![Scientific American, Vol. XLIII.—No. 1. [New Series.], July 3, 1880
A Weekly Journal of Practical Information, Art, Science, Mechanics, Chemistry, and Manufactures](https://ektab.com/img/books/s3fs-public/book_cover/gutenberg/cover_212.jpg?p=product&v=1785332180)
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SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
A WEEKLY JOURNAL OF PRACTICAL INFORMATION, ART, SCIENCE, MECHANICS, CHEMISTRY, AND MANUFACTURES.
NEW YORK, July 3, 1880.
Vol. XLIII.—No. 1. [NEW SERIES.]
$3.20 per Annum [POSTAGE PREPAID.]
Contents:
(Illustrated articles are marked with an asterisk.)
1 Agricultural inventions 1 40 Aspirator and compressor* 11 38 Astronomical notes 11 25 Baby elephant takes a bath 7 22 Bath, shower, portable, new* 6 11 Boiler explosions, prevention of* 4 37 Canal boat, improved 10 17 Carpetings, etc., printing gold on 5 30 Chloral hydrate, simple test for 7 13 Chloroforming during sleep 5 34 Corn magnets 10 14 Dipper, watering, improved* 4 29 Drowned, perseverance with the 7 15 Electric lamp, improved* 5 25 Elephant, baby, takes a bath 7 36 Engineering inventions 10 6 Epidemic, strange, a 2 33 Exhibition, international, Sydney* 8 11 Explosions, boiler, prevention of* 4 39 Fires in New York 11 8 Fogs, navigation in* 3 16 Fruit, preserving app. for* 5 3 Gas machine, Maxim's* 1 3 Gas making, simple process* 1 20 Genessee Falls, utilization of 5 33 Horology, report of judges* 8 33 International exhibition, Sydney* 8 1 Inventions, agricultural 1 36
AGRICULTURAL INVENTIONS.
Mr. Sterling A. Millard, of Clayville, N. Y., has invented a scythe blade that contains much less weight of metal and possesses equal or greater strength than the ordinary scythe blades. It is made in the usual manner from what is termed by scythe makers a "scythe rod," and is wrought and shaped in such form that a proper thickness is left to serve as the back of the blade. A longitudinal auxiliary rib or supplementary back is formed on the blade, which stiffens the scythe without requiring the same weight of metal as those of the usual construction.
Mr. George C. Winslow, of Kalamazoo, Mich., has patented an improvement in spring harrow teeth, which consists generally in hinging the harrow tooth in the forward end of a rectangular frame bolted to the harrow bar, and combining
A Rare Specimen Lost.
Captain Ingalls, of the schooner Chalcedony, has let slip an opportunity to make a small fortune and at the same time settle the long vexed question as to the reality of the elusive and possibly mythical sea serpent. His story, as told in the Argus, of Portland, Maine, June 8, runs as follows:
"Last Saturday, about one o'clock in the afternoon, we were slowly sailing past Monhegan, there being very little wind, about twenty miles southwest of the island, when we caught sight of what looked like a large schooner floating bottom up. As the object lay almost dead ahead, we made directly for it, but before we got very close a Cape Ann schooner lay to and sent a boat's crew to inspect what now plainly appeared to be a monstrous carcass of some species or other. We finally hove to, about a ship's length off, and took a leisurely survey of the thing. It was dead, and floated on the water, with its belly, of a dirty brown color, up. Its head was at least twenty feet long, and about ten feet through at the thickest point. About midway of the body, which was, I should guess, about forty feet long, were two fins, of a clear white, each about twelve feet in length. The body seemed to taper from the back of the head down to the size of a small log, distinct from the whale tribe, as the end had nothing that looked like a fluke. The shape of the creature's head was more like a tierce than anything I can liken it to. I have seen almost all kinds of shapes that can be found in these waters, but never saw the like of this before.
Two years ago, off Seguin, I saw shooting through the water a thing which, I think, resembled this creature considerably, but I didn't get close enough to it to say for certain. The men from the Cape Ann schooner got on this dead creature, and one of the boys cut a double shuffle on its belly, which for all the world looked like the bottom of a schooner covered with barnacles and seaweed by the weather. We should have towed the thing to Portland had there been any wind, but as there wasn't, we steered away and left it. What sort of a sea monster this was I can't say for sure, but in my opinion it was the original 'sea serpent,' which has been seen once in a while for years past, and which, when alive, was too swift a swimmer for any sailing vessel to get alongside of."
The report of the captain of the "Cape Ann schooner" will be in order now.
SIMPLE AND CHEAP PROCESS OF GAS MAKING.
MAXIM'S NEW GAS MACHINE.
When a current of air is passed over the surface of gasoline it becomes carbureted or charged with its vapors to saturation. Air thus charged is somewhat heavier than pure air, and when passed through an Argand or bat's wing burner, it burns with a brilliant white flame. Nothing would seem easier than to make a machine that would force a current of air through, over, or on some material saturated with gasoline, and this apparently simple process has led many into attempts to make a successful gas machine. Many fortunes have been spent by the unscientific in the chase after this, to them, ignis fatuus. The stumbling block which has wrecked so many enterprises in this line has been the cold produced by the evaporation of the gasoline. One pound of gasoline, in passing from a liquid to a vapor, requires about as much heat as would be required to melt two pounds of cast iron. It is therefore obvious that where no heat is supplied, the gasoline, air, and machine must soon become very cold when any considerable quantity of gas is being made. The heat must come from somewhere, and as none is supplied, it is taken from the apparatus, air, and gasoline, making them very cold. A beautiful and simple experiment to illustrate this refrigeration can be made as follows: Place a gill of water in a common washbasin, then pour over it one pint of light gasoline; shake the basin, and blow the liquids vigorously, when very soon the basin will become intensely cold—the water will freeze, and may be taken out in the form of a snowball. If the water and basin are hot, and the experiment performed in a hot room or in the sun, it is much more striking.*
* This experiment should not be tried in the vicinity of a gaslight or fire.
This refrigeration operates upon the gas as follows: Air will take up and hold in suspension any volatile liquid in proportion to the square of its temperature, so that when the temperature of the gasoline and air have fallen off one half, the quantity of gasoline in the air has fallen off three quarters, and the light is destroyed. The quality of the gas in such machines varies from a rich smoky flame to a pale blue and blowing flame in a short time. Every change of quality in the liquid, temperature of the apparatus, or number of burners used causes a vexatious change in the quality of the gas. If heat is applied at the right time and in the right quantity it is not so bad, but too much heat, or neglecting to regulate it properly, converts the machine into a still, the condenser of which is the pipes of the building lighted, when danger is added to vexation. About ten years ago a machine was illustrated in these columns that obviated all these troubles; it was the invention of the well known mechanical engineer, Hiram S. Maxim, of this city. His machine was on an entirely new principle, and has since gone into general use. It was intricate and somewhat expensive, but it performed its work well. Messrs. A. T. Stewart & Co. use them largely in their mills and hotels. Mr. Maxim made one of six thousand burner capacity for the Grand Union Hotel, Saratoga Springs, it being the largest gas machine ever built. It has supplied gas of an unvarying quality for six years, and is as good as new to-day.
To reduce the cost as far as possible, Mr. Maxim has designed a new machine on another principle, which we herewith illustrate. Fig. 1 shows the machine in perspective, and Fig. 2 is a sectional view. The vertical cylinder is a common gas holder of sheet brass. It is 36 inches in diameter for a thousand burner machine. The operative parts of the machine are best shown in the sectional view, which represents the portion of the machine called the injector. A is a steam chamber supplied with four or more pounds of steam through the pipe, K. B is the gasoline supply pipe, and C the air supply. D is an index valve. The operation is as follows: Steam being in the chamber, A, the descent of the holder opens the valve, M, and allows the steam to
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NEW YORK, SATURDAY, JULY 3, 1880.
TABLE OF CONTENTS OF
THE SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT
No. 235,
For the Week ending July 3, 1880.
Price 10 cents. For sale by all newsdealers.
PAGE I. ENGINEERING AND MECHANICS.—The New Railway up Mount Vesuvius. 6 illustrations. Plan of road.—General view of mountain and railway.—Side view and end view of passenger car.— Mount Vesuvius Railway.—Map showing railway, mountain, crater, and surrounding country.—The carriage road and railway... 3735 The St. Gothard Tunnel —Notes on the junction of the two galleries. By Dr. Calladon... 3736 The St. Gothard Tunnel.—Conditions and causes of air currents in the tunnel... 3736 Protection of Ships from Loss by Fire and from Loss by Sinking. Recent improvements in the construction of ships and steamers... 3738 Regenerative Stoves.—A Sketch of their History and Notes on their Use. By John N. Hartman. An important paper read at the Pittsburg meeting of the American Institute of Mining Engineers. 1 figure... 3738 Cowper's Hot Blast Stoves. 2 full page illustrations of hot blast stoves for a pair of furnaces.—Plan and cross section of stove.—Plan and cross section of furnace.—Plan and cross section of gas downcomer.—Sectional elevation of stove and downcomer... 3739 Wilson's Lock-up Safety Valve. An important improvement. 10 figures... 3742 Working Low Grade Ores... 3742 The Largest Concrete Tank in England...3742
II. ELECTRICITY, ETC.—Siemens' Improvements in Electric Railways. 4 figures. Siemens' combined steam and electric railway.—Siemens' electric mail railway... 3743 Difference in the Actions of Positive and Negative Electricity... 3743 Forces Exciting Electricity... 3743 The New Electrical Middlings Purifier. By Thos. B. Osborne. 5 figures... 3744 Physical Society, London. Photo—electricity.—Electrometer key. —Air in water.—Steam thermometer... 3745 Atmospheric polarization. Influence of terrestrial magnetism...
3745
III. HYGIENE AND MEDICINE.—Lead Poisoning. Clinical lecture by Dr. WM. Pepper. Effects of a cosmetic of carbonate of lead. —Symptoms of lead poisoning.—Affinity of lead for nerves and muscles.—Treatment of lead poisoning... 3745 Recent Investigations of the Blood... 3746 The Pulse. Lecture on the pulse in health and disease, by Dr. T. A. McBride... 3746 Some Early Symptoms of Insanity... 3747 An Improved Method of Applying Antiseptic Vapors... 3747 Treatment of Phthisis by Inhalation of Borax and Salicylic Acid...
3747
IV. CHEMISTRY AND TECHNOLOGY.—Detection of Starch in Cane Sugar. By P. Casamajor... 3747 Double Lever Cement Testing Apparatus. 1 figure... 3748 Prediction of Chemical Elements... 3748 Oil of Sage... 3748 Bronzing Iron... 3748 Rust Preventing Compound... 3748
3748
V. NATURAL HISTORY, ETC.—Brain of Limulus Polyphemus. General anatomy of the brain.—Internal structure and histology of the brain.—Comparison of the Limulus brain with the brain of other arthropods... 3749 An Unfortunate White Whale. A live whale with a broken neck... 3749 Ethereal Oil of California Bay Tree. By J. M. Stillman... 3749 Forest Trees of North America. Prof. Sargent's catalogue (continued from Supplement No. 234). Cedars, Red Woods, Firs, Spruces, etc....
3750
THE SUPERIORITY OF AMERICAN WATCHES.
The extract from the report of the judges in horology, at the Sydney International Exhibition, with the diagrams showing the comparative merit of the watches tested, given on other pages of the current issue of Scientific American, cannot fail to interest our readers. There were ten exhibitors, and the inherent and comparative merits of the various exhibits were rated under ten heads on the basis of 100 points "for the highest degree of excellence." There were British, German, French, Swiss, and American competitors; and while the scores of the nine European exhibitors footed up totals ranging from 76 to 686, their average being 389⅓, the total of the Waltham Watch Company was 981. In detail this remarkable score stood thus: Originality, 98; invention and discovery, 95; utility and quality of material, 95; skill in workmanship, 93; fitness for purpose intended, 100; adaptation to public wants, 100; economy, 100; cost, 100; finish and elegance of cases, 100; timekeeping qualities, 100. Total, 981.
The timekeeping tests were made, as the report points out, by Prof. H. C. Russell, Astronomer Royal at the Sydney Observatory; and it is especially noted that while the majority of the watches tested had been made for exhibition purposes, and specially prepared for that end, the exhibit of the American company was the ordinary and regular product of the factory, such as is finished every day. Another evidence of the superiority of the American system, as emphasized in the report, is the fact that a sixth grade Waltham watch, one of the cheapest tested, showed a better performance than many very expensive and otherwise first class watches of other makes.
The moral of the victory is happily drawn in the following editorial review of the contest and its lessons, by the Sydney Morning Herald of April 14, last:
"The report of the judges in horology, which we published on Saturday last, was a document of more than ordinary interest. The slightest glance at it will show that the judges brought no small amount of ability and industry to their task. In many other classes of exhibits judging must, to no small extent, be a matter of opinion. There is no absolute test by which one photograph, for example, or one oil painting can be decided to be superior to another. In exhibits of this kind much must be left to the taste of the critic. Watches and chronometers, on the other hand, can be submitted to the minutest tests. The care and trouble which these require are not small, but the issue is sufficiently important to warrant all the labor which the judges in horology brought to their work. Time-keepers that can be relied upon in all weathers and in all climates, and that are within reach of all classes, are a luxury of no common order, but to a large number of persons they are a necessity also. In these fast days, when everything must be done to time, it is for a variety of purposes found necessary to make accurate divisions, not merely of the days and hours, but of the minutes and seconds also. The verdict which the judges in our Exhibition have pronounced on the Waltham watches is one of which any company might be proud; but the facts on which the verdict is based are as interesting to the public at large as to the parties immediately concerned. One of the secrets of American progress lies first in the invention of machinery, and then in its application to almost all descriptions of industry. It is the bringing of machinery to every branch of watchmaking that is enabling Americans to beat the world in this as well as in many other things.
"There has been a general belief that a machine-made watch is not to be compared to one that is hand-made, and that on this account the English watch must always hold its own against the American. This belief will have to be given up, if it is not given up already. It has now been established that machinery can be used for the purposes of watchmaking with quite as much success as for those of agriculture. The Americans are showing that they can make better watches than the Swiss or the English, but, what is of equal importance, they are showing that they can make them for less money. The boast of the Yankees is that they can turn out work cheaper and better than anybody else, and that for that reason the world must take their products. It would be difficult to prove that in some departments the boast is wholly without foundation. The American mechanic is paid better than the English mechanic, and yet the work which he turns out can, as a rule, be sold for less. The reason is, not only that he works harder, but that the assistance of machinery enables him to produce the largest result by the smallest amount of labor.
"Mr. Brassey, who believes that the workmen of his own country are equal if not superior to any in the world, maintains that an English mechanic can do more work than an American mechanic. The American really does more, because the inducements to industry are greater, and because he has better machinery. The success of the Waltham Company has furnished a striking instance of this. This company has now not only well-nigh driven foreign watchmaking companies out of America, but it has shown that it can more than compete with them on their own ground. This arises partly from the fact that it can turn out the best work on a large scale, but also from the fact that the principle on which it operates enables it to do all this economically. The Waltham Company claims to have arrived at simplicity, uniformity, and precision in the manufacture of watches, and the report of our judges shows that its claim is well founded. One of its discoveries was that a simple instrument, where simplicity is possible, will cost less and be worth more than a complicated one. Another was that the making of all instruments of the same grade exactly alike, so that the part which belongs to one belongs to the whole, will not only facilitate manufacture, but will greatly economize it. A third was, that these properties of simplicity and interchangeability are the best guarantees of perfect exactitude. The success which the Americans have reached in this as well as in other branches of industry, ought to excite the gratitude rather than the jealousy of the world. Any company or nation that shows how a maximum of efficiency can be reached by a minimum of labor confers a benefit on mankind. This our American cousins have done in other spheres besides that of watchmaking. There are branches of the prosperity of the Americans that are traceable to the extent of their territory and the fertility of their soil; but the triumph of their machinery has been the result of their inventiveness and of their enterprise, and for that reason it points a moral that Australians might profitably observe."
A REMARKABLE LITTLE
There is soon to set sail from London for New York a new and remarkable little steamer of 70 tons gross burden, named the Anthracite, designed to exhibit the advanced engineering ideas of Mr. Loftus Perkins, of England. The distinctive peculiarities of this steamer are the very high steam pressure that she carries—350 to 500 lb. to the square inch, and the small consumption of fuel—one pound of coal per hour per horsepower. A trial trip of this new little boat was lately made of 46 miles, during which 350 lb. steam pressure was steadily maintained, 132 revolutions per minute of propeller, and a speed of eight knots per hour. Other vessels, some of larger size than the above, have been built on the Perkins system, and are running in England. One of them, the yacht Emily, carries 500 lb. boiler pressure. Most of our readers are familiar with Mr. Perkins' system, which has been fully described in our columns. Those who may wish to refer thereto are directed to an interesting article by Mr. Perkins, with engravings, published in the Scientific American Supplement, No. 81, July 21, 1877; also to the description of the steam ferry boat, run on this principle, given with three pages of engravings in our Supplement No. 217.
Engineering theory and practice have for a long time plainly pointed to high steam pressures as one of the surest ways to economy of fuel. Twenty five years ago our ocean steamers carried only 16 lb. pressure to the inch, and burned 5 to 6 lb. of coal per hour per horse power. To-day they are carrying 75 lb. pressure, and burning 2½ to 3 lb. of coal per hour per horse power.
In 1840 the Britannia, one of the finest steamers of the Cunard line plying between this country and England, burned 5,291 lb. of coal for each ton of paying freight she carried, her speed, then considered fast, being 8½ knots per hour. In 1877 the Britannic, speed 15.6 knots per hour, burned only 551 lb. of coal per ton of freight carried.
Although our present steamers are making fast time and are very economical as compared with earlier vessels, still it is a lamentable fact that on the largest and finest of them, furnished with all the latest improvements and best appliances to secure economy, worked by the most careful and intelligent engineers, we succeed in putting into our steam only about one tenth of the heat realized in our boiler fire, the remaining nine-tenths of the heat being lost. Only in proportion as we make our steam hotter, and expanding it more, shall we economize in fuel. In this respect the voyage of the Anthracite is designed by her owners, we presume, to be an eye-opener for steamboat owners, not only in this country but throughout the world. If a little bit of a boat like this, 84 feet long, 16 feet beam, and 10 feet deep, can carry its own coal and water across the Atlantic, with a pressure of 350 to 500 lb. to the inch, and on one pound of coal per horse power, the natural inference is that our great steamers, when fitted with the same system, will realize far better results. The change from three pounds of coal to one pound per horse power means a shaving of two thirds in the coal bill, which is always an enormous item in the expenses of large boats. We ought to add that another peculiarity of the Anthracite is that she uses the same boiler water over and over, only a trifle of fresh water being supplied to make good the slight waste. Our New York steamboat men, who have to pay so dear for Croton water, will be likely to examine the water tank of the Anthracite with interest.
A STRANGE EPIDEMIC.
On the night of Tuesday, June 15, a remarkable epidemic fell upon several towns in western Massachusetts, the town of Adams suffering most severely. Out of a population of 6,000, several hundred—variously estimated from 600 to over 1,000—were prostrated by a disease resembling cholera morbus. The symptoms were first dizziness, then great nausea, followed by vomiting and prolonged purging, and in some cases delirium. A belt of country two or three miles in width and several miles long was thus afflicted, beginning at the west, the whole number of victims being estimated at from 1,200 to 1,500. No deaths are reported.
The cause of the epidemic is not known, but seems most likely to have been atmospheric. For some time the weather had been dry and hot. A heavy local rain fell during the evening, and was followed by or attended with a sudden and great lowering of the temperature. A chilly fog hung over the belt of country invaded by the disease, and a heavy "swampy" odor and taste were in the air.
The malady reached its climax in about twenty-four hours. It was first suspected that the water supply had been somehow poisoned, but many people who had not used the water were prostrated, while others who used it freely escaped. Adams has hitherto been regarded as an exceptionally healthy town, and the surrounding country is high and wholesome.