruments, turnery purposes, carving, and for various +ornamental articles, as well as for inlaying in cabinet work. The +question, therefore, of finding suitable substitutes for boxwood divides +itself into two branches, first, directly for engraving purposes, and, +secondly, to supply its place for the other uses to which it is now put. +This, to a certain extent, might set free some of the boxwood so used, +and leave it available for the higher purposes of art. At the same time, +it must not be forgotten that much of the wood used for general purposes +is unsuited for engraving, and can only therefore be used by the turner +or cabinet maker. Nevertheless, the application of woods other than box +for purposes for which that wood is now used would tend to lessen the +demand for box, and thus might have an effect in lowering the price. + +So far back as 1875 a real uneasiness began to be felt as to the future +supplies of box. In the _Gardeners' Chronicle_ for September 25, of that +year, page 398, it is said that the boxwood forests of Mingrelia in the +Caucasian range were almost exhausted. Old forests, long abandoned, were +even then explored in search of trees that might have escaped the notice +of former proprietors, and wood that was rejected by them was, in 1875, +eagerly purchased at high prices for England. The export of wood was at +that time prohibited from Abhasia and all the government forests in +the Caucasus. A report, dated at about the same period from Trebizond, +points out that the Porte had prohibited the cutting of boxwood in the +crown forests. (_Gardeners' Chronicle_, Aug. 19, 1876, p. 239.) Later +on, the British Consul at Tiflis says: "_Bona fide_ Caucasian boxwood +may be said to be commercially non-existent, almost every marketable +tree having been exported." (_Gardeners' Chronicle_, Dec. 6, 1879, p. +726.) + +The characters of boxwood are so marked and so distinct from those of +most other woods that some extracts from a report of Messrs. J. Gardner +& Sons, of London and Liverpool, addressed to the Inspector-General of +Forests in India, bearing on this subject, will not be without value; +indeed, its more general circulation than its reprint in Mr. J.S. +Gamble's "Manual of Indian Timbers" will, it is hoped, be the means of +directing attention to this very important matter, and by pointing +out the characters that make boxwood so valuable, may be the means of +directing observation to the detection of similar characters in other +woods. Messrs. Gardner say: + +"The most suitable texture of wood will be found growing upon the sides +of mountains. If grown in the plains the growth is usually too quick, +and consequently the grain is too coarse, the wood of best texture being +of slow growth, and very fine in the grain. + +"It should be cut down in the winter, and, if possible, stored at once +in airy wooden sheds well protected from sun and rain, and not to have +too much air through the sides of the sheds, more especially for the +wood under four inches diameter. + +"The boxwood also must not be piled upon the ground, but be well skidded +under, so as to be kept quite free from the effects of any damp from the +soil. + +"After the trees are cut down, the longer they are exposed the more +danger is there afterward of the wood splitting more than is absolutely +necessary during the necessary seasoning before shipment to this +country. + +"If shipped green, there is great danger of the wood sweating and +becoming mildewed during transit, which causes the wood afterward to dry +light and of a defective color, and in fact rendering it of little value +for commercial purposes. + +"There is no occasion to strip the bark off or to put cowdung or +anything else upon the ends of the pieces to prevent their splitting. + +"Boxwood is the nearest approach to ivory of any wood known, and will, +therefore, probably gradually increase in value, as it, as well +as ivory, becomes scarcer. It is now used very considerably in +manufacturing concerns, but on account of its gradual advance in price +during the past few years, cheaper woods are in some instances being +substituted. + +"Small wood under four inches is used principally by flax spinners for +rollers, and by turners for various purposes, rollers for rink skates, +etc., etc., and if free from splits, is of equal value with the larger +wood. It is imported here as small as one a half inches in diameter, but +the most useful sizes are from 21/2 to 31/2 inches, and would therefore, +we suppose, be from fifteen to thirty or forty years in growing, while +larger wood would require fifty years and upward at least, perhaps we +ought to say one hundred years and upward. It is used principally for +shuttles, for weaving silk, linen, and cotton, and also for rule making +and wood engraving. _Punch, The Illustrated London News, The Graphic_, +and all the first class pictorial papers use large quantities of +boxwood." + +In 1880, Messrs. Churchill and Sim reported favorably on some +consignments of Indian boxwood, concluding with the remarks that if the +wood could be regularly placed on the market at a moderate figure, there +was no reason why a trade should not be developed in it. Notwithstanding +these prospects, which seemed promising in 1877 and 1880, little or +nothing has been accually done up to the present time in bringing Indian +boxwood into general use, in consequence, as Mr. Gamble shows, of +the cost of transit through India. The necessity, therefore, of the +discovery of some wood akin to box is even more important now than ever +it was. + + +BOXWOOD SUBSTITUTES. + +First among the substitutes that have been proposed to replace boxwood +may be mentioned an invention of Mr. Edward Badoureau, referred to in +the _Gardeners' Chronicle_, March 23, 1878, p. 374, under the title of +artificial boxwood. It is stated to consist of some soft wood which has +been subject to heavy pressure. It is stated that some English engravers +have given their opinion on this prepared wood as follows: + +It has not the power of resistance of boxwood, so that it would be +imposible to make use of it, except in the shape of an electro obtained +from it, as it is too soft to sustain the pressure of a machine, and +would be easily worn out. In reply to these opinions, Mr. Badoureau +wrote: "My wood resists the wear and tear of the press as well as +boxwood, and I can show engravings of English and French artists which +have been obtained direct from the wood, and are as perfect as they are +possible to be; several of them have been drawn by Mr. Gustave Dore." + +Mr. Badoureau further says that "while as an engraver he has so high an +opinion of the qualities of compressed wood as a substitute for boxwood, +as the inventor of the new process he considered that it possesses +numerous advantages both for artistic and industrial purposes." In +short, he says, "My wood is to other wood what steel is to iron." + +The following woods are those which have, from time to time, been +proposed or experimented upon as substitutes for boxwood, for engraving +purposes. They are arranged according to their scientific classification +in the natural orders to which they belong: + + +_Natural Order Pittosporeae_. + +1. _Pittosporum undulatum_. Vent.--A tree growing in favorable +situations to a height of forty or even sixty feet, and is a native of +New South Wales and Victoria. It furnishes a light, even grained wood, +which attracted some attention at the International Exhibition in 1862; +blocks were prepared from it, and submitted to Prof. De la Motte, of +King's College, who reported as follows: + +"I consider this wood well adapted to certain kinds of wood engraving. +It is not equal to Turkey box, but it is superior to that generally used +for posters, and I have no doubt that it would answer for the rollers +of mangles and wringing machines." Mr. W.G. Smith, in a report in the +_Gardeners' Chronicle_ for July 26, 1873, p. 1017, on some foreign woods +which I submitted to him for trial, says that the wood of _Pittosporum +undulatum_ is suitable only for bold outlines; compared with box, it is +soft and tough, and requires more force to cut than box. The toughness +of the wood causes the tools to drag back, so that great care is +required in cutting to prevent the lines clipping. The average diameter +of the wood is from 18 to 30 inches. + +2. _Pittosporum bicolor_, Hook.--A closely allied species, sometimes +forty feet high, native of New South Wales and Tasmania. This wood is +stated to be decidedly superior to the last named. + +3. _Bursaria spinosa_, Cav.--A tree about forty feet high, native of +North, South, and West Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, +and Tasmania, in which island it is known as boxwood. It has been +reported upon as being equal to common or inferior box, and with +further trials might be found suitable for common subjects; it has the +disadvantage, however, of blunting the edges and points of the tools. + + +_Natural Order Meliaceae_. + +4. _Swietenia mahagoni_, L. (mahogany).--A large timber tree of +Honduras, Cuba, Central America, and Mexico. It is one of the most +valuable of furniture woods, but for engraving purposes it is but of +little value, nevertheless it has been used for large, coarse subjects. +Spanish mahogany is the kind which has been so used. + + +_Natural Order Ilicineae_. + +_Ilex opaca_, L. (North American holly).--It is a widely diffused tree, +the wood of which is said to closely resemble English holly, being white +in color, and hard, with a fine grain, so that it is used for a +great number of purposes by turners, engineers, cabinet makers, and +philosophical instrument makers. For engraving purposes it is not equal +to the dog-wood of America (_Cornus florida_); it yields, however, more +readily to the graver's tools. + + +_Natural Order Celastrineae_. + +6. _Elaeodendron australe_, Vent.--A tree twenty to twenty-five feet +high, native of Queensland and New South Wales. The wood is used in the +colony for turning and cabinet work, and Mr. W.G. Smith reports that for +engraving purposes it seems suitable only for rough work, as diagrams, +posters, etc. + +7. _Euonymus sieboldianus_, Blume.--A Chinese tree, where the wood, +which is known as pai'cha, is used for carving and engraving. Attention +was first drawn to this wood by Mr. Jean von Volxem, in the _Gardeners' +Chronicle_ for April 20, 1878. In the Kew Report for 1878, p. 41, the +following extract of a letter from Mr. W.M. Cooper, Her Majesty's Consul +at Ningpo, is given: "The wood in universal use for book blocks, wood +engravings, seals, etc., is that of the pear tree, of which large +quantities are grown in Shantung, and Shan-se, especially. Pai'cha is +sometimes used as an indifferent substitute. Pai'cha is a very fine +white wood of fine fiber, without apparent grains, and cuts easily; is +well suited for carved frames, cabinets, caskets, etc., for which large +quantities are manufactured here for export. The tree itself resembles +somewhat the _Stillingia_, but has a rougher bark, larger and thinner +leaves, which are serrated at the edge, more delicate twigs, and is +deciduous." In 1879, a block of this wood was received at the Kew +Museum, from Mr. Cooper, a specimen of which was submitted to Mr. Robson +J. Scott, of Whitefriars Street, to whom I am much indebted for reports +on various occasions, and upon this wood Mr. Scott reported as follows: +"The most striking quality I have observed in this wood is its capacity +for retaining water, and the facility with which it surrenders it. This +section (one prepared and sent to the Kew Museum), which represents +one-tenth of the original piece, weighed 3 lb. 41/2 ounces. At the end of +twenty one days it had lost 1 lb. 63/4 ounces in an unheated chamber. At +the end of another fourteen days, in a much elevated temperature, it +only lost 1/4 ounce. In its present state of reduced bulk its weight is 1 +lb. 10 ounces. It is not at all likely to supersede box, but it may be +fit for coarser work than that for which box is necessary." Later on, +namely in the Kew Report for 1880, p. 51, Mr. R.D. Keene, an engraver, +to whom Mr. Scott submitted specimens of the wood for trial, writes: "I +like the wood very much, and prefer it to box in some instances; it is +freer to work, and consequently quicker, and its being uniform in color +and quality is a great advantage; we often have great difficulty in +box in having to work from a hard piece into a soft. I think it a very +useful wood, especially for solid bold work. I question if you could get +so extreme a fine black line as on box, but am sure there would be a +large demand for it at a moderate price." Referring to this letter, Mr. +Scott remarks that the writer does not intend it to be understood that +pai'cha is qualified to supersede box, but for inferior subjects for +which coarse brittle box is used. Mr. Scott further says that of the +woods he has tried he prefers pear and hawthorn to pai'cha. + + +_Natural Order Sapindaceae_. + +8. _Acer saccharinum_, L. (sugar or bird's eye maple).--A North American +tree, forming extensive forests in Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova +Scotia. The wood is well known as a cabinet or furniture wood. It has +been tried for engraving, but it does not seem to have attracted much +notice. Mr. Scott says it is sufficiently good, so far as the grain is +concerned. From this it would seem not to promise favorably. + + +_Natural Order Leguminoseae. Sub-order Papilionaceae_. + +9. _Brya ebenus_, [Delta]. DC.--A small tree of Jamaica, where the wood +is known as green ebony, and is used for making various small articles. +It is imported into this country under the name of cocus wood, and +is used with us for making flutes and other wind instruments. Mr. +Worthington Smith considers that the wood equals bad box for engraving +purposes. + + +_Natural Order Rosaceae_. + +10. _Pyrus communis_, L. (common pear).--A tree averaging from 20 to 40 +feet high. Found in a wild state, and very extensively cultivated as a +fruit tree. The wood is of a light brown color, and somewhat resembles +limewood in grain. It is, however, harder and tougher. It is considered +a good wood for carving, because it can be cut with or across the grain +with equal facility. It stands well when well seasoned, and is used for +engraved blocks for calico printers, paper stainers, and for various +other purposes. Pear-wood has been tried for engraving purposes, but +with no great success. Mr. Scott's opinion of its relative value is +referred to under pai'cha wood _(Euonymus sieboldianus)_. + +11. _Amelanchier canadensis_. L. (shade tree or service tree of +America).--A shrub or small tree found throughout Canada, Newfoundland, +and Virginia. Of this wood, Porcher says, in his "Resources of the +Southern Fields and Forests": "Upon examining with a sharp instrument +the specimens of various southern woods deposited in the museum of the +Elliott Society, ... I was struck with the singular weight, density, and +fineness of this wood. I think I can confidently recommend it as one of +the best to be experimented upon by the wood engraver." + +12. _Cratoegus oxyacantha_, L. (hawthorn).--A well-known shrub or small +tree in forests and hedges in this country. The wood is very dense and +close grained. Of this wood, Mr. Scott reports that it is by far the +best wood after box that he has had the opportunity of testing. + + +_Natural Order Myrtaceae_. + +13. _Eugenia procera_, Poir.--A tree 20 to 30 feet high, native of +Jamaica, Antigua, Martinique, and Santa Cruz. A badly seasoned sample +of this wood was submitted to Mr. R.H. Keene, who reported that "it is +suited for bold, solid newspaper work." + + +_Natural Order Cornaceae_. + +14. _Cornus florida_, L. (North American dogwood).--A deciduous tree, +about 30 feet high, common in the woods in various parts of North +America. The wood is hard, heavy, and very fine grained. It is used in +America for making the handles of light tools, as mallets, plane stocks, +harrow teeth, cogwheels, etc. It has also been used in America for +engraving. + +In a letter from Prof. Sargent, Director of the Arnold Arboretum, +Brookline, Massachusetts, quoted in the Kew Report for 1882, p. 35, he +says: "I have been now, for a long time, examining our native woods +in the hope of finding something to take the place of boxwood for +engraving, but so far I am sorry to say with no very brilliant success. +The best work here is entirely done from boxwood, and some _Cornus +florida_ is used for less expensive engraving. This wood answers fairly +well for coarse work, but it is a difficult wood to manage, splitting, +or rather 'checking,' very badly in drying." This, however, he states in +a later letter, "can be overcome by sawing the logs through the center +as soon as cut. It can be obtained in large quantities." Mr. R.H. Keene, +the engraver before referred to, reports that the wood is very rough, +and suitable for bold work. + + +_Natural Order Ericaceae_. + +15. _Rhododendron maximum_, L. (mountain laurel of North America).--Of +this wood it is stated in Porcher's "Resources of the Southern Fields +and Forests," p. 419, that upon the authority of a well-known engraver +at Nashville, Tennessee, the wood is equaled only by the best boxwood. +This species of _Rhododendron_ "abounds on every mountain from Mason and +Dixon's line to North Georgia that has a rocky branch." Specimens of +this wood submitted to Mr. Scott were so badly selected and seasoned +that it was almost impossible to give it a trial. In consideration of +its hardness and apparent good qualities, further experiments should be +made with it. + +16. _Rhododendron californicum_.--Likewise a North American species, the +wood of which is similar to the last named. Specimens were sent to Kew +by Professor Sargent for report in 1882, but were so badly seasoned that +no satisfactory opinion could be obtained regarding it. + +17. _Kalmia latifolia_, L. (calico bush or ivy bush of North +America).--The wood is hard and dense, and is much used in America for +mechanical purposes. It has been recommended as a substitute for boxwood +for engraving, and trials should, therefore, be made with it. + + +_Natural Order Epacrideae_. + +18. _Monotoca elliptica_, R. Br.--A tall shrub or tree 20 or 30 feet +high, native of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania. +The wood has been experimented upon in this country, and though to all +appearances it is an excellent wood, yet Mr. Worthington Smith reported +upon it as having a bad surface, and readily breaking away so that the +cuts require much retouching after engraving. + + +_Natural Order Ebenaceae_. + +19. _Diospyros texana_.--A North American tree, of the wood of which +Professor Sargent speaks favorably. "It is, however," he says, "in +Texas, at least, rather small, scarcely six inches in diameter, and not +very common. In northern Mexico it is said to grow much larger, and +could probably be obtained with some trouble in sufficient quantities +to become an article of commerce." Of this wood Mr. Scott says: "It is +sufficiently good as regards the grain, but the specimen sent for +trial was much too small for practical purposes." Mr. R.H. Keene, the +engraver, says it "is nearly equal to the best box." + +20. _Diospyros virginiana_, L. (the persimmon of America).--A good-sized +tree, widely diffused, and common in some districts. The wood is of a +very dark color, hard, and of a fairly close grain. It has been used in +America for engraving, but so far as I am aware has not been tried +in this country. It has, however, been lately introduced for making +shuttles. + +21. _Dyospyros ebenum_, Koenig (ebony).--A wood so well known as to +need no description. It has been tried for engraving by Mr. Worthington +Smith, who considers it nearly as good as box. + + +_Natural Order Apocyneae_. + +22. _Hunteria zeylanica_, Gard.--A small tree, common in the warmer +parts of Ceylon. This is a very hard and compact wood, and is used for +engraving purposes in Ceylon, where it is said, by residents, to come +nearer to box than any other wood known. On this wood Mr. Worthington +Smith gave a very favorable opinion, but it is doubtful whether it would +ever be brought from Ceylon in sufficient quantities to meet a demand. + + +_Natural Order Bignoniaceae_. + +23. _Tecoma pentaphylla_, Dl.--A moderate-sized tree, native of the West +Indies and Brazil. The wood is compact, very fine, and even grained, and +much resembles box in general appearance. Blocks for engraving have been +prepared from it by Mr. R.J. Scott, who reported upon it as follows: "It +is the only likely successor to box that I have yet seen, but it is not +embraced as a deliverer should be, but its time may not be far off." + + +_Natural Order Corylaceae_. + +24. _Carpinus betulus_, L. (hornbeam).--A tree from 20 to 70 feet high, +with a trunk sometimes 10 feet in girth, indigenous in the southern +counties of England. The wood is very tough, heavy, and close grained. +It is largely used in France for handles for agricultural and mining +implements, and of late years has been much used in this country for +lasts. The wood of large growth is apt to became shaky, and it is +consequently not used as a building wood. It is said to have been used +as a substitute for box in engraving, but with what success does not +appear. + +25. _Ostrya virginica_, Willd (ironwood, or American hornbeam).--A +moderate-sized tree, widely spread over North America. The wood is +light-colored, and extremely hard and heavy; hence the name of ironwood. +It is used in America by turners, as well as for mill cogs, etc., and +has been suggested as a substitute for boxwood for engraving, though no +actual trials, so far as I am aware, have been made with it. + +Besides the foregoing list of woods, there are others that have been +occasionally used for posters and the coarser kinds of engraving, such, +for instance, as lime, sycamore, yew, beech, and even pine; and in +America, _Vaccinium arboreum_ and _Azalea nudiflora_. Of these, however, +but little is known as to their value. + +It will be noticed that in those woods that have passed through the +engraver's hands, some which promised best, so far as their texture +or grain is concerned, have been tried upon very imperfect or badly +seasoned samples. + +The subject is one of so much importance, as was pointed out at the +commencement of this paper, that a thoroughly organized series of +experiments should be undertaken upon carefully seasoned and properly +prepared woods, not only of those mentioned in the preceding list, but +also of any others that may suggest themselves, as being suitable, It +must, moreover, always be borne in mind that the questions of price, +and the considerations of supply and demand, must, to a great extent, +regulate the adaptation of any particular wood. + +With regard to those woods referred to as being tried by Mr. Worthington +Smith, he remarks in his report that any of them would be useful for +some classes of work, if they could be imported, prepared, and sold for +a farthing, or less than a halfpenny, per square inch. + +Specimens of all the woods here enumerated are contained in the Kew +Museum. + + * * * * * + + + + +COMPOSITE PORTRAITS. + + +Not long since we gave a figure from a drawing by Mr. Grallieni, which, +looked at from a distance, seemed to be a death's head, but which, when +examined more closely, was seen to represent two children caressing +a dog. Since then we have had occasion to publish some landscapes of +Kircher and his imitators, which, looked at sideways, exhibited human +profiles. This sort of amusement has exercised the skill of artists of +all times, and engravings, and even paintings, of double aspect are very +numerous. Chance has recently put into our hands a very curious work of +this kind, which is due to a skillful artist named Gaillot. It is an +album of quite ancient lithographs, which was published at Berlin by +Senefelder. The author, under the title of "Arts and Trades," has drawn +some very amusing faces that are formed through the tools and objects +used in the profession represented. We reproduce a few specimens of +these essentially original compositions of Gaillot. The green grocer is +formed of a melon for the head, of an artichoke and its stem for the +forehead and nose, of a pannier for the bust, etc. The hunter is made up +of a gun, of a powder horn, and of a hunting horn, etc.; and so on for +the other professions. This is an amusing exercise in drawing that we +have thought worthy of reproducing. Any one who is skillful with his +pencil might exercise himself in imagining other compositions of the +same kind.--_La Nature_. + +[Illustration: COMPOSITE PORTRAITS.--OCCUPATIONS. 1. Green-grocer. 2. +Hunter. 3. Artist. 4. Cobbler. 5. Chemist 6. Cooper.] + + * * * * * + + + + +HAND-CRAFT AND REDE-CRAFT.--A PLEA FOR THE FIRST NAMED. + +[Footnote: Read before the Worcester Free Industrial Institute, June 25, +1885.] + +By DANIEL C. GILMAN, President of the Johns Hopkins University, +Baltimore. + + +I cannot think of a theme more fit for this hour and place than +handy-craft. I begin by saying "handy-craft," for that is the form of +the word now in vogue, that which we are wonted to see in print and hear +in speech; but I like rather the old form, "hand-craft," which was used +by our sires so long ago as the Anglo-Saxon days. Both words mean the +same thing, the power of the hand to seize, hold, shape, match, carve, +paint, dig, bake, make, or weave. Neither form is in fashion, as we know +very well, for people choose nowadays such Latin words as "technical +ability," "manual labor," "industrial pursuits," "dexterity," +"professional artisanship," "manufacture," "decorative art," and +"technological occupations," not one of which is half as good as the +plain, old, strong term "hand-craft." + +An aid to hand-craft is rede-craft--the power to read, to reason, and to +think; or, as it is said in the book of Common Prayer, "to read, mark, +learn, and inwardly digest." By rede craft we find out what other men +have done; we get our book learning, we are made heirs to thoughts that +breathe and words that burn, we enter into the life, the acts, the arts, +the loves, the lore of the wise, the witty, the cunning, and the worthy +of all ages and all places; we learn, as says the peasant poet of +Scotland, + + "The song whose thunderous chime + Eternal echoes render-- + The mournful Tuscan's haunted rhyme, + And Milton's starry splendor!" + +I do not pit rede-craft against hand-craft. Quite otherwise, I call them +not foes (as some would), but friends. They are brothers, partners, +consorts, who can work together, as right hand and left hand, as science +and art, as theory and practice. Rede-craft may call for books and +hand-craft for tools, but it is by the help of both books and tools that +mankind moves on. Indeed, we shall not err wide of the mark if we say +that a book is a tool, for it is the instrument which we make use of in +certain cases when we wish to find out what other men have thought and +done. Perhaps you will not be as ready to admit that a tool is a book. +But take for example the plow. Compare the form in use to-day on a +first-rate farm with that which is pictured on ancient stones long hid +in Egypt--ages old. See how the idea of the plow has grown, and bear in +mind that its graceful curves, it fitness for a special soil, or for +a special crop, its labor-saving shape, came not by chance, but by +thought. Indeed, a plow is made up from the thoughts and toils of +generations of plowmen. Look at a Collins ax; it is also the record +of man's thought. Lay it side by side with the hatchet of Uncas or +Miantonomoh, or with an ax of the age of bronze, and think how many +minds have worked on the head and on the helve, how much skill has been +spent in getting the metal, in making it hard, in shaping the edge, in +fixing the weight, in forming the handle. From simple tools, turn to +complex; to the printing press, the sewing machine, the locomotive, +the telegraph, the ocean steamer; all are full of ideas. All are the +offspring of hand-craft and rede craft, of skill and thought, of +practice put on record, of science and art. + +Now, the welfare of each one of us, the welfare of our land, the welfare +of our race, rests on this union. You may almost take the measure of a +man's brain, if you can find out what he sees with his eyes and what he +does with hands; you may judge of a country, or of a city, if you know +what it makes. + +I do not know that we need ask which is best, hand-craft or rede-craft. +Certainly "the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee." At +times, hand-craft becomes rede-craft, for when the eye is blind the hand +takes its place, and the finger learns to read, running over the printed +page to find out what is written, as quickly as the eye. + +In these days, there are too many who look down on hand-craft. They +think only of the tasks of a drudge or a char-boy. They do not know the +pleasure there is in working, and especially in making. They have never +learned to guide the fingers by the brain. They like to hear, or see, or +own, or eat, what others have made, but they do not like to put their +own hands to work. If you doubt what I say, put a notice in the paper +asking for a clerk, and you will have a, hundred answers for every one +that will come when you ask for a workman. So it comes to pass that +young men grow up whose hands have not been trained to any kind of +skill; they wish, therefore, to be buyers and sellers, traders, dealers, +and so the market is overstocked with clerks, book-keepers, salesmen, +and small shop-keepers, while it is understocked in all the higher walks +of hand-craft. Some men can only get on by force of arms, lifting, +pounding, heaving, or by power of sitting at counter or a desk and +"clerking it." + +Machinery works against hand-craft. In many branches of labor, the hand +now has but little to do, and that little is always the same, so that +labor becomes tiresome and the workman dull. Machines can be made to cut +statuary, to weave beautiful tapestry, to fashion needles, to grind +out music, to make long calculations; alas! the machine has also +been brought into politics. Of course, a land cannot thrive without +machinery; it is that mechanical giant, the steam engine, which carries +the corn, the cotton, and the sugar from our rich valleys to the hungry +of other lands, and brings back to us the product of their looms. +Nevertheless, he who lives by the machine alone lives but half a life; +while he who uses his hand to contrive and to adorn drives dullness from +his path. A true artist and a true artisan are one. Hand-craft, the +power to shape, to curve, to beautify, to create, gives pleasure and +dignity to labor. + +In other times and in other lands, hand-craft has had more honor than it +has had with us. Let me give some examples. Not long ago, I went to one +of the shrines of education, the Sorbonne in Paris. Two paintings adorn +the chapel walls, not of saints or martyrs, nor of apostles or +prophets, perhaps I should say of both saints and prophets, _Labor_ and +_Humilitas_, Industry and Modesty. + +The touch of Phidias was his own, and so inimitable that a few months +ago, an American, scanning, with his practiced eye, the galleries of the +Louvre, recognized a fragment of the work of Phidias, long separated +from the Parthenon frieze which Lord Elgin sent to London. The +sculptor's touch could not be mistaken. It was as truly his own as his +signature, his autograph. Ruskin, in a lecture on the relation of Art to +Morals, calls attention to a note which Durer made on some drawings sent +him by Raphael: "These figures Raphael drew and sent to Albert Durer +in Nurnberg, to show him his hand, '_sein hand zu weisen_."' Ruskin +compares this phrase with other contests of hand-craft, Apelles and +Protogenes showing their skill by drawing a line; Giotto in striking a +circle. + +In the household of the Kings of Prussia, there is a custom, if not +a law, that every boy shall learn a trade. I believe this is a fact, +though I have no certain proof of it. The Emperor Wilhelm is said to be +a glazier, the Crown Prince a compositor, and on the Emperor's birthday +not long ago his majesty received an engraving by Prince Henry and a, +book bound by Prince Waldemar, two younger sons of the Crown Prince. Let +me refer to sacred writ; the prophet Isaiah, telling of the golden days +which are to come, when the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in +the land, nor the voice of crying, when the child shall die an hundred +years old, and men shall eat of the fruit of the vineyards they have +planted, adds this striking promise, as the culm of all hope, that the +elect of the Lord shall long enjoy the work of their hands. + +Now, in view of what has been said, my first point is this: We who have +to deal with the young, we all who love our fellow-men, we all who +desire that our times, our city, our country, should be thrifty, happy, +and content, must each in his place and way give high honor to labor. +We, especially, who are teachers and parents, should see to it that the +young get "hand-craft" while they are getting "rede-craft." How can this +be done? + +Mothers begin right in the nursery, teaching little fingers to play +before the tongue can lisp a sentence. Alas! this natural training has +often been stopped at school. Hitherto, until quite lately, in schools +both low and high, rede-craft has had the place of honor, hand-craft has +had no chance. But a change is coming. In the highest of all schools, +universities, for example, work rooms, labor places, "laboratories," are +now thought to be as useful as book rooms, reading rooms, libraries. + +What mean those buildings which you have seen spring up within a few +years past in all the college greens of New England? They are libraries +and laboratories. They show that rede-craft and hand-craft are alike +held in honor, and that a liberal education means skill in getting and +skill in using knowledge; that knowledge comes from searching books and +searching nature; that the brain and the hand are in close league. So +too, in the lowest school, as far as possible from the university, the +kindergarten has won its place and the blocks, and straws, and bands, +the chalk, the clay, the scissors, are in use to make young fingers +deft. Between the highest and the lowest schools there is a like call +for hand-craft. Seeing this need, the authorities in our public schools +have begun to project special schools for such training, and are looking +for guidance far and near. At this intermediate stage, for boy and girls +who are between the age of the kindergarten and the age of the college +or the shop, for youth between eight and sixteen, there is much to be +done; people are hardly aware how much is needed to secure fit training +for the rising generation. + +It seems sometimes as if one of the most needed forms of hand-craft +would become a lost art, even good handwriting. We cannot give much +credit to schools if they send out many who are skilled in algebra, or +in Latin, but who cannot write a page of English so that it can be read +without effort. + +Drawing is another kind of hand-craft, quite too much neglected. I think +it should be laid down as a law of the road to knowledge, that everybody +must learn to draw as well as to write. The pencil maybe mastered just +as readily as the pen. It is a simpler tool. The child draws before +he writes, and savages begin their language with pictures; but, we +wiseacres of this age of books let our young folks drop their slate +pencils and their Fabers, and practice with their Gillotts and their +Esterbrooks. Let us say, in every school and in every house, the child +must not only learn to read and write, he must learn to draw. We cannot +afford to let our young folks grow up without this power. A new French +book is just now much talked about, with this droll title, "The Life +of a Wise Man, by an Ignoramus." It is the story of the great Pasteur, +whose discoveries in respect to life have made him world renowned. I +turned to the book, eager to find out the key to such success, and +I found the old story--"the child was father of the man." This +philosopher, whose eye is so skilled in observing nature, and whose hand +is so apt in experiments, is the boy grown up whose pictures were so +good that the villagers thought him at thirteen an artist of rank. + +Girls should learn the first lesson of hand-craft with the needle; boys +may (and they will always prize the knowledge), but girls must. It is +wise that our schools are going back to old fashioned ways, and saying +that girls must be taught to sew. + +Boys should practice their hands upon the knife. John Bull used to laugh +at Brother Jonathan for whittling, and Mr. Punch always drew the Yankee +with a blade in his fingers; but they found out long ago in Great +Britain that whittling in this land led to something, a Boston notion, +a wooden clock, a yacht America, a labor-saving machine, a cargo of +wooden-ware, a shop full of knick-knacks, an age of inventions. Boys +need not be kept back to the hand-craft of the knife. For in-doors there +are the type case and printing press, the paint box, the tool box, the +lathe; and for out doors, the trowel, the spade, the grafting knife. It +matters not how many of the minor arts the youth acquires. The more the +merrier. Let each one gain the most he can in all such ways; for arts +like these bring no harm in their train; quite otherwise, they lure good +fortune to their company. + +Play, as well as work, may bring out hand-craft. The gun, the bat, the +rein, the rod, the oar, all manly sports, are good training for the +hand. Walking insures fresh air, but it does not train the body or mind +like games and sports which are played out of doors. A man of great fame +as an explorer and as a student of nature (he who discovered, in the +West, bones of horses with two, three, and four toes, and who found the +remains of birds with teeth) once told me that his success was largely +due to the sports of his youth. His boyish love of fishing gave him his +manly skill in exploration. + +I speak as if hand-craft was to be learned by sport. So it may. It may +also be learned by labor. Day by day for weeks I have been watching from +my study window a stately inn rise from the cellar just across the road. +A bricklayer has been there employed whose touch is like the stroke of +an artist. He handled each brick as if it were porcelain, balanced it +carefully in his hand, measured with his eye just the amount of mortar +which it needed, and dropped the block into its bed, without staining +its edge, without varying from the plumb line, by a stroke of hand-craft +as true as the sculptor's. Toil gave him skill. + +The second point I make is this: If you really value hand-craft, +buy that which shows hand-craft, encourage those who are engaged in +hand-craft, help on with your voice and with your pocket, those who +bring taste and skill and art into the works of their hand. If your +means are so small that you only buy what you need for your daily wants, +you cannot have much choice, you must buy that which is cheapest; but +hardly any one within the sound of my voice is so restricted as that; +almost if not quite every one buys something every year for his +pleasure, a curtain, a rug, a wall paper, a chair, or a table not +certainly needed, a vase, a clock, a, mantel ornament, a piece of +jewelry, a portrait, an etching, a picture. Now whenever you make such a +purchase, to please your taste, to make your parlor or your chamber more +attractive, choose that which shows good handiwork. Such a choice will +last. You will not tire of it as you will of that which has but a +commonplace form or pattern. + +I come now to a third point. That which has just been said applies +chiefly to things whose price is fixed by beauty. But handicraft gives +us many works not pleasing to the eye, yet of the highest skill--a +Jacquard loom, a Corliss engine, a Hoe printing press, a Winchester +rifle, an Edison dynamo, a Bell telephone. Ruskin may scout the work of +machinery, and up to a certain point may take us with him. Let us +allow that works of art marked by the artist's own touch--the gates of +Paradise by Ghiberti, a shield by Cellini, a statue by Michael Angelo, +are better than all reproductions and imitations, better than plaster +casts by Eichler, electrotypes by Barbedienne, or chromos by Prang. But +even Ruskin cannot suppress the fact that machinery brings to every +thrifty cottage in New England comforts and adornments which, in the +days of Queen Bess, were not known outside of the palace. Be mindful, +then, that handicraft makes machines which are wonders of productive +force--weaving tissues such as Penelope never saw, of woolen, cotton, +linen, and silk, to carpet our floors, cover our tables, cushion our +chairs, and clothe our bodies; machines of which Vulcan never dreamed, +to point a needle, bore a rifle, cut a watch wheel, or rule a series +of lines, measuring forty thousand to an inch, with sureness which the +unaided hand can never equal. Machinery is a triumph of handicraft as +truly as sculpture and architecture. The fingers which can plan and +build a steamship or a suspension bridge, which can make the Quinebaug +and the Blackstone turn spindles by the hundred thousand, which can turn +a rag heap into spotless paper, and make myriads of useful and artful +articles from rough metal, are fingers which this age alone has evolved. +The craft which makes useful things cheap can make cheap things +beautiful. The Japanese will teach us how to form and finish, if we do +not first teach them how to slight and sham. + +A fourth point is this. If hand-craft is of such worth, boys and girls +must be trained in it. This, I am well aware is no new thought. Forty +years ago schools of applied science were added to Harvard and Yale +colleges; twenty years ago Congress gave enough land-scrip to aid in +founding at least one such school in every state; men of wealth, like +many whom you have known and whom you honor, have given large sums for +like ends. Now the people at large are waking up. They see their needs; +they have the means to supply what they want. Is there the will? Know +they the way? Far and near the cry is heard for a different training +from that now given in the public schools. Many are trying to find it. +Almost every large town has its experiment--and many smaller places have +theirs. Nobody seems to know just what is best. Even the words which +express the want are vague. Bright and thoughtful people differ as to +what might, can, and should be done. A society has been formed in New +York to bring together the needed data. The Slater trustees, charged +with the care of a large fund for the training of freedmen, have said +that manual training must be given in all the schools they aid. The +town of Toledo in Ohio opened, some time since, a school of practical +training for boys, which worked so well that another has lately been +opened for girls. St. Louis is doing famously. Philadelphia has several +experiments in progress. Baltimore has made a start. In New York there +are many noteworthy movements--half a dozen at least full of life and +hope. Boston was never behindhand in knowledge, and in the new education +is very alert, the efforts of a single lady deserving praise of high +degree. These are but signs of the times. + +Some things may be set down as fixed; for example, most of those who +have thought on this theme will agree on the points I am about to name, +though they may or may not like the names which I venture to propose: + +1. Kindergarten work should be taught in the nurseries and infant +schools of rich and poor. + +2. Drawing should be taught in schools of every grade, till the hand +uses the pencil as readily as the pen. + +3. Every girl at school if not at home should learn to sew. + +4. Every boy should learn the use of tools, the gardener's or the +carpenter's, or both. + +5. Well planned exercises, fitted to strengthen the various bodily +organs, arms, fingers, wrists, lungs, etc., are good. Driving, swimming, +rowing, and other manly sports should be favored. + +What precedes is at the basis of good work. + +In addition: + +6. With good teachers, quite young children may learn the minor +decorative arts, carving, leather stamping, brass beating and the like, +as is shown in the Leland classes of Philadelphia. + +7. In towns, boys who begin to earn a living when they enter their teens +may be taught in evening schools to practice the craft of carpentry, +bricklaying, plastering, plumbing, gas fitting, etc., as is shown +successfully in the Auchmuty schools of New York. Trade schools they are +called; schools of practice for workmen would be a better name. + +8. Boys who can carry their studies through the later teens may learn, +while at the high school or technical school or college, to work in wood +and metals with precision, as I have lately seen in the College of the +City of New York, at Cornell University, and elsewhere-colleges or high +schools with work-shops and practice classes. If they can take the +time to fit themselves to be foremen and leaders in machine shops and +factories, they may be trained in theoretical and practical mechanics, +as in the Worcester Industrial Institute and in a score of other places; +but the youth must have talent as well as time to win the race in these +hard paths. These are schools for foremen, or, if we may use a foreign +word like Kindergarten, they are Meisterschaft schools. + +9. Youths who wish to enter the highest departments of engineering must +follow advanced courses of mathematics and physics, and must learn +to apply this knowledge. The better colleges and universities afford +abundant opportunities for such training, but their scientific +laboratories are fitted only for those who love long study as well as +hard. These are schools for engineers. + +10. Girls are most likely to excel in the lighter arts--to design (for +furniture or fabrics), to embroider, to carve, to engrave, to etch, to +model, to paint. Here also success depends largely upon that which was +inborn, though girls of moderate talent in art, by patience, may become +skilled in many kinds of art work. Schools for this instruction are +schools of art (elementary, decorative, professional, etc.). + +If there be those in this hall who think that hand-craft is adverse to +rede-craft, let me ask them to study the lives of men of mark. Isaac +Newton began his life as a farm-boy who carried truck to a market town; +Spinoza, the philosopher of Amsterdam, ground lenses for his livelihood; +Watt, the inventor of the steam engine, was mechanic to the University +of Glasgow; Porson, the great professor of Greek, was trained as a +weaver; George Washington was a land surveyor; Benjamin Franklin a +printer. + +Before I close let me draw a lesson from the history of our land. Some +of you doubtless bear in mind that before the late war men used to say, +"Cotton is king;" and why so? Because the trades which hung on this crop +were so many and so strong that they ruled all others. The rise or fall +of a penny in the price of cotton at Liverpool affected planters in +the South, spinners in the North, seamen on the ocean, bankers +and money-changers everywhere. Now wheat and petroleum share the +sovereignty; but then cotton was king. Who enthroned this harmless +plant? Two masters of hand-craft, one of whom was born a few miles east +of this place in Westborough; the other was a native of England who +spent most of his days a few miles south of this city. Within five +years--not quite a century ago--these two men were putting in forms +which could be seen, ideas which brought our countrymen large measures +of both weal and woe. In 1790, Samuel Slater, once an apprentice to +Strutt and Arkwright, built the mill at Pawtucket which taught Americans +the art of cotton-spinning; and before 1795, Eli Whitney had invented +the gin which easily cleansed the cotton boll of its seeds, and so made +marketable the great crop we have spoken of. Many men have made more +noise in the world than Slater and Whitney; few if any can be named +whose peaceable hand-craft has done so much to give this country its +front place in the markets of the globe. + +Let me come nearer home, and as I take my seat let me name a son of +this very town who loved hand-craft and rede-craft, and worthily aided +both--Isaiah Thomas, the patriot printer, editor, and publisher, +historian of the printer's craft in this land, and founder of the far +famed antiquarian library, eldest in that group of institutions which +gave to Worcester its rank in the world of letters, as its many products +give it standing in the world of industry and art. + +Mindful of three such worthies, it is not strange that Salisbury, +Washburn, Boylston, and many more have built up this high school of +handicraft; it will be no wonder if others like minded build on the +foundations which have been so fitly laid. + + * * * * * + + + + +MAKING SEA WATER POTABLE. + +[Footnote: Read lately before the Manchester Literary and Philosophical +Society] + +By THOMAS KAY, President of the Stockport Natural History Society. + + +The author called attention to the absence of research in this +direction, and how man, endowed to overcome every physical disability +which encompassed him on land, was powerless to live on the wide ocean, +although it is teeming with life. + +The water for experiment was taken from the English Channel, about +fifty miles southwest of the Eddystone Lighthouse, and it was found +to correspond closely with the analysis of the Atlantic published by +Roscoe, viz.: Total solids 35.976, of which the total chlorides, are +32.730, representing 19.868 of chlorine. + +The waters of the Irish Sea and the English Channel nearer to the German +Ocean, from their neighborhood to great rivers, are weaker than the +above. + +Schweitzer's analysis of the waters of the English Channel, near +Brighton, was taken as representing the composition of the sea, and is +here given: + + Sodium chloride 27.059 + Potassium " 0.766 + Magnesium " 3.666 + " bromide 0.029 + " sulphate 2.296 + Calcium " 1.406 + " carbonate 0.033 + Iodine and ammoniacal salts traces + Water 964.795 + ________ + 1000.000 + +The chlorides in the-- + + Irish Sea are about 30 per mille. + English Channel are about 31 " + Beyond the Eddystone are 32 " + +As the requirement for a potable sea water does not arise except in +mid-ocean, the proportion of 32 per mille must be taken as the basis of +calculation. + +This represents as near 20 per mille of chlorine as possible. + +From the analysis shown it will be perceived that the chlorides of +sodium and magnesium are in great preponderance. + +It is to the former of these that the baneful effects of sea water when +drunk are to be ascribed, for chloride of sodium or common salt produces +thirst probably by its styptic action on the salivary glands, and scurvy +by its deleterious action on the blood when taken in excess. + +Sodium chloride being the principal noxious element in sea water, and +soda in combination with a vegetable or organic acid, such as citric +acid, tartaric acid, or malic acid, being innocuous, the conclusion is +that the element of evil to be avoided is _chlorine_. + +After describing various experiments, and calling attention to the power +of earthy matters in abstracting salts from solutions by which he hoped +the process would be perfected, an imperial pint of water from beyond +the Eddystone was shown mixed with 960 grains of citrate of silver and 4 +grains of the free citric acid. + +Each part of the chlorides requires three parts by weight of the silver +citrate to throw down the chlorine, thus: + +3NaCl + Ag_{3}C_{6}H_{5}O_{7} = Na3.C_{6}H_{5}O_{7}+3AgCl. + +The silver chloride formed a dense insoluble precipitate, and the +supernatant fluid was decanted and filtered through a rubber tube and +handed round as a beverage. + +It contained in each fluid ounce by calculation about: + + 18 grains of citrate of soda. + 1-1/2 " " magnesia. + 1/2 " " potash. + 1 " sulphate of magnesia. + 1/2 " " lime. + 1/5 " citric acid. + +with less than half a grain of undecomposed chlorides. + +To analyze this liquid therapeutically, it may be broadly stated that +salts of potash are _diuretic_, salts of magnesia _aperient_, and salts +of soda _neutral_, except in excessive doses, or in combination with +acids of varying medicinal action; thus, soda in nitric acid, nitrate +of soda, is a _diuretic_, following the law of nitrates as nitrate of +potash, a most powerful diuretic, nitrous ether, etc.; while soda in +combination with sulphuric acid as sulphate of soda is _aperient_, +following the law of sulphates, which increase aperient action, as in +sulphate of magnesia, etc. + +Thus it would seem that soda holds the scales evenly between potash and +magnesia in this medical sense, and that it is weighed, so to speak, on +either side by the kind of mineral acid with which it may be combined. + +With non-poisonous vegetable acids, and these slightly in excess, there +is not such an effect produced. + +Sodium is an important constituent of the human body, and citric acid, +from its carbon, almost a food. Although no one would advocate saline +drinks in excess, yet, under especial circumstances, the solution of it +in the form of citrate can hardly be hurtful when used to moisten the +throat and tongue, for it will never be used under circumstances where +it can be taken in large quantities. + +In the converted sea water the bulk of the solids is composed of inert +citrate of soda. There is a little citrate of potash, which is a feeble +diuretic; a little citrate and sulphate of magnesia, a slight aperient, +corrected, however, by the constipatory half grain of sulphate of lime; +so that the whole practically is inoperative. + +The combination of these salts in nature's proportions would seem to +indicate that they must be the best for administration in those ailments +to which their use would be beneficial. + +Citrate of silver is an almost insoluble salt, and requires to be +kept from the light, air, and organic matter, it being very easily +decomposed. + +A stoppered bottle covered with India-rubber was exhibited as indicating +a suitable preserver of the salt, as it affords protection against +light, air, and breakage. As one ounce of silver citrate will convert +half a pint of sea water into a drinkable fluid, and a man can keep +alive upon it a day, then seven ounces of it will keep him a week, and +so on, it may not unreasonably be hoped, in proportion. + +It is proposed to pack the silver citrate in hermetically sealed rubber +covered bottles or tubes, to be inserted under the canisters or thwarts +of the life-boats in ocean-going vessels, and this can be done at a +simple interest on the first outlay, without any loss by depreciation, +as it will always be worth its cost, and be invaluable in case of need. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE ACIDS OF WOOL OIL. + + +All wools contain a certain amount of animal oil or grease, which +permeates every portion of the fleece. The proportion of oil varies with +the breed of sheep. A difference in climate and soil materially affects +the yield of oil. This is shown by analyses made of different kinds of +wool, both foreign and domestic. Spanish wool was found to have but +eight per cent. grease; Australian wool fifteen per cent.; while in some +fleeces of Pennsylvania wool as high as forty per cent. was obtained. To +extract the oil from the wool, a fleece was put in a tall cylinder and +naphtha poured on it. The naphtha on being allowed to drain through +slowly dissolved out the grease. This naphtha solution was distilled; +the naphtha passing off while grease remained--a dark oil having high +specific gravity and remaining nearly solid at the ordinary temperature. +I am indebted to Mrs. Richards for this method of extracting the oil. +The process is quick and inexpensive, and is applicable to the treatment +of large quantities of wool. + +The object of these experiments was to find the readiest method of +separating wool oil into its bases and acids, and further to identify +the various fatty acids. A solution of the oil in naphtha was cooled to +15 deg. C. This caused a separation of the oil into two portions: a white +solid fat and a fluid dark oil. The first on examination proved to be a +mixture of palmitic and stearic acids existing uncombined in the wool +oil. The original wool oil was saponified by boiling with alcoholic +potash. + +The soap formed was separated into two portions by shaking with ether +and water. On standing, the solution separated into two layers, the +upper or murial solution containing the bases, the lower or aqueous +solution containing the acids. This method of separation is very slow. +In one case it worked very well, but as a rule appeared to be almost +impracticable. Benzol and naphtha were tried, instead of ether, but the +results were less satisfactory. On suggestion of Prof. Ordway, potassium +chloride was added to the soap solution partially separated by ether and +water. This caused an immediate and complete separation. By the use of +potassium chloride it was found possible to effect a separation with +benzol and water, also with naphtha and water. + +Another means of separation was tried by precipitating the calcium +salts, from a solution of the potash soap. From the portion of the +calcium salts insoluble in alcohol, a fatty acid was obtained with a +melting point and composition almost identical with the melting point +and composition of palmitic acid. The aqueous portion of the separation +effected by water and ether was examined for the fatty acid. The lead +salts of the fatty acids were digested with ether, which dissolved out +the lead oleate. From this oleic acid was obtained. This was further +purified by forming the Boreum salt of oleic acid. The lead salts not +soluble in ether were decomposed by acid. The fatty acids set free were +saponified by carbonate of potassium. A fractional precipitation was +effected by adding lead acetate in successive portions; each portion +sufficient to precipitate one-fourth of all the acids present. + +The acid obtained from the first fractionation had the melting point at +75 deg.-76 deg., indicating an acid either in carbon then stearic or palmitic +acids. + +The acids obtained from the third fractionation had a melting point of +53 deg.-54 deg. C. This acid in composition and general properties was very +similar to that obtained by freezing the naphtha solution of the oil, +and is probably a mixture of stearic and palmitic acids. These acids, +being in combination with the bases of the oil, would be set free only +on saponifying the oil and subsequently decomposing with acid. + +In conclusion, I should say that but a small proportion of the fatty +acids exist in the wool oil uncombined; that the proportion of oleic +acid is small, and can only be obtained in an oxidized condition; that +the main portion of the fatty acids is composed of stearic and palmitic +acids in nearly equal proportions; that the existence of a fatty acid, +containing a higher per cent. of carbon than those mentioned, is not +fully established.--_N.W. Shedd, M.I.T._ + + * * * * * + + + + +A NEW ABSORBENT FOR OXYGEN. + + +OTTO, BARON V.D. PFORDTEN.--The author makes use of a solution of +chromous chloride, which he prepares as follows: + +He first heats chromic acid with concentrated hydrochloric acid, so +as to obtain a strong green solution of chromic chloride free from +chlorine. This is then reduced with zinc and hydrochloric acid. The blue +chromous chloride solution thus obtained is poured into a saturated +solution of sodium acetate in an atmosphere of carbonic acid. A +red precipitate of chromous acetate is formed, which is washed by +decantation in water containing carbonic acid. This salt is relatively +stable, and can be preserved for an indefinite time in a moist condition +in stoppered bottles filled with carbonic acid. + +In this process the following precautions are to be observed: + +Spongy flocks always separate from the zinc used in the reduction, which +float about in the acid liquid for a long time and give off minute gas +bubbles. If poured into the solution of sodium acetate, they would +contaminate the precipitate; and when dissolved in hydrochloric acid, +would occasion a slight escape of hydrogen. The solution of chromous +chloride must therefore be freed from the zinc by filtration in the +absence of air. For this purpose the reduction is carried on in a flask +fitted up like a washing bottle. The long tube is bent down outside the +flask, and is here provided with a small bulb tube containing glass wool +or asbestos. The hydrogen gas liberated during reduction is at first let +escape through this tube; afterward its outer end is closed, and it is +pressed down into the liquid. The hydrogen must now pass through the +shorter tube (the mouthpiece of the washing bottle), which has an India +rubber valve. When the reduction is complete, the blue liquid is driven +up in the long tube by introducing carbonic acid through the short tube, +so that it filters through the asbestos into the solution of sodium +acetate into which the reopened end of the long tube dips. When washing +out the red precipitate, at first a little acetic acid is added to +dissolve any basic zinc carbonate which has been deposited. In this +manner a chromous acetate is obtained perfectly free from zinc. + +For the absorption of oxygen the compound just described is decomposed +with hydrochloric acid in the following simple washing apparatus: Upon +a shelf there are fixed side by side two ordinary preparation glasses, +closed with caoutchouc stoppers, each having three perforations. Each +two apertures receive the glass tubes used in gas washing bottles, while +the third holds a dropping funnel. It is filled with dilute hydrochloric +acid, and after the expulsion of the air by a current of gas, plentiful +quantities of chromous acetate are passed into the bottles. When the +current of gas has been passed in for some time, the hydrochloric acid +is let enter, which dissolves the chromous acetate, and thus, in the +absence of air, produces a solution of blue chromous chloride. It is +advisable to use an excess of chromous acetate or an insufficient +quantity of hydrochloric acid, so that there may be no free hydrochloric +acid in the liquid. To keep back any free acetic acid which might be +swept over by the current of gas, there is introduced after the washing +apparatus another washing bottle with sodium carbonate. Also solid +potassium carbonate may be used instead of calcium chloride for drying +the gas. If the two apertures of the washing apparatus are fitted with +small pinch cocks, it is ready for use, and merely requires to be +connected with the gas apparatus in action in order to free the gas +generated from oxygen. As but little chromous salt is decomposed by the +oxygen such a washing apparatus may serve for many experiments. + + * * * * * + + + + +GAIFFE'S NEW MEDICAL GALVANOMETER. + + +In this apparatus, which contains but one needle, and has no directing +magnet, proportionability between the intensities and deflections is +obtained by means of a special form given the frame upon which the wire +is wound. + +We give herewith a figure of the curve that Mr. Gaiffe has fixed upon +after numerous experiments. Upon examination it will be seen that the +needle approaches the current in measure as the directing action of +the earth increases; and experiment proves that the two actions +counterbalance each other, and render the deflections very sensibly +proportional to the intensities up to an angle of from 65 to 75 degrees. + +[Illustration] + +Another important fact has likewise been ascertained, and that is that, +under such circumstances, the magnetic intensity of the needle may +change without the indications ceasing to have the same exactness up to +65 degrees. As well known, Mr. Desains has demonstrated that this occurs +likewise in sinus or tangent galvanometers; but these have helices that +are very large in proportion to the needle. In medical galvanometers the +proportions are no longer the same, and the needle is always very near +the directing helix. If this latter is square, or even elliptical, it is +found that, beyond an angle of 15 degrees, there are differences of 4 or +5 degrees in the indications given with the same intensity of current by +the same needle, according to the latter's intensity of magnetism. This +inconvenience is quite grave, for it often happens that a needle changes +magnetic intensity, either under the influence of too strong currents +sent into the apparatus, or of other magnets in its vicinity, or as +a consequence of the bad quality of the steel, etc. It was therefore +urgently required that this should be remedied, and from this point +of view the new mode of winding the wire is an important improvement +introduced into medical galvanometers.--_La Lumiere Electrique_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE SUSPENSION OF LIFE. + + +Every one knows that life exists in a latent state in the seeds of +plants, and may be preserved therein, so to speak, indefinitely. In +1853, Ridolfi deposited in the Egyptian Museum of Florence a sheaf of +wheat that he had obtained from seeds found in a mummy case dating back +about 3,000 years. This aptitude of revivification is found to a high +degree in animalcules of low order. The air which we breathe is loaded +with impalpable dust that awaits, for ages perhaps, proper conditions +of heat and moisture to give it an ephemeral life that it will lose and +acquire by turns. + +In 1707, Spallanzani found it possible, eleven times in succession, to +suspend the life of rotifers submitted to desiccation, and to call it +back again by moistening this organic dust with water. A few years +ago Doyere brought to life some tardigrades that had been dried at a +temperature of 150 deg. and kept four weeks in a vacuum. If we ascend the +scale of beings, we find analogous phenomena produced by diverse causes. +Flies that have been imported in casks of Madeira have been resuscitated +in Europe, and chrysalids have been kept in this state for years. +Cockchafers drowned, and then dried in the sun, have been revived after +a lapse of twenty-four hours, two days, and even five days, after +submersion. Frogs, salamanders, and spiders poisoned by curare or +nicotine, have returned to life after several days of apparent death. + +Cold produces some extraordinary effects. Spallanzani kept several frogs +in the center of a lump of ice for two years, and, although they became +dry, rigid, almost friable, and gave no external appearance of being +alive, it was only necessary to expose them to a gradual and moderate +heat to put an end to the lethargic state in which they lay. + +Pikes and salamanders have at different epochs been revived before the +eyes of Maupertuis and Constant Dumeril (members of the Academy of +Sciences) after being frozen stiff. Auguste Dumeril, son of Constant, +and who was the reporter of the committee relative to the Blois toad in +1851, published a curious memoir the following year in which he narrates +how he interrupted life through congelation of the liquids and solids of +the organism. Some frogs, whose internal temperature had been reduced to +-2 deg. in an atmosphere of -12 deg., returned to life before his eyes, and he +observed their tissues regain their usual elasticity and their heart +pass from absolute immobility to its normal motion. + +There is therefore no reason for doubting the assertions of travelers +who tell us that the inhabitants of North America and Russia transport +fish that are frozen stiff, and bring them to life again by dipping them +into water of ordinary temperature ten or fifteen days afterward. But I +think too much reliance should not be put in the process devised by +the great English physiologist, Hunter, for prolonging the life of man +indefinitely by successive freezings. It has been allowed to no one but +a romancer, Mr. Edmond About, to be present at this curious operation. + +Among the mammifera we find appearances of death in their winter sleep; +but these are incomplete, since the temperature of hibernating animals +remains greater by one degree than that of the surrounding air, and the +motions of the heart and respiration are simply retarded. Dr. Preyer has +observed that a hamster sometimes goes five minutes without breathing +appreciably after a fortnight's sleep. + +In man himself a suspension of life, or at least phenomena that seem +inseparable therefrom, has been observed many times. In the _Journal des +Savants_ for 1741 we read that a Col. Russel, having witnessed the +death of his wife, whom he tenderly loved, did not wish her buried, and +threatened to kill any one who should attempt to remove the body before +he witnessed its decomposition himself. Eight days passed by without the +woman giving the slightest sign of life, "when, at a moment when he was +holding her hand and shedding tears over her, the church bell began to +ring, and, to his indescribable surprise, his wife sat up and said, 'It +is the last stroke, we shall be too late.' She recovered." + +At a session of the Academy of Sciences, Oct. 17, 1864, Mr. Blaudet +communicated a report upon a young woman of thirty summers who, being +subject to nervous attacks, fell, after her crises, into a sort of +lethargic sleep which lasted several weeks and sometimes several months. +One of her sleeps, especially, lasted from the beginning of the year +1862 until March, 1863. + +Dr. Paul Levasseur relates that, in a certain English family, lethargy +seemed to have become hereditary. The first case was exhibited in an old +lady who remained for fifteen days in an immovable and insensible state, +and who afterward, on regaining her consciousness, lived for quite a +long time. Warned by this fact, the family preserved a young man for +several weeks who appeared to be dead, but who came to life again. + +Dr. Pfendler, in an inaugural thesis (Paris, 1833), minutely describes a +case of apparent death of which he himself was a witness. A young girl +of Vienna at the age of 15 was attacked by a nervous affection that +brought on violent crises followed by lethargic states which lasted +three or four days. After a time she became so exhausted that the first +physicians of the city declared that there was no more hope. It was not +long, in fact, before she was observed to rise in her bed and fall back +as if struck with death. "For four hours she appeared to me," says Dr. +Pfendler, "completely inanimate. With Messrs. Franck and Schaeffer, +I made every possible effort to rekindle the spark of life. Neither +mirror, nor burned feather, nor ammonia, nor pricking succeeded in +giving us a sign of sensibility. Galvanism was tried without the patient +showing any contractility. Mr. Franck believed her to be dead, but +nevertheless advised me to leave her on the bed. For twenty-eight hours +no change supervened, although it was thought that a little putrefaction +was observed. The death bell was sounded, the friends of the girl had +dressed her in white and had crowned her with flowers, and all was +arranged for her burial. Desiring to convince myself of the course of +the putrefaction, I visited the body again, and found that no further +advance had been made than before. What was my astonishment when I +believed that I saw a slight respiratory motion. I looked again, and saw +that I was not mistaken. I at once used friction and irritants, and in +an hour and a half the respiration increased. The patient opened her +eyes, and, struck with the funereal paraphernalia around her, returned +to consciousness, and said, 'I am too young to die.'" All this was +followed by a ten hours' sleep. Convalescence proceeded rapidly, and the +girl became free from all her nervous troubles. During her crisis she +heard everything. She quoted some Latin words that Mr. Franck had used. +Her most fearful agony had been to hear the preparations for her burial +without being able to get rid of her torpor. Medical dictionaries are +full of anecdotes of this nature, but I shall cite but two more. + +On the 10th of November, 1812, during the fatal retreat from Russia, +Commandant Tascher, desiring to bring back to France the body of his +general, who had been killed by a bullet, and who had been buried since +the day before, disinterred him, and, upon putting him into a landau, +and noticing that he was still breathing, brought him to life again by +dint of care. A long time afterward this same general was one of the +pall bearers at the funeral obsequies of the aide-de-camp who had buried +him. In 1826 a young priest returned to life at the moment the bishop +of the diocese was pronouncing the _De Profundis_ over his body. Forty +years afterward, this priest, who had become Cardinal Donnett, preached +a feeling sermon upon the danger of premature burial. + +I trust I have now sufficiently prepared the mind of the reader for an +examination of the phenomena of the voluntary suspension of life that I +shall now treat of. + +The body of an animal may be compared to a machine that converts the +food that it receives into motion. It receives nothing, it will produce +nothing; but there is no reason why it should get out of order if it is +not deteriorated by external agents. The legendary rustic who wanted to +accustom his ass to go without food was therefore theoretically wrong +only because he at the same time wanted the animal to work. The whole +difficulty consists in breaking with old habits. To return to the +comparison that we just made, we shall run the risk of exploding the +boiler of a steam engine if we heat it or cool it abruptly, but we can +run it very slowly and for a very long time with but very little fuel. +We may even preserve a little fire under the ashes, and this, although +it may not be capable of setting the parts running, will suffice later +on to revivify the fireplace after it has been charged anew with fuel. + +We have recently had the example of Dr. Tanner, who went forty days +without any other nourishment than water. Not very long ago Liedovine de +Schiedam, who had been bedridden for twenty years, affirmed that she +had taken no food for eight of them. It is said that Saint Catharine of +Sienna gradually accustomed herself to do without food, and that she +lived twenty years in total abstinence. We know of several examples of +prolonged sleep during which the sleeper naturally took no nourishment. +In his Magic Disquisitions, Delvis cites the case of a countryman who +slept for an entire autumn and winter. Pfendler relates that a certain +young and hysterical woman fell twice into a deep slumber which each +time lasted six months. In 1883 an _enceinte_ woman was found asleep +on a bench in the Grand Armee Avenue. She was taken to the Beaujon +Hospital, where she was delivered a few days after while still asleep, +and it was not till the end of three months that she could be awakened +from her lethargy. At this very moment, at Tremeille, a woman named +Marguerite Bouyenvalle is sleeping a sleep that has lasted nearly a +year, during which the only food that she has had is a few drops of soup +daily. + +What is more remarkable, Dr. Fournier says in his Dictionary of Medical +Sciences that he knew of a distinguished writer at Paris, who sometimes +went for months at a time without taking anything but emollient drinks, +while at the same time living along like other people. + +Respiration is certainly more necessary to life than food is; but it is +not absolutely indispensable, as we have seen in the cases of apparent +death cited in our previous article. It is possible, through exercise, +for a person to accustom himself, up to a certain point, to abstinence +from air as he can from food. Those who dive for pearls, corals, or +sponges succeed in remaining from two to three minutes under water. Miss +Lurline, who exhibited in Paris in 1882, remained two and a half minutes +beneath the water of her aquarium without breathing. In his treatise De +la Nature, Henri de Rochas, physician to Louis XIII., gives six minutes +as the maximum length of time that can elapse between successive +inspirations of air. It is probable that this figure was based upon an +observation of hibernating animals. + +In his Encyclopedic Dictionary, Dr. Dechambre relates the history of +a Hindoo who hid himself in the waters of the Ganges where women were +bathing, seized one of them by the legs, drowned her, and then removed +her jewels. Her disappearance was attributed to crocodiles. One woman +who succeeded in escaping him denounced the assassin, who was seized and +hanged in 1817. + +A well known case, is that of Col. Townshend, who possessed the +remarkable faculty of stopping at will not only his respiration, but +also the beating of his heart. He performed the experiment one day in +the presence of Surgeon Gosch, who cared for him in his old age, two +physicians, and his apothecary, Mr. Shrine. In their presence, says +Gosch, the Colonel lay upon his back, Dr. Cheyne watched his pulse, Dr. +Baynard put his hand upon his heart, and Mr. Shrine held a mirror to +his mouth. After a few seconds no pulse, movement of the heart, or +respiration could be observed. At the end of half an hour, as the +spectators were beginning to get frightened, they observed the functions +progressively resuming their course, and the Colonel came back to life. + +The fakirs of India habituate themselves to abstinence from air, either +by introducing into the nostrils strings that come out through the +mouth, or by dwelling in subterranean cells that air and light never +enter except through narrow crevices that are sometimes filled with +clay. Here they remain seated in profound silence, for hours at a time, +without any other motion than that of the fingers as the latter slowly +take beads from a chaplet, the mind absorbed by the mental pronunciation +of OM (the holy triune name), which they must repeat incessantly while +endeavoring to breathe as little as possible. They gradually lengthen +the intervals between their inspirations and expirations, until, in +three or four months, they succeed in making them an hour and a half. +This is not the ideal, for one of their sacred books says, in speaking +of a saint: "At the fourth month he no longer takes any food but air, +and that only every twelve days, and, master of his respiration he +embraces God in his thought. At the fifth he stands as still as a pole; +he no longer sees anything but Baghavat, and God touches his cheek to +bring him out of his ecstasy." + +It will be conceived that by submitting themselves to such gymnastics +from infancy, certain men, already predisposed by atavism or a peculiar +conformation, might succeed in doing things that would seem impossible +to the common run of mortals. Do we not daily see acrobats remaining +head downward for a length of time that would suffice to kill 99 per +cent, of their spectators through congestion if they were to place +themselves in the same posture? Can the savage who laboriously learns +to spell, letter by letter, comprehend how many people get the general +sense of an entire page at a single glance? + +There is no reason, then, _a priori_, for assigning to the domain of +legerdemain the astonishing facts that are told us by a large number of +witnesses, worthy of credence, regarding a young fakir who, forty years +ago, was accustomed to allow himself to be buried, and resuscitated +several months afterward. + +An English officer, Mr. Osborne, gives the following account of one of +these operations, which took place in 1838 at the camp of King Randjet +Singh: + +"After a few preparations, which lasted some days, and that it would +prove repugnant to enumerate, the fakir declared himself ready to +undergo the ordeal. The Maharajah, the Sikhs chiefs, and Gen. Ventura, +assembled near a masonry tomb that had been constructed expressly to +receive him. Before their eyes, the fakir closed with wax all the +apertures in his body (except his mouth) that could give entrance +to air. Then, having taken off the clothing that he had on, he was +enveloped in a canvas sack, and, according to his wish, his tongue was +turned back in such a way as to close the entrance to his windpipe. +Immediately after this he fell into a sort of trance. The bag that held +him was closed and a seal was put upon it by the Maharajah. The bag was +then put into a wooden box, which was fastened by a padlock, sealed, and +let down into the tomb. A large quantity of earth was thrown into the +hole and rammed down, and then barley was sown on the surface and +sentinels placed around with orders to watch day and night. + +"Despite all such precautions, the Maharajah had his doubts; so he came +twice in the space of ten months (the time during which the fakir was +buried), and had the tomb opened in his presence. The fakir was in the +bag into which he had been put, cold and inanimate. The ten months +having expired, he was disinterred, Gen. Ventura and Capt. Ward saw the +padlock removed, the seals broken, and the box taken from the tomb. +The fakir was taken out, and no pulsation either at the heart or pulse +indicated the presence of life. As a first measure for reviving him, a +person introduced a finger gently into his mouth and placed his tongue +in its natural position. The top of his head was the only place where +there was any perceptible heat. By slowly pouring warm water over his +body, signs of life were gradually obtained, and after about two hours +of care the patient got up and began to walk. + +"This truly extraordinary man says that during his burial he has +delightful dreams, but that the moment of awakening is always very +painful to him. Before returning to a consciousness of his existence he +experiences vertigoes. His nails and hair cease to grow. His only fear +is that he may be harmed by worms and insects, and it is to protect +himself from these that he has the box suspended in the center of the +tomb." + +This sketch was published in the _Magasin Pittoresque_ in 1842 by a +writer who had just seen Gen. Ventura in Paris, and had obtained from +him a complete confirmation of the story told by Capt. Wade. + +Another English officer, Mr. Boileau, in a work published in 1840, +and Dr. MacGregor, in his medical topography of Lodhiana, narrate two +analogous exhumations that they separately witnessed. The question +therefore merits serious examination.--_A. de Rochas, in La Nature_. + + * * * * * + +Some experiments recently made by M. Olszewsky appear to show that +liquid oxygen is one of the best of refrigerants. He found that when +liquefied oxygen was allowed to vaporize under the pressure of one +atmosphere, a temperature as low as -181.4 deg. C. was produced. The +temperature fell still further when the pressure on the liquid oxygen +was reduced to nine millimeters of mercury. Though the pressure was +reduced still further to four millimeters of mercury, yet the oxygen +remained liquid. Liquefied nitrogen, when allowed to evaporate under a +pressure of sixty millimeters of mercury, gave a temperature of -214 deg. +C., only the surface of the liquid gas became opaque from incipient +solidification. Under lower pressures the nitrogen solidified, +and temperatures as low as -225 deg. C. were recorded by the hydrogen +thermometer. The lowest temperature obtained by allowing liquefied +carbonic oxide to vaporize was -220.5 deg. C. + + * * * * * + + + + +CONVALLARIA. + +By OTTO A. WALL, M.D., Ph.G. + + +Cnovallaria Majalis is a stemless perennial plant, found in both +the eastern and western hemispheres, with two elliptic leaves and a +one-sided raceme bearing eight or ten bell-shaped flowers. The flowers +are fragrant, and perfumes called "Lily of the Valley" are among the +popular odors. + +Both leaves and flowers have been used in medicine, but the rhizome is +the part most frequently used. + +[Illustration: CONVALLARIA.] + +The fresh rhizome is a creeping, branching rhizome of a pale yellowish +white color, which, on drying, darkens to a straw color, or even a +brown in places. When dry it is about the thickness of a thick knitting +needle, swelling to the thickness of a quill when soaked in water. It +is of uniform thickness, except near the leaf-bearing ends, which are +thicker marked with numerous leafscars, or bare buds covered with +scales, and often having attached the tattered remains of former leaves. +Fig. A shows a portion of rhizome, natural size, and Fig. B shows +another piece enlarged to double linear size. + +The internodes are smooth, the rootlets being attached at the nodes. The +rootlets are filiform, and darker in color. + +The rhizome is covered by an epidermis, composed of muriform cells of a +bright yellow color, after having been treated with liquor potassae to +clear up the tissues. These cells are shown in Fig. G. An examination of +the transverse section shows us the endogenous structure, as we find +it also in various other drugs (sarsaparilla, etc.), namely, a nucleus +sheath, inclosing the fibrovascular bundles and pith, and surrounded +by a peri-ligneous or peri-nuclear portion, consisting of soft-walled +parenchyma cells, loosely arranged with many small, irregularly +triangular, intercellular spaces in the tranverse section. Some of these +cells contain bundles of raphides (Fig. 2), one of which bundles is +shown crushed in Fig. J. Sometimes these crystals are coarser and less +needle-like, as in Fig. K. Fig. C shows a transverse section through the +leaf-bearing portion of the rhizome (at a), and is rather irregular on +account of the fibrovascular bundles diverging into the base of the +leaves of flower-stalks. A more regular appearance is seen in Fig. D, +which is a section through the internode (b). In it we see the nuclear +sheath, varying in width from one to three cells, and inclosing a number +of crescent-shaped fibrovascular bundles, with their convexities toward +the center and their horns toward the nuclear sheath. There are also +from two to four or five free closed fibrovascular bundles in the +central pith. + +These fibrovascular bundles consist mainly of dotted or reticulated +ducts (Fig. F), but all gradations from, this to the spiroids, or even +true spiral ducts (Fig. E). may be found, though the annular and spiral +ducts are quite rare. These ducts are often prismatically compressed +by each other. The fibrovascular bundles also contain soft-walled +prosenchyma cells. The peri-nuclear portion consists of soft-walled +parenchyma, smaller near the nuclear sheath and the epidermis, and +larger about midway between, and of the same character as the cells of +the pith. In longitudinal section they appear rectangular, similar to +the walls of the epidermis (G), but with thinner walls. + +All parts of the plant have been used in medicine, either separately or +together, and according to some authorities the whole flowering plant is +the best form in which to use this drug. + +The active principles are _convallaramin_ and _convallarin_. + +It is considered to act similarly to digitalis as a heart-stimulant, +especially when the failure of the heart's action is due to mechanical +impediments rather than to organic degeneration. It is best given in the +form of fluid extract in the dose of 1 to 5 cubic centimeters (15 to +75 minims), commencing with the smaller doses, and increasing, if +necessary, according to the effects produced in each individual +case.--_The Pharmacist_. + + * * * * * + + + + +FLIGHT OF THE BUZZARD. + + +During my visit to the Southern States of America, I have had several +opportunities of watching, under favorable conditions, the flight of the +buzzard, the scavenger of Southern cities. Although in most respect this +bird's manner of flight resembles that of the various sea-birds which I +have often watched for hours sailing steadily after ocean steamships, +yet, being a land bird, the buzzard is more apt to give examples of that +kind of flight in which a bird remains long over the same place. Instead +of sailing steadily on upon outstretched pinions, the buzzard often +ascends in a series of spirals, or descends along a similar course. I +have not been able to time the continuance of the longest flights during +which the wings have not once been flapped, for the simple reason that, +in every case where I have attempted to do so, the bird has passed out +of view either by upward or horizontal traveling. But I am satisfied +that in many cases the bird sweeps onward or about on unflapping wings +for more than half an hour. + +Now, many treat this problem of aerial flotation as if it were of the +nature of a miracle--something not to be explained. Explanations which +have been advanced have, it is true, been in many cases altogether +untenable. For instance, some have asserted that the albatross, the +condor, and other birds which float for a long time without moving +their wings--and that, too, in some cases, at great heights above the +sea-level, where the air is very thin--are supported by some gas within +the hollow parts of their bones, as the balloon is supported by the +hydrogen within it. The answer to this is that a balloon is _not_ +supported by the hydrogen within it, but by the surrounding air, and in +just such degree as the air is displaced by the lighter gas. The air +around a bird is only displaced by the bird's volume, and the pressure +of the air corresponding to this displacement is not equivalent to more +than one five-hundredth part of the bird's weight. Another idea is that +when a bird seems to be floating on unmoving wings there is really a +rapid fluttering of the feathers of the wings, by which a sustaining +power is obtained. But no one who knows anything of the anatomy of +the bird will adopt this idea for an instant, and no one who has ever +watched with a good field-glass a floating bird of the albatross or +buzzard kind will suppose they are fluttering their feathers in this +way, even though he should be utterly ignorant of the anatomy of the +wings. Moreover, any one acquainted with the laws of dynamics will know +that there would be tremendous loss of power in the fluttering movement +imagined as compared with the effect of sweeping downward and backward +the whole of each wing. + +There is only one possible way of explaining the floating power of +birds, and that is by associating it with the rapid motion acquired +originally by wing flapping, and afterward husbanded, so to speak, by +absolutely perfect adjustment and balancing. To this the answer is often +advanced that it implies ignorance of the laws of dynamics to suppose +that rapid advance can affect the rate of falling, as is implied by the +theory that it enables the bird to float. + +Now, as a matter of fact, a slight slope of the wings would undoubtedly +produce a raising power, and so an answer is at one obtained to this +objection. But I venture to assert, with the utmost confidence, that a +perfectly horizontal plane, advancing swiftly in a horizontal direction +at first, will not sink as quickly, or anything like as quickly, as a +similar plane let fall from a position of rest. A cannon-ball, rushing +horizontally from the mouth of a cannon, begins to fall just as if it +were simply dropped. But the case of a horizontal plane is altogether +different. If rapidly advancing, it passes continually over still air; +if simply let fall, the air beneath it yields, and presently currents +are set up which facilitate the descent of the flat body; but there is +no time to set up these aerial movements as the flat body passes rapidly +over still air. + +As a matter of fact, we know that this difference exists, from +the difference in the observed behavior of a flat card set flying +horizontally through the air and a similar card held horizontally and +then allowed to fall. + +I believe the whole mystery of aerial flotation lies here, and that as +soon as aerial floating machines are planned on this system, it will be +found that the problem of aerial transit--though presenting still many +difficulties of detail--is, nevertheless, perfectly soluble.--_R.A. +Proctor, in Newcastle Weekly Chronicle_. + + * * * * * + + + + +AN ASSYRIAN BASS-RELIEF 2,700 YEARS OLD. + + +There was exhibited at the last meeting of the Numismatic and +Antiquarian Society, in Philadelphia, on May 7, an object of great +interest to archaeologists, with which, says _The Church_, is also +connected a very curious history. + +It appears that about forty years ago a young American minister, Rev. +W.F. Williams, went as a missionary to Syria, and he visited among +places of interest the site of ancient Nineveh about the time that +Austin Henry Layard was making his famous explorations and discoveries; +he wrote to a friend in Philadelphia that he had secured for him a fine +piece of Assyrian sculpture from one of the recently opened temples or +palaces, representing a life size figure of a king, clad in royal robes, +bearing in one hand a basket and in the other a fir cone. One portion +of the stone was covered with hieroglyphics, and was as sharply cut as +though it had been carved by a modern hand instead of by an artist who +was sleeping in his grave when Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, was yet +an infant. + +The letter describing this treasure arrived duly, but the stones did not +come. It appears that the caravan bringing them down to Alexandretta, +from whence they were to be shipped to Philadelphia, was attacked by +robbers, and the sculptured stones were thrown upon the desert as +useless, and there they remained for some years. Finally they were +recovered, shipped to this country (about twenty-five years ago), and +arriving at their destination during the absence of the consignee, were +deposited temporarily in a subterranean storeroom at his manufactory. +In some way they were overlooked, and here they have remained unopened +until they were rediscovered a few days ago; meanwhile the missionary +and his friend have both passed away, ignorant of the fact that the rare +gift had finally reached its destination and had become again lost. + +The cuneiform inscription is now being translated by an Assyrian scholar +(Rev. Dr. J.P. Peters, of the Divinity School), and its identity is +established; it came from the temple of King Assur-nazir-pal, a famous +conqueror who reigned from 883 to 859 B.C. + +The slab was cut into three sections, 3x31/2 feet each, for convenience +of transportation, and they have been somewhat broken on the journey; +fortunately, however, this does not obliterate the writing. + +Mr. Tolcott Williams, a son of the late missionary, was present at the +meeting of the Society, and gave an interesting account of the classic +ground from which the slab was obtained. It was one of a number lining +the walls of the palace of Assur-nazir-pal. The inscriptions, as +translated by Dr. Peters, indicate that this particular slab was carved +during the first portion of this king's reign, and some conception +of its great antiquity may be gained when it is stated that he was a +contemporary of Ahab and Jehosaphat; he was born not more than a +century later than Solomon, and he reigned three centuries before +Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. After the slabs were procured, it was +necessary to send them on the backs of camels a journey of eight hundred +miles across the Great Desert, through a region which was more or less +infested at all seasons with roving bands of robbers. Mr. Williams well +remembered the interview between his father and the Arab camel owner, +who told several conflicting stories by way of preliminary to the +confession of the actual facts, in order to account for the non-arrival +of the stones at Alexandretta, the sea coast town from whence they were +to be shipped to Philadelphia. + +Mr. A.E. Outerbridge, Jr., gave a brief account of the finding of these +stones in the subterranean storeroom where they had reposed for a period +of a quarter of a century. The space between the slabs and the boxes +had been packed with camels' hair, which had in progress of time become +eaten by insects and reduced to a fine powder. The nails with which the +cases were fastened were remarkable both for their peculiar shape and +for the extraordinary toughness of the iron, far excelling in this +respect the wrought iron made in America to day. + +The Rev. Dr. J.P. Peters gave a very instructive exposition of the +chronology of the kings of Assyria, their social and religious customs +and ceremonies, their methods of warfare, their systems of architecture, +etc. He stated that the finest Assyrian bass-reliefs in the British +Museum came from the same palace as this specimen, the carving of which +is not excelled by any period of the ancient glyptic art. The particular +piece of alabaster selected by the artist for this slab was unusually +fine, being mottled with nodules of crystallized gypsum. + +The cuneiform inscription is not unlike the Hebrew in its character, +resembling it about as closely as the Yorkshire dialect resembles good +English. The characters are so large and clearly cut that it is a +pleasure to read them after the laborious scrutiny of the minute +Babylonish clay tablets. The inscription on this slab is identical with +a portion of that of the great "Standard Monolith," on which this king +subsequently caused to be transcribed the pages, as it were, from the +different slabs which were apparently cut at intervals in his reign. + +_Translation of a Portion of the Cuneiform, Inscription_.--"The palace +of Assur-nazir-pal, servant of Assur, servant of the god Beltis, the +god Ninit, the shining one of Anu and Dagon, servant of the Great +Gods, Mighty King, king of hosts, king of the land of Assyria; son of +Bin-nirari, a strong warrior, who in the service of Assur his Lord +marched vigorously among the princes of the four regions, who had no +equal, a mighty leader who had no rival, a king subduing all disobedient +to him; who rules multitudes of men; crushing all his foes, even the +masses of the rebels.... The city of Calah, which my predecessor, +Shalmanezer, King of Assyria had built had fallen into decay: His city +I rebuilt; a palace of cedar, box, cypress, for the seat of my royalty, +for the fullness of my princedom, to endure for generations, I placed +upon it. With plates of copper I roofed it, I hung in its gates folding +doors of cedar wood, silver, gold, copper, and iron which my hands had +acquired in the lands which I ruled, I gathered in great quantities, and +placed them in the midst thereof." O. + + * * * * * + + + + +DEPOSITING NICKEL UPON ZINC. + +By H.B. SLATER. + + +To those interested in the electro deposition of nickel upon zinc, the +formula given below for a solution and a brief explanation of its use +will be of service. + +The first sample of this solution was made as an experiment to see what +substances could be added to a solution of the double sulphate of nickel +and ammonium without spoiling it. + +In addition to several other combinations and mixtures of solutions from +which I succeeded in obtaining a good deposit, I found that the solution +here given would plate almost anything I put into it, and worked +especially well upon zinc. In its use no "scraping" or rescouring or any +of the many operations which I have seen recommended for zinc needs +be resorted to, as the metal "strikes" at once and is deposited in +a continuous adherent film of reguline metal, and can be laid on as +heavily as nickel is deposited generally. + +I believe that the addition of the ammonium chloride simply reduces +the resistance of the double sulphate solution, but the office of the +potassium chloride is not so easily explained. At least, I have never +been able to explain it satisfactorily to myself. It is certain, +however, that the solution does not work as well without it, nor does +the addition of ammonium chloride in its stead give as fine a result. + +Some care is necessary in the management of the current, which should +have a density of about 17 amperes per square foot of surface--not much +above or below. This may seem a high figure, especially when it is +discovered that there is a considerable evolution of gas during the +operation. + +I have repeatedly used this solution for coating articles of zinc, and +always with good success. I have exhibited samples of zinc plated in +this solution to those conversant with the deposition of nickel, and +they have expressed surprise at the appearance of the work. Some strips +of sheet-zinc in my possession have been bent and cut into every +conceivable shape without a sign of fracture or curling up at the edges +of the nickel coating. + +The solution is composed of-- + + Double sulphate of nickel and ammonium 10 ounces. + Ammonium chloride 4 " + Potassium chloride 2 " + Distilled water 1 gallon. + +The salts are dissolved in the water (hot), and the solution is worked +at the ordinary temperature, about 16 degrees C. + +The zinc may be cleansed in any suitable manner, but must be perfectly +clean, of course, and finally rinsed in clean cold water and placed in +the bath as quickly as possible; care being taken that it is connected +before it touches the solution.--_Electrical World_. + + * * * * * + +A catalogue, containing brief notices of many important scientific +papers heretofore published in the SUPPLEMENT, may be had gratis at this +office. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT. + +PUBLISHED WEEKLY. + +TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION, $5 A YEAR. + + +Sent by mail, postage prepaid, to subscribers in any part of the United +States or Canada. 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Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Scientific American Supplement, No. 497, July 11, 1885 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: January, 2006 [EBook #9666] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on October 14, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPP. NO. 497 *** + + + + +Produced by Josephine Paolucci, Don Kretz, Juliet Sutherland +and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT NO. 497 + + + + +NEW YORK, JULY 11, 1885 + +Scientific American Supplement. Vol. XX, No. 497. + +Scientific American established 1845 + +Scientific American Supplement, $5 a year. + +Scientific American and Supplement, $7 a year. + + + * * * * * + +TABLE OF CONTENTS. + +I. CHEMISTRY AND METALLURGY.--Making Sea Water Potable. + --By THOS. KAY + + The Acids of Wool Oil + + The New Absorbent for Oxygen + + Depositing Nickel upon Zinc.--By H.B. SLATER + +II. ENGINEERING AND MECHANICS.--Foundations in Quicksand, + Lift Bridge over the Ourcq Canal.--3 figures + + St. Petersburg a Seaport.--A canal cut from Cronstadt to + St. Petersburg.--Opening of same by the Emperor and + Empress.--With full page engraving + + The New French Dispatch Boat Milan.--With engraving + + The Launching and Docking of Ships Sidewise.--4 figures + + Improved High Speed Engine.--12 figures + + The National Transit Co.'s Pipe Lines for the Transportation + of Oil to the Seaboard.--With map and diagram + + The Fuel of the Future.--History of natural gas.--Relation to + petroleum.--Duration of gas, etc.--With table of analyses + Closing Leakages for Packing.--Use of asbestos in stuffing + boxes + +III. TECHNOLOGY.--Luminous Paint.--Processes of manufacture + Boxwood and its Substitutes.--Preparation of same for market, + etc.--A paper written by J.A. JACKSON for the International + Forestry Exhibition + +IV. ARCHÆOLOGY.--An Assyrian Bass-Relief 2,700 years old + +V. NATURAL HISTORY.-The Flight of the Buzzard.--By R.A. + PROCTOR + +VI. BOTANY, ETC.--Convallaria.--A stemless perennial.--By OTTO + A. WALL, M.D.--Several figures + +VII. MEDICINE, HYGIENE, ETC.--Gaiffe's New Medical + Galvanometer.--1 figure + + The Suspension of Life in Plants and Animals + +VIII. MISCELLANEOUS.--Composite Portraits.--6 illustrations + Hand-Craft and Rede-Craft.--A plea for the first + named.--By D.G. GILMAN + + * * * * * + + + + +FOUNDATIONS IN QUICKSAND. + + +Foundations in quicksand often have to be built in places where least +expected, and sometimes the writer has been able to conveniently +span the vein with an arch and avoid trouble; but where it cannot be +conveniently arched over, it will be necessary to sheath pile for a +trench and lay in broad sections of concrete until the space is crossed, +the sheath piling being drawn and reset in sections as fast as the +trenches are leveled up. The piling is left in permanently if it is not +wanted again for use. + +Sometimes these bottoms are too soft to be treated in this manner; in +that case boxes or caissons are formed, loaded with stone and sunk into +place with pig iron until the weight they are to carry is approximated. +When settled, the weights are removed and building begins. + +Foundations on shifting sand are met with in banks of streams, which +swell and become rapids as each winter breaks up. This kind is most +troublesome and dangerous to rest upon if not properly treated. + +Retaining walls are frequently built season after season, and as +regularly become undermined by the scouring of the water. Regular +docking with piles and timbers is resorted to, but it is so expensive +for small works that it is not often tried. + +Foundations are formed often with rock well planted out; and again +success has attended the use of bags of sand where rough rock was not +convenient or too expensive. + +In such cases it is well to try a mattress foundation, which may be +formed of brushwood and small saplings with butts from ½ inch to +2½ inches in diameter, compressed into bundles from 8 to 12 inches +diameter, and from 12 to 16 feet long, and well tied with ropes every +four feet. Other bundles, from 4 to 6 inches diameter and 16 feet long, +are used as binders, and these bundles are now cross-woven and make a +good network, the long parts protruding and making whip ends. One or +more sets of netting are used as necessity seems to require. This kind +of foundation may be filled in with a concrete of hydraulic cement and +sand, and the walls built on them with usual footings, and it is very +durable, suiting the purpose as well as anything we have seen or heard +of.--_Inland Architect_. + + * * * * * + + + + +LIFT BRIDGE OVER THE OURCQ CANAL. + + +This bridge, which was inaugurated in 1868, was constructed under the +direction of Mr. Mantion, then engineer-in-chief of the Belt Railway. +Fig. 1 shows the bridge raised. + +The solution adopted in this case was the only feasible one that +presented itself, in view of the slight difference between the level +of the railway tracks and the maximum plane of the canal water. This +circumstance did not even permit of a thought of an ordinary revolving +bridge, since this, on a space of 10 inches being reserved between the +level of the water and the bottom of the bridge, and on giving the +latter a minimum thickness of 33 inches up to the level of the rails, +would have required the introduction into the profile of the railroad +of approaches of at least one-quarter inch gradient, that would have +interfered with operations at the station close by. + +[Illustration: FIG. 1.--LIFT BRIDGE OVER THE OURCQ CANAL.] + +Besides, in the case of a revolving bridge, since the bottom of the +latter would be but ten inches above the water level, and the rollers +would have to be of larger diameter than that, it would have been +necessary to suppose the roller channel placed beneath the level of the +water, and it would consequently have been necessary to isolate this +channel from the canal by a tight wall. The least fissure in the latter +would have inundated the channel. + +As the Ourcq Canal had no regular period of closing, it was necessary +to construct the bridge without hinderance to navigation. The idea of +altering the canal's course could not be thought of, for the proximity +of the fortifications and of the bridge over the military road was +opposed to it. Moreover, the canal administration insisted upon a free +width of 26 feet, which is that of the sluices of the St. Denis Canal, +and which would have led to the projection of a revolving bridge of 28 +feet actual opening in order to permit of building foundations with +caissons in such a way as to leave a passageway of 26 feet during +operations. + +For these reasons it was decided to construct a metallic bridge that +should be lifted by means of counterpoises and balanced after the manner +of gasometers. + +The free width secured to navigation is 28 feet. The bridge is usually +kept raised to a height of 16 feet above the level of the water in order +to allow boats to pass (Fig. 2). In this position it is balanced by four +counterpoises suspended from the extremities of chains that pass over +pulleys. These counterpoises are of cast iron, and weigh, altogether, +44,000 pounds--the weight of the bridge to be balanced, say 11,000 +pounds per counterpoise. Moreover, each of the four chains is prolonged +beneath the corresponding counterpoise by a chain of the same weight, +called a compensating chain. + +The pulleys, B and C, that support the suspension chains have +projections in their channels which engage with the links and thus +prevent the chains from slipping. They are mounted at the extremity of +four latticed girders that likewise carry girder pulleys, D. The pulleys +that are situated at the side of the bridge are provided laterally +with a conical toothing which gears with a pinion connected with the +maneuvering apparatus. + +The two pinions of the same side of the bridge are keyed to a +longitudinal shaft which is set in motion at one point of its length by +a system of gearings. The winch upon which is exerted the stress that +is to effect the lifting or the descent of the bridge is fixed upon the +shaft of the pinion of the said gearing, which is also provided with a +flywheel, c. The longitudinal shafts are connected by a transverse one. +e, which renders the two motions interdependent. This transverse shaft +is provided with collars, against which bear stiff rods that give it the +aspect of an elongated spindle, and that permit it to resist twisting +stresses. + +The windlasses that lift the bridge are actuated by manual power. Two +men (or even one) suffice to do the maneuvering. + +This entire collection of pulleys and mechanism is established upon two +brick foot bridges between which the bridge moves. These arched bridges +offer no obstruction to navigation. Moreover, they always allow free +passage to foot passengers, whatever be the position of the bridge. They +are provided with four vertical apertures to the right of the suspension +chains, in order to allow of the passage of the latter. The girders that +support the pulleys rest at one extremity upon the upper part of the +bridges, and at the other upon solid brick pillars with stone caps. + +Finally, in order to render the descent of the bridge easier, there are +added to it two water tanks that are filled from the station reservoir +when the bridge is in its upper position, and that empty themselves +automatically as soon as it reaches the level of the railroad tracks. + +A very simple system of fastening has been devised for keeping the +bridge in a stationary position when raised. When it reaches the end of +its upward travel, four bolts engage with an aperture in the suspension +rod and prevent it from descending. These bolts are set in motion by +two connecting rods carried by a longitudinal shaft and maneuvered by a +lever at the end of the windlass. + +At the lower part the bridge rests upon iron plates set into sills. It +is guided in its descent longitudinally by iron plates that have an +inclination which is reproduced at the extremities of the bridge +girders, and transversely by two inclined angle irons into which fit the +external edges of the bottoms of the extreme girders. + +[Illustration: FIG. 2.--ELEVATION AND PLAN.] + +The total weight of the bridge is, as we have said, 44,000 pounds, which +is much less than would have been that of a revolving bridge of the same +span. The maneuvering of the bridge is performed with the greatest ease +and requires about two minutes. + +This system has been in operation at the market station of La Vilette +since the year 1868, and has required but insignificant repairs. We +think the adoption of it might be recommended for all cases in which a +slight difference between the level of a railroad and that of a water +course would not permit of the establishment of a revolving bridge.--_Le +Genie Civil_. + + * * * * * + + + + +ST. PETERSBURG A SEAPORT. + + +The Emperor and Empress of Russia, on Wednesday, May 27. 1885, the +second anniversary of their coronation at Moscow, opened the Maritime +Canal, in the Bay of Cronstadt, the shallow upper extremity of the Gulf +of Finland, by which great work the city of St. Petersburg is made a +seaport as much as London. St. Petersburg, indeed, stands almost on the +sea shore, at the very mouth of the Neva, though behind several low +islands which crowd the head of the Gulf; and though this is an inland +sea without saltness or tides, it is closed by ice in winter. Seventeen +miles to the west is the island of Cronstadt, a great fortress, with +naval dockyards and arsenals for the imperial fleet, and with a spacious +harbor for ships of commerce. The navigable entrance channel up the +Bay of Cronstadt to the mouth of the Neva lies under the south side of +Cronstadt, and is commanded by its batteries. As the bay eastward has a +depth not exceeding 12 ft., and the depth of the Neva at its bar is but +9 ft., all large vessels have been obliged hitherto to discharge their +cargoes at Cronstadt, to be there transferred to lighters and barges +which brought the goods up to the capital. "The delay and expense of +this process," says Mr. William Simpson, our special artist, "will be +understood by stating that a cargo might be brought from England by a +steamer in a week, but it would take three weeks at least to transport +the same cargo from Cronstadt to St. Petersburg. Of course, much of this +time was lost by custom house formalities. Sometimes it has taken even +longer than is here stated, which made the delivery of goods at St. +Petersburg a matter of great uncertainty, thus rendering time contracts +almost an impossibility. This state of things had continued from the +time of Peter the Great, and his great scheme had never been fully +realized. The increase of commerce and shipping had long made this a +crying evil; but even with all these difficulties, the trade here has +been rapidly growing. A scheme to bring the shipping direct to the +capital had thus become almost a necessity. As Manchester wishes to +bring the ocean traffic to her doors without the intervention of +Liverpool, so St. Petersburg desired to have its steamers sailing up to +the city, delivering and loading their cargoes direct at the stores and +warehouses in her streets. If Glasgow had not improved the Clyde, and +had up to the present day to bring up all goods carried by her ocean +going steamers from Port Glasgow--a place constructed for that purpose +last century, and which is twenty miles from Glasgow--she would have +been handicapped exactly as St. Petersburg has been till now in the +commercial race. + +"For some years the subject was discussed at St. Petersburg, and +more than one scheme was proposed; at last the project of General N. +Pooteeloff was adopted. According to this plan, a canal has been cut +through the shallow bottom of the Gulf of Finland, all the way from +Cronstadt to St. Petersburg. The line of this canal is from northwest to +southeast; it may be said to run very nearly parallel to the coast line +on the south side of the Gulf, and about three miles distant from it. +This line brings the canal to the southwest end of St. Petersburg, where +there are a number of islands, which have formed themselves, in the +course of ages, where the Bolshaya, or Great Neva, flows into the Gulf. +It is on these islands that the new port is to be formed. It is a very +large harbor, and capable of almost any amount of extension. It will be +in connection with the whole railway system of Russia. One part of the +scheme is that of a new canal, on the south side of the city, to connect +the maritime canal, as well as the new harbor, with the Neva, so that +the large barges may pass, by a short route, to the river on the east, +and thus avoid the bridges and traffic of the city. + +"The whole length of the canal is about eighteen miles. The longer +portion of it is an open channel, which is made 350 feet wide at bottom. +Its course will be marked by large iron floating buoys; these it is +proposed to light with gas by a new self-acting process which has been +very successful in other parts of the world; by this means the canal +will be navigable by night as well as by day. The original plan was to +have made the canal 20 feet deep, but this has been increased to 22 +feet. The Gulf of Finland gradually deepens toward Cronstadt, so that +the dredging was less at the western end. This part was all done by +dredgers, and the earth brought up was removed to a safe distance by +means of steam hopper barges. The contract for this part of the work +was sublet to an American firm--Morris and Cummings, of New York. The +eastern portion of the work on the canal is by far the most important, +and about six miles of it is protected by large and strong embankments +on each side. These embankments were formed by the output of the +dredgers, and are all faced with granite bowlders brought from Finland; +at their outer termination the work is of a more durable kind, the +facing is made of squared blocks of granite, so that it may stand the +heavy surf which at times is raised by a west wind in the Gulf. These +embankments, as already stated, extend over a space of nearly six miles, +and represent a mass of work to which there is no counterpart in the +Suez Canal; nor does the plan of the new Manchester Canal present +anything equivalent to it. The width of this canal also far exceeds any +of those notable undertakings. The open channel is, as stated above, 350 +ft. wide; within the embankments the full depth of 22 ft. extends to 280 +ft., and the surface between the embankments is 700 ft. This is nearly +twice the size of the Suez Canal at the surface, which is 100 meters, +or about 320 ft., while it is only about 75 ft. at the bottom; the +Amsterdam Canal is 78 ft. wide. The new Manchester Canal is to be 100 +ft. of full depth, and it boasts of this superiority over the great work +of Lesseps. The figures given above will show how far short it comes of +the dimensions of the St. Petersburg Canal. The Manchester Canal is to +be 24 ft. in depth; in that it has the advantage of 2 ft. more than the +St. Petersburg Canal; but with the ample width this one possesses, this, +or even a greater depth, can be given if it should be found necessary. +Most probably this will have ultimately to be done, for ocean going +steamers are rapidly increasing in size since the St. Petersburg Canal +was planned, and in a very few years the larger class of steamers might +have to deliver their cargoes at Cronstadt, as before, if the waterway +to St. Petersburg be not adapted to their growing dimensions. + +[Illustration: THE ST. PETERSBURG AND CRONSTADT MARITIME CANAL, OPENED +BY THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA, ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 1885.] + +"The dredging between the embankments of the canal was done by an +improved process, which may interest those connected with such works. It +may be remembered that the Suez Canal was mostly made by dredging, and +that the dredgers had attached to them what the French called 'long +couloirs' or spouts, into which water was pumped, and by this means the +stuff brought up by the dredgers was carried to the sides of the canal, +and there deposited. The great width of the St. Petersburg Canal was too +much for the long couloirs, hence some other plan had to be found. The +plan adopted was that invented by Mr. James Burt, and which had been +used with the greatest success on the New Amsterdam Canal. Instead of +the couloir, floating pipes, made of wood, are in this system employed; +the earth or mud brought up has a copious stream of water poured on it, +which mixes in the process of descending, and the whole becomes a thick +liquid. This, by means of a centrifugal pump, is propelled through the +floating pipes to any point required, where it can be deposited. The +couloir can only run the output a comparatively short distance, while +this system can send it a quarter of a mile, or even further, if +necessary. Its power is not limited to the level surface of the water. +I saw on my visit to the canal one of the dredgers at work, and the +floating pipes lay on the water like a veritable sea-serpent, extending +to a long distance where the stuff had to be carried. At that point the +pipe emerged from the water, and what looked very much like a vertebra +or two of the serpent crossed the embankment, went down the other side, +and there the muddy deposit was pouring out in a steady flow. Mr. Burt +pointed out to me one part of the works where his pump had sent the +stuff nearly half a mile away, and over undulating ground. This system +will not suit all soils. Hard clay, for instance, will not mix with the +water; but where the matter brought up is soft and easily diluted, this +plan possesses many advantages, and its success here affords ample +evidence of its merits. + +"About five miles below St. Petersburg, a basin had been already +finished, with landing quays, sheds, and offices; and there is an +embankment connecting it with the railways of St. Petersburg, all ready +for ships to arrive. When the ships of all nations sail up to the +capital, then the ideas of Peter the Great, when he laid the foundations +of St. Petersburg, will be realized. St. Petersburg will be no longer an +inland port. It will, with its ample harbor and numerous canals among +its streets, become the Venice of the North. Its era of commercial +greatness is now about to commence. The ceremony of letting the waters +of the canal into the new docks was performed by the Emperor in October, +1883. The Empress and heir apparent, with a large number of the Court, +were present on the occasion. The works on the canal, costing about a +million and a half sterling, were begun in 1876, and have been carried +out under the direction of a committee appointed by the Government, +presided over by his Excellency, N. Sarloff. The resident engineer is M. +Phofiesky; and the contractors are Messrs. Maximovitch and Boreysha." + +We heartily congratulate the Russian government and the Russian nation +upon the accomplishment of this great and useful work of peace. It will +certainly benefit English trade. The value of British imports from the +northern ports of Russia for the year 1883 was £13,799,033; British +exports, £6,459,993; while from the southern ports of Russia our trade +was: British imports, £7,177,149; British exports, £1,169,890--making a +total British commerce with European Russia of £20,976,182 imports from +Russia and £7,629,883 exports to Russia. It cannot be to the interest of +nations which are such large customers of each other to go to war +about a few miles of Afguhan frontier. The London _Chamber of Commerce +Journal_, ably edited by Mr. Kenric B. Murray, Secretary to the Chamber, +has in its May number an article upon this subject well deserving of +perusal. It points out that in case of war most of the British export +trade to Russia would go through Germany, and might possibly never again +return under British control. In spite of Russian protective duties, +this trade has been well maintained, even while the British import +of Russian commodities, wheat, flax, hemp, tallow, and timber, was +declining 40 per cent. from 1883 to 1884. The St. Petersburg Maritime +Canal will evidently give much improved facilities to the direct export +of English goods to Russia. Without reference to our own manufactures, +it should be observed that the Russian cotton mills, including those of +Poland, consume yearly 264 million pounds of cotton, most of which comes +through England. The importation of English coal to Russia has afforded +a noteworthy instance of the disadvantage hitherto occasioned by the +want of direct navigation to St. Petersburg; the freight of a ton of +coal from Newcastle to Cronstadt was six shillings and sixpence, but +from Cronstadt to St. Petersburg it cost two shillings more. It is often +said, in a tone of alarm and reproach, that Russia is very eager to get +to the sea. The more Russia gets to the sea everywhere, the better it +will be for British trade with Russia; and friendly intercourse with +an empire containing nearly a hundred millions of people is not to be +lightly rejected.--_Illustrated London News_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE NEW FRENCH DISPATCH BOAT MILAN. + + +The Milan, a new dispatch boat, has recently been making trial trips at +Brest. It was constructed at Saint Nazaire, by the "Societe des Ateliers +et Chantiers de la Loire," and is the fastest man-of-war afloat. It +has registered 17 knots with ordinary pressure, and with increase +of pressure can make 18 knots, but to attain such high speed a very +powerful engine is necessary. In fact, a vessel 303 ft. long, 33 ft. +wide, and drawing 12 ft. of water, requires an engine which can develop +4,000 H.P. + +[Illustration: THE NEW FRENCH DISPATCH BOAT MILAN.] + +The hull of the Milan is of steel, and is distinguished for its extreme +lightness. The vessel has two screws, actuated by four engines arranged +two by two on each shaft. + +The armament consists of five three inch cannons, eight revolvers, and +four tubes for throwing torpedoes. + +The Milan can carry 300 tons of coal, an insufficient quantity for +a long cruise, but this vessel, which is a dispatch boat in every +acceptation of the word, was constructed for a definite purpose. It +is the first of a series of very rapid cruisers to be constructed in +France, and yet many English packets can attain a speed at least equal +to that of the Milan. We need war vessels which can attain twenty knots, +to be master of the sea.--_L'Illustration_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE LAUNCHING AND DOCKING OF SHIPS SIDEWISE. + + +The slips of the shipyards at Alt-Hofen (Hungary) belonging to the +Imperial and Royal Navigation Company of the Danube are so arranged that +the vessels belonging to its fleet can be hauled up high and dry or +be launched sidewise. They comprise three distinct groups, which are +adapted, according to needs, for the construction or repair of steamers, +twenty of which can be put into the yard at a time. The operation, which +is facilitated by the current of the Danube, consists in receiving the +ships upon frames beneath the water and at the extremity of inclined +planes running at right angles with them. After the ship has been made +secure by means of wedges, the frame is drawn up by chains that +wind round fixed windlasses. These apparatus are established upon a +horizontal surface 25.5 feet above low-water mark so as to give the +necessary slope, and at which terminate the tracks. They may, moreover, +be removed after the ships have been taken off, and be put down again +for launching. For 136 feet of their length the lower part of the +sliding ways is permanent, and fixed first upon rubble masonry and then +upon the earth. + +Fig. 1 gives a general view of the arrangement. The eight sliding ways +of the central part are usually reserved for the largest vessels. The +two extreme ones comprise, one of them 7, and the other 6, tracks only, +and are maneuvered by means of the same windlasses as the others. A +track, FF, is laid parallel with the river, in order to facilitate, +through lorries, the loading and unloading of the traction chains. These +latter are ¾ inch in diameter, while those that pass around the hulls +are 1 inch. + +The motive power is furnished by a 10 H.P. steam engine, which serves at +the same time for actuating the machine tools employed in construction +or repairs. The shaft is situated at the head of the ways, and sets in +motion four double-gear windlasses of the type shown in Fig. 2. The +ratio of the wheels is as 9 to 1. The speed at which the ships move +forward is from 10 to 13 feet per minute. Traction is effected +continuously and without shock. After the cables have been passed around +the hull, and fastened, they are attached to four pairs of blocks each +comprising three pulleys. The lower one of these is carried by rollers +that run over a special track laid for this purpose on the inclined +plane. + +[Illustration: FIG. 1.--WAYS OF LAUNCHING VESSELS SIDEWISE.] + +The three successive positions that a boat takes are shown in Fig. 1. +In the first it has just passed on to the frame, and is waiting to be +hauled up on the ways; in the second it is being hauled up; and in the +third the frame has been removed and the boat is shoved up on framework, +so that it can be examined and receive whatever repairs may be +necessary. This arrangement, which is from plans by Mr. Murray Jackson, +suffices to launch 16 or 18 new boats annually, and for the repair +of sixty steamers and lighters. These latter are usually 180 feet in +length, 24 feet in width, and 8 feet in depth, and their displacement, +when empty, is 120 tons. The dimensions of the largest steamers vary +between 205 and 244 feet in length, and 25 and 26 feet in width. They +are 10 feet in depth, and, when empty, displace from 440 to 460 tons. +The Austrian government has two monitors repaired from time to time in +the yards of the company. The short and wide forms of these impose a +heavier load per running foot upon the ways than ordinary boats do, but +nevertheless no difficulty has ever been experienced, either in hauling +them out or putting them back into the water.--_Le Genie Civil_. + +[Illustration: FIG. 2.--DETAILS OF WINDLASS.] + + * * * * * + + + + +IMPROVED HIGH-SPEED ENGINE. + + +This engine, exhibited at South Kensington by Fielding and Platt, of +Gloucester, consists virtually of a universal joint connecting two +shafts whose axes form an obtuse angle of about 157 degrees. It has four +cylinders, two being mounted on a chair coupling on each shaft. The word +cylinder is used in a conventional sense only, since the cavities acting +as such are circular, whose axes, instead of being straight lines, are +arcs of circles struck from the center at which the axes of the shafts +would, if continued, intersect. The four pistons are carried upon +the gimbal ring, which connects, by means of pivots, the two chair +couplings. + +[Illustration: THE FIELDING HIGH SPEED ENGINE.] + +Fig. 10 shows clearly the parts constituting the coupling, cylinders, +and pistons of a compound engine. CC are the high-pressure cylinders; DD +the low pressure; EEEE the four parts forming the gimbal ring, to which +are fixed in pairs the high and low pressure pistons, GG and FF; HHHH +are the chair arms formed with the cylinders carrying pivots, IIII, +which latter fit into the bearings, JJJJ, in the gimbal ring. Figs. +1, 2, 3, 4 show these parts connected and at different points of the +shaft's rotation. The direction of rotation is shown by the arrow. In +Fig. 1 the lower high-pressure cylinder, C, is just about taking steam, +the upper one just closing the exhaust; the low-pressure pistons are at +half stroke, that in sight exhausting, the opposite one, which cannot be +seen in this view, taking steam. + +In Fig 2 the shaft has turned through one-eighth of a revolution; in +Fig. 3, a quarter turn; Fig. 4, three-eighths of a turn. Another eighth +turn brings two parts into position represented by Fig. 1, except the +second pair of cylinders now replace the first pair. The bearings, KL, +support the two shafts and act as stationary valves, against which faces +formed on the cylinders revolve; steam and exhaust ports are provided in +the faces of K and L, and two ports in the revolving faces, one to each +cylinder. The point at which steam is cut off is determined by the +length of the admission ports in K and L. The exhaust port is made of +such a length that steam may escape from the cylinders during the whole +of the return stroke of pistons. + +Fig. 5 shows the complete engine. It will be seen that the engine is +entirely incased in a box frame, with, however, a lid for ready access +to the parts for examination, one great advantage being that the engine +can be worked with the cover removed, thus enabling any leakage past the +pistons or valve faces to be at once detected. The casing also serves to +retain a certain amount of lubricant. + +The lubrication is effected by means of a triple sight-feed lubricator, +one feeder delivering to steam inlet, and two serving the main shaft +bearings. + +Figs, 6 and 7 are an end elevation and plan of the same engine. There is +nothing in the other details calling for special notice. + +Figs. 8 and 9 show the method of machining the cylinders and pistons, +the whole of which can be done by ordinary lathes, which is evidently a +great advantage in the event of reboring, etc., being required in the +colonies or other countries where special tools are inaccessible. + +Figs. 11 and 12 are sections which explain themselves.--_The Engineer_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE NATIONAL TRANSIT CO'S PIPE LINES FOR THE TRANSPORTATION OF PETROLEUM +TO THE SEABOARD. + + +While Englishmen and Americans have been alike interested in the late +project for forcing water by a pipe line over the mountainous region +lying between Suakim and Berber in the far-off Soudan, few men of either +nation have any proper conception of the vast expenditure of capital, +natural and engineering difficulties overcome, and the bold and +successful enterprise which has brought into existence far greater pipe +lines in our own Atlantic States. We refer to the lines of the National +Transit Company, which have for a purpose the economic transportation of +crude petroleum from Western Pennsylvania to the sea coast at New York, +Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and to the Lakes at Cleveland and Buffalo. + +To properly commence our sketch of this truly gigantic enterprise, we +must go back to the discovery of petroleum in the existing oil regions +of Pennsylvania and adjacent States. Its presence as an oily scum on the +surface of ponds and streams had long been known, and among the Indians +this "rock-oil" was highly appreciated as a vehicle for mixing their wax +paint, and for anointing their bodies; in later years it was gathered in +a rude way by soaking it up in blankets, and sold at a high price for +medicinal purposes only, under the name of Seneca rock oil, Genesee oil, +Indian oil, etc. + +But the date of its discovery as an important factor in the useful arts +and as a source of enormous national wealth was about 1854. In the year +named a certain Mr. George H. Bissell of New Orleans accidentally met +with a sample of the "Seneca Oil," and being convinced that it had a +value far beyond that usually accorded it, associated himself with +some friends and leased for 99 years some of the best oil springs near +Titusville, Pa. This lease cost the company $5,000, although only a few +years before a cow had been considered a full equivalent in value for +the same land. The original prospectors began operations by digging +collecting ditches, and then pumping off the oil which gathered upon the +surface of the water. But not long after this first crude attempt at oil +gathering, the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Co. was organized, with Prof. B. +Silliman of Yale College as its president, and a more intelligent method +was introduced into the development of the oil-producing formation. In +1858, Col. Drake of New Haven was employed by the Pennsylvania Co. to +sink an artesian well; and, after considerable preparatory work, on +August 28, 1859, the first oil vein was tapped at a depth of 69½ feet +below the surface; the flow was at first 10 barrels per day, but in the +following September this increased to 40 barrels daily. + +[Illustration: MAP SHOWING THE NATIONAL TRANSIT CO.'S PIPE LINES.] + +The popular excitement and the fortunes made and lost in the years +following the sinking of the initial well are a matter of history, +with which we have here nothing to do. It is sufficient to say that a +multitude of adventurers were drawn by the "oil-craze" into this late +wilderness, and the sinking of wells extended with unprecedented +rapidity over the region near Titusville and from there into more +distant fields. + +By June 1, 1862, 495 wells had been put down near Titusville, and the +daily output of oil was nearly 6,000 barrels, selling at the wells +at from $4.00 to $6.00 per barrel. But the tapping of this vast +subterranean storehouse of oleaginous wealth continued, until the +estimated annual production was swelled from 82,000 barrels in 1859 to +24,385,966 barrels in 1883; in the latter year 2,949 wells were put +down, many of them, however, being simply dry holes.[1] The total output +of oil in the Pennsylvania regions, between 1859 and 1883, is estimated +at about 234,800,000 barrels--enough oil to fill a tank about 10,000 +feet square, nearly two miles to a side, to a depth of over 13½ feet. + +[Footnote 1: The total number of wells in the Pennsylvania oil regions +cannot be given. In the years 1876-1884, inclusive, 28,619 wells were +sunk; this is an average of 3,179 per year. During the same period 2,507 +dry holes were drilled at an average cost of $1,500 each.] + +As long as oil could be sold at the wells at from $4.00 to $10.00 +a barrel, the cost of transportation was an item hardly worthy of +consideration, and railroad companies multiplied and waged a bitter +war with each other in their scramble after the traffic. But as the +production increased with rapid strides, the market price of oil fell +with a corresponding rapidity, until the quotations for 1884 show +figures as low as 50 to 60 cents per barrel for the crude product at Oil +City. + +In December, 1865, the freight charge per barrel for a carload of oil +from Titusville to New York, and the return of the empty barrels, +was $3.50.[1] To this figure was added the cost of transportation by +pipe-line from Pithole to Titusville, $1.00; cost of barreling, 25 +cents; freight to Corry, Pa., 80 cents; making the total cost of a +barrel of crude oil in New York, $5.55. In January, 1866, the barrel +of oil in New York cost $10.40, including in this figure, however, the +Government tax of $1.00 and the price of the barrel, $3.25. + +[Footnote 1: It is stated that in 1862 the cost of sending one barrel of +oil to New York was $7.45. Steamboats charged $2.00 per barrel from Oil +City to Pittsburg, and the hauling from Oil Creek to Meadville cost +$2.25 per barrel.] + +The question of reducing these enormous transportation charges was first +broached, apparently, in 1864, when a writer in the _North American_, +of Philadelphia, outlined a scheme for laying a pipe-line down the +Allegheny River to Pittsburg. This project was violently assailed by +both the transportation companies and the people of the oil region, +who feared that its success would interfere with their then great +prosperity. But short pipe-lines, connecting the wells with storage +tanks and shipping points, grew apace and prepared the way for the vast +network of the present day, which covers this region and throws out arms +to the ocean and the lakes. + +Among the very first, if not the first, pipe lines laid was one put down +between the Sherman well and the railway terminus on the Miller farm. +It was about 3 miles long, and designed by a Mr. Hutchinson; he had an +exaggerated idea of the pressure to be exercised, and at intervals of 50 +to 100 feet he set up air chambers 10 inches in diameter. The weak point +in this line, however, proved to be the joints; the pipes were of cast +iron, and the joint-leakage was so great that little, if any, oil ever +reached the end of the line, and the scheme was abandoned in despair. + +In connection with this question of oil transportation, a sketch of the +various methods, other than pipelines, adopted in Pennsylvania may not +be out of place. We are mainly indebted to Mr. S.F. Peckham, in his +article on "Petroleum and its Products" in the U. S. Census Report of +1880, for the information relating to tank-cars immediately following: + +Originally the oil was carried in 40 and 42 gallon barrels, made of oak +and hooped with iron; early in 1866, or possibly in 1865, tank-cars +were introduced. These were at first ordinary flat-cars upon which were +placed two wooden tanks, shaped like tubs, each holding about 2,000 +gallons. + +On the rivers, bulk barges were also, after a time, introduced on the +Ohio and Allegheny; at first these were rude affairs, and often of +inadequate strength; but as now built they are 130 x 22 x 16 feet, in +their general dimensions, and divided into eight compartments, with +water-tight bulkheads; they hold about 2,200 barrels. + +In 1871 iron-tank cars superseded those of wood, with tanks of varying +sizes, ranging from 3,856 to 5,000 gallons each. These tanks were +cylinders, 24 feet 6 inches long, and 66 inches in diameter, and weighed +about 4,500 lb. The heads are made of 5/46 in. flange iron, the bottom +of ½ in., and the upper half of the shell of 3/16 in. tank iron. + +In October, 1865, the Oil Transportation Co. completed and tested a +pipe-line 32,000 feet long; three pumps were used upon it, two at +Pithole and one at Little Pithole. July 1, 1876, the pipe-line owners +held a meeting at Parkers to organize a pipe-line company to extend to +the seaboard under the charter of the Pennsylvania Transportation Co., +but the scheme was never carried out. In January, 1878, the Producers' +Union organized for a similar seaboard line, and laid pipes, but they +never reached the sea, stopping their line at Tamanend, Pa. The lines +of the National Transit Co., illustrated in our map, were completed in +1880-81, and this company, to which the United Pipe Lines have also +been transferred, is said to have $15,000,000 invested in plant for the +transport of oil to tide water. + +The National Transit Co. was organized under what was called the +Pennsylvania Co. act, about four years ago, and succeeded to the +properties of the American Transit Co., a corporation operating under +the laws of Pennsylvania. Since its organization the first named company +has constructed and now owns the following systems: + +The line from Olean, N.Y., to Bayonne, N.J., and to Brooklyn, N.Y., of +which a full page profile is given, showing the various pumping stations +and the undulations over its route of about 300 miles. The Pennsylvania +line, 280 miles long, from Colegrove, Pa., to Philadelphia. The +Baltimore line, 70 miles long, from Millway, Pa., to Baltimore. The +Cleveland line, 100 miles long, from Hilliards, Pa., to Cleveland, O. +The Buffalo line, 70 miles long, from Four Mile, Cattaraugus County, +N.Y., to Buffalo, and the line from Carbon Center, Butler County, Pa., +to Pittsburg, 60 miles in length. This amounts to a total of 880 miles +of main pipe-line alone, ranging from 4 inches to 6 inches in diameter; +or, adding the duplicate pipes on the Olean New York line, we have a +round total of 1,330 miles, not including loops and shorter branches and +the immense network of the pipes in the oil regions proper. + +A general description of the longest line will practically suffice for +all, as they differ only in diameter of pipe used and power of the +pumping plant. As shown on the map and profile, this long line starts at +Olean, near the southern boundary of New York State, and proceeds by the +route indicated to tide water at Bayonne, N.J., and by a branch under +the North and East rivers and across the upper end of New York city to +the Long Island refineries. This last named pipe is of unusual strength, +and passes through Central Park; few of the thousands who daily frequent +the latter spot being aware of the yellow stream of crude petroleum that +is constantly flowing beneath their feet. The following table gives the +various pumping stations on this Olean New York line, and some data +relating to distances between stations and elevations overcome: + + |----------------------------------------------------------------| + | | | | Greatest | + | | | | Summit | + | | Miles | Elevation | between | + | | between | above Tide. | Stations. | + | Pumping Stations. | Stations. | Ft. | Ft. | + |______________________|___________|________________|____________| + | Olean | -- | 1,490 | -- | + | Wellsville | 28.20 | 1,510 | 2,490 | + | Cameron | 27.91 | 1,042 | 2,530 | + | West Junction | 29.70 | 911 | 1,917 | + | Catatonk | 27.37 | 869 | 1,768 | + | Osborne | 27.99 | 1,092 | 1,539 | + | Hancock | 29.86 | 922 | 1,873 | + | Cochecton | 26.22 | 748 | 1,854 | + | Swartwout | 28.94 | 475 | 1,478 | + | Newfoundland | 29.00 | 768 | 1,405 | + | Saddle River | 28.77 | 35 | 398 | + |______________________|___________|________________|____________| + +On this line two six-inch pipes are laid the entire length, and a third +six-inch pipe runs between Wellsville and Cameron, and about half way +between each of the other stations, "looped" around them. The pipe used +for the transportation of oil is especially manufactured to withstand +the great strain to which it will be subjected, the most of it being +made by the Chester Pipe and Tube Works, of Chester, Pa., the Allison +Manufacturing Co., of Philadelphia and the Penna. Tube Works, of +Pittsburg, Pa. It is a lap-welded, wrought-iron pipe of superior +material, and made with exceeding care and thoroughly tested at the +works. The pipe is made in lengths of 18 feet, and these pieces are +connected by threaded ends and extra strong sleeves. The pipe-thread and +sleeves used on the ordinary steam and water pipe are not strong enough +for the duty demanded of the oil-pipe. The socket for a 4-inch steam +or water pipe is from 2½ to to 2¾ inches long, and is tapped with 8 +standard threads to the inch, straight or parallel to the axis of the +pipe; with this straight tap only three or four threads come in contact +with the socket threads, or in any way assist in holding the pipes +together. In the oil-pipe, the pipe ends and sockets are cut on a taper +of ¾ inch to 1 foot, for a 4-inch pipe, and the socket used is thicker +than the steam and water socket, is 3¾ inches long, and has entrance for +1 5/8 inches of thread on each pipe end tapped with 9 standard threads +to the inch. In this taper socket you have iron to iron the whole length +of the thread, and the joint is perfect and equal by test to the full +strength of the pipe. Up to 1877 the largest pipe used on the oil lines +was 4-inch, with the usual steam thread, but the joints leaked under the +pressure, 1,200 pounds to the square inch being the maximum the 8-thread +pipe would stand. This trouble has been remedied by the 9-thread, +taper-cut pipe of the present day, which is tested at the mill to 1,500 +pounds pressure, while the average duty required is 1,200 pounds; as the +iron used in the manufacture of this line-pipe will average a tensile +test strain of 55,000 pounds per square inch, the safety factor is thus +about one-sixth. + +[Illustration: PROFILE SHOWING NATIONAL TRANSIT CO.'S PIPE-LINE, FROM +OLEAN TO SADDLE RIVER.] + +The line-pipe is laid between the stations in the ordinary manner, +excepting that great care is exercised in perfecting the joints. No +expansion joints or other special appliances of like nature are used on +the line as far as we can learn; the variations in temperature being +compensated for, in exposed locations, by laying the pipe in long +horizontal curves. The usual depth below the surface is about 3 feet, +though in some portions of the route the pipe lies for miles exposed +directly upon the surface. As the oil pumped is crude oil, and this as +it comes from the wells carries with it a considerable proportion of +brine, freezing in the pipes is not to be apprehended. The oil, +however, does thicken in very cold weather, and the temperature has a +considerable influence on the delivery. + +A very ingenious patented device is used for cleaning out the pipes, and +by it the delivery is said to have been increased in certain localities +50 per cent. This is a stem about 2½ feet long, having at its front end +a diaphragm made of wings which can fold on each other, and thus enable +it to pass an obstruction it cannot remove; this machine carries a set +of steel scrapers, somewhat like those used in cleaning boilers. The +device is put into the pipe, and propelled by the pressure transmitted +from the pumps from one station to another; relays of men follow the +scraper by the noise it makes as it goes through the pipe, one party +taking up the pursuit as the other is exhausted. They must never let it +get out of their hearing, for if it stops unnoticed, its location can +only again be established by cutting the pipe. + +The pumping stations are substantial structures of brick, roofed with +iron. The boiler house is removed some distance from the engine house +for greater safety from fire; the building, about 40 by 50 feet, +contains from six to seven tubular boilers, each 5 by 14 feet, and +containing 80 three-inch tubes. The pump house is a similar brick +structure about 40 by 60 feet, and contains the battery of pumping +engines to be described later. At each station are two iron tanks, 90 +feet in diameter and 30 feet high; into these tanks the oil is delivered +from the preceding station, and from them the oil is pumped into the +tanks at the next station beyond. The pipe-system at each station is +simple, and by means of the "loop-lines" before mentioned the oil can be +pumped directly around any station if occasion would require it. + +The pumps used on all these lines are the Worthington compound, +condensing, pressure pumping engines. The general characteristics of +these pumps are, independent plungers with exterior packing, valve-boxes +subdivided into separate small chambers capable of resisting very heavy +strains, and leather-faced metallic valves with low lift and large +surfaces. These engines vary in power from 200 to 800 horse-power, +according to duty required. They are in continuous use, day and night, +and are required to deliver about 15,000 barrels of crude oil per 24 +hours, under a pressure equivalent to an elevation of 3,500 feet. + +We have lately examined the latest pumping engine plant, and the largest +yet built for this service, by the firm of H.R. Worthington; it is to be +used at the Osborne Hollow Pumping Station. As patents are yet pending +on certain new features in this engine, we must defer a full description +of it for a later issue of our journal. + +The Pennsylvania line has a single 6-inch pipe 280 miles long, with six +pumping stations as shown in the map, and groups of shorter lines, with +a loop extending from the main line to Milton, Pa., a shipping point for +loading on cars. At Millway, Pa., a 5-inch pipe leaves the Pennsylvania +line and runs to Baltimore, a distance of 70 miles, and is operated +from the first named station alone, there being no intermediate pumping +station.[1] The Cleveland pipe, 100 miles long, is 5 inches in diameter, +and has upon it four pumping stations; it carries oil to the very +extensive refineries of the company at the terminal on Lake Erie. The +Buffalo line is 4 inches in diameter and 70 miles long; it has a pumping +station at Four-Mile and at Ashford (omitted on the map). The Pittsburg +line is 4 inches in diameter and 60 miles long; it has pumping stations +at Carbon Center and at Freeport. + +[Footnote 1: Millway is about 400 feet above tide-water at Baltimore, +but the line passes over a very undulating country in its passage to the +last named point. We regret that we have no profile on this 70 mile line +operated by a single pumping plant.--_Ed. Engineering News_.] + +A very necessary and remarkably complete adjunct to the numerous pipe +lines of this company is an independent telegraph system extending to +every point on its widely diverging lines. The storage capacity of the +National Transit Co.'s system is placed at 1,500,000 barrels, and +this tankage is being constantly increased to meet the demands of the +producers.[1] + +[Footnote 1: As showing the extent of the sea-coast transportation of +petroleum, we should mention that the statistics for 1884 show a total +of crude equivalent exported from the United States in that year, +equaling 16,661,086 barrels, of 51 gallons each. This is a daily average +of 42,780 barrels.] + +The company is officially organized as follows: C.A. Griscom, President; +Benjamin Brewster, Vice President; John Bushnell, Secretary; Daniel +O'Day, General Manager; J.H. Snow, General Superintendent. Mr. Snow +was the practical constructor of the entire system, and the general +perfection of the work is mainly due to his personal experience, energy, +and careful supervision. His engineering assistants were Theodore M. +Towe and C.J. Hepburn on the New York line and J.B. Barbour on the +Pennsylvania lines. + +The enterprise has been so far a great engineering success, and the oil +delivery is stated on good authority to be within 2 per cent. of the +theoretical capacity of the pipes. From a commercial standpoint, the +ultimate future of the undertaking will be determined by the lasting +qualities of wrought iron pipe buried in the ground and subjected to +enormous strain; time alone can determine this question. + +In preparing this article we are indebted for information to the firm of +H.R. Worthington, to General Manager O'Day, of the National Transit +Co., to the editor of the _Derrick_ of Oil City, Pa., and to numerous +engineering friends.--_Engineering News_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE FUEL OF THE FUTURE. + +By GEORGE WARDMAN. + + +The practical application of natural gas, as an article of fuel, to the +purpose of manufacturing glass, iron, and steel, promises to work a +revolution in the industrial interests of America--promises to work a +revolution; for notwithstanding the fact that, in many of the largest +iron, steel, and glass factories in Pittsburg and its vicinity, natural +gas has already been substituted for coal, the managers of some such +works are shy of the new fuel, mainly for two reasons: 1. They doubt +the continuity and regularity of its supply. 2. They do not deem the +difference between the price of natural gas and coal sufficient as yet +to justify the expenditure involved in the furnace changes necessary to +the substitution of the one for the other. These two objections will +doubtless disappear with additional experience in the production and +regulation of the gas supply, and with enlarged competition among the +companies engaging in its transmission from the wells to the works. +At present the use of natural gas as a substitute for coal in the +manufacture of glass, iron, and steel is in its infancy. + +Natural gas is as ancient as the universe. It was known to man in +prehistoric times, we must suppose, for the very earliest historical +reference to the Magi of Asia records them as worshiping the eternal +fires which then blazed, and still blaze, in the fissures of the +mountain heights overlooking the Caspian Sea. Those records appertain +to a period at least 600 years before the birth of Christ; but the Magi +must have lived and worshiped long anterior to that time. + +Zoroaster, reputed founder of the Parsee sect, is placed contemporary +with the prophet Daniel, from 2,500 to 600 B.C.; and, although Daniel +has been doubted, and Zoroaster may never have seen the light, the +fissures of the Caucasus have been flaming since the earliest authentic +records. + +The Parsees (Persians) did not originally worship fire. They believed +in two great powers--the Spirit of Light, or Good, and the Spirit of +Darkness, or Evil. Subsequent to Zoroaster, when the Persian empire rose +to its greatest power and importance, overspreading the west to the +shores of the Caspian and beyond, the tribes of the Caucasus suffered +political subjugation; but the creed of the Magi, founded upon the +eternal flame-altars of the mountains, proved sufficiently vigorous to +transform the Parseeism of the conquerors to the fire worship of the +conquered. + +About the beginning of the seventh century of the Christian era, the +Grecian Emperor Heraclius overturned the fire altars of the Magi at +Baku, the chief city on the Caspian, but the fire worshipers were not +expelled from the Caucasus until the Mohammedans subjugated the Persian +Empire, when they were driven into the Rangoon, on the Irrawaddy, in +India, one of the most noted petroleum producing districts of the world. + +Petroleum and natural gas are so intimately related that one would +hardly dare to say whether the gas proceeds from petroleum or the +petroleum is deposited from the gas. It is, however, safe to assume that +they are the products of one material, the lighter element separating +from the heavier under certain degrees of temperature and pressure. +Thus petroleum may separate from the gas as asphaltum separates from +petroleum. But some speculative minds consider natural gas to be a +product of anthracite coal. The fact that the great supply-field of +natural gas in Western Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, and +Eastern Ohio is a bituminous and not an anthracite region does not of +itself confute that theory, as the argument for it is, that the gas may +be tapped at a remote distance from the source of supply; and, whereas +anthracite is not a gas-coal, while bituminous is, we are told to +suppose that the gas which once may have been a component part of the +anthracite was long ago expelled by Nature, and has since been held in +vast reservoirs with slight waste, awaiting the use of man. That is one +theory; and upon that supposition it is suggested that anthracite +may exist below the bituminous beds of the region lying between the +Alleghany Mountains and the Great Lakes. Another theory is, that natural +gas is a product of the sea-weed deposited in the Devonian stratum. But, +leaving modern theories on the origin of natural gas and petroleum, we +may suppose the natural gas jets now burning in the fissures of the +Caucasus to have started up in flames about the time when, according +to the Old Testament, Noah descended from Mount Ararat, or very soon +thereafter. In the language of modern science it would be safe to say +that those flames sprang up when the Caucasus range was raised from +beneath the surface of the universal sea. The believer in biblical +chronology may say that those fires have been burning for four thousand +years--the geologist may say for four millions. + +We know that Alexander the Great penetrated to the Caspian; and in +Plutarch we read: "Hence [Arbela] he marched through the province +Babylon [Media?], which immediately submitted to him, and in Ecbatana +[?] was much surprised at the sight of the place where fire issues in a +continuous stream, like a spring of water, out of a cleft in the earth, +and the stream of naphtha, which not far from this spot flows out so +abundantly as to form a large lake. This naphtha, in other respects +resembling bitumen, is so subject to take fire that, before it touches +the flame, it will kindle at the very light that surrounds it, and often +inflames the intermediate air also. The barbarians, to show the power +and nature of it, sprinkled the street that led to the king's lodgings +with little drops of it, and, when it was almost night, stood at the +farther end with torches, which being applied to the moistened places, +the first taking fire, instantly, as quick as a man could think of it, +it caught from one end to another in such manner that the whole street +was one continued flame. Among those who used to wait upon the king, and +find occasion to amuse him, when he anointed and washed himself, there +was one Athenophanus, an Athenian, who desired him to make an experiment +of the naphtha upon Stephanus, who stood by in the bathing place, a +youth with a ridiculously ugly face, whose talent was singing well. +'For,' said he, 'if it take hold of him, and is not put out, it must +undeniably be allowed to be of the most invincible strength.' The youth, +as it happened, readily consented to undergo the trial, and as soon as +he was anointed and rubbed with it, his whole body was broke out into +such a flame, and was so seized by the fire, that Alexander was in the +greatest perplexity and alarm for him, and not without reason; for +nothing could have prevented him from being consumed by it if, by good +chance, there had not been people at hand with a great many vessels of +water for the service of the bath, with all which they had much ado to +extinguish the fire; and his body was so burned all over that he was +not cured of it a good while after. And thus it was not without some +plausibility that they endeavor to reconcile the fable to truth, who say +this was the drug in the tragedies with which Medea anointed the crown +and veils which she gave to Creon's daughter." + +An interesting reference to the fire-worshipers of the Caucasus is +contained in the "History of Zobeide," a tale of the wonderful Arabian +Nights Entertainment. It runs thus: + +"I bought a ship at Balsora, and freighted it; my sisters chose to go +with me, and we set sail with a fair wind. Some weeks after, we cast +anchor in a harbor which presented itself, with intent to water the +ship. As I was tired with having been so long on board, I landed with +the first boat, and walked up into the country. I soon came in sight of +a great town. When I arrived there, I was much surprised to see vast +numbers of people in different postures, but all immovable. The +merchants were in their shops, the soldiery on guard; every one seemed +engaged in his proper avocation, yet all were become as stone.... I +heard the voice of a man reading Al Koran.... Being curious to know why +he was the only living creature in the town,... he proceeded to tell +me that the city was the metropolis of a kingdom now governed by his +father; that the former king and all his subjects were Magi, worshipers +of fire and of Nardoun. the ancient king of the giants who rebelled +against God. 'Though I was born,' continued he, 'of idolatrous parents, +it was my good fortune to have a woman governess who was a strict +observer of the Mohammedan religion. She taught me Arabic from Al Koran; +by her I was instructed in the true religion, which I would never +afterward renounce. About three years ago a thundering voice was heard +distinctly throughout the city, saying, "Inhabitants, abandon the +worship of Nardoun and of fire, and worship the only true God, who +showeth mercy!" This voice was heard three years successively, but no +one regarded it. At the end of the last year all the inhabitants were in +an instant turned to stone. I alone was preserved.'" + +In the foregoing tale we doubtless have reference to the destruction +of Baku, on the Caspian (though to sail from Balsora to Baku is +impossible), and the driving away into India, by the Arabs under Caliph +Omar, of all who refused to renounce fire-worship and adopt the creed +of the Koran. The turning of the refractory inhabitants into stone is +probably the Arabian storyteller's figurative manner of referring to the +finding of dead bodies in a mummified condition. + +It is known that the Egyptians made use of bitumen, in some form, in +the preservation of their dead, a fact with which the Arabians were +familiar. As the Magi held the four elements of earth, air, fire, and +water to be sacred, they feared to either bury, burn, sink, or expose +to air the corrupting bodies of their deceased. Therefore, it was their +practice to envelop the corpse in a coating of wax or bitumen, so as +to hermetically seal it from immediate contact with either of the four +sacred elements. Hence the idea of all the bodies of the Magi left at +Baku being turned to stone, while only the true believer in Mohammed +remained in the flesh. + +Marco Polo, the famous traveler of the thirteenth century, makes +reference to the burning jets of the Caucasus, and those fires are known +to the Russians as continuing in existence since the army of Peter the +Great wrested the regions about the Caspian from the modern Persians. +The record of those flaming jets of natural gas is thus brought down in +an unbroken chain of evidence from remote antiquity to the present day, +and they are still burning. + +Numerous Greek and Latin writers testify to the known existence of +petroleum about the shores of the Mediterranean two thousand years ago. +More modern citations may, however, be read with equal interest. In the +"Journal of Sir Philip Skippon's Travels in France," in 1663, we find +the following curious entries: + +"We stayed in Grenoble till August 1st, and one day rode out, and, after +twice fording the river Drac (which makes a great wash) at a league's +distance, went over to Pont de Clef, a large arch across that river, +where we paid one sol a man; a league further we passed through a large +village called Vif, and about a league thence by S. Bathomew, another +village, and Chasteau Bernard, where we saw a flame breaking out of the +side of a bank, which is vulgarly called La Fountaine qui Brule; it +is by a small rivulet, and sometimes breaks out in other places; just +before our coming some other strangers had fried eggs here. The soil +hereabouts is full of a black stone, like our coal, which, perhaps, is +the continual fuel of the fire.... Near Peroul, about a league from +Montpelier, we saw a boiling fountain (as they call it), that is, the +water did heave up and bubble as if it boiled. This phenomenon in the +water was caused by a vapor ascending out of the earth through the +water, as was manifest, for if that one did but dig anywhere near the +place, and pour water upon the place new digged, one should observe in +it the like bubbling, the vapor arising not only in that place where the +fountain was, but all thereabout; the like vapor ascending out of the +earth and causing such ebullition in water it passes through hath been +observed in Mr. Hawkley's ground, about a mile from the town of Wigan, +in Lancashire, which vapor, by the application of a lighted candle, +paper; or the like, catches fire and flames vigorously. Whether or not +this vapor at Peroul would in like manner catch fire and burn I cannot +say, it coming not in our minds to make the experiment.... At Gabian, +about a day's journey from Montpelier, in the way to Beziers, is a +fountain of petroleum. It burns like oil, is of a pungent scent, and a +blackish color. It distills out of several places of the rock all the +year long, but most in the summer time. They gather it up with ladles +and put it in a barrel set on end, which hath a spigot just at the +bottom. When they have put in a good quantity, they open the spigot to +let out the water, and when the oil begins to come presently stop it. +They pay for the farm of this fountain about fifty crowns per annum. +We were told by one Monsieur Beaushoste, a chymist in Montpelier, that +petroleum was the very same with oil of jet, and not to be distinguished +from it by color, taste, smell, consistency, virtues, or any other +accident, as he had by experience found upon the coast of the +Mediterranean Sea, in several places, as at Berre, near Martague, in +Provence; at Messina, in Sicily, etc." + +In Harris' "Voyages," published in 1764, an article on the empire of +Persia thus refers to petroleum: + +"In several parts of Persia we meet with naphtha, both white and black; +it is used in painting and varnish, and sometimes in physic, and there +is an oil extracted from it which is applied to several uses. The most +famous springs of naphtha are in the neighborhood of Baku, which furnish +vast quantities, and there are also upward of thirty springs about +Shamasky, both in the province of Schirwan. The Persians use it as oil +for their lamps and in making fireworks, of which they are extremely +fond, and in which they are great proficients." + +Petroleum has long been known to exist also in the northern part of +Italy, the cities of Parma and Genoa having been for many years lighted +with it. + +In the province of Szechuen, China, natural gas is obtained from beds of +rock-salt at a depth of fifteen to sixteen hundred feet. Being brought +to the surface, it is conveyed in bamboo tubes and used for lighting as +well as for evaporating water in the manufacture of salt. It is asserted +that the Chinese used this natural gas for illuminating purposes +long before gas-lighting was known to the Europeans. Remembering the +unprogressive character of Chinese arts and industries, there is ground +for the belief that they may have been using this natural gas as an +illuminant these hundreds of years. + +In the United States the existence of petroleum was known to the Pilgrim +Fathers, who doubtless obtained their first information of it from the +Indians, from whom, in New York and western Pennsylvania, it was called +Seneka oil. It was otherwise known as "British" oil and oil of naphtha, +and was considered "a sovereign remedy for an inward bruise." + +The record of natural gas in this country is not so complete as that of +petroleum, but we learn that an important gas spring was known in West +Bloomfleld, N.Y., seventy years ago. In 1864 a well was sunk to a depth +of three hundred feet upon that vein, from which a sufficient supply +of gas was obtained to illuminate and heat the city of Rochester +(twenty-five miles distant), it was supposed. But the pipes which were +laid for that purpose, being of wood, were unfitted to withstand the +pressure, in consequence of which the scheme was abandoned; but gas from +that well is now in use as an illuminant and as fuel both in the town of +West Bloomfield and at Honeoye Falls. The village of Fredonia, N.Y., has +been using natural gas in lighting the streets for thirty years or there +about. On Big Sewickley Creek, in Westmoreland County, Pa., natural gas +was used for evaporating water in the manufacture of salt thirty years +ago, and gas is still issuing at the same place. Natural gas has been in +use in several localities in eastern Ohio for twenty-five years, and the +wells are flowing as vigorously as when first known. It has also been +in use in West Virginia for a quarter of a century, as well as in +the petroleum region of western Pennsylvania, where it has long been +utilized in generating steam for drilling oil wells. + +In 1826 the _American Journal of Science_ contained a letter from Dr. +S.P. Hildreth, who, in writing of the products of the Muskingum (Ohio) +Valley, said: "They have sunk two wells, which are now more than four +hundred feet in depth; one of them affords a very strong and pure +salt water, but not in great quantity; the other discharges such vast +quantities of petroleum, or, as it is vulgarly called, 'Seneka oil,' and +besides is so subject to such tremendous explosions of gas, as to force +out all the water and afford nothing but gas for several days, that they +make little or no salt." + +The value of the foregoing references is to be found in the testimony +they offer as to the duration of the supply of natural gas. Whether we +look to the eternal flaming fissures of the Caucasus, or to New York, +Pennsylvania, and Ohio, there is much to encourage the belief that the +flow of natural gas may be, like the production of petroleum, increased +rather than diminished by the draughts made upon it. Petroleum, instead +of diminishing in quantity by the millions of barrels drawn from western +Pennsylvania in the last quarter of a century, seems to increase, +greater wells being known in 1884 than in any previous year, and prices +having fallen from two dollars per bottle for "Seneka oil" to sixty +cents per barrel for the same article under the name of crude petroleum. +Hence we may assume that, as new pipe-lines are laid, the supply of +natural gas available for use in the great manufacturing district of +Pittsburg and vicinity will be increased, and the price of this fuel +diminished in a corresponding ratio. + +Natural gas is now supplied in Pittsburg at a small discount on +the actual cost of coal used last year in the large manufacturing +establishments, an additional saving being made in dispensing with +firemen and avoidance of hauling ashes from the boiler-room. It is +supplied, for domestic purposes, at twenty cents per thousand cubic +feet, which is not cheaper than coal in Pittsburg, but it is a thousand +per cent cleaner, and in that respect it promises to prove a great +blessing, not only to those who can afford to use it, but to the +community at large, in the hope held out that the smoke and soot +nuisance may be abated in part, if not wholly subdued, and that gleams +of sunshine there may become less phenomenal in the future than they are +at the present time. Twenty cents per thousand feet is too high a price +to bring gas into general use for domestic purposes in a city where +coal is cheap. Ten cents would be too much, and no doubt five cents per +thousand would pay a profit. The fact is, the dealers in natural gas +appear to be somewhat doubtful of the continuity of supply, and +anxious to get back the cost of wells and pipes in one year, which, if +successful, would be an enormous return on the investment. + +There are objections to the use of natural gas by mill operators--that +it costs too much, and that the continuity of the supply is uncertain; +by heads of families, that it is odorless, and, in case of leakage from +the pipes, may fill a room and be ready to explode without giving the +fragrant warning offered by common gas. Both of these objections will +probably disappear under the experience that time must furnish. More +wells and tributary lines will lessen the cost and tend to regulate the +pressure for manufacturers. Cut-offs and escape pipes outside of the +house will reduce the risk of explosions within. The danger in the +house may also be lessened by providing healthful ventilation in all +apartments wherein gas shall be consumed. + +This subject of, the ventilation of rooms in which common gas is +ordinarily used is beginning to attract attention. It is stated, upon +scientific authority, that a jet of common gas, equivalent to twelve +sperm candles, consumes 5.45 cubic feet of oxygen per hour, producing +3.21 feet of carbonic acid gas, vitiating, according to Dr. Tidy's +"Handbook of Chemistry," 348.25 cubic feet of air. In every five cubic +feet of pure air in a room there is one cubic foot of oxygen and four +of nitrogen. Without oxygen human life, as well as light, would become +extinct. It is asserted that one common gas-jet consumes as much oxygen +as five persons. + +Carbonic acid gas is the element which, in deep mines and vaults, causes +almost instant insensibility and suffocation to persons subjected to its +influences, and instantly extinguishes the flame of any light lowered +into it. The normal quantity of this gas contained in the air we breathe +is 0.04; one per cent, of it causes distress in breathing; two per cent, +is dangerous; four per cent, extinguishes life, and four per cent of it +is contained in air expelled from the lungs. According to Dr. Tidy's +table, each ordinary jet of common gas contributes to the air of a room +sixteen by ten feet on the sides and nine feet high, containing 1,440 +cubic feet of air, twenty-two per cent, of carbonic acid gas, which, +continued for twenty-four hours without ventilation, would reach the +fatal four per cent. + +Prof. Huxley gives, as a result of chemical analyses, the following +table of ratio of carbonic-acid gas in the atmosphere at the points +named: + + On the Thames, at London 0.0343 + In the streets of London 0.0380 + Top of Ben Nevis 0.0327 + Dress circle of Haymarket theater (11:30 P.M.) 0.0757 + Chancery Court (seven feet from the ground) 0.1930 + From working mines (average of 339 samples) 0.7853 + Largest amount in a Cornish mine 2.0500 + +In addition to the consumption of oxygen and production of carbonic acid +by the use of common gas, the gas itself, owing to defectiveness of the +burner, is projected into the air. Now, considering the deleterious +nature of all illuminating gases, the reasons for perfect ventilation of +rooms in which natural gas is used for heating and culinary purposes are +self-evident, not alone as a protection against explosions, but for the +health of the occupants of the house, remembering that a larger supply +of oxygen is said to be necessary for the perfect combustion of natural +than of common gas. + +Carbonic oxide, formed by the consumption of carbon, with an +insufficient supply of air, is the fatal poison of the charcoal furnace, +not infrequently resorted to, in close rooms, as a means of suicide. +The less sufficient the air toward perfect combustion, the smaller the +quantity of carbonic acid and the greater the amount of carbonic oxide. +That is to say, at the time of ignition the chief product of combustion +is carbonic oxide, and, unless sufficient air be added to convert the +oxide to carbonic acid, a decidedly dangerous product is given off into +the room. Yet, by means of a flue to carry off the poisonous gases from +burning jets, the combustion of gas, creating a current, is made an aid +to ventilation. Unfortunately, this important fact, if commonly known, +is not much heeded by heads of families or builders of houses. But in +any large community where gas comes into general use as an article of +fuel, this fact will gradually become recognized and respected. + +The property of indicating the presence of very minute quantities of gas +in a room is claimed for an instrument recently described by C. Von Jahn +in the _Revue Industrielle_. This is a porous cup, inverted and closed +by a perforated rubber stopper. Through the perforation in the stopper +the interior of the cup is connected with a pressure gauge containing +colored water. It is claimed that the diffusion of gas through the +earthenware raises the level of the water in the gauge so delicately +that the presence of one-half of one per cent, of gas may be detected by +it. Other instruments of a slightly different character are credited by +their inventors with most sensitive power of indicating gas-leakages, +but their practical efficiency remains to be demonstrated. An automatic +cut-off for use outside of houses in which natural gas is consumed has +been invented, but this writer knows nothing of either its mode of +action or its effectiveness. + +The great economic question, however, connected with the use of natural +gas is, how will it affect the industrial interests of the country? +There are grounds for the belief that a sufficient supply of natural gas +may be found in the vicinity of Pittsburg to reduce the cost of fuel to +such a degree as to make competition in the manufacture of iron, steel, +and glass, in any part of the country where coal must be used, out of +the question. Such a condition of affairs would probably result in +driving the great manufacturing concerns of the country into the region +where natural gas is to obtained. That may be anywhere from the western +slope of the Alleghanies to Lake Erie or to Lake Michigan. And, if the +cost of producing iron, steel, and glass can be so cheapened by the new +fuel, the tariff question may undergo some important modification in +politics. For, if the reduction in the cost of fuel should ever become +an offset to the lower rate of wages in Europe, the manufacturers of +Pennsylvania, who have long been the chief support of the protective +policy of the country, may lose their present interest in that question, +and leave the tariff to shift for itself elsewhere. It should be +remembered that natural gas is not, as yet, much cheaper than coal +in Pittsburg. But it may safely be assumed that it will cheapen, as +petroleum has done, by a development of the territory in which it is +known to exist in enormous quantities. It is quite possible that, +instead of buying gas, many factories will bore for it with success, +or remove convenient to its natural sources, so that a gas well may +ultimately become an essential part of the "plant" of a mill or factory. +Even now coal cannot compete with gas in the manufacture of window +glass, for, the gas being free from sulphur and other impurities +contained in coal, produces a superior quality of glass; so that in this +branch of industry the question of superiority seems already settled. + +Having said thus much of an industry now in its infancy but promising +great growth, I submit tables of analyses of common and of the natural +or marsh gas, the latter from a paper recently prepared by a committee +of the Engineers' Society of Western Pennsylvania, and for the use of +which I am indebted to that association: + +COMMON GAS. + + Hydrogen 46.0 + Light carbureted hydrogen (marsh gas) 39.5 + Condensible hydrocarbon 3.8 + Carbonic oxide 7.5 + " acid 0.6 + Aqueous vapor 2.0 + Oxygen 0.1 + Nitrogen 0.5 + ----- + 100.0 + +Natural gas is now conveyed to Pittsburg through four lines of 5-5/8 +inch pipe and one line of eight inch pipe. A line of ten inch pipe is +also being laid. The pressure of the gas at the wells is from 150 to 230 +pounds to the square inch. As the wells are on one side eighteen and on +the other about twenty-five miles distant, and as the consumption is +variable, the pressure at the city cannot be given. Greater pressure +might be obtained at the wells, but this would increase the liability +to leakage and bursting of pipes. For the prevention of such casualties +safety valves are provided at the wells, permitting the escape of all +superfluous gas. The enormous force of this gas may be appreciated from +a comparison of, say, 200 pounds pressure at the wells with a two ounce +pressure of common gas for ordinary lighting. The amount of natural gas +now furnished for use in Pittsburg is supposed to be something like +25,000,000 cubic feet per day; the ten inch pipe now laying is estimated +to increase the supply to 40,000,000 feet. The amount of manufactured +gas used for lighting the same city probably falls below 3,000,000 feet. + +About fifty mills and factories of various kinds in Pittsburg now use +natural gas. It is used for domestic purposes in two hundred houses. +Its superiority over coal in the manufacture of window glass is +unquestioned. That it is not used in all the glass houses of Pittsburg +is due to the fact that its advantages were not fully known when the +furnaces were fired last summer, and it costs a large sum to permit the +furnaces to cool off after being heated for melting. When the fires cool +down, and before they are started up again, the furnaces now using +coal will doubtless all be changed so as to admit natural gas. The +superiority of French over American glass is said to be due to the fact +that the French use wood and the Americans coal in their furnaces, wood +being free from sulphur, phosphorus, etc. The substitution of gas for +coal, while not increasing the cost, improves the quality of American +glass, making it as nearly perfect as possible. + +While the gas is not used as yet in any smelting furnace nor in the +Bessemer converters, it is preferred in open hearth and crucible steel +furnaces, and is said to be vastly superior to coal for puddling. The +charge of a puddling furnace, consisting of 500 pounds of pig-metal and +eighty pounds of "fix," produces with coal fuel 490 to 500 pounds of +iron. With gas for fuel, it is claimed that the same charge will yield +520 to 530 pounds of iron. In an iron mill of thirty furnaces, running +eight heats each for twenty-four hours, this would make a difference in +favor of the gas of, say, 8 x 30 x 25 = 6,000 pounds of iron per day. +This is an important item of itself, leaving out the cost of firing with +coal and hauling ashes. + +For generating steam in large establishments, one man will attend +a battery of twelve or twenty boilers, using gas as fuel, keep the +pressure uniform, and have the fire room clean as a parlor. For burning +brick and earthenware, gas offers the double advantage of freedom from +smoke and a uniform heat. The use of gas in public bakeries promises the +abolition of the ash-box and its accumulation of miscellaneous filth, +which is said to often impregnate the "sponge" with impurities. + +In short, the advantages of natural gas as a fuel are so obvious to +those who have given it a trial, that the prediction is made that, +should the supply fail, many who are now using it will never return to +the consumption of crude coal in factories, but, if necessary, convert +it or petroleum into gas at their own works. + +It seems, indeed, that until we shall have acquired the wisdom enabling +us to conserve and concentrate the heat of the sun, gas must be the fuel +of the future.--_Popular Science Monthly_. + + TABLE OF ANALYSIS OF NATURAL GAS--FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. + _____________________________________________________________________ + | | | | | | | | + | CONSTITUENTS | [2.] | [3.] | [6.] | [7.] | [8.] | [9.] | + |_______________|________|________|________|________|________|_________ + | | | | | | | | + | Hydrogen | .... | .... | 6.10 | 13.50 | 22.50 | 4.79 | + | | | | | | | | + | Marsh Gas | 82.41 | 96.50 | 75.44 | 80.11 | 60.27 | 89.65 | + | | | | | | | | + | Ethane | .... | .... | 18.12 | 5.72 | 6.80 | 4.39 | + | | | | | | | | + | Propane | .... | .... | trace. | .... | .... | trace. | + | | | | | | | | + | Carbonic acid | 10.11 | .... | 0.34 | 0.66 | 2.28 | 0.35 | + | | | | | | | | + | Carbonic oxide| .... | 0.50 | trace. | trace. | trace. | 0.26 | + | | | | | | | | + | Nitrogen | 4.31 | .... | .... | .... | 7.32 | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Oxygen | 0.23 | 2.00 | .... | .... | 0.83 | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | "Illuminating | 2.94 | 1.00 | .... | .... | .... | 0.56 | + | hydrocarbons."|________|________|________|________|________|________| + | | | | | | | | + | | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 99.99 | 100.00 | 100.00 | + |_______________|________|________|________|________|________|________| + | | + | Specific gravity 0.693 0.692 0.6148 0.5119 0.5580 | + |_____________________________________________________________________| + ______________________________________________________________________ + | | | | | | | | + | CONSTITUENTS | [10.] | [12.] | [14.] | [15.] | [16.] | [17.] | + |_______________|________|________|________|________|________|_________ + | | | | | | | | + | Hydrogen | .... | 19.56 | .... | 0.98 | .... | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Marsh Gas | 96.34 | 78.24 | 47.37 | 93.09 | 80.69 | 95.42 | + | | | | | | | | + | Ethane | .... | .... | .... | .... | 4.75 | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Propane | .... | .... | .... | .... | .... | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Carbonic acid | 3.64 | .... | 3.10 | 2.18 | 6.44 | 0.60 | + | | | | | | | | + | Carbonic oxide| | .... | .... | .... | .... | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Nitrogen | | .... | 49.39 | 0.49 | 8.12 | 3.98 | + | | | | | | | | + | Oxygen | | 2.20 | 0.17 | .... | .... | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | "Illuminating | [10.] | .... | .... | 3.26 | .... | .... | + | hydrocarbons."|________|________|________|________|________|________| + | | | | | | | | + | | | 100.00 | 100.03 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | + |_______________|________|________|________|________|________|________| + | | + |Specific gravity 0.5923 0.56 | + |_____________________________________________________________________| + + Petroleum is composed of about 85 per cent of carbon and 15 per cent of + nitrogen. + + Locations: + + 1. Petrolia, Canada. + 2. West Bloomfield, N.Y. + 3. Olean, N.Y. + 4. Fredonis, N.Y. + 5. Pioneer Run, Venango Co., Pa. + 6. Burn's Well, near St. Joe., Butler Co., Pa. + 7. Harvey Well, Butler Co., Pa. + 8. Cherry Tree, Indiana Co., Pa. + 9. Leechburg, Pa. + 10. Creighton, Pa. + 11. Penn Fuel Co.'s Well, Murraysville, Pa. + 12. Fuel Gas Co.'s Well, Murraysville. + 13. Roger's Gulch, Wirt Co., W. Va. + 14. Gas from Marsh Ground + 15. Baku, on the Caspian Sea. + 16. Gas occluded in Wigan cannel-coal. + 17. Blower in coal-mine. South Wales. + + Notes: + + 1. Chiefly marsh-gas with ethane and some carbonic acid. + 4. A mixture of marsh-gas, ethane and butane. + 5. Chiefly propane, with small quantities of carbonic acid and + nitrogen. + 10. Trace of heavy hydrocarbons. + 11. Marsh-gas, with a little carbonic acid. + 13. Chiefly marsh-gas, with small quantities of nitrogen and + 15.86 per cent + carbonic acid. + + References: + + 1. Fouqué, "Comptes Rendus," lxvii, p. 1045. + 2. H. Wurtz, "Am. Jour. Arts and Sci." (2), xlix, p. 336. + 3. Robert Young. + 4. Fouqué, "Comptes Rendus," lxvii. p. 1045. + 5. Fouqué, "Comptes Rendus," lxvii. p. 1045. + 6. S.P. Sadler, "Report L, 2d Geol. Sur. Pa.," p. 153. + 7. S.P. Sadler, "Report L, 3d Geol. Sur. Pa.," p. 152. + 8. S.P. Sadler, "Report L, 3d Geol. Sur. Pa.," p. 153. + 9. S.P. Sadler, "Report L, 3d Geol. Sur. Pa.," p. 153. + 10. F.C. Phillips. + 11. Robert Young. + 12. Rogers. + 13. Fouqué, "Comptes Rendus," lxvii, p. 1045. + 14. Bischof's Chemical Geology," I, p. 730. + 15. Bischof's Chemical Geology," I, p. 730. + 16. J.W. Thomas, London, "Chemical Society's Journal," 1876, p. 793. + 17. Same, 1875, p. 793. + + * * * * * + + + + +CLOSING LEAKAGES FOR PACKING. + +By L. C. LEVOIR. + + +The mineral asbestos is but a very poor packing material in +steam-boilers. Moreover, it acts as a strong grinding material on all +moving parts. + +For some years I have tested the applicability of artificial +precipitates to close the holes in boilers, cylinder-covers, and +stuffing boxes. I took, generally with the best success, alternate +layers of hemp-cotton, thread, and absorbent paper, all well saturated +with the chlorides of calcium and magnesium. The next layers of the same +fiber are moistened with silicate of soda. By pressure the fluids are +mixed and the pores are closed. A stuffing box filled with this mixture +has worked three years without grinding the piston-rod. + +In the same manner I close the screw-thread hole in gas tubes used for +conducting steam. I moisten the thread in the sockets with oleic acid +from the candle-works, and dust over it a mixture of 1 part of minium, +2 parts of quick-lime, and 1 part of linseed powder (without the oil). +When the tube is screwed in the socket, the powder mixes with the oleic +acid. The water coming in at first makes the linseed powder viscid. +Later the steam forming the oleate of lime and the oleate of lead, +on its way to the outer air, presses it in the holes and closes them +perfectly. + +After a year in use the tubes can be unscrewed with ease, and the screw +threads are perfectly smooth. + +With this kind of packing only one exception must be made--that is, it +is only tight under pressure; condensation or vacuum must be thoroughly +avoided.--_Chem. News_. + + * * * * * + + + + +LUMINOUS PAINT. + + +In answer to various inquiries concerning the manufacture of this +article, we give herewith the process of William Henry Balmain, the +original discoverer of luminous paint, and also other processes. These +particulars are derived from the letters patent granted in this country +to the parties named. + +Balmain's invention was patented in England in 1877, and in this country +in 1882. It is styled as Improvements in Painting, Varnishing, and +Whitewashing, of which the following is a specification: + +The said invention consists in a luminous paint, the body of which is a +phosphorescent compound, or is composed in part of such a compound, and +the vehicle of which is such as is used as the vehicle in ordinary paint +compounds, viz., one which becomes dry by evaporation or oxidation. + +The objector article to which such paint or varnish or wash is applied +is itself rendered visible in the darkest place, and more or less +capable of imparting light to other objects, so as to render them +visible also. The phosphorescent substance found most suitable for the +purpose is a compound obtained by simply heating together a mixture +of lime and sulphur, or carbonate of lime and sulphur, or some of the +various substances containing in themselves both lime and sulphur--such, +for example, as alabaster, gypsum, and the like--with carbon or other +agent to remove a portion of the oxygen contained in them, or by heating +lime or carbonate of lime in a gas or vapor containing sulphur. + +The vehicle to be used for the luminous paint must be one which will dry +by evaporation or oxidation, in order that the paint may not become soft +or fluid by heat or be liable to be easily rubbed off by accident or use +from the articles to which it has been applied. It may be any of the +vehicles commonly used in oil-painting or any of those commonly used in +what is known as "distemper" painting or whitewashing, according to the +place or purpose in or for which the paint is to be used. + +It is found the best results are obtained by mixing the phosphorescent +substance with a colorless varnish made with mastic or other resinous +body and turpentine or spirit, making the paint as thick as convenient +to apply with a brush, and with as much turpentine or spirit as can +be added without impairing the required thickness. Good results may, +however, be obtained with drying oils, spirit varnishes, gums, pastes, +sizes, and gelatine solutions of every description, the choice being +varied to meet the object in view or the nature of the article in hand. + +The mode of applying the paint, varnish, or wash will also depend upon +the circumstances of the case. For example, it may be applied by a +brush, as in ordinary painting, or by dipping or steeping the article +in the paint, varnish, or wash; or a block or type may be used to +advantage, as in calico-printing and the like. For outdoor work, or +wherever the surface illuminated is exposed to the vicissitudes of +weather or to injury from mechanical contingencies, it is desirable to +cover it with glass, or, if the article will admit of it, to glaze it +over with a flux, as in enameling, or as in ordinary pottery, and this +may be accomplished without injury to the effect, even when the flux or +glaze requires a red heat for fusion. + +Among other applications of the said invention which may be enumerated, +it is particularly advantageous for rendering visible clock or watch +faces and other indicators--such, for example, as compasses and the +scales of barometers or thermometers--during the night or in dark places +during the night time. In applying the invention to these and other +like purposes there may be used either phosphorescent grounds with +dark figures or dark grounds and phosphorescent figures or letters, +preferring the former. In like manner there may be produced figures and +letters for use on house-doors and ends of streets, wherever it is not +convenient or economical to have external source of light, signposts, +and signals, and names or marks to show entries to avenues or gates, and +the like. + +The invention is also applicable to the illumination of railway +carriages by painting with phosphorescent paint a portion of the +interior, thus obviating the necessity for the expense and inconvenience +of the use of lamps in passing through tunnels. It may also be applied +externally as warning-lights at the front and end of trains passing +through tunnels, and in other similar cases, also to ordinary carriages, +either internally or externally. As a night-light in a bed-room or in a +room habitually dark, the application has been found quite effectual, a +very small proportion of the surface rendered phosphorescent affording +sufficient light for moving about the room, or for fixing upon and +selecting an article in the midst of a number of complicated scientific +instruments or other objects. + +The invention may also be applied to private and public buildings in +cases where it would be economical and advantageous to maintain for a +short time a waning or twilight, so as to obviate the necessity for +lighting earlier the gas or other artificial light. It may also be +used in powder-mills and stores of powder, and in other cases where +combustion or heat would be a constant source of danger, and generally +for all purposes of artificial light where it is applicable. + +In order to produce and maintain the phosphorescent light, full sunshine +is not necessary, but, on the contrary, is undesirable. The illumination +is best started by leaving the article or surface exposed for a short +time to ordinary daylight or even artificial light, which need not be +strong in order to make the illumination continue for many hours, even +twenty hours, without, the necessity of renewed exposure. + +The advantages of the invention consist in obtaining for the purposes of +daily life a light which is maintained at no cost whatever, is free from +the defects and contingent dangers arising from combustion or heat, and +can be applied in many cases where all other sources of light would be +inconvenient or incapable of application. + +Heretofore phosphorus has been mixed with earthy oxides, carbonates, +and sulphates, and with oxides and carbonates of metal, as tin, zinc, +magnesia, antimony, and chlorides of the same, also crystallized acids +and salts and mineral substances, and same have been inclosed and +exhibited in closely-stopped bottles as a phosphorus; but such union I +do not claim; but what I claim is: + +A luminous paint, the body of which is a phosphorescent substance, or +composed in part of such substance, the vehicle of which is such as is +ordinarily used in paints, viz., one which will become dry by oxidation +or evaporation, substantially as herein described. + +A. Krause, of Buffalo, N.Y., obtained a patent for improvement in +phosphorescent substances dated December 30, 1879. The patentee says: +This invention relates to a substance which, by exposure to direct or +indirect sun-light, or to artificial light, is so affected or brought +into such a peculiar condition that it will emit rays of light or become +luminous in the dark. + +It is a well-known fact that various bodies and compositions of matter, +more especially compositions containing sulphur in combination with +earthy salts, possess the property of emitting rays of light in the +dark after having been exposed to sun-light. All of these bodies and +compositions of matter are, however, not well adapted for practical +purposes, because the light emitted by them is either too feeble to be +of any practicable utility, or because the luminous condition is not +of sufficient duration, or because the substances are decomposed by +exposure to the atmosphere. + +Among the materials which have been employed with the best results +for producing these luminous compositions are sea-shells, especially +oyster-shells. I have found by practical experiments that only the inner +surface of these shells is of considerable value in the production +of luminous compositions, while the body of the shell, although +substantially of the same chemical composition, does not, to any +appreciable extent, aid in producing the desired result. It follows from +this observation that the smallest shells, which contain the largest +surface as compared with their cubic contents, will be best adapted for +this purpose. + +I have found that chalk, which is composed of the shells of microscopic +animals, possesses the desired property in the highest degree; and my +invention consists, therefore, of a luminous substance composed of such +chalk, sulphur, and bismuth, as will be hereinafter fully set forth. + +In preparing my improved composition I take cleaned or precipitated +chalk, and subject it to the process of calcination in a suitable +crucible over a clear coal or charcoal fire for three or four hours, +or thereabout. I then add to the calcined chalk about one-third of its +weight of sulphur, and heat the mixture for from forty-five to ninety +minutes, or thereabout. A small quantity of bismuth, in the proportion +of about one per cent, or less of the mixture, is added together with +the sulphur. + +The metal may be introduced in the metallic form in the shape of +fillings, or in the form of a carbonate, sulphuret, sulphate, or +sulphide, or oxide, as may be most convenient. + +The substance produced in this manner possesses the property of emitting +light in the dark in a very high degree. An exposure to light of very +short duration, sometimes but for a moment, will cause the substance +to become luminous and to remain in this luminous condition, under +favorable circumstances, for upward of twenty-four hours. + +The intensity of the light emitted by this composition after exposure is +considerable, and largely greater than the light produced by any of the +substances heretofore known. + +The hereinbefore described substance may be ground with oil and used +like ordinary paint; or it may be ground with any suitable varnish or be +mixed in the manner of water colors; or it may be employed in any other +suitable and well-known manner in which paints are employed. + +My improved luminous substance is adapted for a great variety of +uses--for instance, for painting business and other signs, guide boards, +clock and watch dials, for making the numbers on houses and railway +cars, and for painting all surfaces which are exposed periodically to +direct or indirect light and desired to be easily seen during the night. + +When applied with oil or varnish, my improved luminous substance can +be exposed to the weather in the same manner as ordinary paint without +suffering any diminution of its luminous property. I claim as my +invention the herein described luminous substance, consisting of +calcined chalk, sulphur, and bismuth, substantially as set forth. + +Merrill B. Sherwood, Jr., of Buffalo, N. Y., obtained a patent for a +phosphorescent composition, dated August 9, 1881. + +The author says: My invention relates to an improvement in +phosphorescent illuminants. + +I have taken advantage of the peculiar property which obtains in many +bodies of absorbing light during the day and emitting it during the +night time. + +The object of my invention is the preparation by a prescribed formula, +to be hereinafter given, of a composition embodying one of the +well-known phosphorescent substances above referred to, which will be +applicable to many practical uses. + +With this end in view my invention consists in a phosphorescent +composition in which the chief illuminating element is monosulphide of +calcium. + +The composition obtained by the formula may be used either in a powdered +condition by dusting it over articles previously coated, in whole or in +part, with an adhesive substance, or it may be intimately mixed with +paints, inks, or varnishes, serving as vehicles for its application, and +in this way be applied to bodies to render them luminous. + +The formula for obtaining the composition is as follows: To one hundred +parts of unslaked lime, that obtained from calcined oyster shells +producing the best results, add five parts of carbonate of magnesia and +five parts of ground silex. Introduce these elements into a graphite or +fire-clay crucible containing forty parts of sulphur and twenty-five +parts of charcoal, raise the whole mass nearly or quite to a white heat, +remove from the fire, allow it to cool slowly, and, when it is cold or +sufficiently lowered in temperature to be conveniently handled, +remove it from the crucible and grind it. The method of reducing the +composition will depend upon the mode of its use. If it is to be applied +as a loose powder by the dusting process, it should be simply ground +dry; but if it is to be mixed with paint or other similar substance, +it should be ground with linseed or other suitable oil. In heating the +elements aforesaid, certain chemical combinations will have taken place, +and monosulphide of calcium, combined with carbonate of lime, magnesia, +and silex, will be the result of such ignition. + +If, in the firing of the elements, as above set forth, all of the +charcoal does not unite with the other elements, such uncombined portion +should be removed from the fused mass before it is ground. + +If it is designed to mix the composition with paints, those composed of +zinc-white and baryta should be chosen in preference to those composed +of white lead and colored by vegetable matter, as chemical action will +take place between the composition and paint last mentioned, and +its color will be destroyed or changed by the gradual action of the +sulphureted hydrogen produced. However, by the addition of a weak +solution of gum in alcohol or other suitable sizing to the composition, +it may be used with paints containing elements sensitive to sulphureted +hydrogen without danger of decomposing them and destroying their color. + +In many, and possibly in a majority of cases, the illuminating +composition applied as a dry powder will give the most satisfactory +results, in view of the tendency to chemical action between the paint +and composition when intimately mixed; in view of the fact that by +the addition to paint of any color of a sufficient quantity of the +composition to render the product luminous, the original color of the +paint will be modified or destroyed; and, also, in view of the fact that +the illuminating composition is so greatly in excess of the paint, the +proportions in which they are united being substantially ten parts +of the former to one of the latter, it will be difficult to impart a +particular color to the product of the union without detracting from +its luminosity. On the other hand, the union of dry powder with a body +already painted by the simple force of adhesion does not establish +a sufficiently intimate relation between it and the paint to cause +chemical action, the application of a light coat of powder does not +materially change the color of the article to which it is applied; and, +further, by the use of the powder in an uncombined state its greatest +illuminating effects are obtained. Again, if the appearance in the +daytime of the article which it is desired to have appear luminous at +night is not material, it may be left unpainted and simply sized to +retain the powder. + +In printing it is probable that the composition will be employed almost +exclusively in the form of dry powder, as printing-ink, normally pasty, +becomes too thick to be well handled when it is combined with powder in +sufficient quantity to render the printed surface luminous. However, the +printed surface of a freshly printed sheet may be rendered luminous by +dusting the sheet with powder, which will adhere to all of the inked and +may be easily shaken from the unmoistened surfaces thereof. + +I am aware that monosulphide of calcium and magnesia have before +been used together in phosphorescent compounds. What I claim is a +phosphorescent composition consisting of monosulphide of calcium, +combined with carbonate of lime, magnesia, and silex, substantially as +described. + +Orlando Thowless, of Newark, N.J., obtained a patent for a process of +manufacturing phosphorescent substances dated November 8, 1881. +The inventor says: The object of my invention is to manufacture +phosphorescent materials of intense luminosity at low cost and little +loss of materials. + +I first take clam shells and, after cleaning, place them in a solution +composed of about one part of commercial nitric acid and three parts of +water, in which the shells are allowed to remain about twenty minutes. +The shells are then to be well rinsed in water, placed in a crucible, +and heated to a red heat for about four hours. They are then removed and +placed, while still red-hot, in a saturated solution of sea salt, from +which they are immediately removed and dried. After this treatment and +exposure to light the shells will have a blood-red luminous appearance +in the dark. The shells thus prepared are used with sulphur and +the phosphide and sulphide of calcium to produce a phosphorescent +composition, as follows: One hundred parts, by weight, of the shells, +prepared as above, are intimately mixed with twenty parts, by weight, of +sulphur. This mixture is placed in a crucible or retort and heated to a +white heat for four or five hours, when it is to be removed and forty +parts more of sulphur, one and one-half parts of calcium phosphide, and +one-half part of chemically pure sulphide of calcium added. The mixture +is then heated for about ninety minutes to an extreme white heat. When +cold, and after exposure to light, this mixture will become luminous. +Instead of these two ignitions, the same object may be in a measure +accomplished by the addition of the full amount of sulphur with the +phosphide and sulphide of calcium and raising it to a white heat but +once. The calcium phosphide is prepared by igniting phosphorus in +connection with newly slaked lime made chemically pure by calcination. +The condition of the shells when the sulphur is added is not material; +but the heat renders them porous and without moisture, so that they will +absorb the salt to as great an extent as possible. Where calcined shells +are mixed with solid salt, the absorbing power of the shells is greatly +diminished by the necessary exposure, and there will be a lack of +uniformity in the saturation. On the contrary, by plunging the red-hot +shells in the saline solution the greatest uniformity is attained. + +Instead of using clam shells as the base of my improved composition, I +may use other forms of sea shells--such as oyster shells, etc. + +I claim as new: + +1. The herein described process of manufacturing phosphorescent +materials, which consists in heating sea shells red-hot, treating them +while heated with a bath of brine, then, after removal from the bath, +mixing sulphur and phosphide and sulphide of calcium therewith, and +finally subjecting the mixture to a white heat, substantially as and for +the purpose described. + +2. The described process, which consists in placing clean and red-hot +clam shells in a saturated solution of sea salt, and then drying them, +for the purpose specified. + + * * * * * + + + + +BOXWOOD AND ITS SUBSTITUTES. + +[Footnote: Prize essay written for the International Forestry +Exhibition, Edinburgh.] + +By JOHN R. JACKSON. A.L.S., Curator of the Museums, Royal Gardens, Ken. + + +The importance of the discovery of a hard, compact, and even grained +wood, having all the characteristics of boxwood, and for which it would +form an efficient substitute, cannot be overestimated; and if such +a discovery should be one of the results of the present Forestry +Exhibition, one of its aims will have been fulfilled. + +For several years past the gradual diminution in the supplies of +boxwood, and the deterioration in its quality, have occupied the +attention of hardwood merchants, of engravers, and of scientific men. + +Of merchants, because of the difficulties in obtaining supplies to meet +the ever increasing demand; of engravers, because of the higher prices +asked for the wood, and the difficulty of securing wood of good size and +firm texture, so that the artistic excellence of the engraving might be +maintained; and of the man of science, who was specially interested +in the preservation of the indigenous boxwood forests, and in the +utilization of other woods, natives, it might be, of far distant +countries, whose adaptation would open not only a new source of revenue, +but would also be the means of relieving the strain upon existing +boxwood forests. + +While by far the most important use of boxwood is for engraving +purposes, it must be borne in mind that the wood is also applied to +numerous other uses, such, for instance, as weaving shuttles, for +mathematical instruments, turnery purposes, carving, and for various +ornamental articles, as well as for inlaying in cabinet work. The +question, therefore, of finding suitable substitutes for boxwood divides +itself into two branches, first, directly for engraving purposes, and, +secondly, to supply its place for the other uses to which it is now put. +This, to a certain extent, might set free some of the boxwood so used, +and leave it available for the higher purposes of art. At the same time, +it must not be forgotten that much of the wood used for general purposes +is unsuited for engraving, and can only therefore be used by the turner +or cabinet maker. Nevertheless, the application of woods other than box +for purposes for which that wood is now used would tend to lessen the +demand for box, and thus might have an effect in lowering the price. + +So far back as 1875 a real uneasiness began to be felt as to the future +supplies of box. In the _Gardeners' Chronicle_ for September 25, of that +year, page 398, it is said that the boxwood forests of Mingrelia in the +Caucasian range were almost exhausted. Old forests, long abandoned, were +even then explored in search of trees that might have escaped the notice +of former proprietors, and wood that was rejected by them was, in 1875, +eagerly purchased at high prices for England. The export of wood was at +that time prohibited from Abhasia and all the government forests in +the Caucasus. A report, dated at about the same period from Trebizond, +points out that the Porte had prohibited the cutting of boxwood in the +crown forests. (_Gardeners' Chronicle_, Aug. 19, 1876, p. 239.) Later +on, the British Consul at Tiflis says: "_Bona fide_ Caucasian boxwood +may be said to be commercially non-existent, almost every marketable +tree having been exported." (_Gardeners' Chronicle_, Dec. 6, 1879, p. +726.) + +The characters of boxwood are so marked and so distinct from those of +most other woods that some extracts from a report of Messrs. J. Gardner +& Sons, of London and Liverpool, addressed to the Inspector-General of +Forests in India, bearing on this subject, will not be without value; +indeed, its more general circulation than its reprint in Mr. J.S. +Gamble's "Manual of Indian Timbers" will, it is hoped, be the means of +directing attention to this very important matter, and by pointing +out the characters that make boxwood so valuable, may be the means of +directing observation to the detection of similar characters in other +woods. Messrs. Gardner say: + +"The most suitable texture of wood will be found growing upon the sides +of mountains. If grown in the plains the growth is usually too quick, +and consequently the grain is too coarse, the wood of best texture being +of slow growth, and very fine in the grain. + +"It should be cut down in the winter, and, if possible, stored at once +in airy wooden sheds well protected from sun and rain, and not to have +too much air through the sides of the sheds, more especially for the +wood under four inches diameter. + +"The boxwood also must not be piled upon the ground, but be well skidded +under, so as to be kept quite free from the effects of any damp from the +soil. + +"After the trees are cut down, the longer they are exposed the more +danger is there afterward of the wood splitting more than is absolutely +necessary during the necessary seasoning before shipment to this +country. + +"If shipped green, there is great danger of the wood sweating and +becoming mildewed during transit, which causes the wood afterward to dry +light and of a defective color, and in fact rendering it of little value +for commercial purposes. + +"There is no occasion to strip the bark off or to put cowdung or +anything else upon the ends of the pieces to prevent their splitting. + +"Boxwood is the nearest approach to ivory of any wood known, and will, +therefore, probably gradually increase in value, as it, as well +as ivory, becomes scarcer. It is now used very considerably in +manufacturing concerns, but on account of its gradual advance in price +during the past few years, cheaper woods are in some instances being +substituted. + +"Small wood under four inches is used principally by flax spinners for +rollers, and by turners for various purposes, rollers for rink skates, +etc., etc., and if free from splits, is of equal value with the larger +wood. It is imported here as small as one a half inches in diameter, but +the most useful sizes are from 2½ to 3½ inches, and would therefore, +we suppose, be from fifteen to thirty or forty years in growing, while +larger wood would require fifty years and upward at least, perhaps we +ought to say one hundred years and upward. It is used principally for +shuttles, for weaving silk, linen, and cotton, and also for rule making +and wood engraving. _Punch, The Illustrated London News, The Graphic_, +and all the first class pictorial papers use large quantities of +boxwood." + +In 1880, Messrs. Churchill and Sim reported favorably on some +consignments of Indian boxwood, concluding with the remarks that if the +wood could be regularly placed on the market at a moderate figure, there +was no reason why a trade should not be developed in it. Notwithstanding +these prospects, which seemed promising in 1877 and 1880, little or +nothing has been accually done up to the present time in bringing Indian +boxwood into general use, in consequence, as Mr. Gamble shows, of +the cost of transit through India. The necessity, therefore, of the +discovery of some wood akin to box is even more important now than ever +it was. + + +BOXWOOD SUBSTITUTES. + +First among the substitutes that have been proposed to replace boxwood +may be mentioned an invention of Mr. Edward Badoureau, referred to in +the _Gardeners' Chronicle_, March 23, 1878, p. 374, under the title of +artificial boxwood. It is stated to consist of some soft wood which has +been subject to heavy pressure. It is stated that some English engravers +have given their opinion on this prepared wood as follows: + +It has not the power of resistance of boxwood, so that it would be +imposible to make use of it, except in the shape of an electro obtained +from it, as it is too soft to sustain the pressure of a machine, and +would be easily worn out. In reply to these opinions, Mr. Badoureau +wrote: "My wood resists the wear and tear of the press as well as +boxwood, and I can show engravings of English and French artists which +have been obtained direct from the wood, and are as perfect as they are +possible to be; several of them have been drawn by Mr. Gustave Dore." + +Mr. Badoureau further says that "while as an engraver he has so high an +opinion of the qualities of compressed wood as a substitute for boxwood, +as the inventor of the new process he considered that it possesses +numerous advantages both for artistic and industrial purposes." In +short, he says, "My wood is to other wood what steel is to iron." + +The following woods are those which have, from time to time, been +proposed or experimented upon as substitutes for boxwood, for engraving +purposes. They are arranged according to their scientific classification +in the natural orders to which they belong: + + +_Natural Order Pittosporeæ_. + +1. _Pittosporum undulatum_. Vent.--A tree growing in favorable +situations to a height of forty or even sixty feet, and is a native of +New South Wales and Victoria. It furnishes a light, even grained wood, +which attracted some attention at the International Exhibition in 1862; +blocks were prepared from it, and submitted to Prof. De la Motte, of +King's College, who reported as follows: + +"I consider this wood well adapted to certain kinds of wood engraving. +It is not equal to Turkey box, but it is superior to that generally used +for posters, and I have no doubt that it would answer for the rollers +of mangles and wringing machines." Mr. W.G. Smith, in a report in the +_Gardeners' Chronicle_ for July 26, 1873, p. 1017, on some foreign woods +which I submitted to him for trial, says that the wood of _Pittosporum +undulatum_ is suitable only for bold outlines; compared with box, it is +soft and tough, and requires more force to cut than box. The toughness +of the wood causes the tools to drag back, so that great care is +required in cutting to prevent the lines clipping. The average diameter +of the wood is from 18 to 30 inches. + +2. _Pittosporum bicolor_, Hook.--A closely allied species, sometimes +forty feet high, native of New South Wales and Tasmania. This wood is +stated to be decidedly superior to the last named. + +3. _Bursaria spinosa_, Cav.--A tree about forty feet high, native of +North, South, and West Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, +and Tasmania, in which island it is known as boxwood. It has been +reported upon as being equal to common or inferior box, and with +further trials might be found suitable for common subjects; it has the +disadvantage, however, of blunting the edges and points of the tools. + + +_Natural Order Meliaceæ_. + +4. _Swietenia mahagoni_, L. (mahogany).--A large timber tree of +Honduras, Cuba, Central America, and Mexico. It is one of the most +valuable of furniture woods, but for engraving purposes it is but of +little value, nevertheless it has been used for large, coarse subjects. +Spanish mahogany is the kind which has been so used. + + +_Natural Order Ilicineæ_. + +_Ilex opaca_, L. (North American holly).--It is a widely diffused tree, +the wood of which is said to closely resemble English holly, being white +in color, and hard, with a fine grain, so that it is used for a +great number of purposes by turners, engineers, cabinet makers, and +philosophical instrument makers. For engraving purposes it is not equal +to the dog-wood of America (_Cornus florida_); it yields, however, more +readily to the graver's tools. + + +_Natural Order Celastrineæ_. + +6. _Elæodendron australe_, Vent.--A tree twenty to twenty-five feet +high, native of Queensland and New South Wales. The wood is used in the +colony for turning and cabinet work, and Mr. W.G. Smith reports that for +engraving purposes it seems suitable only for rough work, as diagrams, +posters, etc. + +7. _Euonymus sieboldianus_, Blume.--A Chinese tree, where the wood, +which is known as pai'cha, is used for carving and engraving. Attention +was first drawn to this wood by Mr. Jean von Volxem, in the _Gardeners' +Chronicle_ for April 20, 1878. In the Kew Report for 1878, p. 41, the +following extract of a letter from Mr. W.M. Cooper, Her Majesty's Consul +at Ningpo, is given: "The wood in universal use for book blocks, wood +engravings, seals, etc., is that of the pear tree, of which large +quantities are grown in Shantung, and Shan-se, especially. Pai'cha is +sometimes used as an indifferent substitute. Pai'cha is a very fine +white wood of fine fiber, without apparent grains, and cuts easily; is +well suited for carved frames, cabinets, caskets, etc., for which large +quantities are manufactured here for export. The tree itself resembles +somewhat the _Stillingia_, but has a rougher bark, larger and thinner +leaves, which are serrated at the edge, more delicate twigs, and is +deciduous." In 1879, a block of this wood was received at the Kew +Museum, from Mr. Cooper, a specimen of which was submitted to Mr. Robson +J. Scott, of Whitefriars Street, to whom I am much indebted for reports +on various occasions, and upon this wood Mr. Scott reported as follows: +"The most striking quality I have observed in this wood is its capacity +for retaining water, and the facility with which it surrenders it. This +section (one prepared and sent to the Kew Museum), which represents +one-tenth of the original piece, weighed 3 lb. 4½ ounces. At the end of +twenty one days it had lost 1 lb. 6¾ ounces in an unheated chamber. At +the end of another fourteen days, in a much elevated temperature, it +only lost ¼ ounce. In its present state of reduced bulk its weight is 1 +lb. 10 ounces. It is not at all likely to supersede box, but it may be +fit for coarser work than that for which box is necessary." Later on, +namely in the Kew Report for 1880, p. 51, Mr. R.D. Keene, an engraver, +to whom Mr. Scott submitted specimens of the wood for trial, writes: "I +like the wood very much, and prefer it to box in some instances; it is +freer to work, and consequently quicker, and its being uniform in color +and quality is a great advantage; we often have great difficulty in +box in having to work from a hard piece into a soft. I think it a very +useful wood, especially for solid bold work. I question if you could get +so extreme a fine black line as on box, but am sure there would be a +large demand for it at a moderate price." Referring to this letter, Mr. +Scott remarks that the writer does not intend it to be understood that +pai'cha is qualified to supersede box, but for inferior subjects for +which coarse brittle box is used. Mr. Scott further says that of the +woods he has tried he prefers pear and hawthorn to pai'cha. + + +_Natural Order Sapindaceæ_. + +8. _Acer saccharinum_, L. (sugar or bird's eye maple).--A North American +tree, forming extensive forests in Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova +Scotia. The wood is well known as a cabinet or furniture wood. It has +been tried for engraving, but it does not seem to have attracted much +notice. Mr. Scott says it is sufficiently good, so far as the grain is +concerned. From this it would seem not to promise favorably. + + +_Natural Order Leguminoseæ. Sub-order Papilionaceæ_. + +9. _Brya ebenus_, [Delta]. DC.--A small tree of Jamaica, where the wood +is known as green ebony, and is used for making various small articles. +It is imported into this country under the name of cocus wood, and +is used with us for making flutes and other wind instruments. Mr. +Worthington Smith considers that the wood equals bad box for engraving +purposes. + + +_Natural Order Rosaceæ_. + +10. _Pyrus communis_, L. (common pear).--A tree averaging from 20 to 40 +feet high. Found in a wild state, and very extensively cultivated as a +fruit tree. The wood is of a light brown color, and somewhat resembles +limewood in grain. It is, however, harder and tougher. It is considered +a good wood for carving, because it can be cut with or across the grain +with equal facility. It stands well when well seasoned, and is used for +engraved blocks for calico printers, paper stainers, and for various +other purposes. Pear-wood has been tried for engraving purposes, but +with no great success. Mr. Scott's opinion of its relative value is +referred to under pai'cha wood _(Euonymus sieboldianus)_. + +11. _Amelanchier canadensis_. L. (shade tree or service tree of +America).--A shrub or small tree found throughout Canada, Newfoundland, +and Virginia. Of this wood, Porcher says, in his "Resources of the +Southern Fields and Forests": "Upon examining with a sharp instrument +the specimens of various southern woods deposited in the museum of the +Elliott Society, ... I was struck with the singular weight, density, and +fineness of this wood. I think I can confidently recommend it as one of +the best to be experimented upon by the wood engraver." + +12. _Cratoegus oxyacantha_, L. (hawthorn).--A well-known shrub or small +tree in forests and hedges in this country. The wood is very dense and +close grained. Of this wood, Mr. Scott reports that it is by far the +best wood after box that he has had the opportunity of testing. + + +_Natural Order Myrtaceæ_. + +13. _Eugenia procera_, Poir.--A tree 20 to 30 feet high, native of +Jamaica, Antigua, Martinique, and Santa Cruz. A badly seasoned sample +of this wood was submitted to Mr. R.H. Keene, who reported that "it is +suited for bold, solid newspaper work." + + +_Natural Order Cornaceæ_. + +14. _Cornus florida_, L. (North American dogwood).--A deciduous tree, +about 30 feet high, common in the woods in various parts of North +America. The wood is hard, heavy, and very fine grained. It is used in +America for making the handles of light tools, as mallets, plane stocks, +harrow teeth, cogwheels, etc. It has also been used in America for +engraving. + +In a letter from Prof. Sargent, Director of the Arnold Arboretum, +Brookline, Massachusetts, quoted in the Kew Report for 1882, p. 35, he +says: "I have been now, for a long time, examining our native woods +in the hope of finding something to take the place of boxwood for +engraving, but so far I am sorry to say with no very brilliant success. +The best work here is entirely done from boxwood, and some _Cornus +florida_ is used for less expensive engraving. This wood answers fairly +well for coarse work, but it is a difficult wood to manage, splitting, +or rather 'checking,' very badly in drying." This, however, he states in +a later letter, "can be overcome by sawing the logs through the center +as soon as cut. It can be obtained in large quantities." Mr. R.H. Keene, +the engraver before referred to, reports that the wood is very rough, +and suitable for bold work. + + +_Natural Order Ericaceæ_. + +15. _Rhododendron maximum_, L. (mountain laurel of North America).--Of +this wood it is stated in Porcher's "Resources of the Southern Fields +and Forests," p. 419, that upon the authority of a well-known engraver +at Nashville, Tennessee, the wood is equaled only by the best boxwood. +This species of _Rhododendron_ "abounds on every mountain from Mason and +Dixon's line to North Georgia that has a rocky branch." Specimens of +this wood submitted to Mr. Scott were so badly selected and seasoned +that it was almost impossible to give it a trial. In consideration of +its hardness and apparent good qualities, further experiments should be +made with it. + +16. _Rhododendron californicum_.--Likewise a North American species, the +wood of which is similar to the last named. Specimens were sent to Kew +by Professor Sargent for report in 1882, but were so badly seasoned that +no satisfactory opinion could be obtained regarding it. + +17. _Kalmia latifolia_, L. (calico bush or ivy bush of North +America).--The wood is hard and dense, and is much used in America for +mechanical purposes. It has been recommended as a substitute for boxwood +for engraving, and trials should, therefore, be made with it. + + +_Natural Order Epacrideæ_. + +18. _Monotoca elliptica_, R. Br.--A tall shrub or tree 20 or 30 feet +high, native of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania. +The wood has been experimented upon in this country, and though to all +appearances it is an excellent wood, yet Mr. Worthington Smith reported +upon it as having a bad surface, and readily breaking away so that the +cuts require much retouching after engraving. + + +_Natural Order Ebenaceæ_. + +19. _Diospyros texana_.--A North American tree, of the wood of which +Professor Sargent speaks favorably. "It is, however," he says, "in +Texas, at least, rather small, scarcely six inches in diameter, and not +very common. In northern Mexico it is said to grow much larger, and +could probably be obtained with some trouble in sufficient quantities +to become an article of commerce." Of this wood Mr. Scott says: "It is +sufficiently good as regards the grain, but the specimen sent for +trial was much too small for practical purposes." Mr. R.H. Keene, the +engraver, says it "is nearly equal to the best box." + +20. _Diospyros virginiana_, L. (the persimmon of America).--A good-sized +tree, widely diffused, and common in some districts. The wood is of a +very dark color, hard, and of a fairly close grain. It has been used in +America for engraving, but so far as I am aware has not been tried +in this country. It has, however, been lately introduced for making +shuttles. + +21. _Dyospyros ebenum_, Koenig (ebony).--A wood so well known as to +need no description. It has been tried for engraving by Mr. Worthington +Smith, who considers it nearly as good as box. + + +_Natural Order Apocyneæ_. + +22. _Hunteria zeylanica_, Gard.--A small tree, common in the warmer +parts of Ceylon. This is a very hard and compact wood, and is used for +engraving purposes in Ceylon, where it is said, by residents, to come +nearer to box than any other wood known. On this wood Mr. Worthington +Smith gave a very favorable opinion, but it is doubtful whether it would +ever be brought from Ceylon in sufficient quantities to meet a demand. + + +_Natural Order Bignoniaceæ_. + +23. _Tecoma pentaphylla_, Dl.--A moderate-sized tree, native of the West +Indies and Brazil. The wood is compact, very fine, and even grained, and +much resembles box in general appearance. Blocks for engraving have been +prepared from it by Mr. R.J. Scott, who reported upon it as follows: "It +is the only likely successor to box that I have yet seen, but it is not +embraced as a deliverer should be, but its time may not be far off." + + +_Natural Order Corylaceæ_. + +24. _Carpinus betulus_, L. (hornbeam).--A tree from 20 to 70 feet high, +with a trunk sometimes 10 feet in girth, indigenous in the southern +counties of England. The wood is very tough, heavy, and close grained. +It is largely used in France for handles for agricultural and mining +implements, and of late years has been much used in this country for +lasts. The wood of large growth is apt to became shaky, and it is +consequently not used as a building wood. It is said to have been used +as a substitute for box in engraving, but with what success does not +appear. + +25. _Ostrya virginica_, Willd (ironwood, or American hornbeam).--A +moderate-sized tree, widely spread over North America. The wood is +light-colored, and extremely hard and heavy; hence the name of ironwood. +It is used in America by turners, as well as for mill cogs, etc., and +has been suggested as a substitute for boxwood for engraving, though no +actual trials, so far as I am aware, have been made with it. + +Besides the foregoing list of woods, there are others that have been +occasionally used for posters and the coarser kinds of engraving, such, +for instance, as lime, sycamore, yew, beech, and even pine; and in +America, _Vaccinium arboreum_ and _Azalea nudiflora_. Of these, however, +but little is known as to their value. + +It will be noticed that in those woods that have passed through the +engraver's hands, some which promised best, so far as their texture +or grain is concerned, have been tried upon very imperfect or badly +seasoned samples. + +The subject is one of so much importance, as was pointed out at the +commencement of this paper, that a thoroughly organized series of +experiments should be undertaken upon carefully seasoned and properly +prepared woods, not only of those mentioned in the preceding list, but +also of any others that may suggest themselves, as being suitable, It +must, moreover, always be borne in mind that the questions of price, +and the considerations of supply and demand, must, to a great extent, +regulate the adaptation of any particular wood. + +With regard to those woods referred to as being tried by Mr. Worthington +Smith, he remarks in his report that any of them would be useful for +some classes of work, if they could be imported, prepared, and sold for +a farthing, or less than a halfpenny, per square inch. + +Specimens of all the woods here enumerated are contained in the Kew +Museum. + + * * * * * + + + + +COMPOSITE PORTRAITS. + + +Not long since we gave a figure from a drawing by Mr. Grallieni, which, +looked at from a distance, seemed to be a death's head, but which, when +examined more closely, was seen to represent two children caressing +a dog. Since then we have had occasion to publish some landscapes of +Kircher and his imitators, which, looked at sideways, exhibited human +profiles. This sort of amusement has exercised the skill of artists of +all times, and engravings, and even paintings, of double aspect are very +numerous. Chance has recently put into our hands a very curious work of +this kind, which is due to a skillful artist named Gaillot. It is an +album of quite ancient lithographs, which was published at Berlin by +Senefelder. The author, under the title of "Arts and Trades," has drawn +some very amusing faces that are formed through the tools and objects +used in the profession represented. We reproduce a few specimens of +these essentially original compositions of Gaillot. The green grocer is +formed of a melon for the head, of an artichoke and its stem for the +forehead and nose, of a pannier for the bust, etc. The hunter is made up +of a gun, of a powder horn, and of a hunting horn, etc.; and so on for +the other professions. This is an amusing exercise in drawing that we +have thought worthy of reproducing. Any one who is skillful with his +pencil might exercise himself in imagining other compositions of the +same kind.--_La Nature_. + +[Illustration: COMPOSITE PORTRAITS.--OCCUPATIONS. 1. Green-grocer. 2. +Hunter. 3. Artist. 4. Cobbler. 5. Chemist 6. Cooper.] + + * * * * * + + + + +HAND-CRAFT AND REDE-CRAFT.--A PLEA FOR THE FIRST NAMED. + +[Footnote: Read before the Worcester Free Industrial Institute, June 25, +1885.] + +By DANIEL C. GILMAN, President of the Johns Hopkins University, +Baltimore. + + +I cannot think of a theme more fit for this hour and place than +handy-craft. I begin by saying "handy-craft," for that is the form of +the word now in vogue, that which we are wonted to see in print and hear +in speech; but I like rather the old form, "hand-craft," which was used +by our sires so long ago as the Anglo-Saxon days. Both words mean the +same thing, the power of the hand to seize, hold, shape, match, carve, +paint, dig, bake, make, or weave. Neither form is in fashion, as we know +very well, for people choose nowadays such Latin words as "technical +ability," "manual labor," "industrial pursuits," "dexterity," +"professional artisanship," "manufacture," "decorative art," and +"technological occupations," not one of which is half as good as the +plain, old, strong term "hand-craft." + +An aid to hand-craft is rede-craft--the power to read, to reason, and to +think; or, as it is said in the book of Common Prayer, "to read, mark, +learn, and inwardly digest." By rede craft we find out what other men +have done; we get our book learning, we are made heirs to thoughts that +breathe and words that burn, we enter into the life, the acts, the arts, +the loves, the lore of the wise, the witty, the cunning, and the worthy +of all ages and all places; we learn, as says the peasant poet of +Scotland, + + "The song whose thunderous chime + Eternal echoes render-- + The mournful Tuscan's haunted rhyme, + And Milton's starry splendor!" + +I do not pit rede-craft against hand-craft. Quite otherwise, I call them +not foes (as some would), but friends. They are brothers, partners, +consorts, who can work together, as right hand and left hand, as science +and art, as theory and practice. Rede-craft may call for books and +hand-craft for tools, but it is by the help of both books and tools that +mankind moves on. Indeed, we shall not err wide of the mark if we say +that a book is a tool, for it is the instrument which we make use of in +certain cases when we wish to find out what other men have thought and +done. Perhaps you will not be as ready to admit that a tool is a book. +But take for example the plow. Compare the form in use to-day on a +first-rate farm with that which is pictured on ancient stones long hid +in Egypt--ages old. See how the idea of the plow has grown, and bear in +mind that its graceful curves, it fitness for a special soil, or for +a special crop, its labor-saving shape, came not by chance, but by +thought. Indeed, a plow is made up from the thoughts and toils of +generations of plowmen. Look at a Collins ax; it is also the record +of man's thought. Lay it side by side with the hatchet of Uncas or +Miantonomoh, or with an ax of the age of bronze, and think how many +minds have worked on the head and on the helve, how much skill has been +spent in getting the metal, in making it hard, in shaping the edge, in +fixing the weight, in forming the handle. From simple tools, turn to +complex; to the printing press, the sewing machine, the locomotive, +the telegraph, the ocean steamer; all are full of ideas. All are the +offspring of hand-craft and rede craft, of skill and thought, of +practice put on record, of science and art. + +Now, the welfare of each one of us, the welfare of our land, the welfare +of our race, rests on this union. You may almost take the measure of a +man's brain, if you can find out what he sees with his eyes and what he +does with hands; you may judge of a country, or of a city, if you know +what it makes. + +I do not know that we need ask which is best, hand-craft or rede-craft. +Certainly "the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee." At +times, hand-craft becomes rede-craft, for when the eye is blind the hand +takes its place, and the finger learns to read, running over the printed +page to find out what is written, as quickly as the eye. + +In these days, there are too many who look down on hand-craft. They +think only of the tasks of a drudge or a char-boy. They do not know the +pleasure there is in working, and especially in making. They have never +learned to guide the fingers by the brain. They like to hear, or see, or +own, or eat, what others have made, but they do not like to put their +own hands to work. If you doubt what I say, put a notice in the paper +asking for a clerk, and you will have a, hundred answers for every one +that will come when you ask for a workman. So it comes to pass that +young men grow up whose hands have not been trained to any kind of +skill; they wish, therefore, to be buyers and sellers, traders, dealers, +and so the market is overstocked with clerks, book-keepers, salesmen, +and small shop-keepers, while it is understocked in all the higher walks +of hand-craft. Some men can only get on by force of arms, lifting, +pounding, heaving, or by power of sitting at counter or a desk and +"clerking it." + +Machinery works against hand-craft. In many branches of labor, the hand +now has but little to do, and that little is always the same, so that +labor becomes tiresome and the workman dull. Machines can be made to cut +statuary, to weave beautiful tapestry, to fashion needles, to grind +out music, to make long calculations; alas! the machine has also +been brought into politics. Of course, a land cannot thrive without +machinery; it is that mechanical giant, the steam engine, which carries +the corn, the cotton, and the sugar from our rich valleys to the hungry +of other lands, and brings back to us the product of their looms. +Nevertheless, he who lives by the machine alone lives but half a life; +while he who uses his hand to contrive and to adorn drives dullness from +his path. A true artist and a true artisan are one. Hand-craft, the +power to shape, to curve, to beautify, to create, gives pleasure and +dignity to labor. + +In other times and in other lands, hand-craft has had more honor than it +has had with us. Let me give some examples. Not long ago, I went to one +of the shrines of education, the Sorbonne in Paris. Two paintings adorn +the chapel walls, not of saints or martyrs, nor of apostles or +prophets, perhaps I should say of both saints and prophets, _Labor_ and +_Humilitas_, Industry and Modesty. + +The touch of Phidias was his own, and so inimitable that a few months +ago, an American, scanning, with his practiced eye, the galleries of the +Louvre, recognized a fragment of the work of Phidias, long separated +from the Parthenon frieze which Lord Elgin sent to London. The +sculptor's touch could not be mistaken. It was as truly his own as his +signature, his autograph. Ruskin, in a lecture on the relation of Art to +Morals, calls attention to a note which Durer made on some drawings sent +him by Raphael: "These figures Raphael drew and sent to Albert Durer +in Nurnberg, to show him his hand, '_sein hand zu weisen_."' Ruskin +compares this phrase with other contests of hand-craft, Apelles and +Protogenes showing their skill by drawing a line; Giotto in striking a +circle. + +In the household of the Kings of Prussia, there is a custom, if not +a law, that every boy shall learn a trade. I believe this is a fact, +though I have no certain proof of it. The Emperor Wilhelm is said to be +a glazier, the Crown Prince a compositor, and on the Emperor's birthday +not long ago his majesty received an engraving by Prince Henry and a, +book bound by Prince Waldemar, two younger sons of the Crown Prince. Let +me refer to sacred writ; the prophet Isaiah, telling of the golden days +which are to come, when the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in +the land, nor the voice of crying, when the child shall die an hundred +years old, and men shall eat of the fruit of the vineyards they have +planted, adds this striking promise, as the culm of all hope, that the +elect of the Lord shall long enjoy the work of their hands. + +Now, in view of what has been said, my first point is this: We who have +to deal with the young, we all who love our fellow-men, we all who +desire that our times, our city, our country, should be thrifty, happy, +and content, must each in his place and way give high honor to labor. +We, especially, who are teachers and parents, should see to it that the +young get "hand-craft" while they are getting "rede-craft." How can this +be done? + +Mothers begin right in the nursery, teaching little fingers to play +before the tongue can lisp a sentence. Alas! this natural training has +often been stopped at school. Hitherto, until quite lately, in schools +both low and high, rede-craft has had the place of honor, hand-craft has +had no chance. But a change is coming. In the highest of all schools, +universities, for example, work rooms, labor places, "laboratories," are +now thought to be as useful as book rooms, reading rooms, libraries. + +What mean those buildings which you have seen spring up within a few +years past in all the college greens of New England? They are libraries +and laboratories. They show that rede-craft and hand-craft are alike +held in honor, and that a liberal education means skill in getting and +skill in using knowledge; that knowledge comes from searching books and +searching nature; that the brain and the hand are in close league. So +too, in the lowest school, as far as possible from the university, the +kindergarten has won its place and the blocks, and straws, and bands, +the chalk, the clay, the scissors, are in use to make young fingers +deft. Between the highest and the lowest schools there is a like call +for hand-craft. Seeing this need, the authorities in our public schools +have begun to project special schools for such training, and are looking +for guidance far and near. At this intermediate stage, for boy and girls +who are between the age of the kindergarten and the age of the college +or the shop, for youth between eight and sixteen, there is much to be +done; people are hardly aware how much is needed to secure fit training +for the rising generation. + +It seems sometimes as if one of the most needed forms of hand-craft +would become a lost art, even good handwriting. We cannot give much +credit to schools if they send out many who are skilled in algebra, or +in Latin, but who cannot write a page of English so that it can be read +without effort. + +Drawing is another kind of hand-craft, quite too much neglected. I think +it should be laid down as a law of the road to knowledge, that everybody +must learn to draw as well as to write. The pencil maybe mastered just +as readily as the pen. It is a simpler tool. The child draws before +he writes, and savages begin their language with pictures; but, we +wiseacres of this age of books let our young folks drop their slate +pencils and their Fabers, and practice with their Gillotts and their +Esterbrooks. Let us say, in every school and in every house, the child +must not only learn to read and write, he must learn to draw. We cannot +afford to let our young folks grow up without this power. A new French +book is just now much talked about, with this droll title, "The Life +of a Wise Man, by an Ignoramus." It is the story of the great Pasteur, +whose discoveries in respect to life have made him world renowned. I +turned to the book, eager to find out the key to such success, and +I found the old story--"the child was father of the man." This +philosopher, whose eye is so skilled in observing nature, and whose hand +is so apt in experiments, is the boy grown up whose pictures were so +good that the villagers thought him at thirteen an artist of rank. + +Girls should learn the first lesson of hand-craft with the needle; boys +may (and they will always prize the knowledge), but girls must. It is +wise that our schools are going back to old fashioned ways, and saying +that girls must be taught to sew. + +Boys should practice their hands upon the knife. John Bull used to laugh +at Brother Jonathan for whittling, and Mr. Punch always drew the Yankee +with a blade in his fingers; but they found out long ago in Great +Britain that whittling in this land led to something, a Boston notion, +a wooden clock, a yacht America, a labor-saving machine, a cargo of +wooden-ware, a shop full of knick-knacks, an age of inventions. Boys +need not be kept back to the hand-craft of the knife. For in-doors there +are the type case and printing press, the paint box, the tool box, the +lathe; and for out doors, the trowel, the spade, the grafting knife. It +matters not how many of the minor arts the youth acquires. The more the +merrier. Let each one gain the most he can in all such ways; for arts +like these bring no harm in their train; quite otherwise, they lure good +fortune to their company. + +Play, as well as work, may bring out hand-craft. The gun, the bat, the +rein, the rod, the oar, all manly sports, are good training for the +hand. Walking insures fresh air, but it does not train the body or mind +like games and sports which are played out of doors. A man of great fame +as an explorer and as a student of nature (he who discovered, in the +West, bones of horses with two, three, and four toes, and who found the +remains of birds with teeth) once told me that his success was largely +due to the sports of his youth. His boyish love of fishing gave him his +manly skill in exploration. + +I speak as if hand-craft was to be learned by sport. So it may. It may +also be learned by labor. Day by day for weeks I have been watching from +my study window a stately inn rise from the cellar just across the road. +A bricklayer has been there employed whose touch is like the stroke of +an artist. He handled each brick as if it were porcelain, balanced it +carefully in his hand, measured with his eye just the amount of mortar +which it needed, and dropped the block into its bed, without staining +its edge, without varying from the plumb line, by a stroke of hand-craft +as true as the sculptor's. Toil gave him skill. + +The second point I make is this: If you really value hand-craft, +buy that which shows hand-craft, encourage those who are engaged in +hand-craft, help on with your voice and with your pocket, those who +bring taste and skill and art into the works of their hand. If your +means are so small that you only buy what you need for your daily wants, +you cannot have much choice, you must buy that which is cheapest; but +hardly any one within the sound of my voice is so restricted as that; +almost if not quite every one buys something every year for his +pleasure, a curtain, a rug, a wall paper, a chair, or a table not +certainly needed, a vase, a clock, a, mantel ornament, a piece of +jewelry, a portrait, an etching, a picture. Now whenever you make such a +purchase, to please your taste, to make your parlor or your chamber more +attractive, choose that which shows good handiwork. Such a choice will +last. You will not tire of it as you will of that which has but a +commonplace form or pattern. + +I come now to a third point. That which has just been said applies +chiefly to things whose price is fixed by beauty. But handicraft gives +us many works not pleasing to the eye, yet of the highest skill--a +Jacquard loom, a Corliss engine, a Hoe printing press, a Winchester +rifle, an Edison dynamo, a Bell telephone. Ruskin may scout the work of +machinery, and up to a certain point may take us with him. Let us +allow that works of art marked by the artist's own touch--the gates of +Paradise by Ghiberti, a shield by Cellini, a statue by Michael Angelo, +are better than all reproductions and imitations, better than plaster +casts by Eichler, electrotypes by Barbedienne, or chromos by Prang. But +even Ruskin cannot suppress the fact that machinery brings to every +thrifty cottage in New England comforts and adornments which, in the +days of Queen Bess, were not known outside of the palace. Be mindful, +then, that handicraft makes machines which are wonders of productive +force--weaving tissues such as Penelope never saw, of woolen, cotton, +linen, and silk, to carpet our floors, cover our tables, cushion our +chairs, and clothe our bodies; machines of which Vulcan never dreamed, +to point a needle, bore a rifle, cut a watch wheel, or rule a series +of lines, measuring forty thousand to an inch, with sureness which the +unaided hand can never equal. Machinery is a triumph of handicraft as +truly as sculpture and architecture. The fingers which can plan and +build a steamship or a suspension bridge, which can make the Quinebaug +and the Blackstone turn spindles by the hundred thousand, which can turn +a rag heap into spotless paper, and make myriads of useful and artful +articles from rough metal, are fingers which this age alone has evolved. +The craft which makes useful things cheap can make cheap things +beautiful. The Japanese will teach us how to form and finish, if we do +not first teach them how to slight and sham. + +A fourth point is this. If hand-craft is of such worth, boys and girls +must be trained in it. This, I am well aware is no new thought. Forty +years ago schools of applied science were added to Harvard and Yale +colleges; twenty years ago Congress gave enough land-scrip to aid in +founding at least one such school in every state; men of wealth, like +many whom you have known and whom you honor, have given large sums for +like ends. Now the people at large are waking up. They see their needs; +they have the means to supply what they want. Is there the will? Know +they the way? Far and near the cry is heard for a different training +from that now given in the public schools. Many are trying to find it. +Almost every large town has its experiment--and many smaller places have +theirs. Nobody seems to know just what is best. Even the words which +express the want are vague. Bright and thoughtful people differ as to +what might, can, and should be done. A society has been formed in New +York to bring together the needed data. The Slater trustees, charged +with the care of a large fund for the training of freedmen, have said +that manual training must be given in all the schools they aid. The +town of Toledo in Ohio opened, some time since, a school of practical +training for boys, which worked so well that another has lately been +opened for girls. St. Louis is doing famously. Philadelphia has several +experiments in progress. Baltimore has made a start. In New York there +are many noteworthy movements--half a dozen at least full of life and +hope. Boston was never behindhand in knowledge, and in the new education +is very alert, the efforts of a single lady deserving praise of high +degree. These are but signs of the times. + +Some things may be set down as fixed; for example, most of those who +have thought on this theme will agree on the points I am about to name, +though they may or may not like the names which I venture to propose: + +1. Kindergarten work should be taught in the nurseries and infant +schools of rich and poor. + +2. Drawing should be taught in schools of every grade, till the hand +uses the pencil as readily as the pen. + +3. Every girl at school if not at home should learn to sew. + +4. Every boy should learn the use of tools, the gardener's or the +carpenter's, or both. + +5. Well planned exercises, fitted to strengthen the various bodily +organs, arms, fingers, wrists, lungs, etc., are good. Driving, swimming, +rowing, and other manly sports should be favored. + +What precedes is at the basis of good work. + +In addition: + +6. With good teachers, quite young children may learn the minor +decorative arts, carving, leather stamping, brass beating and the like, +as is shown in the Leland classes of Philadelphia. + +7. In towns, boys who begin to earn a living when they enter their teens +may be taught in evening schools to practice the craft of carpentry, +bricklaying, plastering, plumbing, gas fitting, etc., as is shown +successfully in the Auchmuty schools of New York. Trade schools they are +called; schools of practice for workmen would be a better name. + +8. Boys who can carry their studies through the later teens may learn, +while at the high school or technical school or college, to work in wood +and metals with precision, as I have lately seen in the College of the +City of New York, at Cornell University, and elsewhere-colleges or high +schools with work-shops and practice classes. If they can take the +time to fit themselves to be foremen and leaders in machine shops and +factories, they may be trained in theoretical and practical mechanics, +as in the Worcester Industrial Institute and in a score of other places; +but the youth must have talent as well as time to win the race in these +hard paths. These are schools for foremen, or, if we may use a foreign +word like Kindergarten, they are Meisterschaft schools. + +9. Youths who wish to enter the highest departments of engineering must +follow advanced courses of mathematics and physics, and must learn +to apply this knowledge. The better colleges and universities afford +abundant opportunities for such training, but their scientific +laboratories are fitted only for those who love long study as well as +hard. These are schools for engineers. + +10. Girls are most likely to excel in the lighter arts--to design (for +furniture or fabrics), to embroider, to carve, to engrave, to etch, to +model, to paint. Here also success depends largely upon that which was +inborn, though girls of moderate talent in art, by patience, may become +skilled in many kinds of art work. Schools for this instruction are +schools of art (elementary, decorative, professional, etc.). + +If there be those in this hall who think that hand-craft is adverse to +rede-craft, let me ask them to study the lives of men of mark. Isaac +Newton began his life as a farm-boy who carried truck to a market town; +Spinoza, the philosopher of Amsterdam, ground lenses for his livelihood; +Watt, the inventor of the steam engine, was mechanic to the University +of Glasgow; Porson, the great professor of Greek, was trained as a +weaver; George Washington was a land surveyor; Benjamin Franklin a +printer. + +Before I close let me draw a lesson from the history of our land. Some +of you doubtless bear in mind that before the late war men used to say, +"Cotton is king;" and why so? Because the trades which hung on this crop +were so many and so strong that they ruled all others. The rise or fall +of a penny in the price of cotton at Liverpool affected planters in +the South, spinners in the North, seamen on the ocean, bankers +and money-changers everywhere. Now wheat and petroleum share the +sovereignty; but then cotton was king. Who enthroned this harmless +plant? Two masters of hand-craft, one of whom was born a few miles east +of this place in Westborough; the other was a native of England who +spent most of his days a few miles south of this city. Within five +years--not quite a century ago--these two men were putting in forms +which could be seen, ideas which brought our countrymen large measures +of both weal and woe. In 1790, Samuel Slater, once an apprentice to +Strutt and Arkwright, built the mill at Pawtucket which taught Americans +the art of cotton-spinning; and before 1795, Eli Whitney had invented +the gin which easily cleansed the cotton boll of its seeds, and so made +marketable the great crop we have spoken of. Many men have made more +noise in the world than Slater and Whitney; few if any can be named +whose peaceable hand-craft has done so much to give this country its +front place in the markets of the globe. + +Let me come nearer home, and as I take my seat let me name a son of +this very town who loved hand-craft and rede-craft, and worthily aided +both--Isaiah Thomas, the patriot printer, editor, and publisher, +historian of the printer's craft in this land, and founder of the far +famed antiquarian library, eldest in that group of institutions which +gave to Worcester its rank in the world of letters, as its many products +give it standing in the world of industry and art. + +Mindful of three such worthies, it is not strange that Salisbury, +Washburn, Boylston, and many more have built up this high school of +handicraft; it will be no wonder if others like minded build on the +foundations which have been so fitly laid. + + * * * * * + + + + +MAKING SEA WATER POTABLE. + +[Footnote: Read lately before the Manchester Literary and Philosophical +Society] + +By THOMAS KAY, President of the Stockport Natural History Society. + + +The author called attention to the absence of research in this +direction, and how man, endowed to overcome every physical disability +which encompassed him on land, was powerless to live on the wide ocean, +although it is teeming with life. + +The water for experiment was taken from the English Channel, about +fifty miles southwest of the Eddystone Lighthouse, and it was found +to correspond closely with the analysis of the Atlantic published by +Roscoe, viz.: Total solids 35.976, of which the total chlorides, are +32.730, representing 19.868 of chlorine. + +The waters of the Irish Sea and the English Channel nearer to the German +Ocean, from their neighborhood to great rivers, are weaker than the +above. + +Schweitzer's analysis of the waters of the English Channel, near +Brighton, was taken as representing the composition of the sea, and is +here given: + + Sodium chloride 27.059 + Potassium " 0.766 + Magnesium " 3.666 + " bromide 0.029 + " sulphate 2.296 + Calcium " 1.406 + " carbonate 0.033 + Iodine and ammoniacal salts traces + Water 964.795 + ________ + 1000.000 + +The chlorides in the-- + + Irish Sea are about 30 per mille. + English Channel are about 31 " + Beyond the Eddystone are 32 " + +As the requirement for a potable sea water does not arise except in +mid-ocean, the proportion of 32 per mille must be taken as the basis of +calculation. + +This represents as near 20 per mille of chlorine as possible. + +From the analysis shown it will be perceived that the chlorides of +sodium and magnesium are in great preponderance. + +It is to the former of these that the baneful effects of sea water when +drunk are to be ascribed, for chloride of sodium or common salt produces +thirst probably by its styptic action on the salivary glands, and scurvy +by its deleterious action on the blood when taken in excess. + +Sodium chloride being the principal noxious element in sea water, and +soda in combination with a vegetable or organic acid, such as citric +acid, tartaric acid, or malic acid, being innocuous, the conclusion is +that the element of evil to be avoided is _chlorine_. + +After describing various experiments, and calling attention to the power +of earthy matters in abstracting salts from solutions by which he hoped +the process would be perfected, an imperial pint of water from beyond +the Eddystone was shown mixed with 960 grains of citrate of silver and 4 +grains of the free citric acid. + +Each part of the chlorides requires three parts by weight of the silver +citrate to throw down the chlorine, thus: + +3NaCl + Ag_{3}C_{6}H_{5}O_{7} = Na3.C_{6}H_{5}O_{7}+3AgCl. + +The silver chloride formed a dense insoluble precipitate, and the +supernatant fluid was decanted and filtered through a rubber tube and +handed round as a beverage. + +It contained in each fluid ounce by calculation about: + + 18 grains of citrate of soda. + 1-1/2 " " magnesia. + 1/2 " " potash. + 1 " sulphate of magnesia. + 1/2 " " lime. + 1/5 " citric acid. + +with less than half a grain of undecomposed chlorides. + +To analyze this liquid therapeutically, it may be broadly stated that +salts of potash are _diuretic_, salts of magnesia _aperient_, and salts +of soda _neutral_, except in excessive doses, or in combination with +acids of varying medicinal action; thus, soda in nitric acid, nitrate +of soda, is a _diuretic_, following the law of nitrates as nitrate of +potash, a most powerful diuretic, nitrous ether, etc.; while soda in +combination with sulphuric acid as sulphate of soda is _aperient_, +following the law of sulphates, which increase aperient action, as in +sulphate of magnesia, etc. + +Thus it would seem that soda holds the scales evenly between potash and +magnesia in this medical sense, and that it is weighed, so to speak, on +either side by the kind of mineral acid with which it may be combined. + +With non-poisonous vegetable acids, and these slightly in excess, there +is not such an effect produced. + +Sodium is an important constituent of the human body, and citric acid, +from its carbon, almost a food. Although no one would advocate saline +drinks in excess, yet, under especial circumstances, the solution of it +in the form of citrate can hardly be hurtful when used to moisten the +throat and tongue, for it will never be used under circumstances where +it can be taken in large quantities. + +In the converted sea water the bulk of the solids is composed of inert +citrate of soda. There is a little citrate of potash, which is a feeble +diuretic; a little citrate and sulphate of magnesia, a slight aperient, +corrected, however, by the constipatory half grain of sulphate of lime; +so that the whole practically is inoperative. + +The combination of these salts in nature's proportions would seem to +indicate that they must be the best for administration in those ailments +to which their use would be beneficial. + +Citrate of silver is an almost insoluble salt, and requires to be +kept from the light, air, and organic matter, it being very easily +decomposed. + +A stoppered bottle covered with India-rubber was exhibited as indicating +a suitable preserver of the salt, as it affords protection against +light, air, and breakage. As one ounce of silver citrate will convert +half a pint of sea water into a drinkable fluid, and a man can keep +alive upon it a day, then seven ounces of it will keep him a week, and +so on, it may not unreasonably be hoped, in proportion. + +It is proposed to pack the silver citrate in hermetically sealed rubber +covered bottles or tubes, to be inserted under the canisters or thwarts +of the life-boats in ocean-going vessels, and this can be done at a +simple interest on the first outlay, without any loss by depreciation, +as it will always be worth its cost, and be invaluable in case of need. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE ACIDS OF WOOL OIL. + + +All wools contain a certain amount of animal oil or grease, which +permeates every portion of the fleece. The proportion of oil varies with +the breed of sheep. A difference in climate and soil materially affects +the yield of oil. This is shown by analyses made of different kinds of +wool, both foreign and domestic. Spanish wool was found to have but +eight per cent. grease; Australian wool fifteen per cent.; while in some +fleeces of Pennsylvania wool as high as forty per cent. was obtained. To +extract the oil from the wool, a fleece was put in a tall cylinder and +naphtha poured on it. The naphtha on being allowed to drain through +slowly dissolved out the grease. This naphtha solution was distilled; +the naphtha passing off while grease remained--a dark oil having high +specific gravity and remaining nearly solid at the ordinary temperature. +I am indebted to Mrs. Richards for this method of extracting the oil. +The process is quick and inexpensive, and is applicable to the treatment +of large quantities of wool. + +The object of these experiments was to find the readiest method of +separating wool oil into its bases and acids, and further to identify +the various fatty acids. A solution of the oil in naphtha was cooled to +15° C. This caused a separation of the oil into two portions: a white +solid fat and a fluid dark oil. The first on examination proved to be a +mixture of palmitic and stearic acids existing uncombined in the wool +oil. The original wool oil was saponified by boiling with alcoholic +potash. + +The soap formed was separated into two portions by shaking with ether +and water. On standing, the solution separated into two layers, the +upper or murial solution containing the bases, the lower or aqueous +solution containing the acids. This method of separation is very slow. +In one case it worked very well, but as a rule appeared to be almost +impracticable. Benzol and naphtha were tried, instead of ether, but the +results were less satisfactory. On suggestion of Prof. Ordway, potassium +chloride was added to the soap solution partially separated by ether and +water. This caused an immediate and complete separation. By the use of +potassium chloride it was found possible to effect a separation with +benzol and water, also with naphtha and water. + +Another means of separation was tried by precipitating the calcium +salts, from a solution of the potash soap. From the portion of the +calcium salts insoluble in alcohol, a fatty acid was obtained with a +melting point and composition almost identical with the melting point +and composition of palmitic acid. The aqueous portion of the separation +effected by water and ether was examined for the fatty acid. The lead +salts of the fatty acids were digested with ether, which dissolved out +the lead oleate. From this oleic acid was obtained. This was further +purified by forming the Boreum salt of oleic acid. The lead salts not +soluble in ether were decomposed by acid. The fatty acids set free were +saponified by carbonate of potassium. A fractional precipitation was +effected by adding lead acetate in successive portions; each portion +sufficient to precipitate one-fourth of all the acids present. + +The acid obtained from the first fractionation had the melting point at +75°-76°, indicating an acid either in carbon then stearic or palmitic +acids. + +The acids obtained from the third fractionation had a melting point of +53°-54° C. This acid in composition and general properties was very +similar to that obtained by freezing the naphtha solution of the oil, +and is probably a mixture of stearic and palmitic acids. These acids, +being in combination with the bases of the oil, would be set free only +on saponifying the oil and subsequently decomposing with acid. + +In conclusion, I should say that but a small proportion of the fatty +acids exist in the wool oil uncombined; that the proportion of oleic +acid is small, and can only be obtained in an oxidized condition; that +the main portion of the fatty acids is composed of stearic and palmitic +acids in nearly equal proportions; that the existence of a fatty acid, +containing a higher per cent. of carbon than those mentioned, is not +fully established.--_N.W. Shedd, M.I.T._ + + * * * * * + + + + +A NEW ABSORBENT FOR OXYGEN. + + +OTTO, BARON V.D. PFORDTEN.--The author makes use of a solution of +chromous chloride, which he prepares as follows: + +He first heats chromic acid with concentrated hydrochloric acid, so +as to obtain a strong green solution of chromic chloride free from +chlorine. This is then reduced with zinc and hydrochloric acid. The blue +chromous chloride solution thus obtained is poured into a saturated +solution of sodium acetate in an atmosphere of carbonic acid. A +red precipitate of chromous acetate is formed, which is washed by +decantation in water containing carbonic acid. This salt is relatively +stable, and can be preserved for an indefinite time in a moist condition +in stoppered bottles filled with carbonic acid. + +In this process the following precautions are to be observed: + +Spongy flocks always separate from the zinc used in the reduction, which +float about in the acid liquid for a long time and give off minute gas +bubbles. If poured into the solution of sodium acetate, they would +contaminate the precipitate; and when dissolved in hydrochloric acid, +would occasion a slight escape of hydrogen. The solution of chromous +chloride must therefore be freed from the zinc by filtration in the +absence of air. For this purpose the reduction is carried on in a flask +fitted up like a washing bottle. The long tube is bent down outside the +flask, and is here provided with a small bulb tube containing glass wool +or asbestos. The hydrogen gas liberated during reduction is at first let +escape through this tube; afterward its outer end is closed, and it is +pressed down into the liquid. The hydrogen must now pass through the +shorter tube (the mouthpiece of the washing bottle), which has an India +rubber valve. When the reduction is complete, the blue liquid is driven +up in the long tube by introducing carbonic acid through the short tube, +so that it filters through the asbestos into the solution of sodium +acetate into which the reopened end of the long tube dips. When washing +out the red precipitate, at first a little acetic acid is added to +dissolve any basic zinc carbonate which has been deposited. In this +manner a chromous acetate is obtained perfectly free from zinc. + +For the absorption of oxygen the compound just described is decomposed +with hydrochloric acid in the following simple washing apparatus: Upon +a shelf there are fixed side by side two ordinary preparation glasses, +closed with caoutchouc stoppers, each having three perforations. Each +two apertures receive the glass tubes used in gas washing bottles, while +the third holds a dropping funnel. It is filled with dilute hydrochloric +acid, and after the expulsion of the air by a current of gas, plentiful +quantities of chromous acetate are passed into the bottles. When the +current of gas has been passed in for some time, the hydrochloric acid +is let enter, which dissolves the chromous acetate, and thus, in the +absence of air, produces a solution of blue chromous chloride. It is +advisable to use an excess of chromous acetate or an insufficient +quantity of hydrochloric acid, so that there may be no free hydrochloric +acid in the liquid. To keep back any free acetic acid which might be +swept over by the current of gas, there is introduced after the washing +apparatus another washing bottle with sodium carbonate. Also solid +potassium carbonate may be used instead of calcium chloride for drying +the gas. If the two apertures of the washing apparatus are fitted with +small pinch cocks, it is ready for use, and merely requires to be +connected with the gas apparatus in action in order to free the gas +generated from oxygen. As but little chromous salt is decomposed by the +oxygen such a washing apparatus may serve for many experiments. + + * * * * * + + + + +GAIFFE'S NEW MEDICAL GALVANOMETER. + + +In this apparatus, which contains but one needle, and has no directing +magnet, proportionability between the intensities and deflections is +obtained by means of a special form given the frame upon which the wire +is wound. + +We give herewith a figure of the curve that Mr. Gaiffe has fixed upon +after numerous experiments. Upon examination it will be seen that the +needle approaches the current in measure as the directing action of +the earth increases; and experiment proves that the two actions +counterbalance each other, and render the deflections very sensibly +proportional to the intensities up to an angle of from 65 to 75 degrees. + +[Illustration] + +Another important fact has likewise been ascertained, and that is that, +under such circumstances, the magnetic intensity of the needle may +change without the indications ceasing to have the same exactness up to +65 degrees. As well known, Mr. Desains has demonstrated that this occurs +likewise in sinus or tangent galvanometers; but these have helices that +are very large in proportion to the needle. In medical galvanometers the +proportions are no longer the same, and the needle is always very near +the directing helix. If this latter is square, or even elliptical, it is +found that, beyond an angle of 15 degrees, there are differences of 4 or +5 degrees in the indications given with the same intensity of current by +the same needle, according to the latter's intensity of magnetism. This +inconvenience is quite grave, for it often happens that a needle changes +magnetic intensity, either under the influence of too strong currents +sent into the apparatus, or of other magnets in its vicinity, or as +a consequence of the bad quality of the steel, etc. It was therefore +urgently required that this should be remedied, and from this point +of view the new mode of winding the wire is an important improvement +introduced into medical galvanometers.--_La Lumiere Electrique_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE SUSPENSION OF LIFE. + + +Every one knows that life exists in a latent state in the seeds of +plants, and may be preserved therein, so to speak, indefinitely. In +1853, Ridolfi deposited in the Egyptian Museum of Florence a sheaf of +wheat that he had obtained from seeds found in a mummy case dating back +about 3,000 years. This aptitude of revivification is found to a high +degree in animalcules of low order. The air which we breathe is loaded +with impalpable dust that awaits, for ages perhaps, proper conditions +of heat and moisture to give it an ephemeral life that it will lose and +acquire by turns. + +In 1707, Spallanzani found it possible, eleven times in succession, to +suspend the life of rotifers submitted to desiccation, and to call it +back again by moistening this organic dust with water. A few years +ago Doyere brought to life some tardigrades that had been dried at a +temperature of 150° and kept four weeks in a vacuum. If we ascend the +scale of beings, we find analogous phenomena produced by diverse causes. +Flies that have been imported in casks of Madeira have been resuscitated +in Europe, and chrysalids have been kept in this state for years. +Cockchafers drowned, and then dried in the sun, have been revived after +a lapse of twenty-four hours, two days, and even five days, after +submersion. Frogs, salamanders, and spiders poisoned by curare or +nicotine, have returned to life after several days of apparent death. + +Cold produces some extraordinary effects. Spallanzani kept several frogs +in the center of a lump of ice for two years, and, although they became +dry, rigid, almost friable, and gave no external appearance of being +alive, it was only necessary to expose them to a gradual and moderate +heat to put an end to the lethargic state in which they lay. + +Pikes and salamanders have at different epochs been revived before the +eyes of Maupertuis and Constant Dumeril (members of the Academy of +Sciences) after being frozen stiff. Auguste Dumeril, son of Constant, +and who was the reporter of the committee relative to the Blois toad in +1851, published a curious memoir the following year in which he narrates +how he interrupted life through congelation of the liquids and solids of +the organism. Some frogs, whose internal temperature had been reduced to +-2° in an atmosphere of -12°, returned to life before his eyes, and he +observed their tissues regain their usual elasticity and their heart +pass from absolute immobility to its normal motion. + +There is therefore no reason for doubting the assertions of travelers +who tell us that the inhabitants of North America and Russia transport +fish that are frozen stiff, and bring them to life again by dipping them +into water of ordinary temperature ten or fifteen days afterward. But I +think too much reliance should not be put in the process devised by +the great English physiologist, Hunter, for prolonging the life of man +indefinitely by successive freezings. It has been allowed to no one but +a romancer, Mr. Edmond About, to be present at this curious operation. + +Among the mammifera we find appearances of death in their winter sleep; +but these are incomplete, since the temperature of hibernating animals +remains greater by one degree than that of the surrounding air, and the +motions of the heart and respiration are simply retarded. Dr. Preyer has +observed that a hamster sometimes goes five minutes without breathing +appreciably after a fortnight's sleep. + +In man himself a suspension of life, or at least phenomena that seem +inseparable therefrom, has been observed many times. In the _Journal des +Savants_ for 1741 we read that a Col. Russel, having witnessed the +death of his wife, whom he tenderly loved, did not wish her buried, and +threatened to kill any one who should attempt to remove the body before +he witnessed its decomposition himself. Eight days passed by without the +woman giving the slightest sign of life, "when, at a moment when he was +holding her hand and shedding tears over her, the church bell began to +ring, and, to his indescribable surprise, his wife sat up and said, 'It +is the last stroke, we shall be too late.' She recovered." + +At a session of the Academy of Sciences, Oct. 17, 1864, Mr. Blaudet +communicated a report upon a young woman of thirty summers who, being +subject to nervous attacks, fell, after her crises, into a sort of +lethargic sleep which lasted several weeks and sometimes several months. +One of her sleeps, especially, lasted from the beginning of the year +1862 until March, 1863. + +Dr. Paul Levasseur relates that, in a certain English family, lethargy +seemed to have become hereditary. The first case was exhibited in an old +lady who remained for fifteen days in an immovable and insensible state, +and who afterward, on regaining her consciousness, lived for quite a +long time. Warned by this fact, the family preserved a young man for +several weeks who appeared to be dead, but who came to life again. + +Dr. Pfendler, in an inaugural thesis (Paris, 1833), minutely describes a +case of apparent death of which he himself was a witness. A young girl +of Vienna at the age of 15 was attacked by a nervous affection that +brought on violent crises followed by lethargic states which lasted +three or four days. After a time she became so exhausted that the first +physicians of the city declared that there was no more hope. It was not +long, in fact, before she was observed to rise in her bed and fall back +as if struck with death. "For four hours she appeared to me," says Dr. +Pfendler, "completely inanimate. With Messrs. Franck and Schaeffer, +I made every possible effort to rekindle the spark of life. Neither +mirror, nor burned feather, nor ammonia, nor pricking succeeded in +giving us a sign of sensibility. Galvanism was tried without the patient +showing any contractility. Mr. Franck believed her to be dead, but +nevertheless advised me to leave her on the bed. For twenty-eight hours +no change supervened, although it was thought that a little putrefaction +was observed. The death bell was sounded, the friends of the girl had +dressed her in white and had crowned her with flowers, and all was +arranged for her burial. Desiring to convince myself of the course of +the putrefaction, I visited the body again, and found that no further +advance had been made than before. What was my astonishment when I +believed that I saw a slight respiratory motion. I looked again, and saw +that I was not mistaken. I at once used friction and irritants, and in +an hour and a half the respiration increased. The patient opened her +eyes, and, struck with the funereal paraphernalia around her, returned +to consciousness, and said, 'I am too young to die.'" All this was +followed by a ten hours' sleep. Convalescence proceeded rapidly, and the +girl became free from all her nervous troubles. During her crisis she +heard everything. She quoted some Latin words that Mr. Franck had used. +Her most fearful agony had been to hear the preparations for her burial +without being able to get rid of her torpor. Medical dictionaries are +full of anecdotes of this nature, but I shall cite but two more. + +On the 10th of November, 1812, during the fatal retreat from Russia, +Commandant Tascher, desiring to bring back to France the body of his +general, who had been killed by a bullet, and who had been buried since +the day before, disinterred him, and, upon putting him into a landau, +and noticing that he was still breathing, brought him to life again by +dint of care. A long time afterward this same general was one of the +pall bearers at the funeral obsequies of the aide-de-camp who had buried +him. In 1826 a young priest returned to life at the moment the bishop +of the diocese was pronouncing the _De Profundis_ over his body. Forty +years afterward, this priest, who had become Cardinal Donnett, preached +a feeling sermon upon the danger of premature burial. + +I trust I have now sufficiently prepared the mind of the reader for an +examination of the phenomena of the voluntary suspension of life that I +shall now treat of. + +The body of an animal may be compared to a machine that converts the +food that it receives into motion. It receives nothing, it will produce +nothing; but there is no reason why it should get out of order if it is +not deteriorated by external agents. The legendary rustic who wanted to +accustom his ass to go without food was therefore theoretically wrong +only because he at the same time wanted the animal to work. The whole +difficulty consists in breaking with old habits. To return to the +comparison that we just made, we shall run the risk of exploding the +boiler of a steam engine if we heat it or cool it abruptly, but we can +run it very slowly and for a very long time with but very little fuel. +We may even preserve a little fire under the ashes, and this, although +it may not be capable of setting the parts running, will suffice later +on to revivify the fireplace after it has been charged anew with fuel. + +We have recently had the example of Dr. Tanner, who went forty days +without any other nourishment than water. Not very long ago Liedovine de +Schiedam, who had been bedridden for twenty years, affirmed that she +had taken no food for eight of them. It is said that Saint Catharine of +Sienna gradually accustomed herself to do without food, and that she +lived twenty years in total abstinence. We know of several examples of +prolonged sleep during which the sleeper naturally took no nourishment. +In his Magic Disquisitions, Delvis cites the case of a countryman who +slept for an entire autumn and winter. Pfendler relates that a certain +young and hysterical woman fell twice into a deep slumber which each +time lasted six months. In 1883 an _enceinte_ woman was found asleep +on a bench in the Grand Armee Avenue. She was taken to the Beaujon +Hospital, where she was delivered a few days after while still asleep, +and it was not till the end of three months that she could be awakened +from her lethargy. At this very moment, at Tremeille, a woman named +Marguerite Bouyenvalle is sleeping a sleep that has lasted nearly a +year, during which the only food that she has had is a few drops of soup +daily. + +What is more remarkable, Dr. Fournier says in his Dictionary of Medical +Sciences that he knew of a distinguished writer at Paris, who sometimes +went for months at a time without taking anything but emollient drinks, +while at the same time living along like other people. + +Respiration is certainly more necessary to life than food is; but it is +not absolutely indispensable, as we have seen in the cases of apparent +death cited in our previous article. It is possible, through exercise, +for a person to accustom himself, up to a certain point, to abstinence +from air as he can from food. Those who dive for pearls, corals, or +sponges succeed in remaining from two to three minutes under water. Miss +Lurline, who exhibited in Paris in 1882, remained two and a half minutes +beneath the water of her aquarium without breathing. In his treatise De +la Nature, Henri de Rochas, physician to Louis XIII., gives six minutes +as the maximum length of time that can elapse between successive +inspirations of air. It is probable that this figure was based upon an +observation of hibernating animals. + +In his Encyclopedic Dictionary, Dr. Dechambre relates the history of +a Hindoo who hid himself in the waters of the Ganges where women were +bathing, seized one of them by the legs, drowned her, and then removed +her jewels. Her disappearance was attributed to crocodiles. One woman +who succeeded in escaping him denounced the assassin, who was seized and +hanged in 1817. + +A well known case, is that of Col. Townshend, who possessed the +remarkable faculty of stopping at will not only his respiration, but +also the beating of his heart. He performed the experiment one day in +the presence of Surgeon Gosch, who cared for him in his old age, two +physicians, and his apothecary, Mr. Shrine. In their presence, says +Gosch, the Colonel lay upon his back, Dr. Cheyne watched his pulse, Dr. +Baynard put his hand upon his heart, and Mr. Shrine held a mirror to +his mouth. After a few seconds no pulse, movement of the heart, or +respiration could be observed. At the end of half an hour, as the +spectators were beginning to get frightened, they observed the functions +progressively resuming their course, and the Colonel came back to life. + +The fakirs of India habituate themselves to abstinence from air, either +by introducing into the nostrils strings that come out through the +mouth, or by dwelling in subterranean cells that air and light never +enter except through narrow crevices that are sometimes filled with +clay. Here they remain seated in profound silence, for hours at a time, +without any other motion than that of the fingers as the latter slowly +take beads from a chaplet, the mind absorbed by the mental pronunciation +of OM (the holy triune name), which they must repeat incessantly while +endeavoring to breathe as little as possible. They gradually lengthen +the intervals between their inspirations and expirations, until, in +three or four months, they succeed in making them an hour and a half. +This is not the ideal, for one of their sacred books says, in speaking +of a saint: "At the fourth month he no longer takes any food but air, +and that only every twelve days, and, master of his respiration he +embraces God in his thought. At the fifth he stands as still as a pole; +he no longer sees anything but Baghavat, and God touches his cheek to +bring him out of his ecstasy." + +It will be conceived that by submitting themselves to such gymnastics +from infancy, certain men, already predisposed by atavism or a peculiar +conformation, might succeed in doing things that would seem impossible +to the common run of mortals. Do we not daily see acrobats remaining +head downward for a length of time that would suffice to kill 99 per +cent, of their spectators through congestion if they were to place +themselves in the same posture? Can the savage who laboriously learns +to spell, letter by letter, comprehend how many people get the general +sense of an entire page at a single glance? + +There is no reason, then, _a priori_, for assigning to the domain of +legerdemain the astonishing facts that are told us by a large number of +witnesses, worthy of credence, regarding a young fakir who, forty years +ago, was accustomed to allow himself to be buried, and resuscitated +several months afterward. + +An English officer, Mr. Osborne, gives the following account of one of +these operations, which took place in 1838 at the camp of King Randjet +Singh: + +"After a few preparations, which lasted some days, and that it would +prove repugnant to enumerate, the fakir declared himself ready to +undergo the ordeal. The Maharajah, the Sikhs chiefs, and Gen. Ventura, +assembled near a masonry tomb that had been constructed expressly to +receive him. Before their eyes, the fakir closed with wax all the +apertures in his body (except his mouth) that could give entrance +to air. Then, having taken off the clothing that he had on, he was +enveloped in a canvas sack, and, according to his wish, his tongue was +turned back in such a way as to close the entrance to his windpipe. +Immediately after this he fell into a sort of trance. The bag that held +him was closed and a seal was put upon it by the Maharajah. The bag was +then put into a wooden box, which was fastened by a padlock, sealed, and +let down into the tomb. A large quantity of earth was thrown into the +hole and rammed down, and then barley was sown on the surface and +sentinels placed around with orders to watch day and night. + +"Despite all such precautions, the Maharajah had his doubts; so he came +twice in the space of ten months (the time during which the fakir was +buried), and had the tomb opened in his presence. The fakir was in the +bag into which he had been put, cold and inanimate. The ten months +having expired, he was disinterred, Gen. Ventura and Capt. Ward saw the +padlock removed, the seals broken, and the box taken from the tomb. +The fakir was taken out, and no pulsation either at the heart or pulse +indicated the presence of life. As a first measure for reviving him, a +person introduced a finger gently into his mouth and placed his tongue +in its natural position. The top of his head was the only place where +there was any perceptible heat. By slowly pouring warm water over his +body, signs of life were gradually obtained, and after about two hours +of care the patient got up and began to walk. + +"This truly extraordinary man says that during his burial he has +delightful dreams, but that the moment of awakening is always very +painful to him. Before returning to a consciousness of his existence he +experiences vertigoes. His nails and hair cease to grow. His only fear +is that he may be harmed by worms and insects, and it is to protect +himself from these that he has the box suspended in the center of the +tomb." + +This sketch was published in the _Magasin Pittoresque_ in 1842 by a +writer who had just seen Gen. Ventura in Paris, and had obtained from +him a complete confirmation of the story told by Capt. Wade. + +Another English officer, Mr. Boileau, in a work published in 1840, +and Dr. MacGregor, in his medical topography of Lodhiana, narrate two +analogous exhumations that they separately witnessed. The question +therefore merits serious examination.--_A. de Rochas, in La Nature_. + + * * * * * + +Some experiments recently made by M. Olszewsky appear to show that +liquid oxygen is one of the best of refrigerants. He found that when +liquefied oxygen was allowed to vaporize under the pressure of one +atmosphere, a temperature as low as -181.4° C. was produced. The +temperature fell still further when the pressure on the liquid oxygen +was reduced to nine millimeters of mercury. Though the pressure was +reduced still further to four millimeters of mercury, yet the oxygen +remained liquid. Liquefied nitrogen, when allowed to evaporate under a +pressure of sixty millimeters of mercury, gave a temperature of -214° +C., only the surface of the liquid gas became opaque from incipient +solidification. Under lower pressures the nitrogen solidified, +and temperatures as low as -225° C. were recorded by the hydrogen +thermometer. The lowest temperature obtained by allowing liquefied +carbonic oxide to vaporize was -220.5° C. + + * * * * * + + + + +CONVALLARIA. + +By OTTO A. WALL, M.D., Ph.G. + + +Cnovallaria Majalis is a stemless perennial plant, found in both +the eastern and western hemispheres, with two elliptic leaves and a +one-sided raceme bearing eight or ten bell-shaped flowers. The flowers +are fragrant, and perfumes called "Lily of the Valley" are among the +popular odors. + +Both leaves and flowers have been used in medicine, but the rhizome is +the part most frequently used. + +[Illustration: CONVALLARIA.] + +The fresh rhizome is a creeping, branching rhizome of a pale yellowish +white color, which, on drying, darkens to a straw color, or even a +brown in places. When dry it is about the thickness of a thick knitting +needle, swelling to the thickness of a quill when soaked in water. It +is of uniform thickness, except near the leaf-bearing ends, which are +thicker marked with numerous leafscars, or bare buds covered with +scales, and often having attached the tattered remains of former leaves. +Fig. A shows a portion of rhizome, natural size, and Fig. B shows +another piece enlarged to double linear size. + +The internodes are smooth, the rootlets being attached at the nodes. The +rootlets are filiform, and darker in color. + +The rhizome is covered by an epidermis, composed of muriform cells of a +bright yellow color, after having been treated with liquor potassæ to +clear up the tissues. These cells are shown in Fig. G. An examination of +the transverse section shows us the endogenous structure, as we find +it also in various other drugs (sarsaparilla, etc.), namely, a nucleus +sheath, inclosing the fibrovascular bundles and pith, and surrounded +by a peri-ligneous or peri-nuclear portion, consisting of soft-walled +parenchyma cells, loosely arranged with many small, irregularly +triangular, intercellular spaces in the tranverse section. Some of these +cells contain bundles of raphides (Fig. 2), one of which bundles is +shown crushed in Fig. J. Sometimes these crystals are coarser and less +needle-like, as in Fig. K. Fig. C shows a transverse section through the +leaf-bearing portion of the rhizome (at a), and is rather irregular on +account of the fibrovascular bundles diverging into the base of the +leaves of flower-stalks. A more regular appearance is seen in Fig. D, +which is a section through the internode (b). In it we see the nuclear +sheath, varying in width from one to three cells, and inclosing a number +of crescent-shaped fibrovascular bundles, with their convexities toward +the center and their horns toward the nuclear sheath. There are also +from two to four or five free closed fibrovascular bundles in the +central pith. + +These fibrovascular bundles consist mainly of dotted or reticulated +ducts (Fig. F), but all gradations from, this to the spiroids, or even +true spiral ducts (Fig. E). may be found, though the annular and spiral +ducts are quite rare. These ducts are often prismatically compressed +by each other. The fibrovascular bundles also contain soft-walled +prosenchyma cells. The peri-nuclear portion consists of soft-walled +parenchyma, smaller near the nuclear sheath and the epidermis, and +larger about midway between, and of the same character as the cells of +the pith. In longitudinal section they appear rectangular, similar to +the walls of the epidermis (G), but with thinner walls. + +All parts of the plant have been used in medicine, either separately or +together, and according to some authorities the whole flowering plant is +the best form in which to use this drug. + +The active principles are _convallaramin_ and _convallarin_. + +It is considered to act similarly to digitalis as a heart-stimulant, +especially when the failure of the heart's action is due to mechanical +impediments rather than to organic degeneration. It is best given in the +form of fluid extract in the dose of 1 to 5 cubic centimeters (15 to +75 minims), commencing with the smaller doses, and increasing, if +necessary, according to the effects produced in each individual +case.--_The Pharmacist_. + + * * * * * + + + + +FLIGHT OF THE BUZZARD. + + +During my visit to the Southern States of America, I have had several +opportunities of watching, under favorable conditions, the flight of the +buzzard, the scavenger of Southern cities. Although in most respect this +bird's manner of flight resembles that of the various sea-birds which I +have often watched for hours sailing steadily after ocean steamships, +yet, being a land bird, the buzzard is more apt to give examples of that +kind of flight in which a bird remains long over the same place. Instead +of sailing steadily on upon outstretched pinions, the buzzard often +ascends in a series of spirals, or descends along a similar course. I +have not been able to time the continuance of the longest flights during +which the wings have not once been flapped, for the simple reason that, +in every case where I have attempted to do so, the bird has passed out +of view either by upward or horizontal traveling. But I am satisfied +that in many cases the bird sweeps onward or about on unflapping wings +for more than half an hour. + +Now, many treat this problem of aerial flotation as if it were of the +nature of a miracle--something not to be explained. Explanations which +have been advanced have, it is true, been in many cases altogether +untenable. For instance, some have asserted that the albatross, the +condor, and other birds which float for a long time without moving +their wings--and that, too, in some cases, at great heights above the +sea-level, where the air is very thin--are supported by some gas within +the hollow parts of their bones, as the balloon is supported by the +hydrogen within it. The answer to this is that a balloon is _not_ +supported by the hydrogen within it, but by the surrounding air, and in +just such degree as the air is displaced by the lighter gas. The air +around a bird is only displaced by the bird's volume, and the pressure +of the air corresponding to this displacement is not equivalent to more +than one five-hundredth part of the bird's weight. Another idea is that +when a bird seems to be floating on unmoving wings there is really a +rapid fluttering of the feathers of the wings, by which a sustaining +power is obtained. But no one who knows anything of the anatomy of +the bird will adopt this idea for an instant, and no one who has ever +watched with a good field-glass a floating bird of the albatross or +buzzard kind will suppose they are fluttering their feathers in this +way, even though he should be utterly ignorant of the anatomy of the +wings. Moreover, any one acquainted with the laws of dynamics will know +that there would be tremendous loss of power in the fluttering movement +imagined as compared with the effect of sweeping downward and backward +the whole of each wing. + +There is only one possible way of explaining the floating power of +birds, and that is by associating it with the rapid motion acquired +originally by wing flapping, and afterward husbanded, so to speak, by +absolutely perfect adjustment and balancing. To this the answer is often +advanced that it implies ignorance of the laws of dynamics to suppose +that rapid advance can affect the rate of falling, as is implied by the +theory that it enables the bird to float. + +Now, as a matter of fact, a slight slope of the wings would undoubtedly +produce a raising power, and so an answer is at one obtained to this +objection. But I venture to assert, with the utmost confidence, that a +perfectly horizontal plane, advancing swiftly in a horizontal direction +at first, will not sink as quickly, or anything like as quickly, as a +similar plane let fall from a position of rest. A cannon-ball, rushing +horizontally from the mouth of a cannon, begins to fall just as if it +were simply dropped. But the case of a horizontal plane is altogether +different. If rapidly advancing, it passes continually over still air; +if simply let fall, the air beneath it yields, and presently currents +are set up which facilitate the descent of the flat body; but there is +no time to set up these aerial movements as the flat body passes rapidly +over still air. + +As a matter of fact, we know that this difference exists, from +the difference in the observed behavior of a flat card set flying +horizontally through the air and a similar card held horizontally and +then allowed to fall. + +I believe the whole mystery of aerial flotation lies here, and that as +soon as aerial floating machines are planned on this system, it will be +found that the problem of aerial transit--though presenting still many +difficulties of detail--is, nevertheless, perfectly soluble.--_R.A. +Proctor, in Newcastle Weekly Chronicle_. + + * * * * * + + + + +AN ASSYRIAN BASS-RELIEF 2,700 YEARS OLD. + + +There was exhibited at the last meeting of the Numismatic and +Antiquarian Society, in Philadelphia, on May 7, an object of great +interest to archæologists, with which, says _The Church_, is also +connected a very curious history. + +It appears that about forty years ago a young American minister, Rev. +W.F. Williams, went as a missionary to Syria, and he visited among +places of interest the site of ancient Nineveh about the time that +Austin Henry Layard was making his famous explorations and discoveries; +he wrote to a friend in Philadelphia that he had secured for him a fine +piece of Assyrian sculpture from one of the recently opened temples or +palaces, representing a life size figure of a king, clad in royal robes, +bearing in one hand a basket and in the other a fir cone. One portion +of the stone was covered with hieroglyphics, and was as sharply cut as +though it had been carved by a modern hand instead of by an artist who +was sleeping in his grave when Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, was yet +an infant. + +The letter describing this treasure arrived duly, but the stones did not +come. It appears that the caravan bringing them down to Alexandretta, +from whence they were to be shipped to Philadelphia, was attacked by +robbers, and the sculptured stones were thrown upon the desert as +useless, and there they remained for some years. Finally they were +recovered, shipped to this country (about twenty-five years ago), and +arriving at their destination during the absence of the consignee, were +deposited temporarily in a subterranean storeroom at his manufactory. +In some way they were overlooked, and here they have remained unopened +until they were rediscovered a few days ago; meanwhile the missionary +and his friend have both passed away, ignorant of the fact that the rare +gift had finally reached its destination and had become again lost. + +The cuneiform inscription is now being translated by an Assyrian scholar +(Rev. Dr. J.P. Peters, of the Divinity School), and its identity is +established; it came from the temple of King Assur-nazir-pal, a famous +conqueror who reigned from 883 to 859 B.C. + +The slab was cut into three sections, 3x3½ feet each, for convenience +of transportation, and they have been somewhat broken on the journey; +fortunately, however, this does not obliterate the writing. + +Mr. Tolcott Williams, a son of the late missionary, was present at the +meeting of the Society, and gave an interesting account of the classic +ground from which the slab was obtained. It was one of a number lining +the walls of the palace of Assur-nazir-pal. The inscriptions, as +translated by Dr. Peters, indicate that this particular slab was carved +during the first portion of this king's reign, and some conception +of its great antiquity may be gained when it is stated that he was a +contemporary of Ahab and Jehosaphat; he was born not more than a +century later than Solomon, and he reigned three centuries before +Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. After the slabs were procured, it was +necessary to send them on the backs of camels a journey of eight hundred +miles across the Great Desert, through a region which was more or less +infested at all seasons with roving bands of robbers. Mr. Williams well +remembered the interview between his father and the Arab camel owner, +who told several conflicting stories by way of preliminary to the +confession of the actual facts, in order to account for the non-arrival +of the stones at Alexandretta, the sea coast town from whence they were +to be shipped to Philadelphia. + +Mr. A.E. Outerbridge, Jr., gave a brief account of the finding of these +stones in the subterranean storeroom where they had reposed for a period +of a quarter of a century. The space between the slabs and the boxes +had been packed with camels' hair, which had in progress of time become +eaten by insects and reduced to a fine powder. The nails with which the +cases were fastened were remarkable both for their peculiar shape and +for the extraordinary toughness of the iron, far excelling in this +respect the wrought iron made in America to day. + +The Rev. Dr. J.P. Peters gave a very instructive exposition of the +chronology of the kings of Assyria, their social and religious customs +and ceremonies, their methods of warfare, their systems of architecture, +etc. He stated that the finest Assyrian bass-reliefs in the British +Museum came from the same palace as this specimen, the carving of which +is not excelled by any period of the ancient glyptic art. The particular +piece of alabaster selected by the artist for this slab was unusually +fine, being mottled with nodules of crystallized gypsum. + +The cuneiform inscription is not unlike the Hebrew in its character, +resembling it about as closely as the Yorkshire dialect resembles good +English. The characters are so large and clearly cut that it is a +pleasure to read them after the laborious scrutiny of the minute +Babylonish clay tablets. The inscription on this slab is identical with +a portion of that of the great "Standard Monolith," on which this king +subsequently caused to be transcribed the pages, as it were, from the +different slabs which were apparently cut at intervals in his reign. + +_Translation of a Portion of the Cuneiform, Inscription_.--"The palace +of Assur-nazir-pal, servant of Assur, servant of the god Beltis, the +god Ninit, the shining one of Anu and Dagon, servant of the Great +Gods, Mighty King, king of hosts, king of the land of Assyria; son of +Bin-nirari, a strong warrior, who in the service of Assur his Lord +marched vigorously among the princes of the four regions, who had no +equal, a mighty leader who had no rival, a king subduing all disobedient +to him; who rules multitudes of men; crushing all his foes, even the +masses of the rebels.... The city of Calah, which my predecessor, +Shalmanezer, King of Assyria had built had fallen into decay: His city +I rebuilt; a palace of cedar, box, cypress, for the seat of my royalty, +for the fullness of my princedom, to endure for generations, I placed +upon it. With plates of copper I roofed it, I hung in its gates folding +doors of cedar wood, silver, gold, copper, and iron which my hands had +acquired in the lands which I ruled, I gathered in great quantities, and +placed them in the midst thereof." O. + + * * * * * + + + + +DEPOSITING NICKEL UPON ZINC. + +By H.B. SLATER. + + +To those interested in the electro deposition of nickel upon zinc, the +formula given below for a solution and a brief explanation of its use +will be of service. + +The first sample of this solution was made as an experiment to see what +substances could be added to a solution of the double sulphate of nickel +and ammonium without spoiling it. + +In addition to several other combinations and mixtures of solutions from +which I succeeded in obtaining a good deposit, I found that the solution +here given would plate almost anything I put into it, and worked +especially well upon zinc. In its use no "scraping" or rescouring or any +of the many operations which I have seen recommended for zinc needs +be resorted to, as the metal "strikes" at once and is deposited in +a continuous adherent film of reguline metal, and can be laid on as +heavily as nickel is deposited generally. + +I believe that the addition of the ammonium chloride simply reduces +the resistance of the double sulphate solution, but the office of the +potassium chloride is not so easily explained. At least, I have never +been able to explain it satisfactorily to myself. It is certain, +however, that the solution does not work as well without it, nor does +the addition of ammonium chloride in its stead give as fine a result. + +Some care is necessary in the management of the current, which should +have a density of about 17 amperes per square foot of surface--not much +above or below. This may seem a high figure, especially when it is +discovered that there is a considerable evolution of gas during the +operation. + +I have repeatedly used this solution for coating articles of zinc, and +always with good success. I have exhibited samples of zinc plated in +this solution to those conversant with the deposition of nickel, and +they have expressed surprise at the appearance of the work. Some strips +of sheet-zinc in my possession have been bent and cut into every +conceivable shape without a sign of fracture or curling up at the edges +of the nickel coating. + +The solution is composed of-- + + Double sulphate of nickel and ammonium 10 ounces. + Ammonium chloride 4 " + Potassium chloride 2 " + Distilled water 1 gallon. + +The salts are dissolved in the water (hot), and the solution is worked +at the ordinary temperature, about 16 degrees C. + +The zinc may be cleansed in any suitable manner, but must be perfectly +clean, of course, and finally rinsed in clean cold water and placed in +the bath as quickly as possible; care being taken that it is connected +before it touches the solution.--_Electrical World_. + + * * * * * + +A catalogue, containing brief notices of many important scientific +papers heretofore published in the SUPPLEMENT, may be had gratis at this +office. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT. + +PUBLISHED WEEKLY. + +TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION, $5 A YEAR. + + +Sent by mail, postage prepaid, to subscribers in any part of the United +States or Canada. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + diff --git a/old/8049710.zip b/old/8049710.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2bda7fc --- /dev/null +++ b/old/8049710.zip diff --git a/old/8049710h.htm b/old/8049710h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7c546d6 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/8049710h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4667 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta name="generator" content="HTML Tidy, see www.w3.org"> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= +"text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Scientific American +Supplement, July 11, 1885</title> +<style type="text/css"> +<!-- +body {margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; background-color: white} +img {border: 0;} +h1,h2,h3 {text-align: center;} +.ind {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} +hr {text-align: center; width: 50%;} +.ctr {text-align: center;} +--> +</style> +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Scientific American Supplement, No. 497, +July 11, 1885, by Various + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Scientific American Supplement, No. 497, July 11, 1885 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: January, 2006 [EBook #9666] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on October 14, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT, NO. 497 *** + + + + +Produced by Josephine Paolucci, Don Kretz, Juliet Sutherland +and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + +</pre> + +<p class="ctr"><a href="./illustrations/1a.png"><img src= +"./illustrations/1a_th.jpg" alt=""></a></p> + +<h1>SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT NO. 497</h1> + +<h2>NEW YORK, JULY 11, 1885</h2> + +<h4>Scientific American Supplement. Vol. XX, No. 497.</h4> + +<h4>Scientific American established 1845</h4> + +<h4>Scientific American Supplement, $5 a year.</h4> + +<h4>Scientific American and Supplement, $7 a year.</h4> + +<hr> +<table summary="Contents" border="0" cellspacing="5"> +<tr> +<th colspan="2">TABLE OF CONTENTS.</th> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td valign="top">I.</td> +<td><a href="#1">CHEMISTRY AND METALLURGY.--Making Sea Water +Potable. --By THOS. KAY</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td><a href="#2">The Acids of Wool Oil</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td><a href="#3">The New Absorbent for Oxygen</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td><a href="#4">Depositing Nickel upon Zinc.--By H.B. +SLATER</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td valign="top">II.</td> +<td><a href="#5">ENGINEERING AND MECHANICS.--Foundations in +Quicksand, Lift Bridge over the Ourcq Canal.--3 figures</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td><a href="#6">St. Petersburg a Seaport.--A canal cut from +Cronstadt to St. Petersburg.--Opening of same by the Emperor and +Empress.--With full page engraving</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td><a href="#7">The New French Dispatch Boat Milan.--With +engraving</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td><a href="#8">The Launching and Docking of Ships Sidewise.--4 +figures</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td><a href="#9">Improved High Speed Engine.--12 figures</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td><a href="#10">The National Transit Co.'s Pipe Lines for the +Transportation of Oil to the Seaboard.--With map and +diagram</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td><a href="#11">The Fuel of the Future.--History of natural +gas.--Relation to petroleum.--Duration of gas, etc.--With table of +analyses Closing Leakages for Packing.--Use of asbestos in stuffing +boxes</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td valign="top">III.</td> +<td><a href="#12">TECHNOLOGY.--Luminous Paint.--Processes of +manufacture Boxwood and its Substitutes.--Preparation of same for +market, etc.--A paper written by J.A. JACKSON for the International +Forestry Exhibition</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td valign="top">IV.</td> +<td><a href="#13">ARCHÆOLOGY.--An Assyrian Bass-Relief 2,700 +years old</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td valign="top">V.</td> +<td><a href="#14">NATURAL HISTORY.-The Flight of the Buzzard.--By +R.A. PROCTOR</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td valign="top">VI.</td> +<td><a href="#15">BOTANY, ETC.--Convallaria.--A stemless +perennial.--By OTTO A. WALL, M.D.--Several figures</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td valign="top">VII.</td> +<td><a href="#16">MEDICINE, HYGIENE, ETC.--Gaiffe's New Medical +Galvanometer.--1 figure</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td><a href="#17">The Suspension of Life in Plants and +Animals</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td valign="top">VIII.</td> +<td><a href="#18">MISCELLANEOUS.--Composite Portraits.--6 +illustrations Hand-Craft and Rede-Craft.--A plea for the first +named.--By D.G. GILMAN</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + +<hr> +<h2>FOUNDATIONS IN QUICKSAND.</h2> + +<p>Foundations in quicksand often have to be built in places where +least expected, and sometimes the writer has been able to +conveniently span the vein with an arch and avoid trouble; but +where it cannot be conveniently arched over, it will be necessary +to sheath pile for a trench and lay in broad sections of concrete +until the space is crossed, the sheath piling being drawn and reset +in sections as fast as the trenches are leveled up. The piling is +left in permanently if it is not wanted again for use.</p> + +<p>Sometimes these bottoms are too soft to be treated in this +manner; in that case boxes or caissons are formed, loaded with +stone and sunk into place with pig iron until the weight they are +to carry is approximated. When settled, the weights are removed and +building begins.</p> + +<p>Foundations on shifting sand are met with in banks of streams, +which swell and become rapids as each winter breaks up. This kind +is most troublesome and dangerous to rest upon if not properly +treated.</p> + +<p>Retaining walls are frequently built season after season, and as +regularly become undermined by the scouring of the water. Regular +docking with piles and timbers is resorted to, but it is so +expensive for small works that it is not often tried.</p> + +<p>Foundations are formed often with rock well planted out; and +again success has attended the use of bags of sand where rough rock +was not convenient or too expensive.</p> + +<p>In such cases it is well to try a mattress foundation, which may +be formed of brushwood and small saplings with butts from ½ +inch to 2½ inches in diameter, compressed into bundles from +8 to 12 inches diameter, and from 12 to 16 feet long, and well tied +with ropes every four feet. Other bundles, from 4 to 6 inches +diameter and 16 feet long, are used as binders, and these bundles +are now cross-woven and make a good network, the long parts +protruding and making whip ends. One or more sets of netting are +used as necessity seems to require. This kind of foundation may be +filled in with a concrete of hydraulic cement and sand, and the +walls built on them with usual footings, and it is very durable, +suiting the purpose as well as anything we have seen or heard +of.--<i>Inland Architect</i>.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="5"></a></p> + +<h2>LIFT BRIDGE OVER THE OURCQ CANAL.</h2> + +<p>This bridge, which was inaugurated in 1868, was constructed +under the direction of Mr. Mantion, then engineer-in-chief of the +Belt Railway. Fig. 1 shows the bridge raised.</p> + +<p>The solution adopted in this case was the only feasible one that +presented itself, in view of the slight difference between the +level of the railway tracks and the maximum plane of the canal +water. This circumstance did not even permit of a thought of an +ordinary revolving bridge, since this, on a space of 10 inches +being reserved between the level of the water and the bottom of the +bridge, and on giving the latter a minimum thickness of 33 inches +up to the level of the rails, would have required the introduction +into the profile of the railroad of approaches of at least +one-quarter inch gradient, that would have interfered with +operations at the station close by.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><a href="./illustrations/1b.png"><img src= +"./illustrations/1b_th.jpg" alt= +"FIG. 1.--LIFT BRIDGE OVER THE OURCQ CANAL."></a></p> + +<p class="ctr">FIG. 1.--LIFT BRIDGE OVER THE OURCQ CANAL.</p> + +<p>Besides, in the case of a revolving bridge, since the bottom of +the latter would be but ten inches above the water level, and the +rollers would have to be of larger diameter than that, it would +have been necessary to suppose the roller channel placed beneath +the level of the water, and it would consequently have been +necessary to isolate this channel from the canal by a tight wall. +The least fissure in the latter would have inundated the +channel.</p> + +<p>As the Ourcq Canal had no regular period of closing, it was +necessary to construct the bridge without hinderance to navigation. +The idea of altering the canal's course could not be thought of, +for the proximity of the fortifications and of the bridge over the +military road was opposed to it. Moreover, the canal administration +insisted upon a free width of 26 feet, which is that of the sluices +of the St. Denis Canal, and which would have led to the projection +of a revolving bridge of 28 feet actual opening in order to permit +of building foundations with caissons in such a way as to leave a +passageway of 26 feet during operations.</p> + +<p>For these reasons it was decided to construct a metallic bridge +that should be lifted by means of counterpoises and balanced after +the manner of gasometers.</p> + +<p>The free width secured to navigation is 28 feet. The bridge is +usually kept raised to a height of 16 feet above the level of the +water in order to allow boats to pass (Fig. 2). In this position it +is balanced by four counterpoises suspended from the extremities of +chains that pass over pulleys. These counterpoises are of cast +iron, and weigh, altogether, 44,000 pounds--the weight of the +bridge to be balanced, say 11,000 pounds per counterpoise. +Moreover, each of the four chains is prolonged beneath the +corresponding counterpoise by a chain of the same weight, called a +compensating chain.</p> + +<p>The pulleys, B and C, that support the suspension chains have +projections in their channels which engage with the links and thus +prevent the chains from slipping. They are mounted at the extremity +of four latticed girders that likewise carry girder pulleys, D. The +pulleys that are situated at the side of the bridge are provided +laterally with a conical toothing which gears with a pinion +connected with the maneuvering apparatus.</p> + +<p>The two pinions of the same side of the bridge are keyed to a +longitudinal shaft which is set in motion at one point of its +length by a system of gearings. The winch upon which is exerted the +stress that is to effect the lifting or the descent of the bridge +is fixed upon the shaft of the pinion of the said gearing, which is +also provided with a flywheel, c. The longitudinal shafts are +connected by a transverse one. e, which renders the two motions +interdependent. This transverse shaft is provided with collars, +against which bear stiff rods that give it the aspect of an +elongated spindle, and that permit it to resist twisting +stresses.</p> + +<p>The windlasses that lift the bridge are actuated by manual +power. Two men (or even one) suffice to do the maneuvering.</p> + +<p>This entire collection of pulleys and mechanism is established +upon two brick foot bridges between which the bridge moves. These +arched bridges offer no obstruction to navigation. Moreover, they +always allow free passage to foot passengers, whatever be the +position of the bridge. They are provided with four vertical +apertures to the right of the suspension chains, in order to allow +of the passage of the latter. The girders that support the pulleys +rest at one extremity upon the upper part of the bridges, and at +the other upon solid brick pillars with stone caps.</p> + +<p>Finally, in order to render the descent of the bridge easier, +there are added to it two water tanks that are filled from the +station reservoir when the bridge is in its upper position, and +that empty themselves automatically as soon as it reaches the level +of the railroad tracks.</p> + +<p>A very simple system of fastening has been devised for keeping +the bridge in a stationary position when raised. When it reaches +the end of its upward travel, four bolts engage with an aperture in +the suspension rod and prevent it from descending. These bolts are +set in motion by two connecting rods carried by a longitudinal +shaft and maneuvered by a lever at the end of the windlass.</p> + +<p>At the lower part the bridge rests upon iron plates set into +sills. It is guided in its descent longitudinally by iron plates +that have an inclination which is reproduced at the extremities of +the bridge girders, and transversely by two inclined angle irons +into which fit the external edges of the bottoms of the extreme +girders.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><a href="./illustrations/2a.png"><img src= +"./illustrations/2a_th.jpg" alt="FIG. 2.--ELEVATION AND PLAN."> +</a></p> + +<p class="ctr">FIG. 2.--ELEVATION AND PLAN.</p> + +<p>The total weight of the bridge is, as we have said, 44,000 +pounds, which is much less than would have been that of a revolving +bridge of the same span. The maneuvering of the bridge is performed +with the greatest ease and requires about two minutes.</p> + +<p>This system has been in operation at the market station of La +Vilette since the year 1868, and has required but insignificant +repairs. We think the adoption of it might be recommended for all +cases in which a slight difference between the level of a railroad +and that of a water course would not permit of the establishment of +a revolving bridge.--<i>Le Genie Civil</i>.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="6"></a></p> + +<h2>ST. PETERSBURG A SEAPORT.</h2> + +<p>The Emperor and Empress of Russia, on Wednesday, May 27. 1885, +the second anniversary of their coronation at Moscow, opened the +Maritime Canal, in the Bay of Cronstadt, the shallow upper +extremity of the Gulf of Finland, by which great work the city of +St. Petersburg is made a seaport as much as London. St. Petersburg, +indeed, stands almost on the sea shore, at the very mouth of the +Neva, though behind several low islands which crowd the head of the +Gulf; and though this is an inland sea without saltness or tides, +it is closed by ice in winter. Seventeen miles to the west is the +island of Cronstadt, a great fortress, with naval dockyards and +arsenals for the imperial fleet, and with a spacious harbor for +ships of commerce. The navigable entrance channel up the Bay of +Cronstadt to the mouth of the Neva lies under the south side of +Cronstadt, and is commanded by its batteries. As the bay eastward +has a depth not exceeding 12 ft., and the depth of the Neva at its +bar is but 9 ft., all large vessels have been obliged hitherto to +discharge their cargoes at Cronstadt, to be there transferred to +lighters and barges which brought the goods up to the capital. "The +delay and expense of this process," says Mr. William Simpson, our +special artist, "will be understood by stating that a cargo might +be brought from England by a steamer in a week, but it would take +three weeks at least to transport the same cargo from Cronstadt to +St. Petersburg. Of course, much of this time was lost by custom +house formalities. Sometimes it has taken even longer than is here +stated, which made the delivery of goods at St. Petersburg a matter +of great uncertainty, thus rendering time contracts almost an +impossibility. This state of things had continued from the time of +Peter the Great, and his great scheme had never been fully +realized. The increase of commerce and shipping had long made this +a crying evil; but even with all these difficulties, the trade here +has been rapidly growing. A scheme to bring the shipping direct to +the capital had thus become almost a necessity. As Manchester +wishes to bring the ocean traffic to her doors without the +intervention of Liverpool, so St. Petersburg desired to have its +steamers sailing up to the city, delivering and loading their +cargoes direct at the stores and warehouses in her streets. If +Glasgow had not improved the Clyde, and had up to the present day +to bring up all goods carried by her ocean going steamers from Port +Glasgow--a place constructed for that purpose last century, and +which is twenty miles from Glasgow--she would have been handicapped +exactly as St. Petersburg has been till now in the commercial +race.</p> + +<p>"For some years the subject was discussed at St. Petersburg, and +more than one scheme was proposed; at last the project of General +N. Pooteeloff was adopted. According to this plan, a canal has been +cut through the shallow bottom of the Gulf of Finland, all the way +from Cronstadt to St. Petersburg. The line of this canal is from +northwest to southeast; it may be said to run very nearly parallel +to the coast line on the south side of the Gulf, and about three +miles distant from it. This line brings the canal to the southwest +end of St. Petersburg, where there are a number of islands, which +have formed themselves, in the course of ages, where the Bolshaya, +or Great Neva, flows into the Gulf. It is on these islands that the +new port is to be formed. It is a very large harbor, and capable of +almost any amount of extension. It will be in connection with the +whole railway system of Russia. One part of the scheme is that of a +new canal, on the south side of the city, to connect the maritime +canal, as well as the new harbor, with the Neva, so that the large +barges may pass, by a short route, to the river on the east, and +thus avoid the bridges and traffic of the city.</p> + +<p>"The whole length of the canal is about eighteen miles. The +longer portion of it is an open channel, which is made 350 feet +wide at bottom. Its course will be marked by large iron floating +buoys; these it is proposed to light with gas by a new self-acting +process which has been very successful in other parts of the world; +by this means the canal will be navigable by night as well as by +day. The original plan was to have made the canal 20 feet deep, but +this has been increased to 22 feet. The Gulf of Finland gradually +deepens toward Cronstadt, so that the dredging was less at the +western end. This part was all done by dredgers, and the earth +brought up was removed to a safe distance by means of steam hopper +barges. The contract for this part of the work was sublet to an +American firm--Morris and Cummings, of New York. The eastern +portion of the work on the canal is by far the most important, and +about six miles of it is protected by large and strong embankments +on each side. These embankments were formed by the output of the +dredgers, and are all faced with granite bowlders brought from +Finland; at their outer termination the work is of a more durable +kind, the facing is made of squared blocks of granite, so that it +may stand the heavy surf which at times is raised by a west wind in +the Gulf. These embankments, as already stated, extend over a space +of nearly six miles, and represent a mass of work to which there is +no counterpart in the Suez Canal; nor does the plan of the new +Manchester Canal present anything equivalent to it. The width of +this canal also far exceeds any of those notable undertakings. The +open channel is, as stated above, 350 ft. wide; within the +embankments the full depth of 22 ft. extends to 280 ft., and the +surface between the embankments is 700 ft. This is nearly twice the +size of the Suez Canal at the surface, which is 100 meters, or +about 320 ft., while it is only about 75 ft. at the bottom; the +Amsterdam Canal is 78 ft. wide. The new Manchester Canal is to be +100 ft. of full depth, and it boasts of this superiority over the +great work of Lesseps. The figures given above will show how far +short it comes of the dimensions of the St. Petersburg Canal. The +Manchester Canal is to be 24 ft. in depth; in that it has the +advantage of 2 ft. more than the St. Petersburg Canal; but with the +ample width this one possesses, this, or even a greater depth, can +be given if it should be found necessary. Most probably this will +have ultimately to be done, for ocean going steamers are rapidly +increasing in size since the St. Petersburg Canal was planned, and +in a very few years the larger class of steamers might have to +deliver their cargoes at Cronstadt, as before, if the waterway to +St. Petersburg be not adapted to their growing dimensions.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><a href="./illustrations/3a.png"><img src= +"./illustrations/3a_th.jpg" alt= +"THE ST. PETERSBURG AND CRONSTADT MARITIME CANAL, OPENED BY THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA, ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 1885."> +</a></p> + +<p class="ctr">THE ST. PETERSBURG AND CRONSTADT MARITIME CANAL, +OPENED BY THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA, ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 1885.</p> + +<p>"The dredging between the embankments of the canal was done by +an improved process, which may interest those connected with such +works. It may be remembered that the Suez Canal was mostly made by +dredging, and that the dredgers had attached to them what the +French called 'long couloirs' or spouts, into which water was +pumped, and by this means the stuff brought up by the dredgers was +carried to the sides of the canal, and there deposited. The great +width of the St. Petersburg Canal was too much for the long +couloirs, hence some other plan had to be found. The plan adopted +was that invented by Mr. James Burt, and which had been used with +the greatest success on the New Amsterdam Canal. Instead of the +couloir, floating pipes, made of wood, are in this system employed; +the earth or mud brought up has a copious stream of water poured on +it, which mixes in the process of descending, and the whole becomes +a thick liquid. This, by means of a centrifugal pump, is propelled +through the floating pipes to any point required, where it can be +deposited. The couloir can only run the output a comparatively +short distance, while this system can send it a quarter of a mile, +or even further, if necessary. Its power is not limited to the +level surface of the water. I saw on my visit to the canal one of +the dredgers at work, and the floating pipes lay on the water like +a veritable sea-serpent, extending to a long distance where the +stuff had to be carried. At that point the pipe emerged from the +water, and what looked very much like a vertebra or two of the +serpent crossed the embankment, went down the other side, and there +the muddy deposit was pouring out in a steady flow. Mr. Burt +pointed out to me one part of the works where his pump had sent the +stuff nearly half a mile away, and over undulating ground. This +system will not suit all soils. Hard clay, for instance, will not +mix with the water; but where the matter brought up is soft and +easily diluted, this plan possesses many advantages, and its +success here affords ample evidence of its merits.</p> + +<p>"About five miles below St. Petersburg, a basin had been already +finished, with landing quays, sheds, and offices; and there is an +embankment connecting it with the railways of St. Petersburg, all +ready for ships to arrive. When the ships of all nations sail up to +the capital, then the ideas of Peter the Great, when he laid the +foundations of St. Petersburg, will be realized. St. Petersburg +will be no longer an inland port. It will, with its ample harbor +and numerous canals among its streets, become the Venice of the +North. Its era of commercial greatness is now about to commence. +The ceremony of letting the waters of the canal into the new docks +was performed by the Emperor in October, 1883. The Empress and heir +apparent, with a large number of the Court, were present on the +occasion. The works on the canal, costing about a million and a +half sterling, were begun in 1876, and have been carried out under +the direction of a committee appointed by the Government, presided +over by his Excellency, N. Sarloff. The resident engineer is M. +Phofiesky; and the contractors are Messrs. Maximovitch and +Boreysha."</p> + +<p>We heartily congratulate the Russian government and the Russian +nation upon the accomplishment of this great and useful work of +peace. It will certainly benefit English trade. The value of +British imports from the northern ports of Russia for the year 1883 +was £13,799,033; British exports, £6,459,993; while +from the southern ports of Russia our trade was: British imports, +£7,177,149; British exports, £1,169,890--making a total +British commerce with European Russia of £20,976,182 imports +from Russia and £7,629,883 exports to Russia. It cannot be to +the interest of nations which are such large customers of each +other to go to war about a few miles of Afguhan frontier. The +London <i>Chamber of Commerce Journal</i>, ably edited by Mr. +Kenric B. Murray, Secretary to the Chamber, has in its May number +an article upon this subject well deserving of perusal. It points +out that in case of war most of the British export trade to Russia +would go through Germany, and might possibly never again return +under British control. In spite of Russian protective duties, this +trade has been well maintained, even while the British import of +Russian commodities, wheat, flax, hemp, tallow, and timber, was +declining 40 per cent. from 1883 to 1884. The St. Petersburg +Maritime Canal will evidently give much improved facilities to the +direct export of English goods to Russia. Without reference to our +own manufactures, it should be observed that the Russian cotton +mills, including those of Poland, consume yearly 264 million pounds +of cotton, most of which comes through England. The importation of +English coal to Russia has afforded a noteworthy instance of the +disadvantage hitherto occasioned by the want of direct navigation +to St. Petersburg; the freight of a ton of coal from Newcastle to +Cronstadt was six shillings and sixpence, but from Cronstadt to St. +Petersburg it cost two shillings more. It is often said, in a tone +of alarm and reproach, that Russia is very eager to get to the sea. +The more Russia gets to the sea everywhere, the better it will be +for British trade with Russia; and friendly intercourse with an +empire containing nearly a hundred millions of people is not to be +lightly rejected.--<i>Illustrated London News</i>.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="7"></a></p> + +<h2>THE NEW FRENCH DISPATCH BOAT MILAN.</h2> + +<p>The Milan, a new dispatch boat, has recently been making trial +trips at Brest. It was constructed at Saint Nazaire, by the +"Societe des Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire," and is the fastest +man-of-war afloat. It has registered 17 knots with ordinary +pressure, and with increase of pressure can make 18 knots, but to +attain such high speed a very powerful engine is necessary. In +fact, a vessel 303 ft. long, 33 ft. wide, and drawing 12 ft. of +water, requires an engine which can develop 4,000 H.P.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><img src="./illustrations/4a.png" alt= +"THE NEW FRENCH DISPATCH BOAT MILAN."></p> + +<p class="ctr">THE NEW FRENCH DISPATCH BOAT MILAN.</p> + +<p>The hull of the Milan is of steel, and is distinguished for its +extreme lightness. The vessel has two screws, actuated by four +engines arranged two by two on each shaft.</p> + +<p>The armament consists of five three inch cannons, eight +revolvers, and four tubes for throwing torpedoes.</p> + +<p>The Milan can carry 300 tons of coal, an insufficient quantity +for a long cruise, but this vessel, which is a dispatch boat in +every acceptation of the word, was constructed for a definite +purpose. It is the first of a series of very rapid cruisers to be +constructed in France, and yet many English packets can attain a +speed at least equal to that of the Milan. We need war vessels +which can attain twenty knots, to be master of the +sea.--<i>L'Illustration</i>.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="8"></a></p> + +<h2>THE LAUNCHING AND DOCKING OF SHIPS SIDEWISE.</h2> + +<p>The slips of the shipyards at Alt-Hofen (Hungary) belonging to +the Imperial and Royal Navigation Company of the Danube are so +arranged that the vessels belonging to its fleet can be hauled up +high and dry or be launched sidewise. They comprise three distinct +groups, which are adapted, according to needs, for the construction +or repair of steamers, twenty of which can be put into the yard at +a time. The operation, which is facilitated by the current of the +Danube, consists in receiving the ships upon frames beneath the +water and at the extremity of inclined planes running at right +angles with them. After the ship has been made secure by means of +wedges, the frame is drawn up by chains that wind round fixed +windlasses. These apparatus are established upon a horizontal +surface 25.5 feet above low-water mark so as to give the necessary +slope, and at which terminate the tracks. They may, moreover, be +removed after the ships have been taken off, and be put down again +for launching. For 136 feet of their length the lower part of the +sliding ways is permanent, and fixed first upon rubble masonry and +then upon the earth.</p> + +<p>Fig. 1 gives a general view of the arrangement. The eight +sliding ways of the central part are usually reserved for the +largest vessels. The two extreme ones comprise, one of them 7, and +the other 6, tracks only, and are maneuvered by means of the same +windlasses as the others. A track, FF, is laid parallel with the +river, in order to facilitate, through lorries, the loading and +unloading of the traction chains. These latter are ¾ inch in +diameter, while those that pass around the hulls are 1 inch.</p> + +<p>The motive power is furnished by a 10 H.P. steam engine, which +serves at the same time for actuating the machine tools employed in +construction or repairs. The shaft is situated at the head of the +ways, and sets in motion four double-gear windlasses of the type +shown in Fig. 2. The ratio of the wheels is as 9 to 1. The speed at +which the ships move forward is from 10 to 13 feet per minute. +Traction is effected continuously and without shock. After the +cables have been passed around the hull, and fastened, they are +attached to four pairs of blocks each comprising three pulleys. The +lower one of these is carried by rollers that run over a special +track laid for this purpose on the inclined plane.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><a href="./illustrations/4b.png"><img src= +"./illustrations/4b_th.jpg" alt= +"FIG. 1.--WAYS OF LAUNCHING VESSELS SIDEWISE."></a></p> + +<p class="ctr">FIG. 1.--WAYS OF LAUNCHING VESSELS SIDEWISE.</p> + +<p>The three successive positions that a boat takes are shown in +Fig. 1. In the first it has just passed on to the frame, and is +waiting to be hauled up on the ways; in the second it is being +hauled up; and in the third the frame has been removed and the boat +is shoved up on framework, so that it can be examined and receive +whatever repairs may be necessary. This arrangement, which is from +plans by Mr. Murray Jackson, suffices to launch 16 or 18 new boats +annually, and for the repair of sixty steamers and lighters. These +latter are usually 180 feet in length, 24 feet in width, and 8 feet +in depth, and their displacement, when empty, is 120 tons. The +dimensions of the largest steamers vary between 205 and 244 feet in +length, and 25 and 26 feet in width. They are 10 feet in depth, +and, when empty, displace from 440 to 460 tons. The Austrian +government has two monitors repaired from time to time in the yards +of the company. The short and wide forms of these impose a heavier +load per running foot upon the ways than ordinary boats do, but +nevertheless no difficulty has ever been experienced, either in +hauling them out or putting them back into the water.--<i>Le Genie +Civil</i>.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><a href="./illustrations/4c.png"><img src= +"./illustrations/4c_th.jpg" alt="FIG. 2.--DETAILS OF WINDLASS."> +</a></p> + +<p class="ctr">FIG. 2.--DETAILS OF WINDLASS.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="9"></a></p> + +<h2>IMPROVED HIGH-SPEED ENGINE.</h2> + +<p>This engine, exhibited at South Kensington by Fielding and +Platt, of Gloucester, consists virtually of a universal joint +connecting two shafts whose axes form an obtuse angle of about 157 +degrees. It has four cylinders, two being mounted on a chair +coupling on each shaft. The word cylinder is used in a conventional +sense only, since the cavities acting as such are circular, whose +axes, instead of being straight lines, are arcs of circles struck +from the center at which the axes of the shafts would, if +continued, intersect. The four pistons are carried upon the gimbal +ring, which connects, by means of pivots, the two chair +couplings.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><a href="./illustrations/5a.png"><img src= +"./illustrations/5a_th.jpg" alt="THE FIELDING HIGH SPEED ENGINE."> +</a></p> + +<p class="ctr">THE FIELDING HIGH SPEED ENGINE.</p> + +<p>Fig. 10 shows clearly the parts constituting the coupling, +cylinders, and pistons of a compound engine. CC are the +high-pressure cylinders; DD the low pressure; EEEE the four parts +forming the gimbal ring, to which are fixed in pairs the high and +low pressure pistons, GG and FF; HHHH are the chair arms formed +with the cylinders carrying pivots, IIII, which latter fit into the +bearings, JJJJ, in the gimbal ring. Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4 show these +parts connected and at different points of the shaft's rotation. +The direction of rotation is shown by the arrow. In Fig. 1 the +lower high-pressure cylinder, C, is just about taking steam, the +upper one just closing the exhaust; the low-pressure pistons are at +half stroke, that in sight exhausting, the opposite one, which +cannot be seen in this view, taking steam.</p> + +<p>In Fig 2 the shaft has turned through one-eighth of a +revolution; in Fig. 3, a quarter turn; Fig. 4, three-eighths of a +turn. Another eighth turn brings two parts into position +represented by Fig. 1, except the second pair of cylinders now +replace the first pair. The bearings, KL, support the two shafts +and act as stationary valves, against which faces formed on the +cylinders revolve; steam and exhaust ports are provided in the +faces of K and L, and two ports in the revolving faces, one to each +cylinder. The point at which steam is cut off is determined by the +length of the admission ports in K and L. The exhaust port is made +of such a length that steam may escape from the cylinders during +the whole of the return stroke of pistons.</p> + +<p>Fig. 5 shows the complete engine. It will be seen that the +engine is entirely incased in a box frame, with, however, a lid for +ready access to the parts for examination, one great advantage +being that the engine can be worked with the cover removed, thus +enabling any leakage past the pistons or valve faces to be at once +detected. The casing also serves to retain a certain amount of +lubricant.</p> + +<p>The lubrication is effected by means of a triple sight-feed +lubricator, one feeder delivering to steam inlet, and two serving +the main shaft bearings.</p> + +<p>Figs, 6 and 7 are an end elevation and plan of the same engine. +There is nothing in the other details calling for special +notice.</p> + +<p>Figs. 8 and 9 show the method of machining the cylinders and +pistons, the whole of which can be done by ordinary lathes, which +is evidently a great advantage in the event of reboring, etc., +being required in the colonies or other countries where special +tools are inaccessible.</p> + +<p>Figs. 11 and 12 are sections which explain themselves.--<i>The +Engineer</i>.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="10"></a></p> + +<h2>THE NATIONAL TRANSIT CO'S PIPE LINES FOR THE TRANSPORTATION OF +PETROLEUM TO THE SEABOARD.</h2> + +<p>While Englishmen and Americans have been alike interested in the +late project for forcing water by a pipe line over the mountainous +region lying between Suakim and Berber in the far-off Soudan, few +men of either nation have any proper conception of the vast +expenditure of capital, natural and engineering difficulties +overcome, and the bold and successful enterprise which has brought +into existence far greater pipe lines in our own Atlantic States. +We refer to the lines of the National Transit Company, which have +for a purpose the economic transportation of crude petroleum from +Western Pennsylvania to the sea coast at New York, Philadelphia, +and Baltimore, and to the Lakes at Cleveland and Buffalo.</p> + +<p>To properly commence our sketch of this truly gigantic +enterprise, we must go back to the discovery of petroleum in the +existing oil regions of Pennsylvania and adjacent States. Its +presence as an oily scum on the surface of ponds and streams had +long been known, and among the Indians this "rock-oil" was highly +appreciated as a vehicle for mixing their wax paint, and for +anointing their bodies; in later years it was gathered in a rude +way by soaking it up in blankets, and sold at a high price for +medicinal purposes only, under the name of Seneca rock oil, Genesee +oil, Indian oil, etc.</p> + +<p>But the date of its discovery as an important factor in the +useful arts and as a source of enormous national wealth was about +1854. In the year named a certain Mr. George H. Bissell of New +Orleans accidentally met with a sample of the "Seneca Oil," and +being convinced that it had a value far beyond that usually +accorded it, associated himself with some friends and leased for 99 +years some of the best oil springs near Titusville, Pa. This lease +cost the company $5,000, although only a few years before a cow had +been considered a full equivalent in value for the same land. The +original prospectors began operations by digging collecting +ditches, and then pumping off the oil which gathered upon the +surface of the water. But not long after this first crude attempt +at oil gathering, the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Co. was organized, with +Prof. B. Silliman of Yale College as its president, and a more +intelligent method was introduced into the development of the +oil-producing formation. In 1858, Col. Drake of New Haven was +employed by the Pennsylvania Co. to sink an artesian well; and, +after considerable preparatory work, on August 28, 1859, the first +oil vein was tapped at a depth of 69½ feet below the +surface; the flow was at first 10 barrels per day, but in the +following September this increased to 40 barrels daily.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><a href="./illustrations/6a.png"><img src= +"./illustrations/6a_th.jpg" alt= +"MAP SHOWING THE NATIONAL TRANSIT CO.'S PIPE LINES."></a></p> + +<p class="ctr">MAP SHOWING THE NATIONAL TRANSIT CO.'S PIPE +LINES.</p> + +<p>The popular excitement and the fortunes made and lost in the +years following the sinking of the initial well are a matter of +history, with which we have here nothing to do. It is sufficient to +say that a multitude of adventurers were drawn by the "oil-craze" +into this late wilderness, and the sinking of wells extended with +unprecedented rapidity over the region near Titusville and from +there into more distant fields.</p> + +<p>By June 1, 1862, 495 wells had been put down near Titusville, +and the daily output of oil was nearly 6,000 barrels, selling at +the wells at from $4.00 to $6.00 per barrel. But the tapping of +this vast subterranean storehouse of oleaginous wealth continued, +until the estimated annual production was swelled from 82,000 +barrels in 1859 to 24,385,966 barrels in 1883; in the latter year +2,949 wells were put down, many of them, however, being simply dry +holes.[1] The total output of oil in the Pennsylvania regions, +between 1859 and 1883, is estimated at about 234,800,000 +barrels--enough oil to fill a tank about 10,000 feet square, nearly +two miles to a side, to a depth of over 13½ feet.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 1: The total number of wells in the Pennsylvania oil +regions cannot be given. In the years 1876-1884, inclusive, 28,619 +wells were sunk; this is an average of 3,179 per year. During the +same period 2,507 dry holes were drilled at an average cost of +$1,500 each.]</p> + +<p>As long as oil could be sold at the wells at from $4.00 to +$10.00 a barrel, the cost of transportation was an item hardly +worthy of consideration, and railroad companies multiplied and +waged a bitter war with each other in their scramble after the +traffic. But as the production increased with rapid strides, the +market price of oil fell with a corresponding rapidity, until the +quotations for 1884 show figures as low as 50 to 60 cents per +barrel for the crude product at Oil City.</p> + +<p>In December, 1865, the freight charge per barrel for a carload +of oil from Titusville to New York, and the return of the empty +barrels, was $3.50.[1] To this figure was added the cost of +transportation by pipe-line from Pithole to Titusville, $1.00; cost +of barreling, 25 cents; freight to Corry, Pa., 80 cents; making the +total cost of a barrel of crude oil in New York, $5.55. In January, +1866, the barrel of oil in New York cost $10.40, including in this +figure, however, the Government tax of $1.00 and the price of the +barrel, $3.25.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 1: It is stated that in 1862 the cost of sending one +barrel of oil to New York was $7.45. Steamboats charged $2.00 per +barrel from Oil City to Pittsburg, and the hauling from Oil Creek +to Meadville cost $2.25 per barrel.]</p> + +<p>The question of reducing these enormous transportation charges +was first broached, apparently, in 1864, when a writer in the +<i>North American</i>, of Philadelphia, outlined a scheme for +laying a pipe-line down the Allegheny River to Pittsburg. This +project was violently assailed by both the transportation companies +and the people of the oil region, who feared that its success would +interfere with their then great prosperity. But short pipe-lines, +connecting the wells with storage tanks and shipping points, grew +apace and prepared the way for the vast network of the present day, +which covers this region and throws out arms to the ocean and the +lakes.</p> + +<p>Among the very first, if not the first, pipe lines laid was one +put down between the Sherman well and the railway terminus on the +Miller farm. It was about 3 miles long, and designed by a Mr. +Hutchinson; he had an exaggerated idea of the pressure to be +exercised, and at intervals of 50 to 100 feet he set up air +chambers 10 inches in diameter. The weak point in this line, +however, proved to be the joints; the pipes were of cast iron, and +the joint-leakage was so great that little, if any, oil ever +reached the end of the line, and the scheme was abandoned in +despair.</p> + +<p>In connection with this question of oil transportation, a sketch +of the various methods, other than pipelines, adopted in +Pennsylvania may not be out of place. We are mainly indebted to Mr. +S.F. Peckham, in his article on "Petroleum and its Products" in the +U. S. Census Report of 1880, for the information relating to +tank-cars immediately following:</p> + +<p>Originally the oil was carried in 40 and 42 gallon barrels, made +of oak and hooped with iron; early in 1866, or possibly in 1865, +tank-cars were introduced. These were at first ordinary flat-cars +upon which were placed two wooden tanks, shaped like tubs, each +holding about 2,000 gallons.</p> + +<p>On the rivers, bulk barges were also, after a time, introduced +on the Ohio and Allegheny; at first these were rude affairs, and +often of inadequate strength; but as now built they are 130 x 22 x +16 feet, in their general dimensions, and divided into eight +compartments, with water-tight bulkheads; they hold about 2,200 +barrels.</p> + +<p>In 1871 iron-tank cars superseded those of wood, with tanks of +varying sizes, ranging from 3,856 to 5,000 gallons each. These +tanks were cylinders, 24 feet 6 inches long, and 66 inches in +diameter, and weighed about 4,500 lb. The heads are made of 5/46 +in. flange iron, the bottom of ½ in., and the upper half of +the shell of 3/16 in. tank iron.</p> + +<p>In October, 1865, the Oil Transportation Co. completed and +tested a pipe-line 32,000 feet long; three pumps were used upon it, +two at Pithole and one at Little Pithole. July 1, 1876, the +pipe-line owners held a meeting at Parkers to organize a pipe-line +company to extend to the seaboard under the charter of the +Pennsylvania Transportation Co., but the scheme was never carried +out. In January, 1878, the Producers' Union organized for a similar +seaboard line, and laid pipes, but they never reached the sea, +stopping their line at Tamanend, Pa. The lines of the National +Transit Co., illustrated in our map, were completed in 1880-81, and +this company, to which the United Pipe Lines have also been +transferred, is said to have $15,000,000 invested in plant for the +transport of oil to tide water.</p> + +<p>The National Transit Co. was organized under what was called the +Pennsylvania Co. act, about four years ago, and succeeded to the +properties of the American Transit Co., a corporation operating +under the laws of Pennsylvania. Since its organization the first +named company has constructed and now owns the following +systems:</p> + +<p>The line from Olean, N.Y., to Bayonne, N.J., and to Brooklyn, +N.Y., of which a full page profile is given, showing the various +pumping stations and the undulations over its route of about 300 +miles. The Pennsylvania line, 280 miles long, from Colegrove, Pa., +to Philadelphia. The Baltimore line, 70 miles long, from Millway, +Pa., to Baltimore. The Cleveland line, 100 miles long, from +Hilliards, Pa., to Cleveland, O. The Buffalo line, 70 miles long, +from Four Mile, Cattaraugus County, N.Y., to Buffalo, and the line +from Carbon Center, Butler County, Pa., to Pittsburg, 60 miles in +length. This amounts to a total of 880 miles of main pipe-line +alone, ranging from 4 inches to 6 inches in diameter; or, adding +the duplicate pipes on the Olean New York line, we have a round +total of 1,330 miles, not including loops and shorter branches and +the immense network of the pipes in the oil regions proper.</p> + +<p>A general description of the longest line will practically +suffice for all, as they differ only in diameter of pipe used and +power of the pumping plant. As shown on the map and profile, this +long line starts at Olean, near the southern boundary of New York +State, and proceeds by the route indicated to tide water at +Bayonne, N.J., and by a branch under the North and East rivers and +across the upper end of New York city to the Long Island +refineries. This last named pipe is of unusual strength, and passes +through Central Park; few of the thousands who daily frequent the +latter spot being aware of the yellow stream of crude petroleum +that is constantly flowing beneath their feet. The following table +gives the various pumping stations on this Olean New York line, and +some data relating to distances between stations and elevations +overcome:</p> + +<pre> + |----------------------------------------------------------------| + | | | | Greatest | + | | | | Summit | + | | Miles | Elevation | between | + | | between | above Tide. | Stations. | + | Pumping Stations. | Stations. | Ft. | Ft. | + |______________________|___________|________________|____________| + | Olean | -- | 1,490 | -- | + | Wellsville | 28.20 | 1,510 | 2,490 | + | Cameron | 27.91 | 1,042 | 2,530 | + | West Junction | 29.70 | 911 | 1,917 | + | Catatonk | 27.37 | 869 | 1,768 | + | Osborne | 27.99 | 1,092 | 1,539 | + | Hancock | 29.86 | 922 | 1,873 | + | Cochecton | 26.22 | 748 | 1,854 | + | Swartwout | 28.94 | 475 | 1,478 | + | Newfoundland | 29.00 | 768 | 1,405 | + | Saddle River | 28.77 | 35 | 398 | + |______________________|___________|________________|____________| +</pre> + +<p>On this line two six-inch pipes are laid the entire length, and +a third six-inch pipe runs between Wellsville and Cameron, and +about half way between each of the other stations, "looped" around +them. The pipe used for the transportation of oil is especially +manufactured to withstand the great strain to which it will be +subjected, the most of it being made by the Chester Pipe and Tube +Works, of Chester, Pa., the Allison Manufacturing Co., of +Philadelphia and the Penna. Tube Works, of Pittsburg, Pa. It is a +lap-welded, wrought-iron pipe of superior material, and made with +exceeding care and thoroughly tested at the works. The pipe is made +in lengths of 18 feet, and these pieces are connected by threaded +ends and extra strong sleeves. The pipe-thread and sleeves used on +the ordinary steam and water pipe are not strong enough for the +duty demanded of the oil-pipe. The socket for a 4-inch steam or +water pipe is from 2½ to to 2¾ inches long, and is +tapped with 8 standard threads to the inch, straight or parallel to +the axis of the pipe; with this straight tap only three or four +threads come in contact with the socket threads, or in any way +assist in holding the pipes together. In the oil-pipe, the pipe +ends and sockets are cut on a taper of ¾ inch to 1 foot, for +a 4-inch pipe, and the socket used is thicker than the steam and +water socket, is 3¾ inches long, and has entrance for 1 5/8 +inches of thread on each pipe end tapped with 9 standard threads to +the inch. In this taper socket you have iron to iron the whole +length of the thread, and the joint is perfect and equal by test to +the full strength of the pipe. Up to 1877 the largest pipe used on +the oil lines was 4-inch, with the usual steam thread, but the +joints leaked under the pressure, 1,200 pounds to the square inch +being the maximum the 8-thread pipe would stand. This trouble has +been remedied by the 9-thread, taper-cut pipe of the present day, +which is tested at the mill to 1,500 pounds pressure, while the +average duty required is 1,200 pounds; as the iron used in the +manufacture of this line-pipe will average a tensile test strain of +55,000 pounds per square inch, the safety factor is thus about +one-sixth.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><a href="./illustrations/7a.png"><img src= +"./illustrations/7a_th.jpg" alt=""></a></p> + +<p class="ctr">PROFILE SHOWING NATIONAL TRANSIT CO.'S<br> +PIPE-LINE, FROM OLEAN TO SADDLE RIVER.</p> + +<p>The line-pipe is laid between the stations in the ordinary +manner, excepting that great care is exercised in perfecting the +joints. No expansion joints or other special appliances of like +nature are used on the line as far as we can learn; the variations +in temperature being compensated for, in exposed locations, by +laying the pipe in long horizontal curves. The usual depth below +the surface is about 3 feet, though in some portions of the route +the pipe lies for miles exposed directly upon the surface. As the +oil pumped is crude oil, and this as it comes from the wells +carries with it a considerable proportion of brine, freezing in the +pipes is not to be apprehended. The oil, however, does thicken in +very cold weather, and the temperature has a considerable influence +on the delivery.</p> + +<p>A very ingenious patented device is used for cleaning out the +pipes, and by it the delivery is said to have been increased in +certain localities 50 per cent. This is a stem about 2½ feet +long, having at its front end a diaphragm made of wings which can +fold on each other, and thus enable it to pass an obstruction it +cannot remove; this machine carries a set of steel scrapers, +somewhat like those used in cleaning boilers. The device is put +into the pipe, and propelled by the pressure transmitted from the +pumps from one station to another; relays of men follow the scraper +by the noise it makes as it goes through the pipe, one party taking +up the pursuit as the other is exhausted. They must never let it +get out of their hearing, for if it stops unnoticed, its location +can only again be established by cutting the pipe.</p> + +<p>The pumping stations are substantial structures of brick, roofed +with iron. The boiler house is removed some distance from the +engine house for greater safety from fire; the building, about 40 +by 50 feet, contains from six to seven tubular boilers, each 5 by +14 feet, and containing 80 three-inch tubes. The pump house is a +similar brick structure about 40 by 60 feet, and contains the +battery of pumping engines to be described later. At each station +are two iron tanks, 90 feet in diameter and 30 feet high; into +these tanks the oil is delivered from the preceding station, and +from them the oil is pumped into the tanks at the next station +beyond. The pipe-system at each station is simple, and by means of +the "loop-lines" before mentioned the oil can be pumped directly +around any station if occasion would require it.</p> + +<p>The pumps used on all these lines are the Worthington compound, +condensing, pressure pumping engines. The general characteristics +of these pumps are, independent plungers with exterior packing, +valve-boxes subdivided into separate small chambers capable of +resisting very heavy strains, and leather-faced metallic valves +with low lift and large surfaces. These engines vary in power from +200 to 800 horse-power, according to duty required. They are in +continuous use, day and night, and are required to deliver about +15,000 barrels of crude oil per 24 hours, under a pressure +equivalent to an elevation of 3,500 feet.</p> + +<p>We have lately examined the latest pumping engine plant, and the +largest yet built for this service, by the firm of H.R. +Worthington; it is to be used at the Osborne Hollow Pumping +Station. As patents are yet pending on certain new features in this +engine, we must defer a full description of it for a later issue of +our journal.</p> + +<p>The Pennsylvania line has a single 6-inch pipe 280 miles long, +with six pumping stations as shown in the map, and groups of +shorter lines, with a loop extending from the main line to Milton, +Pa., a shipping point for loading on cars. At Millway, Pa., a +5-inch pipe leaves the Pennsylvania line and runs to Baltimore, a +distance of 70 miles, and is operated from the first named station +alone, there being no intermediate pumping station.[1] The +Cleveland pipe, 100 miles long, is 5 inches in diameter, and has +upon it four pumping stations; it carries oil to the very extensive +refineries of the company at the terminal on Lake Erie. The Buffalo +line is 4 inches in diameter and 70 miles long; it has a pumping +station at Four-Mile and at Ashford (omitted on the map). The +Pittsburg line is 4 inches in diameter and 60 miles long; it has +pumping stations at Carbon Center and at Freeport.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 1: Millway is about 400 feet above tide-water at +Baltimore, but the line passes over a very undulating country in +its passage to the last named point. We regret that we have no +profile on this 70 mile line operated by a single pumping +plant.--<i>Ed. Engineering News</i>.]</p> + +<p>A very necessary and remarkably complete adjunct to the numerous +pipe lines of this company is an independent telegraph system +extending to every point on its widely diverging lines. The storage +capacity of the National Transit Co.'s system is placed at +1,500,000 barrels, and this tankage is being constantly increased +to meet the demands of the producers.[1]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 1: As showing the extent of the sea-coast +transportation of petroleum, we should mention that the statistics +for 1884 show a total of crude equivalent exported from the United +States in that year, equaling 16,661,086 barrels, of 51 gallons +each. This is a daily average of 42,780 barrels.]</p> + +<p>The company is officially organized as follows: C.A. Griscom, +President; Benjamin Brewster, Vice President; John Bushnell, +Secretary; Daniel O'Day, General Manager; J.H. Snow, General +Superintendent. Mr. Snow was the practical constructor of the +entire system, and the general perfection of the work is mainly due +to his personal experience, energy, and careful supervision. His +engineering assistants were Theodore M. Towe and C.J. Hepburn on +the New York line and J.B. Barbour on the Pennsylvania lines.</p> + +<p>The enterprise has been so far a great engineering success, and +the oil delivery is stated on good authority to be within 2 per +cent. of the theoretical capacity of the pipes. From a commercial +standpoint, the ultimate future of the undertaking will be +determined by the lasting qualities of wrought iron pipe buried in +the ground and subjected to enormous strain; time alone can +determine this question.</p> + +<p>In preparing this article we are indebted for information to the +firm of H.R. Worthington, to General Manager O'Day, of the National +Transit Co., to the editor of the <i>Derrick</i> of Oil City, Pa., +and to numerous engineering friends.--<i>Engineering News</i>.</p> + +<hr> +<h2>THE FUEL OF THE FUTURE.</h2> + +<h3>By GEORGE WARDMAN.</h3> + +<p>The practical application of natural gas, as an article of fuel, +to the purpose of manufacturing glass, iron, and steel, promises to +work a revolution in the industrial interests of America--promises +to work a revolution; for notwithstanding the fact that, in many of +the largest iron, steel, and glass factories in Pittsburg and its +vicinity, natural gas has already been substituted for coal, the +managers of some such works are shy of the new fuel, mainly for two +reasons: 1. They doubt the continuity and regularity of its supply. +2. They do not deem the difference between the price of natural gas +and coal sufficient as yet to justify the expenditure involved in +the furnace changes necessary to the substitution of the one for +the other. These two objections will doubtless disappear with +additional experience in the production and regulation of the gas +supply, and with enlarged competition among the companies engaging +in its transmission from the wells to the works. At present the use +of natural gas as a substitute for coal in the manufacture of +glass, iron, and steel is in its infancy.</p> + +<p>Natural gas is as ancient as the universe. It was known to man +in prehistoric times, we must suppose, for the very earliest +historical reference to the Magi of Asia records them as worshiping +the eternal fires which then blazed, and still blaze, in the +fissures of the mountain heights overlooking the Caspian Sea. Those +records appertain to a period at least 600 years before the birth +of Christ; but the Magi must have lived and worshiped long anterior +to that time.</p> + +<p>Zoroaster, reputed founder of the Parsee sect, is placed +contemporary with the prophet Daniel, from 2,500 to 600 B.C.; and, +although Daniel has been doubted, and Zoroaster may never have seen +the light, the fissures of the Caucasus have been flaming since the +earliest authentic records.</p> + +<p>The Parsees (Persians) did not originally worship fire. They +believed in two great powers--the Spirit of Light, or Good, and the +Spirit of Darkness, or Evil. Subsequent to Zoroaster, when the +Persian empire rose to its greatest power and importance, +overspreading the west to the shores of the Caspian and beyond, the +tribes of the Caucasus suffered political subjugation; but the +creed of the Magi, founded upon the eternal flame-altars of the +mountains, proved sufficiently vigorous to transform the Parseeism +of the conquerors to the fire worship of the conquered.</p> + +<p>About the beginning of the seventh century of the Christian era, +the Grecian Emperor Heraclius overturned the fire altars of the +Magi at Baku, the chief city on the Caspian, but the fire +worshipers were not expelled from the Caucasus until the +Mohammedans subjugated the Persian Empire, when they were driven +into the Rangoon, on the Irrawaddy, in India, one of the most noted +petroleum producing districts of the world.</p> + +<p>Petroleum and natural gas are so intimately related that one +would hardly dare to say whether the gas proceeds from petroleum or +the petroleum is deposited from the gas. It is, however, safe to +assume that they are the products of one material, the lighter +element separating from the heavier under certain degrees of +temperature and pressure. Thus petroleum may separate from the gas +as asphaltum separates from petroleum. But some speculative minds +consider natural gas to be a product of anthracite coal. The fact +that the great supply-field of natural gas in Western Pennsylvania, +New York, West Virginia, and Eastern Ohio is a bituminous and not +an anthracite region does not of itself confute that theory, as the +argument for it is, that the gas may be tapped at a remote distance +from the source of supply; and, whereas anthracite is not a +gas-coal, while bituminous is, we are told to suppose that the gas +which once may have been a component part of the anthracite was +long ago expelled by Nature, and has since been held in vast +reservoirs with slight waste, awaiting the use of man. That is one +theory; and upon that supposition it is suggested that anthracite +may exist below the bituminous beds of the region lying between the +Alleghany Mountains and the Great Lakes. Another theory is, that +natural gas is a product of the sea-weed deposited in the Devonian +stratum. But, leaving modern theories on the origin of natural gas +and petroleum, we may suppose the natural gas jets now burning in +the fissures of the Caucasus to have started up in flames about the +time when, according to the Old Testament, Noah descended from +Mount Ararat, or very soon thereafter. In the language of modern +science it would be safe to say that those flames sprang up when +the Caucasus range was raised from beneath the surface of the +universal sea. The believer in biblical chronology may say that +those fires have been burning for four thousand years--the +geologist may say for four millions.</p> + +<p>We know that Alexander the Great penetrated to the Caspian; and +in Plutarch we read: "Hence [Arbela] he marched through the +province Babylon [Media?], which immediately submitted to him, and +in Ecbatana [?] was much surprised at the sight of the place where +fire issues in a continuous stream, like a spring of water, out of +a cleft in the earth, and the stream of naphtha, which not far from +this spot flows out so abundantly as to form a large lake. This +naphtha, in other respects resembling bitumen, is so subject to +take fire that, before it touches the flame, it will kindle at the +very light that surrounds it, and often inflames the intermediate +air also. The barbarians, to show the power and nature of it, +sprinkled the street that led to the king's lodgings with little +drops of it, and, when it was almost night, stood at the farther +end with torches, which being applied to the moistened places, the +first taking fire, instantly, as quick as a man could think of it, +it caught from one end to another in such manner that the whole +street was one continued flame. Among those who used to wait upon +the king, and find occasion to amuse him, when he anointed and +washed himself, there was one Athenophanus, an Athenian, who +desired him to make an experiment of the naphtha upon Stephanus, +who stood by in the bathing place, a youth with a ridiculously ugly +face, whose talent was singing well. 'For,' said he, 'if it take +hold of him, and is not put out, it must undeniably be allowed to +be of the most invincible strength.' The youth, as it happened, +readily consented to undergo the trial, and as soon as he was +anointed and rubbed with it, his whole body was broke out into such +a flame, and was so seized by the fire, that Alexander was in the +greatest perplexity and alarm for him, and not without reason; for +nothing could have prevented him from being consumed by it if, by +good chance, there had not been people at hand with a great many +vessels of water for the service of the bath, with all which they +had much ado to extinguish the fire; and his body was so burned all +over that he was not cured of it a good while after. And thus it +was not without some plausibility that they endeavor to reconcile +the fable to truth, who say this was the drug in the tragedies with +which Medea anointed the crown and veils which she gave to Creon's +daughter."</p> + +<p>An interesting reference to the fire-worshipers of the Caucasus +is contained in the "History of Zobeide," a tale of the wonderful +Arabian Nights Entertainment. It runs thus:</p> + +<p>"I bought a ship at Balsora, and freighted it; my sisters chose +to go with me, and we set sail with a fair wind. Some weeks after, +we cast anchor in a harbor which presented itself, with intent to +water the ship. As I was tired with having been so long on board, I +landed with the first boat, and walked up into the country. I soon +came in sight of a great town. When I arrived there, I was much +surprised to see vast numbers of people in different postures, but +all immovable. The merchants were in their shops, the soldiery on +guard; every one seemed engaged in his proper avocation, yet all +were become as stone.... I heard the voice of a man reading Al +Koran.... Being curious to know why he was the only living creature +in the town,... he proceeded to tell me that the city was the +metropolis of a kingdom now governed by his father; that the former +king and all his subjects were Magi, worshipers of fire and of +Nardoun. the ancient king of the giants who rebelled against God. +'Though I was born,' continued he, 'of idolatrous parents, it was +my good fortune to have a woman governess who was a strict observer +of the Mohammedan religion. She taught me Arabic from Al Koran; by +her I was instructed in the true religion, which I would never +afterward renounce. About three years ago a thundering voice was +heard distinctly throughout the city, saying, "Inhabitants, abandon +the worship of Nardoun and of fire, and worship the only true God, +who showeth mercy!" This voice was heard three years successively, +but no one regarded it. At the end of the last year all the +inhabitants were in an instant turned to stone. I alone was +preserved.'"</p> + +<p>In the foregoing tale we doubtless have reference to the +destruction of Baku, on the Caspian (though to sail from Balsora to +Baku is impossible), and the driving away into India, by the Arabs +under Caliph Omar, of all who refused to renounce fire-worship and +adopt the creed of the Koran. The turning of the refractory +inhabitants into stone is probably the Arabian storyteller's +figurative manner of referring to the finding of dead bodies in a +mummified condition.</p> + +<p>It is known that the Egyptians made use of bitumen, in some +form, in the preservation of their dead, a fact with which the +Arabians were familiar. As the Magi held the four elements of +earth, air, fire, and water to be sacred, they feared to either +bury, burn, sink, or expose to air the corrupting bodies of their +deceased. Therefore, it was their practice to envelop the corpse in +a coating of wax or bitumen, so as to hermetically seal it from +immediate contact with either of the four sacred elements. Hence +the idea of all the bodies of the Magi left at Baku being turned to +stone, while only the true believer in Mohammed remained in the +flesh.</p> + +<p>Marco Polo, the famous traveler of the thirteenth century, makes +reference to the burning jets of the Caucasus, and those fires are +known to the Russians as continuing in existence since the army of +Peter the Great wrested the regions about the Caspian from the +modern Persians. The record of those flaming jets of natural gas is +thus brought down in an unbroken chain of evidence from remote +antiquity to the present day, and they are still burning.</p> + +<p>Numerous Greek and Latin writers testify to the known existence +of petroleum about the shores of the Mediterranean two thousand +years ago. More modern citations may, however, be read with equal +interest. In the "Journal of Sir Philip Skippon's Travels in +France," in 1663, we find the following curious entries:</p> + +<p>"We stayed in Grenoble till August 1st, and one day rode out, +and, after twice fording the river Drac (which makes a great wash) +at a league's distance, went over to Pont de Clef, a large arch +across that river, where we paid one sol a man; a league further we +passed through a large village called Vif, and about a league +thence by S. Bathomew, another village, and Chasteau Bernard, where +we saw a flame breaking out of the side of a bank, which is +vulgarly called La Fountaine qui Brule; it is by a small rivulet, +and sometimes breaks out in other places; just before our coming +some other strangers had fried eggs here. The soil hereabouts is +full of a black stone, like our coal, which, perhaps, is the +continual fuel of the fire.... Near Peroul, about a league from +Montpelier, we saw a boiling fountain (as they call it), that is, +the water did heave up and bubble as if it boiled. This phenomenon +in the water was caused by a vapor ascending out of the earth +through the water, as was manifest, for if that one did but dig +anywhere near the place, and pour water upon the place new digged, +one should observe in it the like bubbling, the vapor arising not +only in that place where the fountain was, but all thereabout; the +like vapor ascending out of the earth and causing such ebullition +in water it passes through hath been observed in Mr. Hawkley's +ground, about a mile from the town of Wigan, in Lancashire, which +vapor, by the application of a lighted candle, paper; or the like, +catches fire and flames vigorously. Whether or not this vapor at +Peroul would in like manner catch fire and burn I cannot say, it +coming not in our minds to make the experiment.... At Gabian, about +a day's journey from Montpelier, in the way to Beziers, is a +fountain of petroleum. It burns like oil, is of a pungent scent, +and a blackish color. It distills out of several places of the rock +all the year long, but most in the summer time. They gather it up +with ladles and put it in a barrel set on end, which hath a spigot +just at the bottom. When they have put in a good quantity, they +open the spigot to let out the water, and when the oil begins to +come presently stop it. They pay for the farm of this fountain +about fifty crowns per annum. We were told by one Monsieur +Beaushoste, a chymist in Montpelier, that petroleum was the very +same with oil of jet, and not to be distinguished from it by color, +taste, smell, consistency, virtues, or any other accident, as he +had by experience found upon the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, in +several places, as at Berre, near Martague, in Provence; at +Messina, in Sicily, etc."</p> + +<p>In Harris' "Voyages," published in 1764, an article on the +empire of Persia thus refers to petroleum:</p> + +<p>"In several parts of Persia we meet with naphtha, both white and +black; it is used in painting and varnish, and sometimes in physic, +and there is an oil extracted from it which is applied to several +uses. The most famous springs of naphtha are in the neighborhood of +Baku, which furnish vast quantities, and there are also upward of +thirty springs about Shamasky, both in the province of Schirwan. +The Persians use it as oil for their lamps and in making fireworks, +of which they are extremely fond, and in which they are great +proficients."</p> + +<p>Petroleum has long been known to exist also in the northern part +of Italy, the cities of Parma and Genoa having been for many years +lighted with it.</p> + +<p>In the province of Szechuen, China, natural gas is obtained from +beds of rock-salt at a depth of fifteen to sixteen hundred feet. +Being brought to the surface, it is conveyed in bamboo tubes and +used for lighting as well as for evaporating water in the +manufacture of salt. It is asserted that the Chinese used this +natural gas for illuminating purposes long before gas-lighting was +known to the Europeans. Remembering the unprogressive character of +Chinese arts and industries, there is ground for the belief that +they may have been using this natural gas as an illuminant these +hundreds of years.</p> + +<p>In the United States the existence of petroleum was known to the +Pilgrim Fathers, who doubtless obtained their first information of +it from the Indians, from whom, in New York and western +Pennsylvania, it was called Seneka oil. It was otherwise known as +"British" oil and oil of naphtha, and was considered "a sovereign +remedy for an inward bruise."</p> + +<p>The record of natural gas in this country is not so complete as +that of petroleum, but we learn that an important gas spring was +known in West Bloomfleld, N.Y., seventy years ago. In 1864 a well +was sunk to a depth of three hundred feet upon that vein, from +which a sufficient supply of gas was obtained to illuminate and +heat the city of Rochester (twenty-five miles distant), it was +supposed. But the pipes which were laid for that purpose, being of +wood, were unfitted to withstand the pressure, in consequence of +which the scheme was abandoned; but gas from that well is now in +use as an illuminant and as fuel both in the town of West +Bloomfield and at Honeoye Falls. The village of Fredonia, N.Y., has +been using natural gas in lighting the streets for thirty years or +there about. On Big Sewickley Creek, in Westmoreland County, Pa., +natural gas was used for evaporating water in the manufacture of +salt thirty years ago, and gas is still issuing at the same place. +Natural gas has been in use in several localities in eastern Ohio +for twenty-five years, and the wells are flowing as vigorously as +when first known. It has also been in use in West Virginia for a +quarter of a century, as well as in the petroleum region of western +Pennsylvania, where it has long been utilized in generating steam +for drilling oil wells.</p> + +<p>In 1826 the <i>American Journal of Science</i> contained a +letter from Dr. S.P. Hildreth, who, in writing of the products of +the Muskingum (Ohio) Valley, said: "They have sunk two wells, which +are now more than four hundred feet in depth; one of them affords a +very strong and pure salt water, but not in great quantity; the +other discharges such vast quantities of petroleum, or, as it is +vulgarly called, 'Seneka oil,' and besides is so subject to such +tremendous explosions of gas, as to force out all the water and +afford nothing but gas for several days, that they make little or +no salt."</p> + +<p>The value of the foregoing references is to be found in the +testimony they offer as to the duration of the supply of natural +gas. Whether we look to the eternal flaming fissures of the +Caucasus, or to New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, there is much to +encourage the belief that the flow of natural gas may be, like the +production of petroleum, increased rather than diminished by the +draughts made upon it. Petroleum, instead of diminishing in +quantity by the millions of barrels drawn from western Pennsylvania +in the last quarter of a century, seems to increase, greater wells +being known in 1884 than in any previous year, and prices having +fallen from two dollars per bottle for "Seneka oil" to sixty cents +per barrel for the same article under the name of crude petroleum. +Hence we may assume that, as new pipe-lines are laid, the supply of +natural gas available for use in the great manufacturing district +of Pittsburg and vicinity will be increased, and the price of this +fuel diminished in a corresponding ratio.</p> + +<p>Natural gas is now supplied in Pittsburg at a small discount on +the actual cost of coal used last year in the large manufacturing +establishments, an additional saving being made in dispensing with +firemen and avoidance of hauling ashes from the boiler-room. It is +supplied, for domestic purposes, at twenty cents per thousand cubic +feet, which is not cheaper than coal in Pittsburg, but it is a +thousand per cent cleaner, and in that respect it promises to prove +a great blessing, not only to those who can afford to use it, but +to the community at large, in the hope held out that the smoke and +soot nuisance may be abated in part, if not wholly subdued, and +that gleams of sunshine there may become less phenomenal in the +future than they are at the present time. Twenty cents per thousand +feet is too high a price to bring gas into general use for domestic +purposes in a city where coal is cheap. Ten cents would be too +much, and no doubt five cents per thousand would pay a profit. The +fact is, the dealers in natural gas appear to be somewhat doubtful +of the continuity of supply, and anxious to get back the cost of +wells and pipes in one year, which, if successful, would be an +enormous return on the investment.</p> + +<p>There are objections to the use of natural gas by mill +operators--that it costs too much, and that the continuity of the +supply is uncertain; by heads of families, that it is odorless, +and, in case of leakage from the pipes, may fill a room and be +ready to explode without giving the fragrant warning offered by +common gas. Both of these objections will probably disappear under +the experience that time must furnish. More wells and tributary +lines will lessen the cost and tend to regulate the pressure for +manufacturers. Cut-offs and escape pipes outside of the house will +reduce the risk of explosions within. The danger in the house may +also be lessened by providing healthful ventilation in all +apartments wherein gas shall be consumed.</p> + +<p>This subject of, the ventilation of rooms in which common gas is +ordinarily used is beginning to attract attention. It is stated, +upon scientific authority, that a jet of common gas, equivalent to +twelve sperm candles, consumes 5.45 cubic feet of oxygen per hour, +producing 3.21 feet of carbonic acid gas, vitiating, according to +Dr. Tidy's "Handbook of Chemistry," 348.25 cubic feet of air. In +every five cubic feet of pure air in a room there is one cubic foot +of oxygen and four of nitrogen. Without oxygen human life, as well +as light, would become extinct. It is asserted that one common +gas-jet consumes as much oxygen as five persons.</p> + +<p>Carbonic acid gas is the element which, in deep mines and +vaults, causes almost instant insensibility and suffocation to +persons subjected to its influences, and instantly extinguishes the +flame of any light lowered into it. The normal quantity of this gas +contained in the air we breathe is 0.04; one per cent, of it causes +distress in breathing; two per cent, is dangerous; four per cent, +extinguishes life, and four per cent of it is contained in air +expelled from the lungs. According to Dr. Tidy's table, each +ordinary jet of common gas contributes to the air of a room sixteen +by ten feet on the sides and nine feet high, containing 1,440 cubic +feet of air, twenty-two per cent, of carbonic acid gas, which, +continued for twenty-four hours without ventilation, would reach +the fatal four per cent.</p> + +<p>Prof. Huxley gives, as a result of chemical analyses, the +following table of ratio of carbonic-acid gas in the atmosphere at +the points named:</p> + +<pre> + On the Thames, at London 0.0343 + In the streets of London 0.0380 + Top of Ben Nevis 0.0327 + Dress circle of Haymarket theater (11:30 P.M.) 0.0757 + Chancery Court (seven feet from the ground) 0.1930 + From working mines (average of 339 samples) 0.7853 + Largest amount in a Cornish mine 2.0500 +</pre> + +<p>In addition to the consumption of oxygen and production of +carbonic acid by the use of common gas, the gas itself, owing to +defectiveness of the burner, is projected into the air. Now, +considering the deleterious nature of all illuminating gases, the +reasons for perfect ventilation of rooms in which natural gas is +used for heating and culinary purposes are self-evident, not alone +as a protection against explosions, but for the health of the +occupants of the house, remembering that a larger supply of oxygen +is said to be necessary for the perfect combustion of natural than +of common gas.</p> + +<p>Carbonic oxide, formed by the consumption of carbon, with an +insufficient supply of air, is the fatal poison of the charcoal +furnace, not infrequently resorted to, in close rooms, as a means +of suicide. The less sufficient the air toward perfect combustion, +the smaller the quantity of carbonic acid and the greater the +amount of carbonic oxide. That is to say, at the time of ignition +the chief product of combustion is carbonic oxide, and, unless +sufficient air be added to convert the oxide to carbonic acid, a +decidedly dangerous product is given off into the room. Yet, by +means of a flue to carry off the poisonous gases from burning jets, +the combustion of gas, creating a current, is made an aid to +ventilation. Unfortunately, this important fact, if commonly known, +is not much heeded by heads of families or builders of houses. But +in any large community where gas comes into general use as an +article of fuel, this fact will gradually become recognized and +respected.</p> + +<p>The property of indicating the presence of very minute +quantities of gas in a room is claimed for an instrument recently +described by C. Von Jahn in the <i>Revue Industrielle</i>. This is +a porous cup, inverted and closed by a perforated rubber stopper. +Through the perforation in the stopper the interior of the cup is +connected with a pressure gauge containing colored water. It is +claimed that the diffusion of gas through the earthenware raises +the level of the water in the gauge so delicately that the presence +of one-half of one per cent, of gas may be detected by it. Other +instruments of a slightly different character are credited by their +inventors with most sensitive power of indicating gas-leakages, but +their practical efficiency remains to be demonstrated. An automatic +cut-off for use outside of houses in which natural gas is consumed +has been invented, but this writer knows nothing of either its mode +of action or its effectiveness.</p> + +<p>The great economic question, however, connected with the use of +natural gas is, how will it affect the industrial interests of the +country? There are grounds for the belief that a sufficient supply +of natural gas may be found in the vicinity of Pittsburg to reduce +the cost of fuel to such a degree as to make competition in the +manufacture of iron, steel, and glass, in any part of the country +where coal must be used, out of the question. Such a condition of +affairs would probably result in driving the great manufacturing +concerns of the country into the region where natural gas is to +obtained. That may be anywhere from the western slope of the +Alleghanies to Lake Erie or to Lake Michigan. And, if the cost of +producing iron, steel, and glass can be so cheapened by the new +fuel, the tariff question may undergo some important modification +in politics. For, if the reduction in the cost of fuel should ever +become an offset to the lower rate of wages in Europe, the +manufacturers of Pennsylvania, who have long been the chief support +of the protective policy of the country, may lose their present +interest in that question, and leave the tariff to shift for itself +elsewhere. It should be remembered that natural gas is not, as yet, +much cheaper than coal in Pittsburg. But it may safely be assumed +that it will cheapen, as petroleum has done, by a development of +the territory in which it is known to exist in enormous quantities. +It is quite possible that, instead of buying gas, many factories +will bore for it with success, or remove convenient to its natural +sources, so that a gas well may ultimately become an essential part +of the "plant" of a mill or factory. Even now coal cannot compete +with gas in the manufacture of window glass, for, the gas being +free from sulphur and other impurities contained in coal, produces +a superior quality of glass; so that in this branch of industry the +question of superiority seems already settled.</p> + +<p>Having said thus much of an industry now in its infancy but +promising great growth, I submit tables of analyses of common and +of the natural or marsh gas, the latter from a paper recently +prepared by a committee of the Engineers' Society of Western +Pennsylvania, and for the use of which I am indebted to that +association:</p> + +<p>COMMON GAS.</p> + +<pre> + Hydrogen 46.0 + Light carbureted hydrogen (marsh gas) 39.5 + Condensible hydrocarbon 3.8 + Carbonic oxide 7.5 + " acid 0.6 + Aqueous vapor 2.0 + Oxygen 0.1 + Nitrogen 0.5 + ----- + 100.0 +</pre> + +<p>Natural gas is now conveyed to Pittsburg through four lines of +5-5/8 inch pipe and one line of eight inch pipe. A line of ten inch +pipe is also being laid. The pressure of the gas at the wells is +from 150 to 230 pounds to the square inch. As the wells are on one +side eighteen and on the other about twenty-five miles distant, and +as the consumption is variable, the pressure at the city cannot be +given. Greater pressure might be obtained at the wells, but this +would increase the liability to leakage and bursting of pipes. For +the prevention of such casualties safety valves are provided at the +wells, permitting the escape of all superfluous gas. The enormous +force of this gas may be appreciated from a comparison of, say, 200 +pounds pressure at the wells with a two ounce pressure of common +gas for ordinary lighting. The amount of natural gas now furnished +for use in Pittsburg is supposed to be something like 25,000,000 +cubic feet per day; the ten inch pipe now laying is estimated to +increase the supply to 40,000,000 feet. The amount of manufactured +gas used for lighting the same city probably falls below 3,000,000 +feet.</p> + +<p>About fifty mills and factories of various kinds in Pittsburg +now use natural gas. It is used for domestic purposes in two +hundred houses. Its superiority over coal in the manufacture of +window glass is unquestioned. That it is not used in all the glass +houses of Pittsburg is due to the fact that its advantages were not +fully known when the furnaces were fired last summer, and it costs +a large sum to permit the furnaces to cool off after being heated +for melting. When the fires cool down, and before they are started +up again, the furnaces now using coal will doubtless all be changed +so as to admit natural gas. The superiority of French over American +glass is said to be due to the fact that the French use wood and +the Americans coal in their furnaces, wood being free from sulphur, +phosphorus, etc. The substitution of gas for coal, while not +increasing the cost, improves the quality of American glass, making +it as nearly perfect as possible.</p> + +<p>While the gas is not used as yet in any smelting furnace nor in +the Bessemer converters, it is preferred in open hearth and +crucible steel furnaces, and is said to be vastly superior to coal +for puddling. The charge of a puddling furnace, consisting of 500 +pounds of pig-metal and eighty pounds of "fix," produces with coal +fuel 490 to 500 pounds of iron. With gas for fuel, it is claimed +that the same charge will yield 520 to 530 pounds of iron. In an +iron mill of thirty furnaces, running eight heats each for +twenty-four hours, this would make a difference in favor of the gas +of, say, 8 x 30 x 25 = 6,000 pounds of iron per day. This is an +important item of itself, leaving out the cost of firing with coal +and hauling ashes.</p> + +<p>For generating steam in large establishments, one man will +attend a battery of twelve or twenty boilers, using gas as fuel, +keep the pressure uniform, and have the fire room clean as a +parlor. For burning brick and earthenware, gas offers the double +advantage of freedom from smoke and a uniform heat. The use of gas +in public bakeries promises the abolition of the ash-box and its +accumulation of miscellaneous filth, which is said to often +impregnate the "sponge" with impurities.</p> + +<p>In short, the advantages of natural gas as a fuel are so obvious +to those who have given it a trial, that the prediction is made +that, should the supply fail, many who are now using it will never +return to the consumption of crude coal in factories, but, if +necessary, convert it or petroleum into gas at their own works.</p> + +<p>It seems, indeed, that until we shall have acquired the wisdom +enabling us to conserve and concentrate the heat of the sun, gas +must be the fuel of the future.--<i>Popular Science +Monthly</i>.</p> + +<pre> + TABLE OF ANALYSIS OF NATURAL GAS--FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. + _____________________________________________________________________ + | | | | | | | | + | CONSTITUENTS | [2.] | [3.] | [6.] | [7.] | [8.] | [9.] | + |_______________|________|________|________|________|________|_________ + | | | | | | | | + | Hydrogen | .... | .... | 6.10 | 13.50 | 22.50 | 4.79 | + | | | | | | | | + | Marsh Gas | 82.41 | 96.50 | 75.44 | 80.11 | 60.27 | 89.65 | + | | | | | | | | + | Ethane | .... | .... | 18.12 | 5.72 | 6.80 | 4.39 | + | | | | | | | | + | Propane | .... | .... | trace. | .... | .... | trace. | + | | | | | | | | + | Carbonic acid | 10.11 | .... | 0.34 | 0.66 | 2.28 | 0.35 | + | | | | | | | | + | Carbonic oxide| .... | 0.50 | trace. | trace. | trace. | 0.26 | + | | | | | | | | + | Nitrogen | 4.31 | .... | .... | .... | 7.32 | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Oxygen | 0.23 | 2.00 | .... | .... | 0.83 | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | "Illuminating | 2.94 | 1.00 | .... | .... | .... | 0.56 | + | hydrocarbons."|________|________|________|________|________|________| + | | | | | | | | + | | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 99.99 | 100.00 | 100.00 | + |_______________|________|________|________|________|________|________| + | | + | Specific gravity 0.693 0.692 0.6148 0.5119 0.5580 | + |_____________________________________________________________________| + ______________________________________________________________________ + | | | | | | | | + | CONSTITUENTS | [10.] | [12.] | [14.] | [15.] | [16.] | [17.] | + |_______________|________|________|________|________|________|_________ + | | | | | | | | + | Hydrogen | .... | 19.56 | .... | 0.98 | .... | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Marsh Gas | 96.34 | 78.24 | 47.37 | 93.09 | 80.69 | 95.42 | + | | | | | | | | + | Ethane | .... | .... | .... | .... | 4.75 | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Propane | .... | .... | .... | .... | .... | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Carbonic acid | 3.64 | .... | 3.10 | 2.18 | 6.44 | 0.60 | + | | | | | | | | + | Carbonic oxide| | .... | .... | .... | .... | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | Nitrogen | | .... | 49.39 | 0.49 | 8.12 | 3.98 | + | | | | | | | | + | Oxygen | | 2.20 | 0.17 | .... | .... | .... | + | | | | | | | | + | "Illuminating | [10.] | .... | .... | 3.26 | .... | .... | + | hydrocarbons."|________|________|________|________|________|________| + | | | | | | | | + | | | 100.00 | 100.03 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | + |_______________|________|________|________|________|________|________| + | | + |Specific gravity 0.5923 0.56 | + |_____________________________________________________________________| +<br> + Petroleum is composed of about 85 per cent of carbon and 15 per cent of + nitrogen. +<br> + Locations: +<br> + 1. Petrolia, Canada. + 2. West Bloomfield, N.Y. + 3. Olean, N.Y. + 4. Fredonis, N.Y. + 5. Pioneer Run, Venango Co., Pa. + 6. Burn's Well, near St. Joe., Butler Co., Pa. + 7. Harvey Well, Butler Co., Pa. + 8. Cherry Tree, Indiana Co., Pa. + 9. Leechburg, Pa. + 10. Creighton, Pa. + 11. Penn Fuel Co.'s Well, Murraysville, Pa. + 12. Fuel Gas Co.'s Well, Murraysville. + 13. Roger's Gulch, Wirt Co., W. Va. + 14. Gas from Marsh Ground + 15. Baku, on the Caspian Sea. + 16. Gas occluded in Wigan cannel-coal. + 17. Blower in coal-mine. South Wales. +<br> + Notes: +<br> + 1. Chiefly marsh-gas with ethane and some carbonic acid. + 4. A mixture of marsh-gas, ethane and butane. + 5. Chiefly propane, with small quantities of carbonic acid and + nitrogen. + 10. Trace of heavy hydrocarbons. + 11. Marsh-gas, with a little carbonic acid. + 13. Chiefly marsh-gas, with small quantities of nitrogen and + 15.86 per cent + carbonic acid. +<br> + References: +<br> + 1. Fouqué, "Comptes Rendus," lxvii, p. 1045. + 2. H. Wurtz, "Am. Jour. Arts and Sci." (2), xlix, p. 336. + 3. Robert Young. + 4. Fouqué, "Comptes Rendus," lxvii. p. 1045. + 5. Fouqué, "Comptes Rendus," lxvii. p. 1045. + 6. S.P. Sadler, "Report L, 2d Geol. Sur. Pa.," p. 153. + 7. S.P. Sadler, "Report L, 3d Geol. Sur. Pa.," p. 152. + 8. S.P. Sadler, "Report L, 3d Geol. Sur. Pa.," p. 153. + 9. S.P. Sadler, "Report L, 3d Geol. Sur. Pa.," p. 153. + 10. F.C. Phillips. + 11. Robert Young. + 12. Rogers. + 13. Fouqué, "Comptes Rendus," lxvii, p. 1045. + 14. Bischof's Chemical Geology," I, p. 730. + 15. Bischof's Chemical Geology," I, p. 730. + 16. J.W. Thomas, London, "Chemical Society's Journal," 1876, p. 793. + 17. Same, 1875, p. 793. +</pre> + +<hr> +<p><a name="11"></a></p> + +<h2>CLOSING LEAKAGES FOR PACKING.</h2> + +<h3>By L. C. LEVOIR.</h3> + +<p>The mineral asbestos is but a very poor packing material in +steam-boilers. Moreover, it acts as a strong grinding material on +all moving parts.</p> + +<p>For some years I have tested the applicability of artificial +precipitates to close the holes in boilers, cylinder-covers, and +stuffing boxes. I took, generally with the best success, alternate +layers of hemp-cotton, thread, and absorbent paper, all well +saturated with the chlorides of calcium and magnesium. The next +layers of the same fiber are moistened with silicate of soda. By +pressure the fluids are mixed and the pores are closed. A stuffing +box filled with this mixture has worked three years without +grinding the piston-rod.</p> + +<p>In the same manner I close the screw-thread hole in gas tubes +used for conducting steam. I moisten the thread in the sockets with +oleic acid from the candle-works, and dust over it a mixture of 1 +part of minium, 2 parts of quick-lime, and 1 part of linseed powder +(without the oil). When the tube is screwed in the socket, the +powder mixes with the oleic acid. The water coming in at first +makes the linseed powder viscid. Later the steam forming the oleate +of lime and the oleate of lead, on its way to the outer air, +presses it in the holes and closes them perfectly.</p> + +<p>After a year in use the tubes can be unscrewed with ease, and +the screw threads are perfectly smooth.</p> + +<p>With this kind of packing only one exception must be made--that +is, it is only tight under pressure; condensation or vacuum must be +thoroughly avoided.--<i>Chem. News</i>.</p> + +<hr> +<h2>LUMINOUS PAINT.</h2> + +<p>In answer to various inquiries concerning the manufacture of +this article, we give herewith the process of William Henry +Balmain, the original discoverer of luminous paint, and also other +processes. These particulars are derived from the letters patent +granted in this country to the parties named.</p> + +<p>Balmain's invention was patented in England in 1877, and in this +country in 1882. It is styled as Improvements in Painting, +Varnishing, and Whitewashing, of which the following is a +specification:</p> + +<p>The said invention consists in a luminous paint, the body of +which is a phosphorescent compound, or is composed in part of such +a compound, and the vehicle of which is such as is used as the +vehicle in ordinary paint compounds, viz., one which becomes dry by +evaporation or oxidation.</p> + +<p>The objector article to which such paint or varnish or wash is +applied is itself rendered visible in the darkest place, and more +or less capable of imparting light to other objects, so as to +render them visible also. The phosphorescent substance found most +suitable for the purpose is a compound obtained by simply heating +together a mixture of lime and sulphur, or carbonate of lime and +sulphur, or some of the various substances containing in themselves +both lime and sulphur--such, for example, as alabaster, gypsum, and +the like--with carbon or other agent to remove a portion of the +oxygen contained in them, or by heating lime or carbonate of lime +in a gas or vapor containing sulphur.</p> + +<p>The vehicle to be used for the luminous paint must be one which +will dry by evaporation or oxidation, in order that the paint may +not become soft or fluid by heat or be liable to be easily rubbed +off by accident or use from the articles to which it has been +applied. It may be any of the vehicles commonly used in +oil-painting or any of those commonly used in what is known as +"distemper" painting or whitewashing, according to the place or +purpose in or for which the paint is to be used.</p> + +<p>It is found the best results are obtained by mixing the +phosphorescent substance with a colorless varnish made with mastic +or other resinous body and turpentine or spirit, making the paint +as thick as convenient to apply with a brush, and with as much +turpentine or spirit as can be added without impairing the required +thickness. Good results may, however, be obtained with drying oils, +spirit varnishes, gums, pastes, sizes, and gelatine solutions of +every description, the choice being varied to meet the object in +view or the nature of the article in hand.</p> + +<p>The mode of applying the paint, varnish, or wash will also +depend upon the circumstances of the case. For example, it may be +applied by a brush, as in ordinary painting, or by dipping or +steeping the article in the paint, varnish, or wash; or a block or +type may be used to advantage, as in calico-printing and the like. +For outdoor work, or wherever the surface illuminated is exposed to +the vicissitudes of weather or to injury from mechanical +contingencies, it is desirable to cover it with glass, or, if the +article will admit of it, to glaze it over with a flux, as in +enameling, or as in ordinary pottery, and this may be accomplished +without injury to the effect, even when the flux or glaze requires +a red heat for fusion.</p> + +<p>Among other applications of the said invention which may be +enumerated, it is particularly advantageous for rendering visible +clock or watch faces and other indicators--such, for example, as +compasses and the scales of barometers or thermometers--during the +night or in dark places during the night time. In applying the +invention to these and other like purposes there may be used either +phosphorescent grounds with dark figures or dark grounds and +phosphorescent figures or letters, preferring the former. In like +manner there may be produced figures and letters for use on +house-doors and ends of streets, wherever it is not convenient or +economical to have external source of light, signposts, and +signals, and names or marks to show entries to avenues or gates, +and the like.</p> + +<p>The invention is also applicable to the illumination of railway +carriages by painting with phosphorescent paint a portion of the +interior, thus obviating the necessity for the expense and +inconvenience of the use of lamps in passing through tunnels. It +may also be applied externally as warning-lights at the front and +end of trains passing through tunnels, and in other similar cases, +also to ordinary carriages, either internally or externally. As a +night-light in a bed-room or in a room habitually dark, the +application has been found quite effectual, a very small proportion +of the surface rendered phosphorescent affording sufficient light +for moving about the room, or for fixing upon and selecting an +article in the midst of a number of complicated scientific +instruments or other objects.</p> + +<p>The invention may also be applied to private and public +buildings in cases where it would be economical and advantageous to +maintain for a short time a waning or twilight, so as to obviate +the necessity for lighting earlier the gas or other artificial +light. It may also be used in powder-mills and stores of powder, +and in other cases where combustion or heat would be a constant +source of danger, and generally for all purposes of artificial +light where it is applicable.</p> + +<p>In order to produce and maintain the phosphorescent light, full +sunshine is not necessary, but, on the contrary, is undesirable. +The illumination is best started by leaving the article or surface +exposed for a short time to ordinary daylight or even artificial +light, which need not be strong in order to make the illumination +continue for many hours, even twenty hours, without, the necessity +of renewed exposure.</p> + +<p>The advantages of the invention consist in obtaining for the +purposes of daily life a light which is maintained at no cost +whatever, is free from the defects and contingent dangers arising +from combustion or heat, and can be applied in many cases where all +other sources of light would be inconvenient or incapable of +application.</p> + +<p>Heretofore phosphorus has been mixed with earthy oxides, +carbonates, and sulphates, and with oxides and carbonates of metal, +as tin, zinc, magnesia, antimony, and chlorides of the same, also +crystallized acids and salts and mineral substances, and same have +been inclosed and exhibited in closely-stopped bottles as a +phosphorus; but such union I do not claim; but what I claim is:</p> + +<p>A luminous paint, the body of which is a phosphorescent +substance, or composed in part of such substance, the vehicle of +which is such as is ordinarily used in paints, viz., one which will +become dry by oxidation or evaporation, substantially as herein +described.</p> + +<p>A. Krause, of Buffalo, N.Y., obtained a patent for improvement +in phosphorescent substances dated December 30, 1879. The patentee +says: This invention relates to a substance which, by exposure to +direct or indirect sun-light, or to artificial light, is so +affected or brought into such a peculiar condition that it will +emit rays of light or become luminous in the dark.</p> + +<p>It is a well-known fact that various bodies and compositions of +matter, more especially compositions containing sulphur in +combination with earthy salts, possess the property of emitting +rays of light in the dark after having been exposed to sun-light. +All of these bodies and compositions of matter are, however, not +well adapted for practical purposes, because the light emitted by +them is either too feeble to be of any practicable utility, or +because the luminous condition is not of sufficient duration, or +because the substances are decomposed by exposure to the +atmosphere.</p> + +<p>Among the materials which have been employed with the best +results for producing these luminous compositions are sea-shells, +especially oyster-shells. I have found by practical experiments +that only the inner surface of these shells is of considerable +value in the production of luminous compositions, while the body of +the shell, although substantially of the same chemical composition, +does not, to any appreciable extent, aid in producing the desired +result. It follows from this observation that the smallest shells, +which contain the largest surface as compared with their cubic +contents, will be best adapted for this purpose.</p> + +<p>I have found that chalk, which is composed of the shells of +microscopic animals, possesses the desired property in the highest +degree; and my invention consists, therefore, of a luminous +substance composed of such chalk, sulphur, and bismuth, as will be +hereinafter fully set forth.</p> + +<p>In preparing my improved composition I take cleaned or +precipitated chalk, and subject it to the process of calcination in +a suitable crucible over a clear coal or charcoal fire for three or +four hours, or thereabout. I then add to the calcined chalk about +one-third of its weight of sulphur, and heat the mixture for from +forty-five to ninety minutes, or thereabout. A small quantity of +bismuth, in the proportion of about one per cent, or less of the +mixture, is added together with the sulphur.</p> + +<p>The metal may be introduced in the metallic form in the shape of +fillings, or in the form of a carbonate, sulphuret, sulphate, or +sulphide, or oxide, as may be most convenient.</p> + +<p>The substance produced in this manner possesses the property of +emitting light in the dark in a very high degree. An exposure to +light of very short duration, sometimes but for a moment, will +cause the substance to become luminous and to remain in this +luminous condition, under favorable circumstances, for upward of +twenty-four hours.</p> + +<p>The intensity of the light emitted by this composition after +exposure is considerable, and largely greater than the light +produced by any of the substances heretofore known.</p> + +<p>The hereinbefore described substance may be ground with oil and +used like ordinary paint; or it may be ground with any suitable +varnish or be mixed in the manner of water colors; or it may be +employed in any other suitable and well-known manner in which +paints are employed.</p> + +<p>My improved luminous substance is adapted for a great variety of +uses--for instance, for painting business and other signs, guide +boards, clock and watch dials, for making the numbers on houses and +railway cars, and for painting all surfaces which are exposed +periodically to direct or indirect light and desired to be easily +seen during the night.</p> + +<p>When applied with oil or varnish, my improved luminous substance +can be exposed to the weather in the same manner as ordinary paint +without suffering any diminution of its luminous property. I claim +as my invention the herein described luminous substance, consisting +of calcined chalk, sulphur, and bismuth, substantially as set +forth.</p> + +<p>Merrill B. Sherwood, Jr., of Buffalo, N. Y., obtained a patent +for a phosphorescent composition, dated August 9, 1881.</p> + +<p>The author says: My invention relates to an improvement in +phosphorescent illuminants.</p> + +<p>I have taken advantage of the peculiar property which obtains in +many bodies of absorbing light during the day and emitting it +during the night time.</p> + +<p>The object of my invention is the preparation by a prescribed +formula, to be hereinafter given, of a composition embodying one of +the well-known phosphorescent substances above referred to, which +will be applicable to many practical uses.</p> + +<p>With this end in view my invention consists in a phosphorescent +composition in which the chief illuminating element is monosulphide +of calcium.</p> + +<p>The composition obtained by the formula may be used either in a +powdered condition by dusting it over articles previously coated, +in whole or in part, with an adhesive substance, or it may be +intimately mixed with paints, inks, or varnishes, serving as +vehicles for its application, and in this way be applied to bodies +to render them luminous.</p> + +<p>The formula for obtaining the composition is as follows: To one +hundred parts of unslaked lime, that obtained from calcined oyster +shells producing the best results, add five parts of carbonate of +magnesia and five parts of ground silex. Introduce these elements +into a graphite or fire-clay crucible containing forty parts of +sulphur and twenty-five parts of charcoal, raise the whole mass +nearly or quite to a white heat, remove from the fire, allow it to +cool slowly, and, when it is cold or sufficiently lowered in +temperature to be conveniently handled, remove it from the crucible +and grind it. The method of reducing the composition will depend +upon the mode of its use. If it is to be applied as a loose powder +by the dusting process, it should be simply ground dry; but if it +is to be mixed with paint or other similar substance, it should be +ground with linseed or other suitable oil. In heating the elements +aforesaid, certain chemical combinations will have taken place, and +monosulphide of calcium, combined with carbonate of lime, magnesia, +and silex, will be the result of such ignition.</p> + +<p>If, in the firing of the elements, as above set forth, all of +the charcoal does not unite with the other elements, such +uncombined portion should be removed from the fused mass before it +is ground.</p> + +<p>If it is designed to mix the composition with paints, those +composed of zinc-white and baryta should be chosen in preference to +those composed of white lead and colored by vegetable matter, as +chemical action will take place between the composition and paint +last mentioned, and its color will be destroyed or changed by the +gradual action of the sulphureted hydrogen produced. However, by +the addition of a weak solution of gum in alcohol or other suitable +sizing to the composition, it may be used with paints containing +elements sensitive to sulphureted hydrogen without danger of +decomposing them and destroying their color.</p> + +<p>In many, and possibly in a majority of cases, the illuminating +composition applied as a dry powder will give the most satisfactory +results, in view of the tendency to chemical action between the +paint and composition when intimately mixed; in view of the fact +that by the addition to paint of any color of a sufficient quantity +of the composition to render the product luminous, the original +color of the paint will be modified or destroyed; and, also, in +view of the fact that the illuminating composition is so greatly in +excess of the paint, the proportions in which they are united being +substantially ten parts of the former to one of the latter, it will +be difficult to impart a particular color to the product of the +union without detracting from its luminosity. On the other hand, +the union of dry powder with a body already painted by the simple +force of adhesion does not establish a sufficiently intimate +relation between it and the paint to cause chemical action, the +application of a light coat of powder does not materially change +the color of the article to which it is applied; and, further, by +the use of the powder in an uncombined state its greatest +illuminating effects are obtained. Again, if the appearance in the +daytime of the article which it is desired to have appear luminous +at night is not material, it may be left unpainted and simply sized +to retain the powder.</p> + +<p>In printing it is probable that the composition will be employed +almost exclusively in the form of dry powder, as printing-ink, +normally pasty, becomes too thick to be well handled when it is +combined with powder in sufficient quantity to render the printed +surface luminous. However, the printed surface of a freshly printed +sheet may be rendered luminous by dusting the sheet with powder, +which will adhere to all of the inked and may be easily shaken from +the unmoistened surfaces thereof.</p> + +<p>I am aware that monosulphide of calcium and magnesia have before +been used together in phosphorescent compounds. What I claim is a +phosphorescent composition consisting of monosulphide of calcium, +combined with carbonate of lime, magnesia, and silex, substantially +as described.</p> + +<p>Orlando Thowless, of Newark, N.J., obtained a patent for a +process of manufacturing phosphorescent substances dated November +8, 1881. The inventor says: The object of my invention is to +manufacture phosphorescent materials of intense luminosity at low +cost and little loss of materials.</p> + +<p>I first take clam shells and, after cleaning, place them in a +solution composed of about one part of commercial nitric acid and +three parts of water, in which the shells are allowed to remain +about twenty minutes. The shells are then to be well rinsed in +water, placed in a crucible, and heated to a red heat for about +four hours. They are then removed and placed, while still red-hot, +in a saturated solution of sea salt, from which they are +immediately removed and dried. After this treatment and exposure to +light the shells will have a blood-red luminous appearance in the +dark. The shells thus prepared are used with sulphur and the +phosphide and sulphide of calcium to produce a phosphorescent +composition, as follows: One hundred parts, by weight, of the +shells, prepared as above, are intimately mixed with twenty parts, +by weight, of sulphur. This mixture is placed in a crucible or +retort and heated to a white heat for four or five hours, when it +is to be removed and forty parts more of sulphur, one and one-half +parts of calcium phosphide, and one-half part of chemically pure +sulphide of calcium added. The mixture is then heated for about +ninety minutes to an extreme white heat. When cold, and after +exposure to light, this mixture will become luminous. Instead of +these two ignitions, the same object may be in a measure +accomplished by the addition of the full amount of sulphur with the +phosphide and sulphide of calcium and raising it to a white heat +but once. The calcium phosphide is prepared by igniting phosphorus +in connection with newly slaked lime made chemically pure by +calcination. The condition of the shells when the sulphur is added +is not material; but the heat renders them porous and without +moisture, so that they will absorb the salt to as great an extent +as possible. Where calcined shells are mixed with solid salt, the +absorbing power of the shells is greatly diminished by the +necessary exposure, and there will be a lack of uniformity in the +saturation. On the contrary, by plunging the red-hot shells in the +saline solution the greatest uniformity is attained.</p> + +<p>Instead of using clam shells as the base of my improved +composition, I may use other forms of sea shells--such as oyster +shells, etc.</p> + +<p>I claim as new:</p> + +<p>1. The herein described process of manufacturing phosphorescent +materials, which consists in heating sea shells red-hot, treating +them while heated with a bath of brine, then, after removal from +the bath, mixing sulphur and phosphide and sulphide of calcium +therewith, and finally subjecting the mixture to a white heat, +substantially as and for the purpose described.</p> + +<p>2. The described process, which consists in placing clean and +red-hot clam shells in a saturated solution of sea salt, and then +drying them, for the purpose specified.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="12"></a></p> + +<h2>BOXWOOD AND ITS SUBSTITUTES.</h2> + +<p>[Footnote: Prize essay written for the International Forestry +Exhibition, Edinburgh.]</p> + +<h3>By JOHN R. JACKSON. A.L.S., Curator of the Museums, Royal +Gardens, Ken.</h3> + +<p>The importance of the discovery of a hard, compact, and even +grained wood, having all the characteristics of boxwood, and for +which it would form an efficient substitute, cannot be +overestimated; and if such a discovery should be one of the results +of the present Forestry Exhibition, one of its aims will have been +fulfilled.</p> + +<p>For several years past the gradual diminution in the supplies of +boxwood, and the deterioration in its quality, have occupied the +attention of hardwood merchants, of engravers, and of scientific +men.</p> + +<p>Of merchants, because of the difficulties in obtaining supplies +to meet the ever increasing demand; of engravers, because of the +higher prices asked for the wood, and the difficulty of securing +wood of good size and firm texture, so that the artistic excellence +of the engraving might be maintained; and of the man of science, +who was specially interested in the preservation of the indigenous +boxwood forests, and in the utilization of other woods, natives, it +might be, of far distant countries, whose adaptation would open not +only a new source of revenue, but would also be the means of +relieving the strain upon existing boxwood forests.</p> + +<p>While by far the most important use of boxwood is for engraving +purposes, it must be borne in mind that the wood is also applied to +numerous other uses, such, for instance, as weaving shuttles, for +mathematical instruments, turnery purposes, carving, and for +various ornamental articles, as well as for inlaying in cabinet +work. The question, therefore, of finding suitable substitutes for +boxwood divides itself into two branches, first, directly for +engraving purposes, and, secondly, to supply its place for the +other uses to which it is now put. This, to a certain extent, might +set free some of the boxwood so used, and leave it available for +the higher purposes of art. At the same time, it must not be +forgotten that much of the wood used for general purposes is +unsuited for engraving, and can only therefore be used by the +turner or cabinet maker. Nevertheless, the application of woods +other than box for purposes for which that wood is now used would +tend to lessen the demand for box, and thus might have an effect in +lowering the price.</p> + +<p>So far back as 1875 a real uneasiness began to be felt as to the +future supplies of box. In the <i>Gardeners' Chronicle</i> for +September 25, of that year, page 398, it is said that the boxwood +forests of Mingrelia in the Caucasian range were almost exhausted. +Old forests, long abandoned, were even then explored in search of +trees that might have escaped the notice of former proprietors, and +wood that was rejected by them was, in 1875, eagerly purchased at +high prices for England. The export of wood was at that time +prohibited from Abhasia and all the government forests in the +Caucasus. A report, dated at about the same period from Trebizond, +points out that the Porte had prohibited the cutting of boxwood in +the crown forests. (<i>Gardeners' Chronicle</i>, Aug. 19, 1876, p. +239.) Later on, the British Consul at Tiflis says: "<i>Bona +fide</i> Caucasian boxwood may be said to be commercially +non-existent, almost every marketable tree having been exported." +(<i>Gardeners' Chronicle</i>, Dec. 6, 1879, p. 726.)</p> + +<p>The characters of boxwood are so marked and so distinct from +those of most other woods that some extracts from a report of +Messrs. J. Gardner & Sons, of London and Liverpool, addressed +to the Inspector-General of Forests in India, bearing on this +subject, will not be without value; indeed, its more general +circulation than its reprint in Mr. J.S. Gamble's "Manual of Indian +Timbers" will, it is hoped, be the means of directing attention to +this very important matter, and by pointing out the characters that +make boxwood so valuable, may be the means of directing observation +to the detection of similar characters in other woods. Messrs. +Gardner say:</p> + +<p>"The most suitable texture of wood will be found growing upon +the sides of mountains. If grown in the plains the growth is +usually too quick, and consequently the grain is too coarse, the +wood of best texture being of slow growth, and very fine in the +grain.</p> + +<p>"It should be cut down in the winter, and, if possible, stored +at once in airy wooden sheds well protected from sun and rain, and +not to have too much air through the sides of the sheds, more +especially for the wood under four inches diameter.</p> + +<p>"The boxwood also must not be piled upon the ground, but be well +skidded under, so as to be kept quite free from the effects of any +damp from the soil.</p> + +<p>"After the trees are cut down, the longer they are exposed the +more danger is there afterward of the wood splitting more than is +absolutely necessary during the necessary seasoning before shipment +to this country.</p> + +<p>"If shipped green, there is great danger of the wood sweating +and becoming mildewed during transit, which causes the wood +afterward to dry light and of a defective color, and in fact +rendering it of little value for commercial purposes.</p> + +<p>"There is no occasion to strip the bark off or to put cowdung or +anything else upon the ends of the pieces to prevent their +splitting.</p> + +<p>"Boxwood is the nearest approach to ivory of any wood known, and +will, therefore, probably gradually increase in value, as it, as +well as ivory, becomes scarcer. It is now used very considerably in +manufacturing concerns, but on account of its gradual advance in +price during the past few years, cheaper woods are in some +instances being substituted.</p> + +<p>"Small wood under four inches is used principally by flax +spinners for rollers, and by turners for various purposes, rollers +for rink skates, etc., etc., and if free from splits, is of equal +value with the larger wood. It is imported here as small as one a +half inches in diameter, but the most useful sizes are from +2½ to 3½ inches, and would therefore, we suppose, be +from fifteen to thirty or forty years in growing, while larger wood +would require fifty years and upward at least, perhaps we ought to +say one hundred years and upward. It is used principally for +shuttles, for weaving silk, linen, and cotton, and also for rule +making and wood engraving. <i>Punch, The Illustrated London News, +The Graphic</i>, and all the first class pictorial papers use large +quantities of boxwood."</p> + +<p>In 1880, Messrs. Churchill and Sim reported favorably on some +consignments of Indian boxwood, concluding with the remarks that if +the wood could be regularly placed on the market at a moderate +figure, there was no reason why a trade should not be developed in +it. Notwithstanding these prospects, which seemed promising in 1877 +and 1880, little or nothing has been accually done up to the +present time in bringing Indian boxwood into general use, in +consequence, as Mr. Gamble shows, of the cost of transit through +India. The necessity, therefore, of the discovery of some wood akin +to box is even more important now than ever it was.</p> + +<h3>BOXWOOD SUBSTITUTES.</h3> + +<p>First among the substitutes that have been proposed to replace +boxwood may be mentioned an invention of Mr. Edward Badoureau, +referred to in the <i>Gardeners' Chronicle</i>, March 23, 1878, p. +374, under the title of artificial boxwood. It is stated to consist +of some soft wood which has been subject to heavy pressure. It is +stated that some English engravers have given their opinion on this +prepared wood as follows:</p> + +<p>It has not the power of resistance of boxwood, so that it would +be imposible to make use of it, except in the shape of an electro +obtained from it, as it is too soft to sustain the pressure of a +machine, and would be easily worn out. In reply to these opinions, +Mr. Badoureau wrote: "My wood resists the wear and tear of the +press as well as boxwood, and I can show engravings of English and +French artists which have been obtained direct from the wood, and +are as perfect as they are possible to be; several of them have +been drawn by Mr. Gustave Dore."</p> + +<p>Mr. Badoureau further says that "while as an engraver he has so +high an opinion of the qualities of compressed wood as a substitute +for boxwood, as the inventor of the new process he considered that +it possesses numerous advantages both for artistic and industrial +purposes." In short, he says, "My wood is to other wood what steel +is to iron."</p> + +<p>The following woods are those which have, from time to time, +been proposed or experimented upon as substitutes for boxwood, for +engraving purposes. They are arranged according to their scientific +classification in the natural orders to which they belong:</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Pittosporeæ</i>.</h3> + +<p>1. <i>Pittosporum undulatum</i>. Vent.--A tree growing in +favorable situations to a height of forty or even sixty feet, and +is a native of New South Wales and Victoria. It furnishes a light, +even grained wood, which attracted some attention at the +International Exhibition in 1862; blocks were prepared from it, and +submitted to Prof. De la Motte, of King's College, who reported as +follows:</p> + +<p>"I consider this wood well adapted to certain kinds of wood +engraving. It is not equal to Turkey box, but it is superior to +that generally used for posters, and I have no doubt that it would +answer for the rollers of mangles and wringing machines." Mr. W.G. +Smith, in a report in the <i>Gardeners' Chronicle</i> for July 26, +1873, p. 1017, on some foreign woods which I submitted to him for +trial, says that the wood of <i>Pittosporum undulatum</i> is +suitable only for bold outlines; compared with box, it is soft and +tough, and requires more force to cut than box. The toughness of +the wood causes the tools to drag back, so that great care is +required in cutting to prevent the lines clipping. The average +diameter of the wood is from 18 to 30 inches.</p> + +<p>2. <i>Pittosporum bicolor</i>, Hook.--A closely allied species, +sometimes forty feet high, native of New South Wales and Tasmania. +This wood is stated to be decidedly superior to the last named.</p> + +<p>3. <i>Bursaria spinosa</i>, Cav.--A tree about forty feet high, +native of North, South, and West Australia, Queensland, New South +Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania, in which island it is known as +boxwood. It has been reported upon as being equal to common or +inferior box, and with further trials might be found suitable for +common subjects; it has the disadvantage, however, of blunting the +edges and points of the tools.</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Meliaceæ</i>.</h3> + +<p>4. <i>Swietenia mahagoni</i>, L. (mahogany).--A large timber +tree of Honduras, Cuba, Central America, and Mexico. It is one of +the most valuable of furniture woods, but for engraving purposes it +is but of little value, nevertheless it has been used for large, +coarse subjects. Spanish mahogany is the kind which has been so +used.</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Ilicineæ</i></h3> + +. + +<p><i>Ilex opaca</i>, L. (North American holly).--It is a widely +diffused tree, the wood of which is said to closely resemble +English holly, being white in color, and hard, with a fine grain, +so that it is used for a great number of purposes by turners, +engineers, cabinet makers, and philosophical instrument makers. For +engraving purposes it is not equal to the dog-wood of America +(<i>Cornus florida</i>); it yields, however, more readily to the +graver's tools.</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Celastrineæ</i></h3> + +. + +<p>6. <i>Elæodendron australe</i>, Vent.--A tree twenty to +twenty-five feet high, native of Queensland and New South Wales. +The wood is used in the colony for turning and cabinet work, and +Mr. W.G. Smith reports that for engraving purposes it seems +suitable only for rough work, as diagrams, posters, etc.</p> + +<p>7. <i>Euonymus sieboldianus</i>, Blume.--A Chinese tree, where +the wood, which is known as pai'cha, is used for carving and +engraving. Attention was first drawn to this wood by Mr. Jean von +Volxem, in the <i>Gardeners' Chronicle</i> for April 20, 1878. In +the Kew Report for 1878, p. 41, the following extract of a letter +from Mr. W.M. Cooper, Her Majesty's Consul at Ningpo, is given: +"The wood in universal use for book blocks, wood engravings, seals, +etc., is that of the pear tree, of which large quantities are grown +in Shantung, and Shan-se, especially. Pai'cha is sometimes used as +an indifferent substitute. Pai'cha is a very fine white wood of +fine fiber, without apparent grains, and cuts easily; is well +suited for carved frames, cabinets, caskets, etc., for which large +quantities are manufactured here for export. The tree itself +resembles somewhat the <i>Stillingia</i>, but has a rougher bark, +larger and thinner leaves, which are serrated at the edge, more +delicate twigs, and is deciduous." In 1879, a block of this wood +was received at the Kew Museum, from Mr. Cooper, a specimen of +which was submitted to Mr. Robson J. Scott, of Whitefriars Street, +to whom I am much indebted for reports on various occasions, and +upon this wood Mr. Scott reported as follows: "The most striking +quality I have observed in this wood is its capacity for retaining +water, and the facility with which it surrenders it. This section +(one prepared and sent to the Kew Museum), which represents +one-tenth of the original piece, weighed 3 lb. 4½ ounces. At +the end of twenty one days it had lost 1 lb. 6¾ ounces in an +unheated chamber. At the end of another fourteen days, in a much +elevated temperature, it only lost ¼ ounce. In its present +state of reduced bulk its weight is 1 lb. 10 ounces. It is not at +all likely to supersede box, but it may be fit for coarser work +than that for which box is necessary." Later on, namely in the Kew +Report for 1880, p. 51, Mr. R.D. Keene, an engraver, to whom Mr. +Scott submitted specimens of the wood for trial, writes: "I like +the wood very much, and prefer it to box in some instances; it is +freer to work, and consequently quicker, and its being uniform in +color and quality is a great advantage; we often have great +difficulty in box in having to work from a hard piece into a soft. +I think it a very useful wood, especially for solid bold work. I +question if you could get so extreme a fine black line as on box, +but am sure there would be a large demand for it at a moderate +price." Referring to this letter, Mr. Scott remarks that the writer +does not intend it to be understood that pai'cha is qualified to +supersede box, but for inferior subjects for which coarse brittle +box is used. Mr. Scott further says that of the woods he has tried +he prefers pear and hawthorn to pai'cha.</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Sapindaceæ</i>.</h3> + +<p>8. <i>Acer saccharinum</i>, L. (sugar or bird's eye maple).--A +North American tree, forming extensive forests in Canada, New +Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. The wood is well known as a cabinet or +furniture wood. It has been tried for engraving, but it does not +seem to have attracted much notice. Mr. Scott says it is +sufficiently good, so far as the grain is concerned. From this it +would seem not to promise favorably.</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Leguminoseæ. Sub-order +Papilionaceæ</i>.</h3> + +<p>9. <i>Brya ebenus</i>, Δ. DC.--A small tree of Jamaica, +where the wood is known as green ebony, and is used for making +various small articles. It is imported into this country under the +name of cocus wood, and is used with us for making flutes and other +wind instruments. Mr. Worthington Smith considers that the wood +equals bad box for engraving purposes.</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Rosaceæ</i>.</h3> + +<p>10. <i>Pyrus communis</i>, L. (common pear).--A tree averaging +from 20 to 40 feet high. Found in a wild state, and very +extensively cultivated as a fruit tree. The wood is of a light +brown color, and somewhat resembles limewood in grain. It is, +however, harder and tougher. It is considered a good wood for +carving, because it can be cut with or across the grain with equal +facility. It stands well when well seasoned, and is used for +engraved blocks for calico printers, paper stainers, and for +various other purposes. Pear-wood has been tried for engraving +purposes, but with no great success. Mr. Scott's opinion of its +relative value is referred to under pai'cha wood <i>(Euonymus +sieboldianus)</i>.</p> + +<p>11. <i>Amelanchier canadensis</i>. L. (shade tree or service +tree of America).--A shrub or small tree found throughout Canada, +Newfoundland, and Virginia. Of this wood, Porcher says, in his +"Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests": "Upon examining +with a sharp instrument the specimens of various southern woods +deposited in the museum of the Elliott Society, ... I was struck +with the singular weight, density, and fineness of this wood. I +think I can confidently recommend it as one of the best to be +experimented upon by the wood engraver."</p> + +<p>12. <i>Cratoegus oxyacantha</i>, L. (hawthorn).--A well-known +shrub or small tree in forests and hedges in this country. The wood +is very dense and close grained. Of this wood, Mr. Scott reports +that it is by far the best wood after box that he has had the +opportunity of testing.</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Myrtaceæ</i>.</h3> + +<p>13. <i>Eugenia procera</i>, Poir.--A tree 20 to 30 feet high, +native of Jamaica, Antigua, Martinique, and Santa Cruz. A badly +seasoned sample of this wood was submitted to Mr. R.H. Keene, who +reported that "it is suited for bold, solid newspaper work."</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Cornaceæ</i>.</h3> + +<p>14. <i>Cornus florida</i>, L. (North American dogwood).--A +deciduous tree, about 30 feet high, common in the woods in various +parts of North America. The wood is hard, heavy, and very fine +grained. It is used in America for making the handles of light +tools, as mallets, plane stocks, harrow teeth, cogwheels, etc. It +has also been used in America for engraving.</p> + +<p>In a letter from Prof. Sargent, Director of the Arnold +Arboretum, Brookline, Massachusetts, quoted in the Kew Report for +1882, p. 35, he says: "I have been now, for a long time, examining +our native woods in the hope of finding something to take the place +of boxwood for engraving, but so far I am sorry to say with no very +brilliant success. The best work here is entirely done from +boxwood, and some <i>Cornus florida</i> is used for less expensive +engraving. This wood answers fairly well for coarse work, but it is +a difficult wood to manage, splitting, or rather 'checking,' very +badly in drying." This, however, he states in a later letter, "can +be overcome by sawing the logs through the center as soon as cut. +It can be obtained in large quantities." Mr. R.H. Keene, the +engraver before referred to, reports that the wood is very rough, +and suitable for bold work.</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Ericaceæ</i>.</h3> + +<p>15. <i>Rhododendron maximum</i>, L. (mountain laurel of North +America).--Of this wood it is stated in Porcher's "Resources of the +Southern Fields and Forests," p. 419, that upon the authority of a +well-known engraver at Nashville, Tennessee, the wood is equaled +only by the best boxwood. This species of <i>Rhododendron</i> +"abounds on every mountain from Mason and Dixon's line to North +Georgia that has a rocky branch." Specimens of this wood submitted +to Mr. Scott were so badly selected and seasoned that it was almost +impossible to give it a trial. In consideration of its hardness and +apparent good qualities, further experiments should be made with +it.</p> + +<p>16. <i>Rhododendron californicum</i>.--Likewise a North American +species, the wood of which is similar to the last named. Specimens +were sent to Kew by Professor Sargent for report in 1882, but were +so badly seasoned that no satisfactory opinion could be obtained +regarding it.</p> + +<p>17. <i>Kalmia latifolia</i>, L. (calico bush or ivy bush of +North America).--The wood is hard and dense, and is much used in +America for mechanical purposes. It has been recommended as a +substitute for boxwood for engraving, and trials should, therefore, +be made with it.</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Epacrideæ</i>.</h3> + +<p>18. <i>Monotoca elliptica</i>, R. Br.--A tall shrub or tree 20 +or 30 feet high, native of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, +and Tasmania. The wood has been experimented upon in this country, +and though to all appearances it is an excellent wood, yet Mr. +Worthington Smith reported upon it as having a bad surface, and +readily breaking away so that the cuts require much retouching +after engraving.</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Ebenaceæ</i>.</h3> + +<p>19. <i>Diospyros texana</i>.--A North American tree, of the wood +of which Professor Sargent speaks favorably. "It is, however," he +says, "in Texas, at least, rather small, scarcely six inches in +diameter, and not very common. In northern Mexico it is said to +grow much larger, and could probably be obtained with some trouble +in sufficient quantities to become an article of commerce." Of this +wood Mr. Scott says: "It is sufficiently good as regards the grain, +but the specimen sent for trial was much too small for practical +purposes." Mr. R.H. Keene, the engraver, says it "is nearly equal +to the best box."</p> + +<p>20. <i>Diospyros virginiana</i>, L. (the persimmon of +America).--A good-sized tree, widely diffused, and common in some +districts. The wood is of a very dark color, hard, and of a fairly +close grain. It has been used in America for engraving, but so far +as I am aware has not been tried in this country. It has, however, +been lately introduced for making shuttles.</p> + +<p>21. <i>Dyospyros ebenum</i>, Koenig (ebony).--A wood so well +known as to need no description. It has been tried for engraving by +Mr. Worthington Smith, who considers it nearly as good as box.</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Apocyneæ</i>.</h3> + +<p>22. <i>Hunteria zeylanica</i>, Gard.--A small tree, common in +the warmer parts of Ceylon. This is a very hard and compact wood, +and is used for engraving purposes in Ceylon, where it is said, by +residents, to come nearer to box than any other wood known. On this +wood Mr. Worthington Smith gave a very favorable opinion, but it is +doubtful whether it would ever be brought from Ceylon in sufficient +quantities to meet a demand.</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Bignoniaceæ</i>.</h3> + +<p>23. <i>Tecoma pentaphylla</i>, Dl.--A moderate-sized tree, +native of the West Indies and Brazil. The wood is compact, very +fine, and even grained, and much resembles box in general +appearance. Blocks for engraving have been prepared from it by Mr. +R.J. Scott, who reported upon it as follows: "It is the only likely +successor to box that I have yet seen, but it is not embraced as a +deliverer should be, but its time may not be far off."</p> + +<h3><i>Natural Order Corylaceæ</i>.</h3> + +<p>24. <i>Carpinus betulus</i>, L. (hornbeam).--A tree from 20 to +70 feet high, with a trunk sometimes 10 feet in girth, indigenous +in the southern counties of England. The wood is very tough, heavy, +and close grained. It is largely used in France for handles for +agricultural and mining implements, and of late years has been much +used in this country for lasts. The wood of large growth is apt to +became shaky, and it is consequently not used as a building wood. +It is said to have been used as a substitute for box in engraving, +but with what success does not appear.</p> + +<p>25. <i>Ostrya virginica</i>, Willd (ironwood, or American +hornbeam).--A moderate-sized tree, widely spread over North +America. The wood is light-colored, and extremely hard and heavy; +hence the name of ironwood. It is used in America by turners, as +well as for mill cogs, etc., and has been suggested as a substitute +for boxwood for engraving, though no actual trials, so far as I am +aware, have been made with it.</p> + +<p>Besides the foregoing list of woods, there are others that have +been occasionally used for posters and the coarser kinds of +engraving, such, for instance, as lime, sycamore, yew, beech, and +even pine; and in America, <i>Vaccinium arboreum</i> and <i>Azalea +nudiflora</i>. Of these, however, but little is known as to their +value.</p> + +<p>It will be noticed that in those woods that have passed through +the engraver's hands, some which promised best, so far as their +texture or grain is concerned, have been tried upon very imperfect +or badly seasoned samples.</p> + +<p>The subject is one of so much importance, as was pointed out at +the commencement of this paper, that a thoroughly organized series +of experiments should be undertaken upon carefully seasoned and +properly prepared woods, not only of those mentioned in the +preceding list, but also of any others that may suggest themselves, +as being suitable, It must, moreover, always be borne in mind that +the questions of price, and the considerations of supply and +demand, must, to a great extent, regulate the adaptation of any +particular wood.</p> + +<p>With regard to those woods referred to as being tried by Mr. +Worthington Smith, he remarks in his report that any of them would +be useful for some classes of work, if they could be imported, +prepared, and sold for a farthing, or less than a halfpenny, per +square inch.</p> + +<p>Specimens of all the woods here enumerated are contained in the +Kew Museum.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="18"></a></p> + +<h2>COMPOSITE PORTRAITS</h2> + +. + +<p>Not long since we gave a figure from a drawing by Mr. Grallieni, +which, looked at from a distance, seemed to be a death's head, but +which, when examined more closely, was seen to represent two +children caressing a dog. Since then we have had occasion to +publish some landscapes of Kircher and his imitators, which, looked +at sideways, exhibited human profiles. This sort of amusement has +exercised the skill of artists of all times, and engravings, and +even paintings, of double aspect are very numerous. Chance has +recently put into our hands a very curious work of this kind, which +is due to a skillful artist named Gaillot. It is an album of quite +ancient lithographs, which was published at Berlin by Senefelder. +The author, under the title of "Arts and Trades," has drawn some +very amusing faces that are formed through the tools and objects +used in the profession represented. We reproduce a few specimens of +these essentially original compositions of Gaillot. The green +grocer is formed of a melon for the head, of an artichoke and its +stem for the forehead and nose, of a pannier for the bust, etc. The +hunter is made up of a gun, of a powder horn, and of a hunting +horn, etc.; and so on for the other professions. This is an amusing +exercise in drawing that we have thought worthy of reproducing. Any +one who is skillful with his pencil might exercise himself in +imagining other compositions of the same kind.--<i>La +Nature</i>.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><a href="./illustrations/12a.png"><img src= +"./illustrations/12a_th.jpg" alt=""></a></p> + +<p class="ctr">COMPOSITE PORTRAITS.--OCCUPATIONS.<br> +1. Green-grocer. 2. Hunter. 3. Artist. 4. Cobbler. 5. Chemist 6. +Cooper.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="18"></a></p> + +<h2>HAND-CRAFT AND REDE-CRAFT.--A PLEA FOR THE FIRST NAMED.</h2> + +<p>[Footnote: Read before the Worcester Free Industrial Institute, +June 25, 1885.]</p> + +<h3>By DANIEL C. GILMAN, President of the Johns Hopkins University, +Baltimore.</h3> + +<p>I cannot think of a theme more fit for this hour and place than +handy-craft. I begin by saying "handy-craft," for that is the form +of the word now in vogue, that which we are wonted to see in print +and hear in speech; but I like rather the old form, "hand-craft," +which was used by our sires so long ago as the Anglo-Saxon days. +Both words mean the same thing, the power of the hand to seize, +hold, shape, match, carve, paint, dig, bake, make, or weave. +Neither form is in fashion, as we know very well, for people choose +nowadays such Latin words as "technical ability," "manual labor," +"industrial pursuits," "dexterity," "professional artisanship," +"manufacture," "decorative art," and "technological occupations," +not one of which is half as good as the plain, old, strong term +"hand-craft."</p> + +<p>An aid to hand-craft is rede-craft--the power to read, to +reason, and to think; or, as it is said in the book of Common +Prayer, "to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest." By rede craft +we find out what other men have done; we get our book learning, we +are made heirs to thoughts that breathe and words that burn, we +enter into the life, the acts, the arts, the loves, the lore of the +wise, the witty, the cunning, and the worthy of all ages and all +places; we learn, as says the peasant poet of Scotland,</p> + +<pre> + "The song whose thunderous chime + Eternal echoes render-- + The mournful Tuscan's haunted rhyme, + And Milton's starry splendor!" +</pre> + +<p>I do not pit rede-craft against hand-craft. Quite otherwise, I +call them not foes (as some would), but friends. They are brothers, +partners, consorts, who can work together, as right hand and left +hand, as science and art, as theory and practice. Rede-craft may +call for books and hand-craft for tools, but it is by the help of +both books and tools that mankind moves on. Indeed, we shall not +err wide of the mark if we say that a book is a tool, for it is the +instrument which we make use of in certain cases when we wish to +find out what other men have thought and done. Perhaps you will not +be as ready to admit that a tool is a book. But take for example +the plow. Compare the form in use to-day on a first-rate farm with +that which is pictured on ancient stones long hid in Egypt--ages +old. See how the idea of the plow has grown, and bear in mind that +its graceful curves, it fitness for a special soil, or for a +special crop, its labor-saving shape, came not by chance, but by +thought. Indeed, a plow is made up from the thoughts and toils of +generations of plowmen. Look at a Collins ax; it is also the record +of man's thought. Lay it side by side with the hatchet of Uncas or +Miantonomoh, or with an ax of the age of bronze, and think how many +minds have worked on the head and on the helve, how much skill has +been spent in getting the metal, in making it hard, in shaping the +edge, in fixing the weight, in forming the handle. From simple +tools, turn to complex; to the printing press, the sewing machine, +the locomotive, the telegraph, the ocean steamer; all are full of +ideas. All are the offspring of hand-craft and rede craft, of skill +and thought, of practice put on record, of science and art.</p> + +<p>Now, the welfare of each one of us, the welfare of our land, the +welfare of our race, rests on this union. You may almost take the +measure of a man's brain, if you can find out what he sees with his +eyes and what he does with hands; you may judge of a country, or of +a city, if you know what it makes.</p> + +<p>I do not know that we need ask which is best, hand-craft or +rede-craft. Certainly "the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no +need of thee." At times, hand-craft becomes rede-craft, for when +the eye is blind the hand takes its place, and the finger learns to +read, running over the printed page to find out what is written, as +quickly as the eye.</p> + +<p>In these days, there are too many who look down on hand-craft. +They think only of the tasks of a drudge or a char-boy. They do not +know the pleasure there is in working, and especially in making. +They have never learned to guide the fingers by the brain. They +like to hear, or see, or own, or eat, what others have made, but +they do not like to put their own hands to work. If you doubt what +I say, put a notice in the paper asking for a clerk, and you will +have a, hundred answers for every one that will come when you ask +for a workman. So it comes to pass that young men grow up whose +hands have not been trained to any kind of skill; they wish, +therefore, to be buyers and sellers, traders, dealers, and so the +market is overstocked with clerks, book-keepers, salesmen, and +small shop-keepers, while it is understocked in all the higher +walks of hand-craft. Some men can only get on by force of arms, +lifting, pounding, heaving, or by power of sitting at counter or a +desk and "clerking it."</p> + +<p>Machinery works against hand-craft. In many branches of labor, +the hand now has but little to do, and that little is always the +same, so that labor becomes tiresome and the workman dull. Machines +can be made to cut statuary, to weave beautiful tapestry, to +fashion needles, to grind out music, to make long calculations; +alas! the machine has also been brought into politics. Of course, a +land cannot thrive without machinery; it is that mechanical giant, +the steam engine, which carries the corn, the cotton, and the sugar +from our rich valleys to the hungry of other lands, and brings back +to us the product of their looms. Nevertheless, he who lives by the +machine alone lives but half a life; while he who uses his hand to +contrive and to adorn drives dullness from his path. A true artist +and a true artisan are one. Hand-craft, the power to shape, to +curve, to beautify, to create, gives pleasure and dignity to +labor.</p> + +<p>In other times and in other lands, hand-craft has had more honor +than it has had with us. Let me give some examples. Not long ago, I +went to one of the shrines of education, the Sorbonne in Paris. Two +paintings adorn the chapel walls, not of saints or martyrs, nor of +apostles or prophets, perhaps I should say of both saints and +prophets, <i>Labor</i> and <i>Humilitas</i>, Industry and +Modesty.</p> + +<p>The touch of Phidias was his own, and so inimitable that a few +months ago, an American, scanning, with his practiced eye, the +galleries of the Louvre, recognized a fragment of the work of +Phidias, long separated from the Parthenon frieze which Lord Elgin +sent to London. The sculptor's touch could not be mistaken. It was +as truly his own as his signature, his autograph. Ruskin, in a +lecture on the relation of Art to Morals, calls attention to a note +which Durer made on some drawings sent him by Raphael: "These +figures Raphael drew and sent to Albert Durer in Nurnberg, to show +him his hand, '<i>sein hand zu weisen</i>."' Ruskin compares this +phrase with other contests of hand-craft, Apelles and Protogenes +showing their skill by drawing a line; Giotto in striking a +circle.</p> + +<p>In the household of the Kings of Prussia, there is a custom, if +not a law, that every boy shall learn a trade. I believe this is a +fact, though I have no certain proof of it. The Emperor Wilhelm is +said to be a glazier, the Crown Prince a compositor, and on the +Emperor's birthday not long ago his majesty received an engraving +by Prince Henry and a, book bound by Prince Waldemar, two younger +sons of the Crown Prince. Let me refer to sacred writ; the prophet +Isaiah, telling of the golden days which are to come, when the +voice of weeping shall be no more heard in the land, nor the voice +of crying, when the child shall die an hundred years old, and men +shall eat of the fruit of the vineyards they have planted, adds +this striking promise, as the culm of all hope, that the elect of +the Lord shall long enjoy the work of their hands.</p> + +<p>Now, in view of what has been said, my first point is this: We +who have to deal with the young, we all who love our fellow-men, we +all who desire that our times, our city, our country, should be +thrifty, happy, and content, must each in his place and way give +high honor to labor. We, especially, who are teachers and parents, +should see to it that the young get "hand-craft" while they are +getting "rede-craft." How can this be done?</p> + +<p>Mothers begin right in the nursery, teaching little fingers to +play before the tongue can lisp a sentence. Alas! this natural +training has often been stopped at school. Hitherto, until quite +lately, in schools both low and high, rede-craft has had the place +of honor, hand-craft has had no chance. But a change is coming. In +the highest of all schools, universities, for example, work rooms, +labor places, "laboratories," are now thought to be as useful as +book rooms, reading rooms, libraries.</p> + +<p>What mean those buildings which you have seen spring up within a +few years past in all the college greens of New England? They are +libraries and laboratories. They show that rede-craft and +hand-craft are alike held in honor, and that a liberal education +means skill in getting and skill in using knowledge; that knowledge +comes from searching books and searching nature; that the brain and +the hand are in close league. So too, in the lowest school, as far +as possible from the university, the kindergarten has won its place +and the blocks, and straws, and bands, the chalk, the clay, the +scissors, are in use to make young fingers deft. Between the +highest and the lowest schools there is a like call for hand-craft. +Seeing this need, the authorities in our public schools have begun +to project special schools for such training, and are looking for +guidance far and near. At this intermediate stage, for boy and +girls who are between the age of the kindergarten and the age of +the college or the shop, for youth between eight and sixteen, there +is much to be done; people are hardly aware how much is needed to +secure fit training for the rising generation.</p> + +<p>It seems sometimes as if one of the most needed forms of +hand-craft would become a lost art, even good handwriting. We +cannot give much credit to schools if they send out many who are +skilled in algebra, or in Latin, but who cannot write a page of +English so that it can be read without effort.</p> + +<p>Drawing is another kind of hand-craft, quite too much neglected. +I think it should be laid down as a law of the road to knowledge, +that everybody must learn to draw as well as to write. The pencil +maybe mastered just as readily as the pen. It is a simpler tool. +The child draws before he writes, and savages begin their language +with pictures; but, we wiseacres of this age of books let our young +folks drop their slate pencils and their Fabers, and practice with +their Gillotts and their Esterbrooks. Let us say, in every school +and in every house, the child must not only learn to read and +write, he must learn to draw. We cannot afford to let our young +folks grow up without this power. A new French book is just now +much talked about, with this droll title, "The Life of a Wise Man, +by an Ignoramus." It is the story of the great Pasteur, whose +discoveries in respect to life have made him world renowned. I +turned to the book, eager to find out the key to such success, and +I found the old story--"the child was father of the man." This +philosopher, whose eye is so skilled in observing nature, and whose +hand is so apt in experiments, is the boy grown up whose pictures +were so good that the villagers thought him at thirteen an artist +of rank.</p> + +<p>Girls should learn the first lesson of hand-craft with the +needle; boys may (and they will always prize the knowledge), but +girls must. It is wise that our schools are going back to old +fashioned ways, and saying that girls must be taught to sew.</p> + +<p>Boys should practice their hands upon the knife. John Bull used +to laugh at Brother Jonathan for whittling, and Mr. Punch always +drew the Yankee with a blade in his fingers; but they found out +long ago in Great Britain that whittling in this land led to +something, a Boston notion, a wooden clock, a yacht America, a +labor-saving machine, a cargo of wooden-ware, a shop full of +knick-knacks, an age of inventions. Boys need not be kept back to +the hand-craft of the knife. For in-doors there are the type case +and printing press, the paint box, the tool box, the lathe; and for +out doors, the trowel, the spade, the grafting knife. It matters +not how many of the minor arts the youth acquires. The more the +merrier. Let each one gain the most he can in all such ways; for +arts like these bring no harm in their train; quite otherwise, they +lure good fortune to their company.</p> + +<p>Play, as well as work, may bring out hand-craft. The gun, the +bat, the rein, the rod, the oar, all manly sports, are good +training for the hand. Walking insures fresh air, but it does not +train the body or mind like games and sports which are played out +of doors. A man of great fame as an explorer and as a student of +nature (he who discovered, in the West, bones of horses with two, +three, and four toes, and who found the remains of birds with +teeth) once told me that his success was largely due to the sports +of his youth. His boyish love of fishing gave him his manly skill +in exploration.</p> + +<p>I speak as if hand-craft was to be learned by sport. So it may. +It may also be learned by labor. Day by day for weeks I have been +watching from my study window a stately inn rise from the cellar +just across the road. A bricklayer has been there employed whose +touch is like the stroke of an artist. He handled each brick as if +it were porcelain, balanced it carefully in his hand, measured with +his eye just the amount of mortar which it needed, and dropped the +block into its bed, without staining its edge, without varying from +the plumb line, by a stroke of hand-craft as true as the +sculptor's. Toil gave him skill.</p> + +<p>The second point I make is this: If you really value hand-craft, +buy that which shows hand-craft, encourage those who are engaged in +hand-craft, help on with your voice and with your pocket, those who +bring taste and skill and art into the works of their hand. If your +means are so small that you only buy what you need for your daily +wants, you cannot have much choice, you must buy that which is +cheapest; but hardly any one within the sound of my voice is so +restricted as that; almost if not quite every one buys something +every year for his pleasure, a curtain, a rug, a wall paper, a +chair, or a table not certainly needed, a vase, a clock, a, mantel +ornament, a piece of jewelry, a portrait, an etching, a picture. +Now whenever you make such a purchase, to please your taste, to +make your parlor or your chamber more attractive, choose that which +shows good handiwork. Such a choice will last. You will not tire of +it as you will of that which has but a commonplace form or +pattern.</p> + +<p>I come now to a third point. That which has just been said +applies chiefly to things whose price is fixed by beauty. But +handicraft gives us many works not pleasing to the eye, yet of the +highest skill--a Jacquard loom, a Corliss engine, a Hoe printing +press, a Winchester rifle, an Edison dynamo, a Bell telephone. +Ruskin may scout the work of machinery, and up to a certain point +may take us with him. Let us allow that works of art marked by the +artist's own touch--the gates of Paradise by Ghiberti, a shield by +Cellini, a statue by Michael Angelo, are better than all +reproductions and imitations, better than plaster casts by Eichler, +electrotypes by Barbedienne, or chromos by Prang. But even Ruskin +cannot suppress the fact that machinery brings to every thrifty +cottage in New England comforts and adornments which, in the days +of Queen Bess, were not known outside of the palace. Be mindful, +then, that handicraft makes machines which are wonders of +productive force--weaving tissues such as Penelope never saw, of +woolen, cotton, linen, and silk, to carpet our floors, cover our +tables, cushion our chairs, and clothe our bodies; machines of +which Vulcan never dreamed, to point a needle, bore a rifle, cut a +watch wheel, or rule a series of lines, measuring forty thousand to +an inch, with sureness which the unaided hand can never equal. +Machinery is a triumph of handicraft as truly as sculpture and +architecture. The fingers which can plan and build a steamship or a +suspension bridge, which can make the Quinebaug and the Blackstone +turn spindles by the hundred thousand, which can turn a rag heap +into spotless paper, and make myriads of useful and artful articles +from rough metal, are fingers which this age alone has evolved. The +craft which makes useful things cheap can make cheap things +beautiful. The Japanese will teach us how to form and finish, if we +do not first teach them how to slight and sham.</p> + +<p>A fourth point is this. If hand-craft is of such worth, boys and +girls must be trained in it. This, I am well aware is no new +thought. Forty years ago schools of applied science were added to +Harvard and Yale colleges; twenty years ago Congress gave enough +land-scrip to aid in founding at least one such school in every +state; men of wealth, like many whom you have known and whom you +honor, have given large sums for like ends. Now the people at large +are waking up. They see their needs; they have the means to supply +what they want. Is there the will? Know they the way? Far and near +the cry is heard for a different training from that now given in +the public schools. Many are trying to find it. Almost every large +town has its experiment--and many smaller places have theirs. +Nobody seems to know just what is best. Even the words which +express the want are vague. Bright and thoughtful people differ as +to what might, can, and should be done. A society has been formed +in New York to bring together the needed data. The Slater trustees, +charged with the care of a large fund for the training of freedmen, +have said that manual training must be given in all the schools +they aid. The town of Toledo in Ohio opened, some time since, a +school of practical training for boys, which worked so well that +another has lately been opened for girls. St. Louis is doing +famously. Philadelphia has several experiments in progress. +Baltimore has made a start. In New York there are many noteworthy +movements--half a dozen at least full of life and hope. Boston was +never behindhand in knowledge, and in the new education is very +alert, the efforts of a single lady deserving praise of high +degree. These are but signs of the times.</p> + +<p>Some things may be set down as fixed; for example, most of those +who have thought on this theme will agree on the points I am about +to name, though they may or may not like the names which I venture +to propose:</p> + +<p>1. Kindergarten work should be taught in the nurseries and +infant schools of rich and poor.</p> + +<p>2. Drawing should be taught in schools of every grade, till the +hand uses the pencil as readily as the pen.</p> + +<p>3. Every girl at school if not at home should learn to sew.</p> + +<p>4. Every boy should learn the use of tools, the gardener's or +the carpenter's, or both.</p> + +<p>5. Well planned exercises, fitted to strengthen the various +bodily organs, arms, fingers, wrists, lungs, etc., are good. +Driving, swimming, rowing, and other manly sports should be +favored.</p> + +<p>What precedes is at the basis of good work.</p> + +<p>In addition:</p> + +<p>6. With good teachers, quite young children may learn the minor +decorative arts, carving, leather stamping, brass beating and the +like, as is shown in the Leland classes of Philadelphia.</p> + +<p>7. In towns, boys who begin to earn a living when they enter +their teens may be taught in evening schools to practice the craft +of carpentry, bricklaying, plastering, plumbing, gas fitting, etc., +as is shown successfully in the Auchmuty schools of New York. Trade +schools they are called; schools of practice for workmen would be a +better name.</p> + +<p>8. Boys who can carry their studies through the later teens may +learn, while at the high school or technical school or college, to +work in wood and metals with precision, as I have lately seen in +the College of the City of New York, at Cornell University, and +elsewhere-colleges or high schools with work-shops and practice +classes. If they can take the time to fit themselves to be foremen +and leaders in machine shops and factories, they may be trained in +theoretical and practical mechanics, as in the Worcester Industrial +Institute and in a score of other places; but the youth must have +talent as well as time to win the race in these hard paths. These +are schools for foremen, or, if we may use a foreign word like +Kindergarten, they are Meisterschaft schools.</p> + +<p>9. Youths who wish to enter the highest departments of +engineering must follow advanced courses of mathematics and +physics, and must learn to apply this knowledge. The better +colleges and universities afford abundant opportunities for such +training, but their scientific laboratories are fitted only for +those who love long study as well as hard. These are schools for +engineers.</p> + +<p>10. Girls are most likely to excel in the lighter arts--to +design (for furniture or fabrics), to embroider, to carve, to +engrave, to etch, to model, to paint. Here also success depends +largely upon that which was inborn, though girls of moderate talent +in art, by patience, may become skilled in many kinds of art work. +Schools for this instruction are schools of art (elementary, +decorative, professional, etc.).</p> + +<p>If there be those in this hall who think that hand-craft is +adverse to rede-craft, let me ask them to study the lives of men of +mark. Isaac Newton began his life as a farm-boy who carried truck +to a market town; Spinoza, the philosopher of Amsterdam, ground +lenses for his livelihood; Watt, the inventor of the steam engine, +was mechanic to the University of Glasgow; Porson, the great +professor of Greek, was trained as a weaver; George Washington was +a land surveyor; Benjamin Franklin a printer.</p> + +<p>Before I close let me draw a lesson from the history of our +land. Some of you doubtless bear in mind that before the late war +men used to say, "Cotton is king;" and why so? Because the trades +which hung on this crop were so many and so strong that they ruled +all others. The rise or fall of a penny in the price of cotton at +Liverpool affected planters in the South, spinners in the North, +seamen on the ocean, bankers and money-changers everywhere. Now +wheat and petroleum share the sovereignty; but then cotton was +king. Who enthroned this harmless plant? Two masters of hand-craft, +one of whom was born a few miles east of this place in Westborough; +the other was a native of England who spent most of his days a few +miles south of this city. Within five years--not quite a century +ago--these two men were putting in forms which could be seen, ideas +which brought our countrymen large measures of both weal and woe. +In 1790, Samuel Slater, once an apprentice to Strutt and Arkwright, +built the mill at Pawtucket which taught Americans the art of +cotton-spinning; and before 1795, Eli Whitney had invented the gin +which easily cleansed the cotton boll of its seeds, and so made +marketable the great crop we have spoken of. Many men have made +more noise in the world than Slater and Whitney; few if any can be +named whose peaceable hand-craft has done so much to give this +country its front place in the markets of the globe.</p> + +<p>Let me come nearer home, and as I take my seat let me name a son +of this very town who loved hand-craft and rede-craft, and worthily +aided both--Isaiah Thomas, the patriot printer, editor, and +publisher, historian of the printer's craft in this land, and +founder of the far famed antiquarian library, eldest in that group +of institutions which gave to Worcester its rank in the world of +letters, as its many products give it standing in the world of +industry and art.</p> + +<p>Mindful of three such worthies, it is not strange that +Salisbury, Washburn, Boylston, and many more have built up this +high school of handicraft; it will be no wonder if others like +minded build on the foundations which have been so fitly laid.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="1"></a></p> + +<h2>MAKING SEA WATER POTABLE.</h2> + +<p>[Footnote: Read lately before the Manchester Literary and +Philosophical Society]</p> + +<h3>By THOMAS KAY, President of the Stockport Natural History +Society.</h3> + +<p>The author called attention to the absence of research in this +direction, and how man, endowed to overcome every physical +disability which encompassed him on land, was powerless to live on +the wide ocean, although it is teeming with life.</p> + +<p>The water for experiment was taken from the English Channel, +about fifty miles southwest of the Eddystone Lighthouse, and it was +found to correspond closely with the analysis of the Atlantic +published by Roscoe, viz.: Total solids 35.976, of which the total +chlorides, are 32.730, representing 19.868 of chlorine.</p> + +<p>The waters of the Irish Sea and the English Channel nearer to +the German Ocean, from their neighborhood to great rivers, are +weaker than the above.</p> + +<p>Schweitzer's analysis of the waters of the English Channel, near +Brighton, was taken as representing the composition of the sea, and +is here given:</p> + +<pre> + Sodium chloride 27.059 + Potassium " 0.766 + Magnesium " 3.666 + " bromide 0.029 + " sulphate 2.296 + Calcium " 1.406 + " carbonate 0.033 + Iodine and ammoniacal salts traces + Water 964.795 + ________ + 1000.000 +</pre> + +<p>The chlorides in the--</p> + +<pre> + Irish Sea are about 30 per mille. + English Channel are about 31 " + Beyond the Eddystone are 32 " +</pre> + +<p>As the requirement for a potable sea water does not arise except +in mid-ocean, the proportion of 32 per mille must be taken as the +basis of calculation.</p> + +<p>This represents as near 20 per mille of chlorine as +possible.</p> + +<p>From the analysis shown it will be perceived that the chlorides +of sodium and magnesium are in great preponderance.</p> + +<p>It is to the former of these that the baneful effects of sea +water when drunk are to be ascribed, for chloride of sodium or +common salt produces thirst probably by its styptic action on the +salivary glands, and scurvy by its deleterious action on the blood +when taken in excess.</p> + +<p>Sodium chloride being the principal noxious element in sea +water, and soda in combination with a vegetable or organic acid, +such as citric acid, tartaric acid, or malic acid, being innocuous, +the conclusion is that the element of evil to be avoided is +<i>chlorine</i>.</p> + +<p>After describing various experiments, and calling attention to +the power of earthy matters in abstracting salts from solutions by +which he hoped the process would be perfected, an imperial pint of +water from beyond the Eddystone was shown mixed with 960 grains of +citrate of silver and 4 grains of the free citric acid.</p> + +<p>Each part of the chlorides requires three parts by weight of the +silver citrate to throw down the chlorine, thus:</p> + +<p>3NaCl + Ag<sub>3</sub>C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>5</sub>O<sub>7</sub> = +Na3.C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>5</sub>O<sub>7</sub>+3AgCl.</p> + +<p>The silver chloride formed a dense insoluble precipitate, and +the supernatant fluid was decanted and filtered through a rubber +tube and handed round as a beverage.</p> + +<p>It contained in each fluid ounce by calculation about:</p> + +<pre> + 18 grains of citrate of soda. + 1-1/2 " " magnesia. + 1/2 " " potash. + 1 " sulphate of magnesia. + 1/2 " " lime. + 1/5 " citric acid. +</pre> + +<p>with less than half a grain of undecomposed chlorides.</p> + +<p>To analyze this liquid therapeutically, it may be broadly stated +that salts of potash are <i>diuretic</i>, salts of magnesia +<i>aperient</i>, and salts of soda <i>neutral</i>, except in +excessive doses, or in combination with acids of varying medicinal +action; thus, soda in nitric acid, nitrate of soda, is a +<i>diuretic</i>, following the law of nitrates as nitrate of +potash, a most powerful diuretic, nitrous ether, etc.; while soda +in combination with sulphuric acid as sulphate of soda is +<i>aperient</i>, following the law of sulphates, which increase +aperient action, as in sulphate of magnesia, etc.</p> + +<p>Thus it would seem that soda holds the scales evenly between +potash and magnesia in this medical sense, and that it is weighed, +so to speak, on either side by the kind of mineral acid with which +it may be combined.</p> + +<p>With non-poisonous vegetable acids, and these slightly in +excess, there is not such an effect produced.</p> + +<p>Sodium is an important constituent of the human body, and citric +acid, from its carbon, almost a food. Although no one would +advocate saline drinks in excess, yet, under especial +circumstances, the solution of it in the form of citrate can hardly +be hurtful when used to moisten the throat and tongue, for it will +never be used under circumstances where it can be taken in large +quantities.</p> + +<p>In the converted sea water the bulk of the solids is composed of +inert citrate of soda. There is a little citrate of potash, which +is a feeble diuretic; a little citrate and sulphate of magnesia, a +slight aperient, corrected, however, by the constipatory half grain +of sulphate of lime; so that the whole practically is +inoperative.</p> + +<p>The combination of these salts in nature's proportions would +seem to indicate that they must be the best for administration in +those ailments to which their use would be beneficial.</p> + +<p>Citrate of silver is an almost insoluble salt, and requires to +be kept from the light, air, and organic matter, it being very +easily decomposed.</p> + +<p>A stoppered bottle covered with India-rubber was exhibited as +indicating a suitable preserver of the salt, as it affords +protection against light, air, and breakage. As one ounce of silver +citrate will convert half a pint of sea water into a drinkable +fluid, and a man can keep alive upon it a day, then seven ounces of +it will keep him a week, and so on, it may not unreasonably be +hoped, in proportion.</p> + +<p>It is proposed to pack the silver citrate in hermetically sealed +rubber covered bottles or tubes, to be inserted under the canisters +or thwarts of the life-boats in ocean-going vessels, and this can +be done at a simple interest on the first outlay, without any loss +by depreciation, as it will always be worth its cost, and be +invaluable in case of need.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="2"></a></p> + +<h2>THE ACIDS OF WOOL OIL.</h2> + +<p>All wools contain a certain amount of animal oil or grease, +which permeates every portion of the fleece. The proportion of oil +varies with the breed of sheep. A difference in climate and soil +materially affects the yield of oil. This is shown by analyses made +of different kinds of wool, both foreign and domestic. Spanish wool +was found to have but eight per cent. grease; Australian wool +fifteen per cent.; while in some fleeces of Pennsylvania wool as +high as forty per cent. was obtained. To extract the oil from the +wool, a fleece was put in a tall cylinder and naphtha poured on it. +The naphtha on being allowed to drain through slowly dissolved out +the grease. This naphtha solution was distilled; the naphtha +passing off while grease remained--a dark oil having high specific +gravity and remaining nearly solid at the ordinary temperature. I +am indebted to Mrs. Richards for this method of extracting the oil. +The process is quick and inexpensive, and is applicable to the +treatment of large quantities of wool.</p> + +<p>The object of these experiments was to find the readiest method +of separating wool oil into its bases and acids, and further to +identify the various fatty acids. A solution of the oil in naphtha +was cooled to 15° C. This caused a separation of the oil into +two portions: a white solid fat and a fluid dark oil. The first on +examination proved to be a mixture of palmitic and stearic acids +existing uncombined in the wool oil. The original wool oil was +saponified by boiling with alcoholic potash.</p> + +<p>The soap formed was separated into two portions by shaking with +ether and water. On standing, the solution separated into two +layers, the upper or murial solution containing the bases, the +lower or aqueous solution containing the acids. This method of +separation is very slow. In one case it worked very well, but as a +rule appeared to be almost impracticable. Benzol and naphtha were +tried, instead of ether, but the results were less satisfactory. On +suggestion of Prof. Ordway, potassium chloride was added to the +soap solution partially separated by ether and water. This caused +an immediate and complete separation. By the use of potassium +chloride it was found possible to effect a separation with benzol +and water, also with naphtha and water.</p> + +<p>Another means of separation was tried by precipitating the +calcium salts, from a solution of the potash soap. From the portion +of the calcium salts insoluble in alcohol, a fatty acid was +obtained with a melting point and composition almost identical with +the melting point and composition of palmitic acid. The aqueous +portion of the separation effected by water and ether was examined +for the fatty acid. The lead salts of the fatty acids were digested +with ether, which dissolved out the lead oleate. From this oleic +acid was obtained. This was further purified by forming the Boreum +salt of oleic acid. The lead salts not soluble in ether were +decomposed by acid. The fatty acids set free were saponified by +carbonate of potassium. A fractional precipitation was effected by +adding lead acetate in successive portions; each portion sufficient +to precipitate one-fourth of all the acids present.</p> + +<p>The acid obtained from the first fractionation had the melting +point at 75°-76°, indicating an acid either in carbon then +stearic or palmitic acids.</p> + +<p>The acids obtained from the third fractionation had a melting +point of 53°-54° C. This acid in composition and general +properties was very similar to that obtained by freezing the +naphtha solution of the oil, and is probably a mixture of stearic +and palmitic acids. These acids, being in combination with the +bases of the oil, would be set free only on saponifying the oil and +subsequently decomposing with acid.</p> + +<p>In conclusion, I should say that but a small proportion of the +fatty acids exist in the wool oil uncombined; that the proportion +of oleic acid is small, and can only be obtained in an oxidized +condition; that the main portion of the fatty acids is composed of +stearic and palmitic acids in nearly equal proportions; that the +existence of a fatty acid, containing a higher per cent. of carbon +than those mentioned, is not fully established.--<i>N.W. Shedd, +M.I.T.</i></p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="3"></a></p> + +<h2>A NEW ABSORBENT FOR OXYGEN.</h2> + +<p>OTTO, BARON V.D. PFORDTEN.--The author makes use of a solution +of chromous chloride, which he prepares as follows:</p> + +<p>He first heats chromic acid with concentrated hydrochloric acid, +so as to obtain a strong green solution of chromic chloride free +from chlorine. This is then reduced with zinc and hydrochloric +acid. The blue chromous chloride solution thus obtained is poured +into a saturated solution of sodium acetate in an atmosphere of +carbonic acid. A red precipitate of chromous acetate is formed, +which is washed by decantation in water containing carbonic acid. +This salt is relatively stable, and can be preserved for an +indefinite time in a moist condition in stoppered bottles filled +with carbonic acid.</p> + +<p>In this process the following precautions are to be +observed:</p> + +<p>Spongy flocks always separate from the zinc used in the +reduction, which float about in the acid liquid for a long time and +give off minute gas bubbles. If poured into the solution of sodium +acetate, they would contaminate the precipitate; and when dissolved +in hydrochloric acid, would occasion a slight escape of hydrogen. +The solution of chromous chloride must therefore be freed from the +zinc by filtration in the absence of air. For this purpose the +reduction is carried on in a flask fitted up like a washing bottle. +The long tube is bent down outside the flask, and is here provided +with a small bulb tube containing glass wool or asbestos. The +hydrogen gas liberated during reduction is at first let escape +through this tube; afterward its outer end is closed, and it is +pressed down into the liquid. The hydrogen must now pass through +the shorter tube (the mouthpiece of the washing bottle), which has +an India rubber valve. When the reduction is complete, the blue +liquid is driven up in the long tube by introducing carbonic acid +through the short tube, so that it filters through the asbestos +into the solution of sodium acetate into which the reopened end of +the long tube dips. When washing out the red precipitate, at first +a little acetic acid is added to dissolve any basic zinc carbonate +which has been deposited. In this manner a chromous acetate is +obtained perfectly free from zinc.</p> + +<p>For the absorption of oxygen the compound just described is +decomposed with hydrochloric acid in the following simple washing +apparatus: Upon a shelf there are fixed side by side two ordinary +preparation glasses, closed with caoutchouc stoppers, each having +three perforations. Each two apertures receive the glass tubes used +in gas washing bottles, while the third holds a dropping funnel. It +is filled with dilute hydrochloric acid, and after the expulsion of +the air by a current of gas, plentiful quantities of chromous +acetate are passed into the bottles. When the current of gas has +been passed in for some time, the hydrochloric acid is let enter, +which dissolves the chromous acetate, and thus, in the absence of +air, produces a solution of blue chromous chloride. It is advisable +to use an excess of chromous acetate or an insufficient quantity of +hydrochloric acid, so that there may be no free hydrochloric acid +in the liquid. To keep back any free acetic acid which might be +swept over by the current of gas, there is introduced after the +washing apparatus another washing bottle with sodium carbonate. +Also solid potassium carbonate may be used instead of calcium +chloride for drying the gas. If the two apertures of the washing +apparatus are fitted with small pinch cocks, it is ready for use, +and merely requires to be connected with the gas apparatus in +action in order to free the gas generated from oxygen. As but +little chromous salt is decomposed by the oxygen such a washing +apparatus may serve for many experiments.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="16"></a></p> + +<h2>GAIFFE'S NEW MEDICAL GALVANOMETER.</h2> + +<p>In this apparatus, which contains but one needle, and has no +directing magnet, proportionability between the intensities and +deflections is obtained by means of a special form given the frame +upon which the wire is wound.</p> + +<p>We give herewith a figure of the curve that Mr. Gaiffe has fixed +upon after numerous experiments. Upon examination it will be seen +that the needle approaches the current in measure as the directing +action of the earth increases; and experiment proves that the two +actions counterbalance each other, and render the deflections very +sensibly proportional to the intensities up to an angle of from 65 +to 75 degrees.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><img src="./illustrations/14a.png" alt=""></p> + +<p>Another important fact has likewise been ascertained, and that +is that, under such circumstances, the magnetic intensity of the +needle may change without the indications ceasing to have the same +exactness up to 65 degrees. As well known, Mr. Desains has +demonstrated that this occurs likewise in sinus or tangent +galvanometers; but these have helices that are very large in +proportion to the needle. In medical galvanometers the proportions +are no longer the same, and the needle is always very near the +directing helix. If this latter is square, or even elliptical, it +is found that, beyond an angle of 15 degrees, there are differences +of 4 or 5 degrees in the indications given with the same intensity +of current by the same needle, according to the latter's intensity +of magnetism. This inconvenience is quite grave, for it often +happens that a needle changes magnetic intensity, either under the +influence of too strong currents sent into the apparatus, or of +other magnets in its vicinity, or as a consequence of the bad +quality of the steel, etc. It was therefore urgently required that +this should be remedied, and from this point of view the new mode +of winding the wire is an important improvement introduced into +medical galvanometers.--<i>La Lumiere Electrique</i>.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="17"></a></p> + +<h2>THE SUSPENSION OF LIFE.</h2> + +<p>Every one knows that life exists in a latent state in the seeds +of plants, and may be preserved therein, so to speak, indefinitely. +In 1853, Ridolfi deposited in the Egyptian Museum of Florence a +sheaf of wheat that he had obtained from seeds found in a mummy +case dating back about 3,000 years. This aptitude of revivification +is found to a high degree in animalcules of low order. The air +which we breathe is loaded with impalpable dust that awaits, for +ages perhaps, proper conditions of heat and moisture to give it an +ephemeral life that it will lose and acquire by turns.</p> + +<p>In 1707, Spallanzani found it possible, eleven times in +succession, to suspend the life of rotifers submitted to +desiccation, and to call it back again by moistening this organic +dust with water. A few years ago Doyere brought to life some +tardigrades that had been dried at a temperature of 150° and +kept four weeks in a vacuum. If we ascend the scale of beings, we +find analogous phenomena produced by diverse causes. Flies that +have been imported in casks of Madeira have been resuscitated in +Europe, and chrysalids have been kept in this state for years. +Cockchafers drowned, and then dried in the sun, have been revived +after a lapse of twenty-four hours, two days, and even five days, +after submersion. Frogs, salamanders, and spiders poisoned by +curare or nicotine, have returned to life after several days of +apparent death.</p> + +<p>Cold produces some extraordinary effects. Spallanzani kept +several frogs in the center of a lump of ice for two years, and, +although they became dry, rigid, almost friable, and gave no +external appearance of being alive, it was only necessary to expose +them to a gradual and moderate heat to put an end to the lethargic +state in which they lay.</p> + +<p>Pikes and salamanders have at different epochs been revived +before the eyes of Maupertuis and Constant Dumeril (members of the +Academy of Sciences) after being frozen stiff. Auguste Dumeril, son +of Constant, and who was the reporter of the committee relative to +the Blois toad in 1851, published a curious memoir the following +year in which he narrates how he interrupted life through +congelation of the liquids and solids of the organism. Some frogs, +whose internal temperature had been reduced to -2° in an +atmosphere of -12°, returned to life before his eyes, and he +observed their tissues regain their usual elasticity and their +heart pass from absolute immobility to its normal motion.</p> + +<p>There is therefore no reason for doubting the assertions of +travelers who tell us that the inhabitants of North America and +Russia transport fish that are frozen stiff, and bring them to life +again by dipping them into water of ordinary temperature ten or +fifteen days afterward. But I think too much reliance should not be +put in the process devised by the great English physiologist, +Hunter, for prolonging the life of man indefinitely by successive +freezings. It has been allowed to no one but a romancer, Mr. Edmond +About, to be present at this curious operation.</p> + +<p>Among the mammifera we find appearances of death in their winter +sleep; but these are incomplete, since the temperature of +hibernating animals remains greater by one degree than that of the +surrounding air, and the motions of the heart and respiration are +simply retarded. Dr. Preyer has observed that a hamster sometimes +goes five minutes without breathing appreciably after a fortnight's +sleep.</p> + +<p>In man himself a suspension of life, or at least phenomena that +seem inseparable therefrom, has been observed many times. In the +<i>Journal des Savants</i> for 1741 we read that a Col. Russel, +having witnessed the death of his wife, whom he tenderly loved, did +not wish her buried, and threatened to kill any one who should +attempt to remove the body before he witnessed its decomposition +himself. Eight days passed by without the woman giving the +slightest sign of life, "when, at a moment when he was holding her +hand and shedding tears over her, the church bell began to ring, +and, to his indescribable surprise, his wife sat up and said, 'It +is the last stroke, we shall be too late.' She recovered."</p> + +<p>At a session of the Academy of Sciences, Oct. 17, 1864, Mr. +Blaudet communicated a report upon a young woman of thirty summers +who, being subject to nervous attacks, fell, after her crises, into +a sort of lethargic sleep which lasted several weeks and sometimes +several months. One of her sleeps, especially, lasted from the +beginning of the year 1862 until March, 1863.</p> + +<p>Dr. Paul Levasseur relates that, in a certain English family, +lethargy seemed to have become hereditary. The first case was +exhibited in an old lady who remained for fifteen days in an +immovable and insensible state, and who afterward, on regaining her +consciousness, lived for quite a long time. Warned by this fact, +the family preserved a young man for several weeks who appeared to +be dead, but who came to life again.</p> + +<p>Dr. Pfendler, in an inaugural thesis (Paris, 1833), minutely +describes a case of apparent death of which he himself was a +witness. A young girl of Vienna at the age of 15 was attacked by a +nervous affection that brought on violent crises followed by +lethargic states which lasted three or four days. After a time she +became so exhausted that the first physicians of the city declared +that there was no more hope. It was not long, in fact, before she +was observed to rise in her bed and fall back as if struck with +death. "For four hours she appeared to me," says Dr. Pfendler, +"completely inanimate. With Messrs. Franck and Schaeffer, I made +every possible effort to rekindle the spark of life. Neither +mirror, nor burned feather, nor ammonia, nor pricking succeeded in +giving us a sign of sensibility. Galvanism was tried without the +patient showing any contractility. Mr. Franck believed her to be +dead, but nevertheless advised me to leave her on the bed. For +twenty-eight hours no change supervened, although it was thought +that a little putrefaction was observed. The death bell was +sounded, the friends of the girl had dressed her in white and had +crowned her with flowers, and all was arranged for her burial. +Desiring to convince myself of the course of the putrefaction, I +visited the body again, and found that no further advance had been +made than before. What was my astonishment when I believed that I +saw a slight respiratory motion. I looked again, and saw that I was +not mistaken. I at once used friction and irritants, and in an hour +and a half the respiration increased. The patient opened her eyes, +and, struck with the funereal paraphernalia around her, returned to +consciousness, and said, 'I am too young to die.'" All this was +followed by a ten hours' sleep. Convalescence proceeded rapidly, +and the girl became free from all her nervous troubles. During her +crisis she heard everything. She quoted some Latin words that Mr. +Franck had used. Her most fearful agony had been to hear the +preparations for her burial without being able to get rid of her +torpor. Medical dictionaries are full of anecdotes of this nature, +but I shall cite but two more.</p> + +<p>On the 10th of November, 1812, during the fatal retreat from +Russia, Commandant Tascher, desiring to bring back to France the +body of his general, who had been killed by a bullet, and who had +been buried since the day before, disinterred him, and, upon +putting him into a landau, and noticing that he was still +breathing, brought him to life again by dint of care. A long time +afterward this same general was one of the pall bearers at the +funeral obsequies of the aide-de-camp who had buried him. In 1826 a +young priest returned to life at the moment the bishop of the +diocese was pronouncing the <i>De Profundis</i> over his body. +Forty years afterward, this priest, who had become Cardinal +Donnett, preached a feeling sermon upon the danger of premature +burial.</p> + +<p>I trust I have now sufficiently prepared the mind of the reader +for an examination of the phenomena of the voluntary suspension of +life that I shall now treat of.</p> + +<p>The body of an animal may be compared to a machine that converts +the food that it receives into motion. It receives nothing, it will +produce nothing; but there is no reason why it should get out of +order if it is not deteriorated by external agents. The legendary +rustic who wanted to accustom his ass to go without food was +therefore theoretically wrong only because he at the same time +wanted the animal to work. The whole difficulty consists in +breaking with old habits. To return to the comparison that we just +made, we shall run the risk of exploding the boiler of a steam +engine if we heat it or cool it abruptly, but we can run it very +slowly and for a very long time with but very little fuel. We may +even preserve a little fire under the ashes, and this, although it +may not be capable of setting the parts running, will suffice later +on to revivify the fireplace after it has been charged anew with +fuel.</p> + +<p>We have recently had the example of Dr. Tanner, who went forty +days without any other nourishment than water. Not very long ago +Liedovine de Schiedam, who had been bedridden for twenty years, +affirmed that she had taken no food for eight of them. It is said +that Saint Catharine of Sienna gradually accustomed herself to do +without food, and that she lived twenty years in total abstinence. +We know of several examples of prolonged sleep during which the +sleeper naturally took no nourishment. In his Magic Disquisitions, +Delvis cites the case of a countryman who slept for an entire +autumn and winter. Pfendler relates that a certain young and +hysterical woman fell twice into a deep slumber which each time +lasted six months. In 1883 an <i>enceinte</i> woman was found +asleep on a bench in the Grand Armee Avenue. She was taken to the +Beaujon Hospital, where she was delivered a few days after while +still asleep, and it was not till the end of three months that she +could be awakened from her lethargy. At this very moment, at +Tremeille, a woman named Marguerite Bouyenvalle is sleeping a sleep +that has lasted nearly a year, during which the only food that she +has had is a few drops of soup daily.</p> + +<p>What is more remarkable, Dr. Fournier says in his Dictionary of +Medical Sciences that he knew of a distinguished writer at Paris, +who sometimes went for months at a time without taking anything but +emollient drinks, while at the same time living along like other +people.</p> + +<p>Respiration is certainly more necessary to life than food is; +but it is not absolutely indispensable, as we have seen in the +cases of apparent death cited in our previous article. It is +possible, through exercise, for a person to accustom himself, up to +a certain point, to abstinence from air as he can from food. Those +who dive for pearls, corals, or sponges succeed in remaining from +two to three minutes under water. Miss Lurline, who exhibited in +Paris in 1882, remained two and a half minutes beneath the water of +her aquarium without breathing. In his treatise De la Nature, Henri +de Rochas, physician to Louis XIII., gives six minutes as the +maximum length of time that can elapse between successive +inspirations of air. It is probable that this figure was based upon +an observation of hibernating animals.</p> + +<p>In his Encyclopedic Dictionary, Dr. Dechambre relates the +history of a Hindoo who hid himself in the waters of the Ganges +where women were bathing, seized one of them by the legs, drowned +her, and then removed her jewels. Her disappearance was attributed +to crocodiles. One woman who succeeded in escaping him denounced +the assassin, who was seized and hanged in 1817.</p> + +<p>A well known case, is that of Col. Townshend, who possessed the +remarkable faculty of stopping at will not only his respiration, +but also the beating of his heart. He performed the experiment one +day in the presence of Surgeon Gosch, who cared for him in his old +age, two physicians, and his apothecary, Mr. Shrine. In their +presence, says Gosch, the Colonel lay upon his back, Dr. Cheyne +watched his pulse, Dr. Baynard put his hand upon his heart, and Mr. +Shrine held a mirror to his mouth. After a few seconds no pulse, +movement of the heart, or respiration could be observed. At the end +of half an hour, as the spectators were beginning to get +frightened, they observed the functions progressively resuming +their course, and the Colonel came back to life.</p> + +<p>The fakirs of India habituate themselves to abstinence from air, +either by introducing into the nostrils strings that come out +through the mouth, or by dwelling in subterranean cells that air +and light never enter except through narrow crevices that are +sometimes filled with clay. Here they remain seated in profound +silence, for hours at a time, without any other motion than that of +the fingers as the latter slowly take beads from a chaplet, the +mind absorbed by the mental pronunciation of OM (the holy triune +name), which they must repeat incessantly while endeavoring to +breathe as little as possible. They gradually lengthen the +intervals between their inspirations and expirations, until, in +three or four months, they succeed in making them an hour and a +half. This is not the ideal, for one of their sacred books says, in +speaking of a saint: "At the fourth month he no longer takes any +food but air, and that only every twelve days, and, master of his +respiration he embraces God in his thought. At the fifth he stands +as still as a pole; he no longer sees anything but Baghavat, and +God touches his cheek to bring him out of his ecstasy."</p> + +<p>It will be conceived that by submitting themselves to such +gymnastics from infancy, certain men, already predisposed by +atavism or a peculiar conformation, might succeed in doing things +that would seem impossible to the common run of mortals. Do we not +daily see acrobats remaining head downward for a length of time +that would suffice to kill 99 per cent, of their spectators through +congestion if they were to place themselves in the same posture? +Can the savage who laboriously learns to spell, letter by letter, +comprehend how many people get the general sense of an entire page +at a single glance?</p> + +<p>There is no reason, then, <i>a priori</i>, for assigning to the +domain of legerdemain the astonishing facts that are told us by a +large number of witnesses, worthy of credence, regarding a young +fakir who, forty years ago, was accustomed to allow himself to be +buried, and resuscitated several months afterward.</p> + +<p>An English officer, Mr. Osborne, gives the following account of +one of these operations, which took place in 1838 at the camp of +King Randjet Singh:</p> + +<p>"After a few preparations, which lasted some days, and that it +would prove repugnant to enumerate, the fakir declared himself +ready to undergo the ordeal. The Maharajah, the Sikhs chiefs, and +Gen. Ventura, assembled near a masonry tomb that had been +constructed expressly to receive him. Before their eyes, the fakir +closed with wax all the apertures in his body (except his mouth) +that could give entrance to air. Then, having taken off the +clothing that he had on, he was enveloped in a canvas sack, and, +according to his wish, his tongue was turned back in such a way as +to close the entrance to his windpipe. Immediately after this he +fell into a sort of trance. The bag that held him was closed and a +seal was put upon it by the Maharajah. The bag was then put into a +wooden box, which was fastened by a padlock, sealed, and let down +into the tomb. A large quantity of earth was thrown into the hole +and rammed down, and then barley was sown on the surface and +sentinels placed around with orders to watch day and night.</p> + +<p>"Despite all such precautions, the Maharajah had his doubts; so +he came twice in the space of ten months (the time during which the +fakir was buried), and had the tomb opened in his presence. The +fakir was in the bag into which he had been put, cold and +inanimate. The ten months having expired, he was disinterred, Gen. +Ventura and Capt. Ward saw the padlock removed, the seals broken, +and the box taken from the tomb. The fakir was taken out, and no +pulsation either at the heart or pulse indicated the presence of +life. As a first measure for reviving him, a person introduced a +finger gently into his mouth and placed his tongue in its natural +position. The top of his head was the only place where there was +any perceptible heat. By slowly pouring warm water over his body, +signs of life were gradually obtained, and after about two hours of +care the patient got up and began to walk.</p> + +<p>"This truly extraordinary man says that during his burial he has +delightful dreams, but that the moment of awakening is always very +painful to him. Before returning to a consciousness of his +existence he experiences vertigoes. His nails and hair cease to +grow. His only fear is that he may be harmed by worms and insects, +and it is to protect himself from these that he has the box +suspended in the center of the tomb."</p> + +<p>This sketch was published in the <i>Magasin Pittoresque</i> in +1842 by a writer who had just seen Gen. Ventura in Paris, and had +obtained from him a complete confirmation of the story told by +Capt. Wade.</p> + +<p>Another English officer, Mr. Boileau, in a work published in +1840, and Dr. MacGregor, in his medical topography of Lodhiana, +narrate two analogous exhumations that they separately witnessed. +The question therefore merits serious examination.--<i>A. de +Rochas, in La Nature</i>.</p> + +<hr> +<p>Some experiments recently made by M. Olszewsky appear to show +that liquid oxygen is one of the best of refrigerants. He found +that when liquefied oxygen was allowed to vaporize under the +pressure of one atmosphere, a temperature as low as -181.4° C. +was produced. The temperature fell still further when the pressure +on the liquid oxygen was reduced to nine millimeters of mercury. +Though the pressure was reduced still further to four millimeters +of mercury, yet the oxygen remained liquid. Liquefied nitrogen, +when allowed to evaporate under a pressure of sixty millimeters of +mercury, gave a temperature of -214° C., only the surface of +the liquid gas became opaque from incipient solidification. Under +lower pressures the nitrogen solidified, and temperatures as low as +-225° C. were recorded by the hydrogen thermometer. The lowest +temperature obtained by allowing liquefied carbonic oxide to +vaporize was -220.5° C.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="15"></a></p> + +<h2>CONVALLARIA</h2> + +. + +<h3>By OTTO A. WALL, M.D., Ph.G.</h3> + +<p>Cnovallaria Majalis is a stemless perennial plant, found in both +the eastern and western hemispheres, with two elliptic leaves and a +one-sided raceme bearing eight or ten bell-shaped flowers. The +flowers are fragrant, and perfumes called "Lily of the Valley" are +among the popular odors.</p> + +<p>Both leaves and flowers have been used in medicine, but the +rhizome is the part most frequently used.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><a href="./illustrations/15a.png"><img src= +"./illustrations/15a_th.jpg" alt="CONVALLARIA."></a></p> + +<p class="ctr">CONVALLARIA.</p> + +<p>The fresh rhizome is a creeping, branching rhizome of a pale +yellowish white color, which, on drying, darkens to a straw color, +or even a brown in places. When dry it is about the thickness of a +thick knitting needle, swelling to the thickness of a quill when +soaked in water. It is of uniform thickness, except near the +leaf-bearing ends, which are thicker marked with numerous +leafscars, or bare buds covered with scales, and often having +attached the tattered remains of former leaves. Fig. A shows a +portion of rhizome, natural size, and Fig. B shows another piece +enlarged to double linear size.</p> + +<p>The internodes are smooth, the rootlets being attached at the +nodes. The rootlets are filiform, and darker in color.</p> + +<p>The rhizome is covered by an epidermis, composed of muriform +cells of a bright yellow color, after having been treated with +liquor potassæ to clear up the tissues. These cells are shown +in Fig. G. An examination of the transverse section shows us the +endogenous structure, as we find it also in various other drugs +(sarsaparilla, etc.), namely, a nucleus sheath, inclosing the +fibrovascular bundles and pith, and surrounded by a peri-ligneous +or peri-nuclear portion, consisting of soft-walled parenchyma +cells, loosely arranged with many small, irregularly triangular, +intercellular spaces in the tranverse section. Some of these cells +contain bundles of raphides (Fig. 2), one of which bundles is shown +crushed in Fig. J. Sometimes these crystals are coarser and less +needle-like, as in Fig. K. Fig. C shows a transverse section +through the leaf-bearing portion of the rhizome (at a), and is +rather irregular on account of the fibrovascular bundles diverging +into the base of the leaves of flower-stalks. A more regular +appearance is seen in Fig. D, which is a section through the +internode (b). In it we see the nuclear sheath, varying in width +from one to three cells, and inclosing a number of crescent-shaped +fibrovascular bundles, with their convexities toward the center and +their horns toward the nuclear sheath. There are also from two to +four or five free closed fibrovascular bundles in the central +pith.</p> + +<p>These fibrovascular bundles consist mainly of dotted or +reticulated ducts (Fig. F), but all gradations from, this to the +spiroids, or even true spiral ducts (Fig. E). may be found, though +the annular and spiral ducts are quite rare. These ducts are often +prismatically compressed by each other. The fibrovascular bundles +also contain soft-walled prosenchyma cells. The peri-nuclear +portion consists of soft-walled parenchyma, smaller near the +nuclear sheath and the epidermis, and larger about midway between, +and of the same character as the cells of the pith. In longitudinal +section they appear rectangular, similar to the walls of the +epidermis (G), but with thinner walls.</p> + +<p>All parts of the plant have been used in medicine, either +separately or together, and according to some authorities the whole +flowering plant is the best form in which to use this drug.</p> + +<p>The active principles are <i>convallaramin</i> and +<i>convallarin</i>.</p> + +<p>It is considered to act similarly to digitalis as a +heart-stimulant, especially when the failure of the heart's action +is due to mechanical impediments rather than to organic +degeneration. It is best given in the form of fluid extract in the +dose of 1 to 5 cubic centimeters (15 to 75 minims), commencing with +the smaller doses, and increasing, if necessary, according to the +effects produced in each individual case.--<i>The +Pharmacist</i>.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="14"></a></p> + +<h2>FLIGHT OF THE BUZZARD.</h2> + +<p>During my visit to the Southern States of America, I have had +several opportunities of watching, under favorable conditions, the +flight of the buzzard, the scavenger of Southern cities. Although +in most respect this bird's manner of flight resembles that of the +various sea-birds which I have often watched for hours sailing +steadily after ocean steamships, yet, being a land bird, the +buzzard is more apt to give examples of that kind of flight in +which a bird remains long over the same place. Instead of sailing +steadily on upon outstretched pinions, the buzzard often ascends in +a series of spirals, or descends along a similar course. I have not +been able to time the continuance of the longest flights during +which the wings have not once been flapped, for the simple reason +that, in every case where I have attempted to do so, the bird has +passed out of view either by upward or horizontal traveling. But I +am satisfied that in many cases the bird sweeps onward or about on +unflapping wings for more than half an hour.</p> + +<p>Now, many treat this problem of aerial flotation as if it were +of the nature of a miracle--something not to be explained. +Explanations which have been advanced have, it is true, been in +many cases altogether untenable. For instance, some have asserted +that the albatross, the condor, and other birds which float for a +long time without moving their wings--and that, too, in some cases, +at great heights above the sea-level, where the air is very +thin--are supported by some gas within the hollow parts of their +bones, as the balloon is supported by the hydrogen within it. The +answer to this is that a balloon is <i>not</i> supported by the +hydrogen within it, but by the surrounding air, and in just such +degree as the air is displaced by the lighter gas. The air around a +bird is only displaced by the bird's volume, and the pressure of +the air corresponding to this displacement is not equivalent to +more than one five-hundredth part of the bird's weight. Another +idea is that when a bird seems to be floating on unmoving wings +there is really a rapid fluttering of the feathers of the wings, by +which a sustaining power is obtained. But no one who knows anything +of the anatomy of the bird will adopt this idea for an instant, and +no one who has ever watched with a good field-glass a floating bird +of the albatross or buzzard kind will suppose they are fluttering +their feathers in this way, even though he should be utterly +ignorant of the anatomy of the wings. Moreover, any one acquainted +with the laws of dynamics will know that there would be tremendous +loss of power in the fluttering movement imagined as compared with +the effect of sweeping downward and backward the whole of each +wing.</p> + +<p>There is only one possible way of explaining the floating power +of birds, and that is by associating it with the rapid motion +acquired originally by wing flapping, and afterward husbanded, so +to speak, by absolutely perfect adjustment and balancing. To this +the answer is often advanced that it implies ignorance of the laws +of dynamics to suppose that rapid advance can affect the rate of +falling, as is implied by the theory that it enables the bird to +float.</p> + +<p>Now, as a matter of fact, a slight slope of the wings would +undoubtedly produce a raising power, and so an answer is at one +obtained to this objection. But I venture to assert, with the +utmost confidence, that a perfectly horizontal plane, advancing +swiftly in a horizontal direction at first, will not sink as +quickly, or anything like as quickly, as a similar plane let fall +from a position of rest. A cannon-ball, rushing horizontally from +the mouth of a cannon, begins to fall just as if it were simply +dropped. But the case of a horizontal plane is altogether +different. If rapidly advancing, it passes continually over still +air; if simply let fall, the air beneath it yields, and presently +currents are set up which facilitate the descent of the flat body; +but there is no time to set up these aerial movements as the flat +body passes rapidly over still air.</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact, we know that this difference exists, from +the difference in the observed behavior of a flat card set flying +horizontally through the air and a similar card held horizontally +and then allowed to fall.</p> + +<p>I believe the whole mystery of aerial flotation lies here, and +that as soon as aerial floating machines are planned on this +system, it will be found that the problem of aerial transit--though +presenting still many difficulties of detail--is, nevertheless, +perfectly soluble.--<i>R.A. Proctor, in Newcastle Weekly +Chronicle</i>.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="13"></a></p> + +<h2>AN ASSYRIAN BASS-RELIEF 2,700 YEARS OLD.</h2> + +<p>There was exhibited at the last meeting of the Numismatic and +Antiquarian Society, in Philadelphia, on May 7, an object of great +interest to archæologists, with which, says <i>The +Church</i>, is also connected a very curious history.</p> + +<p>It appears that about forty years ago a young American minister, +Rev. W.F. Williams, went as a missionary to Syria, and he visited +among places of interest the site of ancient Nineveh about the time +that Austin Henry Layard was making his famous explorations and +discoveries; he wrote to a friend in Philadelphia that he had +secured for him a fine piece of Assyrian sculpture from one of the +recently opened temples or palaces, representing a life size figure +of a king, clad in royal robes, bearing in one hand a basket and in +the other a fir cone. One portion of the stone was covered with +hieroglyphics, and was as sharply cut as though it had been carved +by a modern hand instead of by an artist who was sleeping in his +grave when Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, was yet an infant.</p> + +<p>The letter describing this treasure arrived duly, but the stones +did not come. It appears that the caravan bringing them down to +Alexandretta, from whence they were to be shipped to Philadelphia, +was attacked by robbers, and the sculptured stones were thrown upon +the desert as useless, and there they remained for some years. +Finally they were recovered, shipped to this country (about +twenty-five years ago), and arriving at their destination during +the absence of the consignee, were deposited temporarily in a +subterranean storeroom at his manufactory. In some way they were +overlooked, and here they have remained unopened until they were +rediscovered a few days ago; meanwhile the missionary and his +friend have both passed away, ignorant of the fact that the rare +gift had finally reached its destination and had become again +lost.</p> + +<p>The cuneiform inscription is now being translated by an Assyrian +scholar (Rev. Dr. J.P. Peters, of the Divinity School), and its +identity is established; it came from the temple of King +Assur-nazir-pal, a famous conqueror who reigned from 883 to 859 +B.C.</p> + +<p>The slab was cut into three sections, 3x3½ feet each, for +convenience of transportation, and they have been somewhat broken +on the journey; fortunately, however, this does not obliterate the +writing.</p> + +<p>Mr. Tolcott Williams, a son of the late missionary, was present +at the meeting of the Society, and gave an interesting account of +the classic ground from which the slab was obtained. It was one of +a number lining the walls of the palace of Assur-nazir-pal. The +inscriptions, as translated by Dr. Peters, indicate that this +particular slab was carved during the first portion of this king's +reign, and some conception of its great antiquity may be gained +when it is stated that he was a contemporary of Ahab and +Jehosaphat; he was born not more than a century later than Solomon, +and he reigned three centuries before Nebuchadnezzar, King of +Babylon. After the slabs were procured, it was necessary to send +them on the backs of camels a journey of eight hundred miles across +the Great Desert, through a region which was more or less infested +at all seasons with roving bands of robbers. Mr. Williams well +remembered the interview between his father and the Arab camel +owner, who told several conflicting stories by way of preliminary +to the confession of the actual facts, in order to account for the +non-arrival of the stones at Alexandretta, the sea coast town from +whence they were to be shipped to Philadelphia.</p> + +<p>Mr. A.E. Outerbridge, Jr., gave a brief account of the finding +of these stones in the subterranean storeroom where they had +reposed for a period of a quarter of a century. The space between +the slabs and the boxes had been packed with camels' hair, which +had in progress of time become eaten by insects and reduced to a +fine powder. The nails with which the cases were fastened were +remarkable both for their peculiar shape and for the extraordinary +toughness of the iron, far excelling in this respect the wrought +iron made in America to day.</p> + +<p>The Rev. Dr. J.P. Peters gave a very instructive exposition of +the chronology of the kings of Assyria, their social and religious +customs and ceremonies, their methods of warfare, their systems of +architecture, etc. He stated that the finest Assyrian bass-reliefs +in the British Museum came from the same palace as this specimen, +the carving of which is not excelled by any period of the ancient +glyptic art. The particular piece of alabaster selected by the +artist for this slab was unusually fine, being mottled with nodules +of crystallized gypsum.</p> + +<p>The cuneiform inscription is not unlike the Hebrew in its +character, resembling it about as closely as the Yorkshire dialect +resembles good English. The characters are so large and clearly cut +that it is a pleasure to read them after the laborious scrutiny of +the minute Babylonish clay tablets. The inscription on this slab is +identical with a portion of that of the great "Standard Monolith," +on which this king subsequently caused to be transcribed the pages, +as it were, from the different slabs which were apparently cut at +intervals in his reign.</p> + +<p><i>Translation of a Portion of the Cuneiform, +Inscription</i>.--"The palace of Assur-nazir-pal, servant of Assur, +servant of the god Beltis, the god Ninit, the shining one of Anu +and Dagon, servant of the Great Gods, Mighty King, king of hosts, +king of the land of Assyria; son of Bin-nirari, a strong warrior, +who in the service of Assur his Lord marched vigorously among the +princes of the four regions, who had no equal, a mighty leader who +had no rival, a king subduing all disobedient to him; who rules +multitudes of men; crushing all his foes, even the masses of the +rebels.... The city of Calah, which my predecessor, Shalmanezer, +King of Assyria had built had fallen into decay: His city I +rebuilt; a palace of cedar, box, cypress, for the seat of my +royalty, for the fullness of my princedom, to endure for +generations, I placed upon it. With plates of copper I roofed it, I +hung in its gates folding doors of cedar wood, silver, gold, +copper, and iron which my hands had acquired in the lands which I +ruled, I gathered in great quantities, and placed them in the midst +thereof." O.</p> + +<hr> +<p><a name="4"></a></p> + +<h2>DEPOSITING NICKEL UPON ZINC.</h2> + +<h3>By H.B. SLATER.</h3> + +<p>To those interested in the electro deposition of nickel upon +zinc, the formula given below for a solution and a brief +explanation of its use will be of service.</p> + +<p>The first sample of this solution was made as an experiment to +see what substances could be added to a solution of the double +sulphate of nickel and ammonium without spoiling it.</p> + +<p>In addition to several other combinations and mixtures of +solutions from which I succeeded in obtaining a good deposit, I +found that the solution here given would plate almost anything I +put into it, and worked especially well upon zinc. In its use no +"scraping" or rescouring or any of the many operations which I have +seen recommended for zinc needs be resorted to, as the metal +"strikes" at once and is deposited in a continuous adherent film of +reguline metal, and can be laid on as heavily as nickel is +deposited generally.</p> + +<p>I believe that the addition of the ammonium chloride simply +reduces the resistance of the double sulphate solution, but the +office of the potassium chloride is not so easily explained. At +least, I have never been able to explain it satisfactorily to +myself. It is certain, however, that the solution does not work as +well without it, nor does the addition of ammonium chloride in its +stead give as fine a result.</p> + +<p>Some care is necessary in the management of the current, which +should have a density of about 17 amperes per square foot of +surface--not much above or below. This may seem a high figure, +especially when it is discovered that there is a considerable +evolution of gas during the operation.</p> + +<p>I have repeatedly used this solution for coating articles of +zinc, and always with good success. I have exhibited samples of +zinc plated in this solution to those conversant with the +deposition of nickel, and they have expressed surprise at the +appearance of the work. Some strips of sheet-zinc in my possession +have been bent and cut into every conceivable shape without a sign +of fracture or curling up at the edges of the nickel coating.</p> + +<p>The solution is composed of--</p> + +<pre> + Double sulphate of nickel and ammonium 10 ounces. + Ammonium chloride 4 " + Potassium chloride 2 " + Distilled water 1 gallon. +</pre> + +<p>The salts are dissolved in the water (hot), and the solution is +worked at the ordinary temperature, about 16 degrees C.</p> + +<p>The zinc may be cleansed in any suitable manner, but must be +perfectly clean, of course, and finally rinsed in clean cold water +and placed in the bath as quickly as possible; care being taken +that it is connected before it touches the solution.--<i>Electrical +World</i>.</p> + +<hr> +<p>A catalogue, containing brief notices of many important +scientific papers heretofore published in the SUPPLEMENT, may be +had gratis at this office.</p> + +<hr> +<h2>THE SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT.</h2> + +<h3>PUBLISHED WEEKLY.</h3> + +<p><b>Terms of Subscription, $5 a Year.</b></p> + +<p>Sent by mail, postage prepaid, to subscribers in any part of the +United States or Canada. Six dollars a year, sent, prepaid, to any +foreign country.</p> + +<p>All the back numbers of THE SUPPLEMENT, from the commencement, +January 1, 1876, can be had. Price, 10 cents each.</p> + +<p>All the back volumes of THE SUPPLEMENT can likewise be supplied. +Two volumes are issued yearly. Price of each volume, $2.50, +stitched in paper, or $3.50, bound in stiff covers.</p> + +<p>COMBINED RATES--One copy of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN and one copy of +SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT, one year, postpaid, $7.00.</p> + +<p>A liberal discount to booksellers, news agents, and +canvassers.</p> + +<p><b>MUNN & CO., Publishers,</b></p> + +<p><b>361 Broadway, New York, N. Y.</b></p> + +<hr> +<h2><b>PATENTS.</b></h2> + +<p>In connection with the <b>Scientific American</b>, Messrs. MUNN +& Co. are Solicitors of American and Foreign Patents, have had +40 years' experience, and now have the largest establishment in the +world. Patents are obtained on the best terms.</p> + +<p>A special notice is made in the <b>Scientific American</b> of +all Inventions patented through this Agency, with the name and +residence of the Patentee. By the immense circulation thus given, +public attention is directed to the merits of the new patent, and +sales or introduction often easily effected.</p> + +<p>Any person who has made a new discovery or invention can +ascertain, free of charge, whether a patent can probably be +obtained, by writing to MUNN & Co.</p> + +<p>We also send free our Hand Book about the Patent Laws, Patents, +Caveats. Trade Marks, their costs, and how procured, with hints for +procuring advances on inventions. Address</p> + +<p><b>MUNN & CO., 361 Broadway, New York.</b></p> + +<p>Branch Office, cor. F and 7th Sts., Washington, D. 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