SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT NO. 470



NEW YORK, JANUARY 3, 1885

Scientific American Supplement. Vol. XIX, No. 470.

Scientific American established 1845

Scientific American Supplement, $5 a year.

Scientific American and Supplement, $7 a year.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS.

I. METALLURGY, CHEMISTRY, ETC.—The Elasticity of Metals.

The Liquefaction of the Elementary Gases.—By JULES JAMIN.

Examination of Fats.

Notes on Nitrification.—By R. WARINGTON.—Paper read before the British Association at Montreal.

II. ENGINEERING AND MECHANICS.—Flow of Water through Hose Pipes.

Iron Pile Planks in the Construction of Foundations under Water.—3 engravings.

Sound Signals.—Extracts from a paper by A.B. JOHNSON.—Treating of gongs, guns, rockets, bells, whistling buoys, bell buoys, locomotive whistles, trumpets, the siren, and the use of natural orifices.—2 engravings.

Trevithick's High Pressure Engine at Crewe.—2 engravings.

Planetary Wheel Trains.—By Prof. C.W. MACCORD.—With a page and a half of illustrations.

Bridge over the River Indus, at Attock. Punjaub, Northern State Railway, India.—Full page illustrations.

The Harrington Rotary Engine.—3 figures.

III. TECHNOLOGY.—Testing Car Varnishes.—By D.D. ROBERTSON.

Aniline Dyes in Dress Materials.—By Prof. CHAS. O'NEILL.

IV. DECORATIVE ART.—A. Chippendale Sideboard.—With engraving.

V. PHYSICS, MAGNETISM, ETC.—The Fallacy of the Present Theory of Sound.—Abstract of a lecture by Dr. H.A. MOTT.

The Fixation of Magnetic Phantoms.—With engraving.

VI. NATURAL HISTORY.—Researches on the Origin and Life Histories of the Least and Lowest Living Things—-By Rev. W.H. DALLINGER.

VII. MEDICINE, ETC.—Case of Resuscitation and Recovery after Apparent Death by Hanging.—by Dr. E.W. WHITE.

VIII. MISCELLANEOUS.—The Inventors' Institute.—Address of the Chairman at the opening of the twenty-second session of the Institute, October 2.

The New Central School at Paris.—3 engravings.

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FLOW OF WATER THROUGH HOSE PIPES.

At a recent meeting in this city of the American Society of Civil Engineers, a paper by Edmund B. Weston was read, giving the description and result of experiments on the flow of water through a 21/2 inch hose and through nozzles of various forms and sizes; also giving the results of experiments as to the height of jets of water. The experiments were made at Providence, R.I. The water was taken from a hydrant to the head of which were attached couplings holding two pressure gauges, and from the couplings the hose extended to a tank holding 2,100 gallons, so arranged as to measure accurately the time and amount of delivery of water by the hose. Different lengths of hose were used. The experiments resulted in the following formula for flow from coupling:

1. For hose between 90 and 100 feet in length, and where great accuracy is required:

—————————————————————————- / 2gh V = / —————————————————————————- / / 0.504 / 1 - 0.0256d^{4} + ( 0.0087 + ———- ) 0.12288d^{4}l. —- / / v

[TEX: V = sqrt{frac{2gh}{1 - 0.0256 d^4 + (0.0087 + frac{0.504}{sqrt{v}}) 0.12288 d^4 l}}.]

2. For all lengths of hose, a reliable general formula:

——————————————————————— / h V = / ——————————————————————— / 0.0155463 - 0.000398d^{4} + 0.0000362962d^{4}l.

[TEX: V = sqrt{frac{h}{0.0155463 - 0.000398 d^4 + 0.0000362962 d^4 l}}.]

g being velocity of efflux in feet per second. h, head in feet indicated by gauge. d, of coupling in inches. l, length of hose in feet from gauge. v, velocity in 21/2 inch hose.

Forty-five experiments were made on ring nozzles, resulting in the following formula:

f = 0.001135v squared.

f being loss of head in feet owing to resistance of nozzle, and v the velocity of the contracted vein in feet per second.

Thirty-five experiments were made with smooth nozzles, resulting in the following formula:

f = 0.0009639 v squared.

f being the loss of head in feet owing to resistance, and v the velocity of efflux in feet per second.

Experiments show that a prevailing opinion is incorrect that jets will rise higher from ring nozzles than from smooth nozzles.

Box's formula for height of jets of water compares very favorably with experimental results.

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IRON PILE PLANKS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FOUNDATIONS UNDER WATER.

The annexed engravings illustrate a method of constructing subaqueous foundations by the use of iron pile planks. These latter, by reason of their peculiar form, present a great resistance, not only to the vertical blow of the pile driver (as it is indispensable that they should), but also to horizontal pressure when excavating is being done or masonry being constructed within the space which they circumscribe. Polygonal or curved perimeters may be circumscribed with equal facility by joining the piles, the sides of one serving as a guide to that of its neighbor, and special pieces being adapted to the angles. Preliminary studies will give the dimensions, form, and strength of the iron to be employed. The latter, in fact, will be rolled to various thicknesses according to the application to be made of it. We may remark that the strength of the iron, aside from that which is necessary to allow the pile to withstand a blow in a vertical direction, will not have to be calculated for all entire resistance to the horizontal pressure due to a vacuum caused by the excavation, for the stiffness of the piles may be easily maintained and increased by establishing string-pieces and braces in the interior in measure as the excavation goes on.



The system is applicable to at least three different kinds of work: (1) The making of excavations with a dredge and afterward concreting without pumping out the water. (2) The removal of earth or the construction of masonry under protection from water (Fig. 1). (3) The making of excavations by dredging and afterward concreting without pumping, mid then, after the beton has set, pumping out the water in order to continue the masonry in the open air. This construction of masonry in the open air has the great advantage of allowing the water to evaporate from the mortar, and consequently of causing it to dry and effect a quick and perfect cohesion of the materials employed.



This system may likewise be employed with advantage for the forming of stockades in rivers, or for building sea walls. A single row of pile planks will in many cases suffice for the construction of dock walls in the river or ocean when the opposite side is to be filled in, or in any other analogous case (Fig. 1).

The piles are driven by means of the ordinary apparatus in use. Their heads are covered with a special apparatus to prevent them from being flattened out under the blows of the pile driver. They may be made in a single piece or be composed of several sections connected together with rivets. They are designed according to circumstances, to be left in the excavation in order to protect the masonry, or to be removed in their entirety or in parts, as is done with caissons. In case they are to remain wholly or in part in the excavation, they are previously galvanized or painted with an inoxidizable coating in order to protect them and increase their durability.

The points of the piles, whatever be their form and arrangement, are strengthened by means of steel pieces, which assure of their penetrating hard and compact earth.



Fig. 2 represents a dredge at work within a space entirely circumscribed by pile planks. Here, after the excavation is finished, beton will be put down by means of boxes with hinged bottoms, and the water will afterward be pumped out in order to allow the masonry to be constructed in the open air. Fig. 3 shows a transverse section of two of these pile planks united by mortar joints. This system is the invention of Mr. Papenot.—Revue Industrielle.

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AN ATMOSPHERIC BATTERY.

Great ingenuity is being shown in the arrangement of new forms of primary batteries. The latest is that devised by M. Jablochkoff, which acts by the effect of atmospheric moisture upon the metal sodium. A small rod of this metal is flattened into a plate, connected at one end to a copper wire. There is another plate of carbon, not precisely the same as that used for arc lights or ordinary batteries, but somewhat lighter in texture. This plate is perforated, and provided with small wooden pegs. The sodium plate is wrapped in silk paper, and pressed upon the carbon in such a manner that the wooden pegs penetrate the soft sodium. For greater security the whole is tied together with a few turns of fine iron wire; care being taken that the wire does not form an electric contact between the sodium and the carbon. The element is then complete, the carbon and the small copper wire being the electrodes. The sodium, on exposure to the air, becomes oxidized, forming caustic soda, which with the moisture of the air dissolves, and drains gradually away in the form of a concentrated solution; thus constantly exposing the fresh surface of the metal, which renders the reaction continuous. The price of the element is lower than would be expected at first sight from the employment of so expensive a metal. The present cost of sodium is 10 frs. per kilogramme; but M. Jablochkoff thinks that on the large scale the metal might be obtained at a very low figure. The elements are grouped in sets of ten, hung upon rods in such a manner that the solution as formed may drain off. Such a battery continues in action as long as the air contains moisture; the only means of stopping it is to shut it up in an air-tight case. The electro-motive force depends on the degree of humidity in the air, and also upon the temperature.

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ANALYSIS OF PERFUMED SCOURING PASTES.—The analysis of No. 1 resulted in water and traces of myrbane oil, 3.66 per cent.; fatty acid, melting at 104 deg. F., 54.18 per cent.; iron peroxide, 10.11 per cent.; silicic acid, 14.48 per cent.; alumina, 17.31 per cent.; lime and magnesia, traces. The iron peroxide is partly soluble in hydrochloric acid, the alumina entirely so as silicate. The scouring paste, therefore, is composed of 54 per cent. fatty (palm oil) acid, 10 per cent. jeweler's rouge, 32 per cent. pumice-stone powder.

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SOUND SIGNALS.

In Appleton's "Annual Cyclopaedia" for 1883, Mr. Arnold B. Johnson, Chief Clerk of the Lighthouse Board, contributes a mass of very interesting information, under the above title. His descriptions of the most approved inventions relating thereto are interesting, and we make the following extracts:

The sound signals generally used to guide mariners, especially during fogs, are, with certain modifications, sirens, trumpets, steam-whistles, bell-boats, bell-buoys, whistling buoys, bells struck by machinery, cannons fired by powder or gun cotton, rockets, and gongs.

Gongs.—Gongs are somewhat used on lightships, especially in British waters. They are intended for use at close quarters. Leonce Reynaud, of the French lighthouse service, has given their mean effective range as barely 550 yards. They are of most use in harbors, short channels, and like places, where a long range would be unnecessary. They have been used but little in United States waters. The term "effective range" is used here to signify the actual distance at which, under the most unfavorable circumstances, a signal can generally be heard on board of a paddle-wheel steamer in a heavy sea-way.

Guns.—The use of guns is not so great as it once was. Instances are on record in which they were quite serviceable. Admiral Sir A. Milne said he had often gone into Halifax harbor, in a dense fog like a wall, by the sound of the Sambro fog gun. But in the experiments made by the Trinity House off Dungeness in January, 1864, in calm weather, the report of an eighteen-pounder, with three pounds of powder, was faint at four miles. Still, in the Trinity House experiments of 1865, made in light weather with a light gun, the report was clearly heard seven miles away. Dr. Gladstone records great variability in the range of gun-sound in the Holyhead experiments. Prof. Henry says that a twenty-four-pounder was used at Point Boneta, San Francisco Bay, Cal., in 1856-57, and that, by the help of it alone, vessels came into the harbor during the fog at night as well as in the day, which otherwise could not have entered. The gun was fired every half hour, night and day, during foggy and thick weather in the first year, except for a time when powder was lacking. During the second year there were 1,582 discharges. It was finally superseded by a bell-boat, which in its turn was after a time replaced by a siren. A gun was also used at West Quoddy Head, Maine. It was a carronade, five feet long, with a bore of five and one-quarter inches, charged with four pounds of powder. The gun was fired on foggy days when the Boston steamer was approaching the lighthouse from St. Johns, and the firing was begun when the steamer's whistle was heard, often when she was six miles away, and was kept up as fast as the gun could be loaded, until the steamer answered with its whistle.

The report of the gun was heard from two to six miles. "This signal was abandoned," Prof. Henry says, "because of the danger attending its use, the length of intervals between successive explosions, and the brief duration of the sound, which renders it difficult to determine its direction with accuracy." In 1872 there were three fog guns on the English coast, iron eighteen-pounders, carrying a three pound charge of powder, which were fired at intervals of fifteen minutes in two places, and of twenty minutes in the other. The average duration of fog at these stations was said to be about six hours, and as it not unfrequently lasted twenty hours, each gun required two gunners, who had to undergo severe labor, and the risk of remissness and irregularity was considerable. In 1881 the interval between charges was reduced to ten minutes.

The Trinity House, in its experiments at South Foreland, found that the short twenty-four pound howitzer gave a better sound than the long eighteen-pounder. Tyndall, who had charge of the experiments, sums up as to the use of the guns as fog-signals by saying: "The duration of the sound is so short that, unless the observer is prepared beforehand, the sound, through lack of attention rather than through its own powerlessness, is liable to be unheard. Its liability to be quenched by local sound is so great that it is sometimes obliterated by a puff of wind taking possession of the ears at the time of its arrival. Its liability to be quenched by an opposing wind, so as to be practically useless at a very short distance to windward, is very remarkable.... Still, notwithstanding these drawbacks, I think the gun is entitled to rank as a first-class signal."

The minute gun at sea is known the world over as a signal of distress. The English lightships fire guns to attract the attention of the lifeboat crew when shipwrecks take place in sight of the ships, but out of sight of the boats; and guns are used as signals of approaching floods at freshet times in various countries.

Rockets.—As a signal in rock lighthouses, where it would be impossible to mount large pieces of apparatus, the use of a gun-cotton rocket has been suggested by Sir Richard Collinson, deputy-master of the Trinity House. A charge of gun-cotton is inclosed in the head of a rocket, which is projected to the height of perhaps 1,000 feet, when the cotton is exploded, and the sound shed in all directions. Comparative experiments with the howitzer and rocket showed that the howitzer was beaten by a rocket containing twelve ounces, eight ounces, and even four ounces of gun-cotton. Large charges do not show themselves so superior to small charges as might be expected. Some of the rockets were heard at a distance of twenty-five miles. Tyndall proposes to call it the Collinson rocket, and suggests that it might be used in lighthouses and lightships as a signal by naval vessels.

Bells.—Bells are in use at every United States lightstation, and at many they are run by machinery actuated by clock-work, made by Mr. Stevens, of Boston, who, at the suggestion of the Lighthouse Board, has introduced an escapement arrangement moved by a small weight, while a larger weight operates the machinery which strikes the bell. These bells weigh from 300 to 3,000 pounds. There are about 125 in use on the coasts of the United States. Experiments made by the engineers of the French Lighthouse Establishment, in 1861-62, showed that the range of bell-sounds can be increased with the rapidity of the bell-strokes, and that the relative distances for 15, 25, and 60 bell-strokes a minute were in the ratio of 1, 1-14/100, and 1-29/100. The French also, with a hemispherical iron reflector backed with Portland cement, increased the bell range in the ratio of 147 to 100 over a horizontal arc of 60 deg., beyond which its effect gradually diminished. The actual effective range of the bell sound, whatever the bell size, is comparatively short, and, like the gong, it is used only where it needs to be heard for short distances. Mr. Cunningham, Secretary of the Scottish Lighthouse Establishment, in a paper on fog signals, read in February, 1863, says the bell at Howth, weighing 21/4 tons, struck four times a minute by a 60 pound hammer falling ten inches, has been heard only one mile to windward against a light breeze during fog; and that a similar bell at Kingston, struck eight times a minute, had been so heard three miles away as to enable the steamer to make her harbor from that distance. Mr. Beaseley, C.E., in a lecture on coast-fog signals, May 24, 1872, speaks of these bells as unusually large, saying that they and the one at Ballycottin are the largest on their coasts, the only others which compare with them being those at Stark Point and South Stack, which weigh 313/4 cwt. and 411/2 cwt. respectively. Cunningham, speaking of the fog-bells at Bell Rock and Skerryvore lighthouses, says he doubts if either bell has been the means of saving a single vessel from wreck during fog, and he does not recall an instance of a vessel reporting that she was warned to put about in the fog, or that she ascertained her position in any respect by hearing the sound of the bell in either place. Gen. Duane, U.S.A., says a bell, whether operated by hand or machinery, cannot be considered an efficient fog signal on the sea-coast. In calm weather it cannot be heard half the time at a greater distance than one mile, while in rough weather the noise of the surf will drown its sound to seaward altogether. The use of bells is required, by the International Code, on ships of all nations, at regular intervals during fog. But Turkish ships are allowed to substitute the gong or gun, as the use of bells is forbidden to the followers of Mohammed.



Whistling Buoys.—The whistling buoy now in use was patented by Mr. J.M. Courtenay, of New York. It consists of an iron pear-shaped bulb, 12 feet across at its widest part, and floating 12 feet out of water. Inside the bulb is a tube 33 inches across, extending from the top through the bottom to a depth of 32 feet, into water free from wave motion. The tube is open at its lower end, but projects, air-tight, through the top of the bulb, and is closed with a plate having in it three holes, two for letting the air into the tube, and one between the others for letting the air out to work the 10-inch locomotive whistle with which it is surmounted. These holes are connected with three pipes which lead down to near the water level, where they pass through a diaphragm which divides the outer cylinder into two parts. The great bulb which buoys up the whole mass rises and falls with the motion of the waves, carrying the tube up and down with it, thus establishing a piston-and-cylinder movement, the water in the tube acting as an immovable piston, while the tube itself acts as a moving cylinder. Thus the air admitted through valves, as the buoy rises on the wave, into that part of the bulb which is above water, is compressed, and as the buoy falls with the wave, it is further compressed and forced through a 21/2 inch pipe which at its apex connects with the whistle. The dimensions of the whistling buoy have recently been much diminished without detracting materially from the volume of sound it produces. It is now made of four sizes. The smallest in our waters has a bulb 6 feet in diameter and a tube 10 feet in length, and weighs but 2,000 pounds. The largest and oldest whistling buoy has a 12-foot bulb, a tube 32 feet long, and weighs 12,000 pounds.

There are now 34 of these whistling buoys on the coast of the United States, which have cost, with their appurtenances, about $1,200 each. It is a curious fact that, in proportion as they are useful to the mariner, they are obnoxious to the house dweller within earshot of them, and that the Lighthouse Board has to weigh the petitions and remonstrances before setting these buoys off inhabited coasts. They can at times be heard 15 miles, and emit an inexpressibly mournful and saddening sound.

The inspector of the First Lighthouse District, Commander Picking, established a series of observations at all the light stations in the neighborhood of the buoys, giving the time of hearing it, the direction of the wind, and the state of the sea, from which it appears that in January, 1878, one of these buoys was heard every day at a station 1-1/8 miles distant, every day but two at one 21/4 miles distant, 14 times at one 71/2 miles distant, and 4 times at one 81/2 miles distant. It is heard by the pilots of the New York and Boston steamers at a distance of one-fifth of a mile to 5 miles, and has been frequently heard at a distance of 9 miles, and even, under specially favorable circumstances, 15 miles.

The whistling buoy is also used to some extent in British, French, and German waters, with good results. The latest use to which it has been put in this country has been to place it off the shoals of Cape Hatteras, where a light ship was wanted but could not live, and where it does almost as well as a light ship would have done. It is well suited for such broken and turbulent waters, as the rougher the sea the louder its sound.



Bell-Buoys.—The bell-boat, which is at most a clumsy contrivance, liable to be upset in heavy weather, costly to build, hard to handle, and difficult to keep in repair, has been superseded by the Brown bell-buoy, which was invented by the officer of the lighthouse establishment whose name it bears. The bell is mounted on the bottom section of an iron buoy 6 feet 6 inches across, which is decked over and fitted with a framework of 3-inch angle-iron 9 feet high, to which a 300-pound bell is rigidly attached. A radial grooved iron plate is made fast to the frame under the bell and close to it, on which is laid a free cannon-ball. As the buoy rolls on the sea, this ball rolls on the plate, striking some side of the bell at each motion with such force as to cause it to toll. Like the whistling-buoy, the bell-buoy sounds the loudest when the sea is the roughest, but the bell-buoy is adapted to shoal water, where the whistling-buoy could not ride; and, if there is any motion to the sea, the bell-buoy will make some sound. Hence the whistling-buoy is used in roadsteads and the open sea, while the bell-buoy is preferred in harbors, rivers, and the like, where the sound-range needed is shorter, and smoother water usually obtains. In July, 1883, there were 24 of these bell-buoys in United States waters. They cost, with their fitments and moorings, about $1,000 each.

Locomotive-Whistles.—It appears from the evidence given in 1845, before the select committee raised by the English House of Commons, that the use of the locomotive-whistle as a fog-signal was first suggested by Mr. A. Gordon, C.E., who proposed to use air or steam for sounding it, and to place it in the focus of a reflector, or a group of reflectors, to concentrate its sounds into a powerful phonic beam. It was his idea that the sharpness or shrillness of the whistle constituted its chief value. And it is conceded that Mr. C.L. Daboll, under the direction of Prof. Henry, and at the instance of the United States Lighthouse Board, first practically used it as a fog-signal by erecting one for use at Beaver Tail Point, in Narragansett Bay. The sounding of the whistle is well described by Price-Edwards, a noted English lighthouse engineer, "as caused by the vibration of the column of air contained within the bell or dome, the vibration being set up by the impact of a current of steam or air at a high pressure." It is probable that the metal of the bell is likewise set in vibration, and gives to the sound its timbre or quality. It is noted that the energy so excited expends its chief force in the immediate vicinity of its source, and may be regarded, therefore, as to some extent wasted. The sound of the whistle, moreover, is diffused equally on all sides. These characteristics to some extent explain the impotency of the sound to penetrate to great distances. Difference in pitch is obtained by altering the distance between the steam orifice and the rim of the drum. When brought close to each other, say within half an inch, the sound produced is very shrill, but it becomes deeper as the space between the rim and the steam or air orifice is increased.

Prof. Henry says the sound of the whistle is distributed horizontally. It is, however, much stronger in the plane containing the lower edge of the bell than on either side of this plane. Thus, if the whistle is standing upright in the ordinary position, its sound is more distinct in a horizontal plane passing through the whistle than above it or below it.

The steam fog-whistle is the same instrument ordinarily used on steamboats and locomotives. It is from 6 to 18 inches in diameter, and is operated by steam under a pressure of from 50 to 100 pounds. An engine takes its steam from the same boiler, and by an automatic arrangement shuts off and turns on the steam by opening and closing its valves at determined times. The machinery is simple, the piston-pressure is light, and the engine requires no more skilled attention than does an ordinary station-engine.

"The experiments made by the Trinity House in 1873-74 seem to show," Price-Edwards says, "that the sound of the most powerful whistle, whether blown by steam or hot air, was generally inferior to the sound yielded by other instruments," and consequently no steps were taken to extend their use in Great Britain, where several were then in operation. In Canadian waters, however, a better result seems to have been obtained, as the Deputy Minister of Marine and Fisheries, in his annual report for 1872, summarizes the action of the whistles in use there, from which it appears that they have been heard at distances varying with their diameter from 3 to 25 miles.

The result of the experiments made by Prof. Henry and Gen. Duane for the United States Lighthouse Board, reported in 1874, goes to show that the steam-whistle could be heard far enough for practical uses in many positions. Prof. Henry found that he could hear a 6-inch whistle 71/4 miles with a feeble opposing wind. Gen. Duane heard the 10-inch whistle at Cape Elizabeth at his house in Portland, Maine, nine miles distant, whenever it was in operation. He heard it best during a heavy northeast snow storm, the wind blowing then directly from him, and toward the source of the sound. Gen. Duane also reported that "there are six fog-signals on the coast of Maine; these have frequently been heard at the distance of twenty miles," ... which distance he gives as the extreme limit of the twelve-inch steam-whistle.

Trumpets.—The Daboll trumpet was invented by Mr. C.L. Daboll, of Connecticut, who was experimenting to meet the announced wants of the United States Lighthouse Board. The largest consists of a huge trumpet seventeen feet long, with a throat three and one-half inches in diameter, and a flaring mouth thirty-eight inches across. In the trumpet is a resounding cavity, and a tongue-like steel reed ten inches long, two and three-quarter inches wide, one inch thick at its fixed end, and half that at its free end. Air is condensed in a reservoir and driven through the trumpet by hot air or steam machinery at a pressure of from fifteen to twenty pounds, and is capable of making a shriek which can be heard at a great distance for a certain number of seconds each minute, by about one-quarter of the power expended in the case of the whistle. In all his experiments against and at right angles and at other angles to the wind, the trumpet stood first and the whistle came next in power. In the trial of the relative power of various instruments made by Gen. Duane in 1874, the twelve-inch whistle was reported as exceeding the first-class Daboll trumpet. Beaseley reports that the trumpet has done good work at various British stations, making itself heard from five to ten miles. The engineer in charge of the lighthouses of Canada says: "The expense for repairs, and the frequent stoppages to make these repairs during the four years they continued in use, made them [the trumpets] expensive and unreliable. The frequent stoppages during foggy weather made them sources of danger instead of aids to navigation. The sound of these trumpets has deteriorated during the last year or so." Gen. Duane, reporting as to his experiments in 1881, says: "The Daboll trumpet, operated by a caloric engine, should only be employed in exceptional cases, such as at stations where no water can be procured, and where from the proximity of other signals it may be necessary to vary the nature of the sound." Thus it would seem that the Daboll trumpet is an exceptionally fine instrument, producing a sound of great penetration and of sufficient power for ordinary practical use, but that to be kept going it requires skillful management and constant care.

The Siren.—The siren was adapted from the instrument invented by Cagniard de la Tour, by A. and F. Brown, of the New York City Progress Works, under the guidance of Prof. Henry, at the instance and for the use of the United States Lighthouse Establishment, which also adopted it for use as a fog-signal. The siren of the first class consists of a huge trumpet, somewhat of the size and shape used by Daboll, with a wide mouth and a narrow throat, and is sounded by driving compressed air or steam through a disk placed in its throat. In this disk are twelve radial slits; back of the fixed disk is a revolving plate, containing as many similar openings. The plate is rotated 2,400 times each minute, and each revolution causes the escape and interruption of twelve jets of air or steam through the openings in the disk and rotating plate. In this way 28,800 vibrations are given during each minute that the machine is operated; and, as the vibrations are taken up by the trumpet, an intense beam of sound is projected from it. The siren is operated under a pressure of seventy-two pounds of steam, and can be heard, under favorable circumstances, from twenty to thirty miles. "Its density, quality, pitch, and penetration render it dominant over such other noises after all other signal-sounds have succumbed." It is made of various sizes or classes, the number of slits in its throat-disk diminishing with its size. The dimensions given above are those of the largest. [See engraving on page 448, "Annual Cyclopaedia" for 1880.]

The experiments made by Gen. Duane with these three machines show that the siren can be, all other things being equal, heard the farthest, the steam-whistle stands next to the siren, and the trumpet comes next to the whistle. The machine which makes the most noise consumes the most fuel. From the average of the tests it appears that the power of the first-class siren, the twelve-inch whistle, and first-class Daboll trumpet are thus expressed: siren nine, whistle seven, trumpet four; and their relative expenditure of fuel thus: siren nine, whistle three, trumpet one.

Sound-signals constitute so large a factor in the safety of the navigator, that the scientists attached to the lighthouse establishments of the various countries have given much attention to their production and perfection, notably Tyndall in England and Henry in this country. The success of the United States has been such that other countries have sent commissions here to study our system. That sent by England in 1872, of which Sir Frederick Arrow was chairman, and Captain Webb, R.N., recorder, reported so favorably on it that since then "twenty-two sirens have been placed at the most salient lighthouses on the British coasts, and sixteen on lightships moored in position where a guiding signal is of the greatest service to passing navigation."

The trumpet, siren, and whistle are capable of such arrangement that the length of blast and interval, and the succession of alternation, are such as to identify the location of each, so that the mariner can determine his position by the sounds.

In this country there were in operation in July, 1883, sixty-six fog-signals operated by steam or hot air, and the number is to be increased in answer to the urgent demands of commerce.

Use of Natural Orifices.—There are, in various parts of the world, several sound-signals made by utilizing natural orifices in cliffs through which the waves drive the air with such force and velocity as to produce the sound required. One of the most noted is that on one of the Farallon Islands, forty miles off the harbor of San Francisco, which was constructed by Gen. Hartmann Bache, of the United States Engineers, in 1858-59, and of which the following is his own description:

"Advantage was taken of the presence of the working party on the island to make the experiment, long since contemplated, of attaching a whistle as a fog-signal to the orifice of a subterranean passage opening out upon the ocean, through which the air is violently driven by the beating of the waves. The first attempt failed, the masonry raised upon the rock to which it was attached being blown up by the great violence of the wind-current. A modified plan with a safety-valve attached was then adopted, which it is hoped will prove permanent. ... The nature of this work called for 1,000 bricks and four barrels of cement."

Prof. Henry says of this:

"On the apex of this hole he erected a chimney which terminated in a tube surmounted by a locomotive-whistle. By this arrangement a loud sound was produced as often as the wave entered the mouth of the indentation. The penetrating power of the sound from this arrangement would not be great if it depended merely on the hydrostatic pressure of the waves, since this under favorable circumstances would not be more than that of a column of water twenty feet high, giving a pressure of about ten pounds to the square inch. The effect, however, of the percussion might add considerably to this, though the latter would be confined in effect to a single instance. In regard to the practical result from this arrangement, which was continued in operation for several years, it was found not to obviate the necessity of producing sounds of greater power. It is, however, founded on an ingenious idea, and may be susceptible of application in other cases."

There is now a first-class siren in duplicate at this place.

The sixty-six steam fog-signals in the waters of the United States have been established at a cost of more than $500,000, and are maintained at a yearly expense of about $100,000. The erection of each of these signals was authorized by Congress in an act making special appropriations for its establishment, and Congress was in each instance moved thereto by the pressure of public opinion, applied usually through the member of Congress representing the particular district in which the signal was to be located. And this pressure was occasioned by the fact that mariners have come to believe that they could be guided by sound as certainly as by sight. The custom of the mariner in coming to this coast from beyond the seas is to run his ship so that on arrival, if after dark, he shall see the proper coast-light in fair weather, and, if in thick weather, that he shall hear fog-signal, and, taking that as a point of departure, to feel his way from the coast-light to the harbor-light, or from the fog-signal on the coast to the fog-signal in the harbor, and thence to his anchorage or his wharf. And the custom of the coaster or the sound-steamer is somewhat similar.

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TREVITHICK'S ENGINE AT CREWE.

The old high-pressure engine of Richard Trevithick, which, thanks to Mr. Webb, has been rescued from a scrap heap in South Wales, and re-erected at the Crewe Works. We give engravings of this engine, which have been prepared from photographs kindly furnished to us by Mr. Webb, and which will clearly show its design.



The boiler bears a name-plate with the words "No. 14, Hazeldine and Co., Bridgnorth," and it is evidently one of the patterns which Trevithick was having made by Hazeldine and Co., about the year 1804. The shell of the boiler is of cast iron, and the cylinder, which is vertical, is cast in one with it, the back end of the boiler and the barrel being in one piece as shown. At the front end the barrel has a flange by means of which it is bolted to the front plate, the plate having attached to it the furnace and return flue, which are of wrought iron. The front plate has also cast on it a manhole mouthpiece to which the manhole cover is bolted. In the case of the engine at Crewe, the chimney, firehole door, and front of flue had to be renewed by Mr. Webb, these parts having been broken up before the engine came into his possession.

The piston rod is attached to a long cast-iron crosshead, from which two bent connecting rods extend downward, the one to a crank, and the other to a crank-pin inserted in the flywheel. The connecting-rods now on this engine were supplied by Mr. Webb, the original ones—which they have been made to resemble as closely as possible—having been broken up. In the Crewe engine as it now exists it is not quite clear how the power was taken off from the crankshaft, but from the particulars of similar engines recorded in the "Life of Richard Trevithick," it appears that a small spur pinion was in some cases fixed on the crankshaft, and in others a spurwheel, with a crank-pin inserted in it, took the place of the crank at the end of the shaft opposite to that carrying the flywheel. In the Crewe engine the flywheel, it will be noticed, is provided with a balanceweight.

The admission of the steam to and its release from the cylinder is effected by a four-way cock provided with a lever, which is actuated by a tappet rod attached to the crosshead, as seen on the back view of the engine. To the crosshead is also coupled a lever having its fulcrum on a bracket attached to the boiler; this lever serving to work the feed pump. Unfortunately the original pump of the Crewe engine was smashed, but Mr. Webb has fitted one up to show the arrangement. A notable feature in the engine is that it is provided with a feed heater through which the water is forced by the pump on its way to the boiler. The heater consists of a cast-iron pipe through which passes the exhaust pipe leading from the cylinder to the chimney, the water circulating through the annular space between the two pipes.

Altogether the Trevithick engine at Crewe is a relic of the very highest interest, and it is most fortunate that it has come into Mr. Webb's hands and has thus been rescued from destruction. No one, bearing in mind the date at which it was built, can examine this engine without having an increased respect for the talents of Richard Trevithick, a man to whom we owe so much and whose labors have as yet met with such scant recognition.—Engineering.

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[Continued from SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT, No. 451, page 7192.]

PLANETARY WHEEL TRAINS.

By Prof. C.W. MacCORD, Sc. D.

IV.

The arrangement of planetary wheels which has been applied in practice to the greatest extent and to the most purposes, is probably that in which the axial motions of the train are derived from a fixed sun wheel. Numerous examples of such trains are met with in the differential gearing of hoisting machines, in portable horse-powers, etc. The action of these mechanisms has already been fully discussed; it may be remarked in addition that unless the speed be very moderate, it is found advantageous to balance the weights and divide the pressures by extending the train arm and placing the planet-wheels in equal pairs diametrically opposite each other, as, for instance, in Bogardus' horse power, Fig. 31.



In trains of this description, the velocity ratio is invariable; which for the above-mentioned objects it should be. But the use of a planetary combination enables us to cause the motions of two independent trains to converge, and unite in producing a single resultant rotation. This may be done in two ways; each of the two independent trains may drive one sun-wheel, thus determining the motion of the train-arm; or, the train-arm may be driven by one of them, and the first sun-wheel by the other; then the motion of the second sun-wheel is the resultant. Under these circumstances the ratio of the resultant velocity to that of either independent train is not invariable, since it may be affected by a change in the velocity of the other one. To illustrate our meaning, we give two examples of arrangements of this nature. The first is Robinson's rope-making machine, Fig. 32. The bobbins upon which the strands composing the rope are wound turn freely in bearings in the frames, G, G, and these frames turn in bearings in the disk, H, and the three-armed frame or spider, K, both of which are secured to the central shaft, S. Each bobbin-frame is provided with a pinion, a, and these three pinions engage with the annular wheel, A. This wheel has no shaft, but is carried and kept in position by three pairs of rollers, as shown, so that its axis of rotation is the same as that of the shaft, S; and it is toothed externally as well as internally. The strands pass through the hollow axes of the pinions, and thence each to its own opening through the laying-top, T, fixed upon S, which completes the operation of twisting them into a rope. The annular wheel, A, it will be perceived, may be driven by a pinion, E, engaging with its external teeth, at a rate of speed different from that of the central shaft; and by varying the speed of that pinion, the velocity of the wheel, A, may be changed without affecting the velocity of S.

It is true that in making a certain kind of rope, the velocity ratio of A and S must remain constant, in order that the strands may be equally twisted throughout; but if for another kind of rope a different degree of twist is wanted, the velocity of the pinion, E, may be altered by means of change-wheels, and thus the same machine may be used for manufacturing many different sorts.

The second combination of this kind was devised by the writer as a "tell-tale" for showing whether the engines driving a pair of twin screw-propellers were going at the same rate. In Fig. 33, an index, P, is carried by the wheel, F: the wheel, A, is loose upon the shaft of the train-arm, which latter is driven by the wheel, E. The wheels, F and f, are of the same size, but a is twice as large as A; if then A be driven by one engine, and E by the other, at the same rate but in the opposite direction, the index will remain stationary, whatever the absolute velocities. But if either engine go faster than the other, the index will turn to the right or the left accordingly. The same object may also be accomplished as shown in Fig. 34, the index being carried by the train-arm. It makes no difference what the actual value of the ratio A/a may be, but it must be equal to F/f: under which condition it is evident that if A and F be driven contrary ways at equal speeds, small or great, the train-arm will remain at rest; but any inequality will cause the index to turn.

In some cases, particularly when annular wheels are used, the train-arm may become very short, so that it may be impossible to mount the planet-wheel in the manner thus far represented, upon a pin carried by a crank. This difficulty may be surmounted as shown in Fig. 35, which illustrates an arrangement originally forming a part of Nelson's steam steering gear. The Internal pinions, a, f, are but little smaller than the annular wheels, A, F, and are hung upon an eccentric E formed in one solid piece with the driving shaft, D.

The action of a complete epicyclic train involves virtually and always the action of two suns and two planets; but it has already been shown that the two planets may merge into one piece, as in Fig. 10, where the planet-wheel gears externally with one sun-wheel, and internally with the other.

But the train may be reduced still further, and yet retain the essential character of completeness in the same sense, though composed actually of but two toothed wheels. An instance of this is shown in Fig. 36, the annular planet being hung upon and carried by the pins of three cranks, c, c, c, which are all equal and parallel to the virtual train-arm, T. These cranks turning about fixed axes, communicate to f a motion of circular translation, which is the resultant of a revolution, v', about the axis of F in one direction, and a rotation, v, at the same rate in the opposite direction about its own axis, as has been already explained. The cranks then supply the place of a fixed sun-wheel and a planet of equal size, with an intermediate idler for reversing the, direction of the rotation of the planet; and the velocity of F is

V'= v'(1 - f/F).

A modification of this train better suited for practical use is shown in Fig. 37, in which the sun-wheel, instead of the planet, is annular, and the latter is carried by the two eccentrics, E, E, whose throw is equal to the difference between the diameters of the two pitch circles; these eccentrics must, of course, be driven in the same direction and at equal speeds, like the cranks in Fig. 36.



A curious arrangement of pin-gearing is shown in Fig. 38: in this case the diameter of the pinion is half that of the annular wheel, and the latter being the driver, the elementary hypocycloidal faces of its teeth are diameters of its pitch circle; the derived working tooth-outlines for pins of sensible diameter are parallels to these diameters, of which fact advantage is taken to make the pins turn in blocks which slide in straight slots as shown. The formula is the same as that for Fig. 36, viz.:

V' = v'(1 - f/F),

which, since f = 2F, reduces to V' = -v'.

Of the same general nature is the combination known as the "Epicycloidal Multiplying Gear" of Elihu Galloway, represented in Fig. 39. Upon examination it will be seen, although we are not aware that attention has previously been called to the fact, that this differs from the ordinary forms of "pin gearing" only in this particular, viz., that the elementary tooth of the driver consists of a complete branch, instead of a comparatively small part of the hypocycloid traced by rolling the smaller pitch-circle within the larger. It is self-evident that the hypocycloid must return into itself at the point of beginning, without crossing: each branch, then, must subtend an aliquot part of the circumference, and can be traced also by another and a smaller describing circle, whose diameter therefore must be an aliquot part of the diameter of the outer pitch-circle; and since this last must be equal to the sum of the diameters of the two describing circles, it follows that the radii of the pitch circles must be to each other in the ratio of two successive integers; and this is also the ratio of the number of pins to that of the epicycloidal branches.

Thus in Fig. 39, the diameters of the two pitch circles are to each other as 4 to 5; the hypocycloid has 5 branches, and 4 pins are used. These pins must in practice have a sensible diameter, and in order to reduce the friction this diameter is made large, and the pins themselves are in the form of rollers. The original hypocycloid is shown in dotted line, the working curve being at a constant normal distance from it equal to the radius of the roller; this forms a sort of frame or yoke, which is hung upon cranks as in Figs. 36 and 38. The expression for the velocity ratio is the same as in the preceding case:

V = v'(1 - f/F); which in Fig. 39 gives

V = v'(1 - 5/4)= -1/4v':

the planet wheel, or epicycloidal yoke, then, has the higher speed, so that if it be desired to "gear up," and drive the propeller faster than the engine goes (and this, we believe, was the purpose of the inventor), the pin-wheel must be made the driver; which is the reverse of advantageous in respect to the relative amounts of approaching and receding action.

In Figs. 40 and 41 are given the skeletons of Galloway's device for ratios of 3:4 and 2:3 respectively, the former having four branches and three pins, the latter three branches and two pins. Following the analogy, it would seem that the next step should be to employ two branches with only one pin; but the rectilinear hypocycloid of Fig. 38 is a complete diameter, and the second branch is identical with the first; the straight tooth, then, could theoretically drive the pin half way round, but upon its reaching the center of the outer wheel, the driving action would cease: this renders it necessary to employ two pins and two slots, but it is not essential that the latter should be perpendicular to each other.

In these last arrangements, the forms of the parts are so different from those of ordinary wheels, that the true nature of the combinations is at least partially disguised. But it may be still more completely hidden, as for instance in the common elliptic trammel, Fig. 42. The slotted cross is here fixed, and the pins, R and P, sliding respectively in the vertical and horizontal lines, control the motion of the bar which carries the pencil, S. At first glance there would seem to be nothing here resembling wheel works. But if we describe a circle upon R P as a diameter, its circumference will always pass through C, because R C P is a right angle, and the instantaneous axis of the bar being at the intersection O of a vertical line through P, with a horizontal line through R, will also lie upon this circumference. Again, since O is diametrically opposite to C, we have C O = R P, whence a circle about center C with radius R P will also pass through O, which therefore is the point of contact of these two circles. It will now be seen that the motion of the bar is the same as though carried by the inner circle while rolling within the outer one, the latter being fixed; the points P and R describing the diameters L M and K N, the point D a circle, and S an ellipse; C D being the train-arm. The distance R P being always the diameter of one circle and the radius of the other, the sizes of the wheels can be in effect varied by altering that distance.

Thus we see that this combination is virtually the same in its action as the one shown in Fig. 43, known as Suardi's Geometrical Pen. In this particular case the diameter of a is half of that of A; these wheels are connected by the idler, E, which merely reverses the direction without affecting the velocity of a's rotation. The working train arm is jointed so as to pivot about the axis of E, and may be clamped at any angle within its range, thus changing the length of the virtual train arm, C D. The bar being fixed to a, then, moves as though carried by the wheel, a, rolling within A; the radius of a being C D, and that of A twice as great.

In either instrument, the semi-major axis C X is equal to S R, and the semi-minor axis to S P.

The ellipse, then, is described by these arrangements because it is a special form of the epitrochoid; and various other epitrochoids may be traced with Suardi's pen by substituting other wheels, with different numbers of teeth, for a in Fig. 43.

Another disguised planetary arrangement is found in Oldham's coupling, Fig. 44. The two sections of shafting, A and B, have each a flange or collar forged or keyed upon them; and in each flange is planed a transverse groove. A third piece, C, equal in diameter to the flanges, is provided on each side with a tongue, fitted to slide in one of the grooves, and these tongues are at right angles to each other. The axes of A and B must be parallel, but need not coincide; and the result of this connection is that the two shafts will turn in the same direction at the same rate.

The fact that C in this arrangement is in reality a planetary wheel, will be perceived by the aid of the diagram, Fig. 45. Let C D be two pieces rotating about fixed parallel axes, each having a groove in which slides freely one of the arms, A C, A D, which are rigidly secured to each other at right angles.

The point C of the upper arm can at the instant move only in the direction C A; and the point D of the lower arm only in the direction A D, at the same instant; the instantaneous axis is therefore at the intersection, K, of perpendiculars to A C and A D, at the points C and D. C A D K being then a rectangle, A K and C D will be two diameters of a circle whose center, O, bisects C D; and K will also be the point of contact between this circle and another whose center is A, and radius A K = C D. If then we extend the arms so as to form the cross, P K, M N, and suppose this to be carried by the outer circle, f, rolling upon the inner one, F, its motion will be the same as that determined by the pieces, C D; and such a cross is identical with that formed by the tongues on the coupling-piece, C, of Fig. 44.

A O is the virtual train-arm; let the center, A, of the cross move to the position B, then since the angles A O B at the center, and A C B in the circumference, stand on the same arc, A B, the former is double the latter, showing that the cross revolves twice round the center O during each rotation of C; and since A C B = A D B, C and D rotate with equal velocities, and these rotations and the revolution about O have the same direction. While revolving, the cross rotates about its traveling center, A, in the opposite direction, the contact between the two circles being internal, and at a rate equal to that of the rotations of C and D, because the velocities of the axial and the orbital motion are to each other as f is to F, that is to say, as 1 is to 2. Since in the course of the revolution the points P and K must each coincide with C, and the points M and N with D, it follows that each tongue in Fig. 44 must slide in its groove a distance equal to twice that between the axes of the shafts.

Another example of a disguised planetary train is shown in Fig. 46. Let C be the center about which the train arm, T, revolves, and suppose it required that the distant shaft, B, carried by T, shall turn once backward for each forward revolution of the arm. E is a fixed eccentric of any convenient diameter, in the upper side of which is a pin, D. On the shaft, B, is keyed a crank, B G, equal in length to C D; and at any convenient point, H, on B C, or its prolongation, another crank, H F, equal also to C D, is provided with a bearing in the train-arm. The three crank pins, F, D, G, are connected by a rod, like the parallel rod of a locomotive; F D, D G, being respectively equal to H C, C B. Then, as the train-arm revolves, the three cranks must remain parallel to each other; but C D being fixed, the cranks, H F and B G, will remain always parallel to their original positions, thus receiving the required motion of circular translation.

The result then is the same as though the periphery of E were formed into a fixed spurwheel, A, and another, a, of the same size, secured on a shaft, B, the two being connected by the three equal wheels, L, M, N. It need hardly be stated that instead of the eccentric, E, a stationary crank similar and equal to B G may be used, should it be found better suited to the circumstances of the case.

It is possible also to apply the planetary principle to mechanism composed partially of racks; in fact, a rack is merely a wheel of prodigious size—the limiting case, just as a right line is a circle of infinite radius. A very neat application of this principle is found in Villa's Pantograph, of which a full description and illustration was given in SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT, No. 424; the racks, moving side by side, are the sun-wheels, and the planet-wheels are the pinions, carried by the traveling socket, by which the motion of one rack is transmitted to the other.

Thus far attention has been called only to combinations of circular wheels. In these the velocity ratios are constant, if we except the cases in which two independent trains converge, the two sun-wheels, or one of them and the train-arm, being driven separately—and even in those, a variable motion of the ultimate follower is obtained only by varying the speed of one or both drivers. It is not, however, necessary to employ circular wheels exclusively or even at all; wheels of other forms are capable of acting together in the relation of sun and planet, and in this way a varying velocity ratio may be produced even with a fixed sun-wheel and a single driver. We have not found, in the works of any previous writer, any intimation that noncircular wheels have ever been thus combined; and we propose in the following article to illustrate some curious results which may be thus obtained.

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THE FALLACY OF THE PRESENT THEORY OF SOUND.

Dr. H.A. Mott recently delivered a lecture before the New York Academy of Sciences, in Columbia College, on the Fallacy of the Present Theory of Sound.

He commenced his lecture by stating that "the object of science was not to find out what we like or what we dislike; the object of science was truth." He then said that, as Galileo stated a hypothesis should be judged by the weight of facts and the force of mathematical deductions, he claimed the theory of sound should be so examined, and not allowed to exist as a true theory simply because it is sustained by a long line of scientific names; as too many theories had been overthrown to warrant the acceptance of any one authority unless they had been thoroughly tested. Dr. Mott stated that Dr. Wilford Hall was the first to attack the theory of sound and show its fallaciousness, and that many other scientists besides himself had agreed with Dr. Hall in his arguments and had advanced additional arguments and experiments to establish this fact. Dr. Mott first gave a very elaborate and still at the same time condensed statement of the current theory of sound as propounded by such men as Helmholtz, Tyndall, Lord Rayleigh, Mayer, Rood, Sir Wm. Thomson, and others, and closed this section of the paper with the remarks made by Tyndall: "Assuredly no question of science ever stood so much in need of revision as this of the transmission of sound through the atmosphere. Slowly but surely we mastered the question, and the further we advance, the more plainly it appeared that our reputed knowledge regarding it was erroneous from beginning to end."

Dr. Mott then took up the other side of the question, and treated the same under the following heads:

1. Agitation of the air. 2. Mobility of the atmosphere. 3. Resonance. 4. Heat and velocity of the supposed sound waves. 5. Decrease in loudness of sound. 6. The physical strength of the locust. 7. The barometric theory of Sir Wm. Thomson. 8. Elasticity and density of the air. 9. Interference and beats. 10. The membrana tympani and the corti arches.

Under the first head Dr. Mott stated that all experiments and photographs made to establish the existence of sound waves simply referred to the necessary agitation of the air accompanying any disturbance, such as would of necessity be produced by a vibrating body, and had nothing to do directly with sound. He stated that in the Edison telephone, sound was converted directly into electricity without vibrating any diaphragm at all, as attested to by Edison himself. Speaking of the mobility of the air, he said the particles were free to slip around and not practically be pushed at all, and that the greatest distance a steam whistle could affect the air would not exceed 30 feet, and the waves would not travel more than 4 or 5 feet a second, while sound travels 1,120 feet a second. Under heat and velocity of sound waves, Dr. Mott stated that Newton found by calculating the exact relative density and elasticity of air that sound should travel only 916 feet a second, while it was known to travel 1,120 feet a second.

Laplace, by a heat and cold theory, tried to account for the 174 feet, and supposed that in the condensed portion of a sound wave heat was generated, and in the rarefied portion cold was produced; the heat augmenting the elasticity and therefore the sound waves, and the cold produced neutralizing the heat, thus kept the atmosphere at a constant temperature. Dr. Mott stated that when Newton first pointed out this discrepancy of 174 feet, the theory should have been dropped at once, and later on he showed the consequences of Laplace's heat and cold theory.

The great argument of the evening, and the one to which he attached the most importance, was that all scientists have spoken of the swift movement of the tuning fork, while in fact it moved 25,000 times slower than the hour hand of a clock and 300,000,000 times slower than any clock pendulum ever constructed.

Since a pendulum cannot, according to the high authorities, produce sonorous air waves on account of its slow movement, Dr. Mott asks some one to enlighten him how a prong of a tuning fork going 300,000,000 times slower could be able to produce them. He then showed that there was not the slightest similarity between the theoretical sound waves and water waves, and still they are spoken of as "precisely similar" and "essentially identical," and "move in exactly the same way." Considerable merriment was occasioned when Dr. Mott showed what a locust stridulating in the air would be called upon to do if the present theory of sound were correct. He stated that a locust not weighing more than half a pennyweight, and that could not move an ounce weight, was supposed capable of setting 4 cubic miles of atmosphere into vibration, weighing 120,000,000 tons, so that it would be displaced 440 times in one second, and any portion of the air could bend the human tympanic membrane once in and once out 440 times in one second; and that 40,000,000 people, nearly the whole population of the United States, could have their 5,000 pounds of tympanic membrane thus shaken by an insect that could not move an ounce weight to save its life; and that the 231,222 pounds of tympanic membrane of the entire population of the earth, amounting to 1,350,000,000, who could conveniently stand in 111/4 square miles, would be affected the same way by 34 locusts stridulating in the air. According to the barometric theory of Sir William Thomson, he showed that a locust would have to add 60,000,000 pounds to the weight of the atmosphere.

Under elasticity and density he stated that elasticity was a mere property of a body, and could not add one grain of force to that exercised by the locust, so as to assist it in performing such wonderful feats. Under interference he showed that the law of interference is fallacious; that no such thing occurs; and that in the experiment with the siren to show such fact, the octave is produced which of necessity ought to be when the number of orifices are alternately doubled, and the same effect would be produced with one disk with double the number of holes. Under the last head of his paper Dr. Mott proved that the membrana tympani was not necessary for good hearing, that in fact when it was punctured, a deaf man could in many cases be made to hear, and in fact it improved the hearing in general; the only reason why the tympanic membrane was not punctured oftener was that dust, heat, and cold were apt to injure the middle ear.

In closing his paper Dr. Mott said that he would risk the fallacy of the current theory of sound on the argument advanced relating to the impossibility of the slow motion of a tuning fork to produce sonorous waves, and stated that he would retire if any one could show the fallacy of the argument; but if not, the wave theory must be abandoned as absurd and fallacious, as was the Ptolemaic system of astronomy, which was handed down from age to age until Copernicus and his aide de camp Galileo gave to the world a better system.

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THE ATTOCK BRIDGE.

We give illustrations from Engineering of a bridge recently constructed across the Indus River at Attock, for the Punjaub Northern State Railway. This bridge, which was opened on May 24, 1883, was erected under the direction of Mr. F.L. O'Callaghan, engineer in chief, Mr. H. Johnson acting as executive engineer, and Messrs. R.W. Egerton and H. Savary as assistants.



The principal spans cover a length of about 1,150 feet. It will be seen from the diagram that there is a difference of nearly 100 feet in the levels of high and low water.

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THE ELASTICITY OF METALS.

M. Tresca has contributed to the Comptes Rendus some observations on the effect of hammering, and the variation of the limit of elasticity of metals and materials used in the arts.

He says that hitherto, in considering the deformation of solids under strain, two distinct periods, relative to their mechanical properties, have alone been recognized. These periods are of course the elastic limit and the breaking point. In the course of M. Tresca's own experiments, however, he has found it necessary to consider, at the end of the period of alteration of elasticity, a third state, geometrically defined and describable as a period of fluidity, corresponding to the possibility of a continuous deformation under the constant action of the same strain. This particular condition is only realized with very malleable or plastic bodies; and it may even be regarded as characteristic of such bodies, since its absence is noticeable in all non-malleable or fragile bodies, which break without being deformed. It is already known that the period of altered elasticity for hard or tempered steel is much less than for iron. In 1871 the author showed that steel or iron rails that had acquired a permanent set were at the same time perfectly elastic up to the limit of the load which they had already borne. With certain bars the same result was renewed five times in succession; and thus their period of perfect elasticity could be successively extended, while the coefficient of elasticity did not appear to sustain any appreciable modification. This process of repeated straining, when there is an absence of a certain hammering effect, renders malleable bodies somewhat similar to those which are not malleable and brittle. There is an indication here of another argument against the testing of steam boilers by exaggerated pressures before use, which process has the effect of rendering the plates more brittle and liable to sudden rupture.

M. Tresca also protests against the elongation of metals under breaking strain tests being stated as a percentage of the length. The elongation is in all cases, chiefly local; and is therefore the same for a test piece 12 inches or 8 inches long, being confined to the immediate vicinity of the point of rupture. The indication of elasticity should rather be sought for in the reduction of the area of the bar at the point of rupture. This portion of the bar is otherwise remarkable for having lost its original condition. It is condensed in a remarkable manner, and has almost completely lost its malleability. The final rupture, therefore, is that of a brittle zone of the metal, of the same character that may be produced by hammering. If a test bar, strained almost to the verge of rupture, be annealed, it will stretch yet further before breaking; and, indeed, by successive annealings and stretchings, may be excessively modified in its proportions.

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THE HARRINGTON ROTARY ENGINE.

The chief characteristic or principle of this engine is the maintenance of an accurate steam and mechanical balance and the avoidance of cross pressure. The power is applied directly to the work, the only friction being that of the steel shaft in phosphor-bronze bearings. Referring to the cuts, Fig. 1 shows the engine and an electric dynamo on the same shaft, all connecting mechanism being done away with, and pounding obviated. There are but two parts to the engine (two disks which supply the place of all the ordinary mechanism), both of which are large, solid, and durable. These disks have a bearing surface of several inches on each other, preventing the passage of steam between them—a feature peculiar to this engine. Fig. 2 represents an end elevation partly in section, showing the piston, A, and the abutment disk, B, in the position assumed in the instant of taking steam through a port from the valve-chamber, E. Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the center of Fig. 2, showing the relations of the disks, C, and the abutment disks, B, and gear. The piston disks and gear are attached to the driving shaft, H, and the abutment disks and gear are attached to the shaft, K. These shafts, H and K, as above stated, run in taper phosphor-bronze bearings, which are adjustable for wear or other causes by the screw-caps, O. The whole mechanism is kept rigidly in place by the flanged hub, r, bolted securely to the cylinder head, F. These flanged heads project through the cylinder head, touching the piston disk, and thereby prevent any end motion of the shaft, H, or its attachments. The abutment disks and shaft are furnished with similar inwardly projecting flanged hubs, which are provided with a recess, I, Fig. 2, on their periphery, located radially between the shaft, K, and the clearance space, J. Into this recess steam is admitted—through an inlet in the cylinder head not shown in the cuts. By this means the shaft, K, is relieved of all side pressure. The exhaust-port, which is very large and relieves all back pressure, is shown at D. The pistons and disks are made to balance at the speed at which the engine is intended to run. The steam-valve, for which patent is pending, is new in principle. It has a uniform rotating motion, and, like the engine, is steam and mechanically balanced. The governor is located in the flywheel, and actuates the automatic cut-off, with which it is directly connected, without the intervention of an eccentric, in such a way as to vary the cut-off without changing the point of admission. By this means is secured uniformity of motion under variable loads with variable boiler pressure. It also secures the advantage resulting from high initial and low terminal pressure with small clearances and absence of compression, giving a large proportionate power and smooth action.

Expansion has been excellently provided for, the steam passing entirely around before entering the cylinder. These engines are mounted on a bed-plate which may be set on any floor without especial preparation therefor. The parts are all made interchangeable. A permanent indicator is provided which shows the exact point of cut-off. The steam-port is exceptionally large, being one-fourth of the piston area. Reciprocating motion is entirely done away with. The steam is worked at the greatest leverage of the crank through the entire stroke. Among the other chief advantages claimed for this engine are direct connection to the machinery without belts, etc., impossibility of getting out of line, uniform crank leverage, capacity for working equally well slow or fast, etc. It has but one valve, which is operated by gear from the shaft, as shown, traveling at one-half the velocity of the piston.



With this engine a speed of 5,000 revolutions per minute is easily attainable, while, as a matter of fact and curiosity, a speed of 8,000 revolutions per minute has been obtained. An engine of this class was run at the Illinois Inter-State Exposition at Chicago for six weeks at a uniform speed of 1,050 revolutions per minute, furnishing the power for twenty-three electric arc lights, with a steam pressure not exceeding fifty-five pounds per square inch, and cutting off at from one-tenth to one-sixth of the stroke. It was taking steam from a large main-pipe, so there was no opportunity for an exact test of the amount of fuel used, but from a careful mathematical calculation it must have been developing one horse-power from three pounds of coal.

The inventor claims that, as his engine works the steam expansively, even better results would have been obtained had the engine been furnished steam at 100 pounds per square inch.



The Harrington Rotary Engine Company, 123 Clinton Street, Chicago, are the owners and manufacturers.

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In a can of peas sold in Liverpool recently the public analyst found two grains of crystallized sulphate of copper, a quantity sufficient to injuriously affect human health. The defendant urged that the public insisted upon having green peas; and that artificial means had to be resorted to to secure the required color.

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TESTING CAR VARNISHES.

By D.D. ROBERTSON.

At the Master Car-Painters' Convention, D.D. Robertson, of the Michigan Central, read the following paper on the best method of testing varnishes to secure the most satisfactory results as to their durability, giving practical suggestions as to the time a car may safely remain in the service before being taken in for revarnishing:

The subject which the association has assigned to me for this convention has always been regarded as important. There is no branch of the business which gives the painter more anxiety than the varnishing department. It is more susceptible to an endless variety of difficulties, and therefore needs more close and careful attention, than all other branches put together, and even with all the research and practical experience which has been given to the subject we are yet far from coming to a definite conclusion as to the causes of many of the unfavorable results.

Beauty and durability are what we aim at in the paint shop, and from my experience in varnish work we may have beauty without durability, but we have rarely durability without beauty, so that the fewer defects of any kind in our work caused by inferior material, inferior workmanship, or any other cause, it is more likely to be durable, and ought, therefore, to possess beauty. There are certain qualifications absolutely necessary to durability in varnish. The material of which it is made must be of the proper kind, pure and unadulterated; the manipulation in manufacturing must be correct as to time, quantities, temperature, handling, etc., and age is also necessary. The want of durability arising from the quality of the materials, or from the manner of manufacturing, the painter has no control over; but let me say here, that frequently a first-class varnish has been used upon a car, and after being in service for a short time it deadens, checks, cracks, chips, or flakes, and therefore shows a very poor record. The varnish is condemned, when in reality, had the varnish been applied under different circumstances and over different work, the result would have been good and the durability satisfactory.

I am satisfied that in many cases first-class varnish has to bear the odium, when the root of the evil is to be found nearer the foundation. The leading varnish manufacturers of this country have expended large fortunes to secure the best skill and appliances, and, indeed, to do everything to bring their goods to perfection. Their standing and respectability put them beyond suspicion, and their reputation is of too much value for them knowingly to put into the hands of large consumers an inferior article; and even when we have just cause to complain of the varnish, we ought to be charitable enough to attribute the mistake to circumstances beyond their control (for every kettleful is subjected to such circumstances), and not to charge them with using cheap or inferior material for the sake of gain.

If the question which has been given me means to give some method of testing before using, I confess my inability to answer. For varnish to be pronounced "durable" must be composed of the materials to make it so, and to ascertain this, chemistry must be called in to test it. Comparatively few painters understand chemistry sufficiently to analyze, and if they did, and found the material all that is necessary, the manipulation may have been defective, so as to injure its wearing qualities, and therefore I cannot suggest any way of pronouncing varnish durable before using it.

As to the common custom of hanging out boards prepared and varnished to the exposure of the sun and weather for months does not seem to me to be the correct way of testing durability. It is true we may by this mode get some idea of wearing properties, but the most thorough and correct way is to put the varnish to the same exposure, the tear and wear, that it would have in the regular service on the road on which it is to run. Cars while running are exposed to circumstances which boards on the wall are not subjected to. The cars under my charge run through two different countries and three different States, and therefore subjected to such a variety of climate and soil that the testing by stationary boards would completely fail to give the correct result. For example: I have placed two sample boards, prepared and varnished, and exposed them to all kinds of weather and to the constant and steady rays of the sun for an equal length of time, and both gave favorable results; and I have also put the same varnishes on a car and found very different results. One of the varnishes having some properties adapted to resist the friction caused by cinders, sand, and dust, and consequently not so liable to cut the surface, and therefore much more durable.

The system which I adopted long ago, and to which I still adhere (not on account of "old fogyism," but for want of better), is as follows: I have two varnishes which I want to put into competition to test their relative merits. With varnish No. 1, I do the south half of the east end of the car and the east half of the south side of the car, the north half of the west end, and also the west end of the north side; this is also done with the same varnish. On the other half of the car varnish No. 2 is put.

Thus you will see it is so placed that, should the car be turned at any time, both varnishes on each side will have the same exposure and circumstances to contend with. This I regard as the best method to test the durability of varnish. And again let me say that it would be wrong for me to argue that because the varnish which I use gives me the best results, therefore I would regard it the best for all to use. This would be wrong, inasmuch as we have a diversity of climates between Maine and California, and between the extreme northern and southern States. The varnish which has failed to give me satisfaction may be most suitable for other parts of the Union.

As to the second part of my subject, "What length of time may a car safely remain in service before being taken in for revarnishing?" this must be regulated by the nature of the run and general treatment of the car while in service. Through cars are frequently continuously on the road, and little or no opportunity can be had to attend to them while in service. Such cars should be called in earlier than those which make shorter runs, and where ample time is allowed at both ends of the journey to be kept in order. And again, cars which are run nearest the engine cannot make so large a running record as those less exposed. Some roads, for a variety of reasons which might be given, can run cars for 14 months with less wear than others can run 12 months. So that I hold that the master painter on every road should keep a complete and correct record of his cars, and have an opportunity to examine these at intervals and report their condition, in order to have them called in before they are too far gone for revarnishing. If this system was more frequently adopted, the rolling stock of our roads would be more attractive, and the companies would be the gainers.

I cannot lay down a standard rule as to the exact time a car should remain in service before being called in for revarnishing, but I find as a general rule with the cars on the Michigan Central Railroad that they should not exceed 12 months' service, and new cars, or those painted from the foundation, should not be allowed to run over 10 months the first year. By thus allowing a shorter period the first year the car will look better and wear longer by this mode of treatment. Cars treated in this way can be kept running for six and seven years without repainting.

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THE FIXATION OF MAGNETIC PHANTOMS.

When we place a thin sheet of cardboard or glass upon a magnet and scatter iron filings over it, we observe the iron to take certain positions and trace certain lines which Faraday has styled lines of magnetic force, or, more simply, lines of force. The figure, as a whole, which is thus formed constitutes a magnetic phantom. The forms of the latter vary with that of the magnet, the relative positions of the magnet and plate, etc.



The whole space submitted to the influence of the magnet constitutes a magnetic field, which is characterized by the presence of these lines of force, and the study of which is of the most important character as regards electro-magnetic action and that of induction. In order to study these phantoms it is convenient to fix them so that they can be preserved, projected, or photographed. Fig. 1 shows how they may be fixed. To effect this, we cover the plate with a layer of mucilage of gum arabic, allow the latter to harden, and then place the plate over the magnet. Next, iron filings are scattered over the surface by means of a small sieve, and, when the curves are well developed,[1] the surface is moistened by the aid of an ordinary vaporizer. The layer of gum arabic thus becomes softened and holds the iron filings so that the particles cannot change position. When the gum has hardened again, the magnet is removed, and the phantom is fixed.