SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

A WEEKLY JOURNAL OF PRACTICAL INFORMATION, ART, SCIENCE, MECHANICS, CHEMISTRY, AND MANUFACTURES.

NEW YORK, July 14, 1877.

Vol. XXXVII.—No. 2. [NEW SERIES.]

$3.20 per Annum [POSTAGE PREPAID.]

Contents:

(Illustrated articles are marked with an asterisk.)

BOWER'S PATENT AIR COMPRESSOR.

The new air compressor herewith illustrated may be operated by steam or water power, and is available for work in mines, tunnels, or quarries, for driving rock drills, coal cutters, and hauling and pumping engines, working mining pumps, for use in factories, and in fact for all service where a safe and efficient power is required. The construction of the machine, the capacity of which differs according to the amount of power required, will readily be understood from the illustration. Above the air cylinder are two distinct air chambers, each having two induction or receiving valves, which cushion on rubbers. With the movement of the piston these chambers alternately receive and force the compressed air through check valves placed in the upper part of the air compartment, both compartments being connected with one pipe conveying the air to the ordinary air receiver. These check valves lift alternately, and cushion on water; and as the compressed air is forced into the pipe connecting with the receiver, without a possibility of any of it escaping back into the receiving chambers, it is claimed that there is the smallest possible loss of power, and that the machine will give fully 90 per cent of steam power expended in the shape of compressed air. The compressor is compact in form, strongly made, simple in construction, and not liable to get out of order. One peculiarity in its construction is that no water jacket or hollow piston is used; yet under any of the extreme pressures to which the machine has been tested, no inconvenience, we are informed, from heat has been perceptible.

BOWER'S AIR COMPRESSOR.

In connection with the compressor, receivers of various sizes are used, into which the air is pumped and thence conveyed by pipe to the location where required, even if it be a mile or more, the loss by friction between receiver and point of utilization of the air being, it is claimed, under 2 lbs. of the pressure.

The manufacturers also build water-power compressors, one of which, driven by 75 to 100 horse power, they have recently shipped to Utah. The machine is intended to convey the air through iron tubes 5,000 feet to the mouth of a silver mine, where a 50 horse power hoisting and a 25 horse power pumping engine will be driven by air instead of steam, and a tube will be extended into the mine 1,000 feet deep, where the power drills and small pumps will be operated by air also.

The manufacturers submit a number of excellent testimonials from parties using the machine. From one, we learn, that at the Antelope and Prince of Wales mine, near Alta City, Utah, the compressor runs 10 hours per day, and supplies compressed air to two 3 inch drills used in running levels. The distribution terminates at distances of from 1,000 to 2,000 feet from the compressor. The machine also drives one hoisting engine and ventilates the lower part of the mine. The main supply pipe is three inches in diameter, 2,300 feet long, and is tapped by two inch pipe wherever power is required. The expenditure of fuel is one cord of green pine wood and 600 lbs. of bituminous coal per 10 hours. Air pressure in receiver 100 lbs. This pressure is reported to be obtained by 70 lbs. of steam as indicated by the gauges.

For further particulars, address the manufacturers, Messrs. Griffith and Wedge, Zanesville, Ohio.

Death of Professor Santini.

A cable dispatch announces the death of the Italian astronomer, Giovanni Santini. The Professor was born at Tuscany, June 30, 1786, and was in the ninety-first year of his age. He graduated at the University of Pisa. He soon devoted himself to a study of the exact sciences, and in 1814 he had achieved so much distinction that he was appointed to a professorship in the Padowa Observatory in place of Vincenzo Cheminello. In 1825 he was appointed Rector of the University, and up to the time of his death he held the position of Professor of Astronomy and Director of Mathematical Studies. He was generally esteemed by the learned societies of Europe, and held a number of honorary titles and degrees from various leading universities. He was also a correspondent of the French Academy. The principal books published by him are strictly scientific, such as "Decimal Arithmetic" (1808), "Elements of Astronomy" (1820), "Logarithms and Trigonometry," and "Optical Problems" (1821-23). Some of his elementary works on astronomy for beginners are the best ever published in Italy.

John Yule.

The death is announced of Mr. John Yule, of the Hutchestown Engine Works, Rutherglen, N. B., at the age of 66. During early life, Mr. Yule went the round of the best engineers' shops in Scotland and England, and became one of the recognized leaders in engineering progress. His inventiveness took various directions, amongst other fruits being an improved rotary engine, a compensating governor for the steam engine, and a screw tap, drill, and mandrel. For the latter he was awarded the silver medal of the Scottish Society of Arts. For some years Mr. Yule acted as the manager of the boiler department of Messrs. Robert Napier & Son's establishment, but eventually resumed business at the Hutchestown Works, and devoted attention amongst other matters to the improvement of swing bridges and steam cranes and hammers. In the former line two of his most important works are the plate girder bridge over the entrance to one of the docks at Port Glasgow, for the Caledonian Railway, erected from plans by Messrs. Bell and Miller, C.E., Glasgow; and a lattice girder bridge over the entrance to Kingston Dock, Glasgow Harbor. Owing to the angle at which this last bridge crosses the dock, great difficulties were experienced in working out the mechanical details so as to admit of easy motion. These were skillfully overcome, and the bridge was, as finally erected, a monument of his design as well as workmanship. The Blackhill incline on the Monkland Canal, constructed nearly a quarter of a century ago, is a sample of Mr. Yule's mechanical powers. Of late years he was largely engaged as a professional valuator.

Business Prospects.

We have recently taken the pains to make inquiries from the more eminent bankers and merchants in the chief cities of the interior, and the results of our inquiries have tended to confirm the belief we have more than once expressed in this journal, that although, from various causes, there is overhanging a portion of our American industries a cloud of gloom and depression, still throughout the nation at large there is going on a process of growth and recovery from which the best results are anticipated. How long we shall have to wait before the life which is at work silently and secretly beneath the surface will put forth its full power, in the full harvest of productive activity, is, of course, impossible to foretell. What is chiefly important for us to know, however, is that the progress we are making tends upwards and not downwards, and that it promises to lead our industry and commerce to a brighter and not to a darker future.—Financial Chronicle.

To Disinfect Rooms.

The disinfection of a room is not complete unless the walls have been thoroughly cleansed. If they are papered, the paper must be removed and the surface beneath carefully scraped and washed. If the walls are painted, they should be washed with caustic soda. The ceiling should also be subjected to a similar treatment.

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VOL. XXXVII., No. 2. [NEW SERIES.] Thirty-second Year.

NEW YORK, SATURDAY, JULY 14, 1877.

TABLE OF CONTENTS OF

THE SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT,

No. 80,

For the Week ending July 14, 1877.

I. ENGINEERING AND MECHANICS.—Wrought Iron Bridge Designs; by William O. Douglas. A method of construction whereby the safety of the structure is not dependent on any single member. 2 engravings.—Steel Wire Hawsers.

Health and Sewage of Towns; by Alfred Carpenter, M.D., C.S.S. A practical experience of the Dry system.

Carlisle Bridge, Dublin, 1 engraving—Extinction of Fires.—Important Dutch Enterprise.

Foot Bridge across the River Ness at Inverness; by C. R. Manners, Engineer. 13 illustrations.

Radiating Steam Hercules for the St. Heliers' Harbor Works, Jersey. 2 figures.—New Meat Trucks.—New Horseshoe.—Scott's Wheel-Cutting and Moulding Machine. 3 figures.

Compound Engine with Rope Driving Gear; by Benjamin Goodfellow, Engineer. 3 engravings.—Differential Screw Pipe Joint. 6 figures.

Pipes for Gas and Other Purposes (continued from Supplement No. 77). Main-laying continued, with 4 figures.—Fittings of Gas and Water Pipes; Includes the average "life" of pipes; an account of various soils, and amount of corrosion in each; Professor Barff's new iron-preserving process, and other processes in practical use for preserving iron pipe; proving pipe; the utility of various metals, and directions for pipe-laying: various fittings, illustrated in 16 figures.

II. TECHNOLOGY.—The Sizing of Cotton Goods; a paper read before the Society of Arts, by W. Thompson, F.R.S. A very full and clear description, embracing: An account of the process of weaving, explaining the object and utility of size. A table of sizing mixtures in which are enumerated all the substances used, (1) for giving adhesive properties to the size, (2) to give weight and body to the yarn, (3) for softening the size or yarn, and (4) for preserving the size from mildew and decomposition. Tests for these substances and directions for mixing, so as to obtain the results required. Proportions of sizing. Use of flour in size. Weighting materials, China clay and its substitutes. "Softenings" and oils for softening. East winds. Glycerin, grape sugar, mildew preventives, and tape sizing. "Slashing," packing, mildew, damaged goods, etc.—Notes on Garment Dyeing. Giving preparation of garments with cotton warps, green on garments with cotton warps, brown on the same, etc.

III. LIGHT, HEAT, ELECTRICITY, ETC.—On the Minute Measurements of Modern Science. By Alfred M. Mayer. Article IX. The dividing engine and methods of making accurate linear scales. 8 illustrations.

IV. NATURAL HISTORY, ETC.—Catastrophism, or the Evolution of Environment. An address by Clarence King before the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale College, New Haven, Conn.

V. AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE.—Pencils of Silver Nitrate.—The Black Poplar.—Tree Leaves as a Fertilizer.—Improving Pastures. —Lawns and Hay.—Thoroughbred Pigs.—Shall Country Houses have Cellars?

VI. MISCELLANEOUS.—The New German Patent Law: being the Full Text of the New Law for Patents, passed July 1, 1877, covering all the States of the German Empire.

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CARRYING PEACE INTO AFRICA.

To carry war into Africa has been a proverb ever since Rome vowed the destruction of Carthage. But the Carthagenian invasion was a modern episode in Africa's experiences of that nature. On one of the earlier monuments of Egypt there is figured a slave-hunter's raid upon an Ethiopian village, the horrid details of which are said by travelers to be an accurate picture of a slave raid of to-day. The same murderous work has been going on incessantly for at least 4,000 years: how much longer there is no telling. For all these ages the African borders have known war and war only, and of the most destructive and barbarizing nature.

Recently, under the influence of Sir Samuel Baker, Colonel Gordon, and the civilized world in general, the Khedive of Egypt has carried war into the interior in the interests of peace: a conquest in a measure justified by the suppression of inter-tribal war for the filling of slave pens, and the abolition of the slave trade down the Nile. A similar reform has been effected on the east coast by the pressure of English power on the Sultan of Zanzibar. And the immediate effect of these two movements has been to prevent the butchery or enslavement of not less than half a million negroes annually.

A still more promising invasion of Africa has just been decided upon in the International Geographical Conference in Brussels: an invasion wholly in the interests of peace and civilization. At the meeting, a year ago, it was declared advisable to establish, by international effort, a line of permanent commercial stations from Bagomoyo, on the coast of Zanzibar, to St. Paul de Loanda, on the opposite Atlantic coast; the first stations to be at Ujiji, where Stanley found Livingstone, on the eastern shore of lake Tanganyika; at Nyangwe, Livingstone's furthest point northward on the Lualaba; and at some point further west on the route of Cameron, to be fixed in the dominions of Muata Yamvo, one of the most powerful chiefs of Central Africa. At the second conference, which ended June 24, arrangements were made for sending out the first expedition toward Tanganyika.

The object of the proposed stations is the development of civilization by commerce, not by religious propaganda. Primarily they will serve as bases of operation for explorers of the interior, a sort of entrepôts, where the explorer may supply himself with provisions, instruments, and goods, and thus save the cost and embarrassment of an army of porters from the coast. They will also serve as places of refuge for explorers in times of sickness and other reverses, which have hitherto so terribly hampered explorers. The heads of these pioneer establishments are to be men of scientific training and proved executive ability; and each will be aided by a physician-naturalist and a few skilled artisans. The points thus far chosen are on a line regularly traveled by the caravans of Arab traders, carrying coffee, tea, sugar, arms, and woven goods to permanent Arab residences and trading stations in the interior. An agent of the London Missionary Society has already begun the survey of a route for ox teams as far as lake Tanganyika; and Cameron has expressed the opinion that a light narrow-gauge railway could be constructed from the coast to the lake at a cost not exceeding four thousand dollars a mile. The traffic along such a road, he thinks, would soon pay interest on the outlay.

The unexplored region thus to be opened up to civilization and commerce (other than in human beings) is larger than the United States east of the Mississippi. Around it is a still larger region of partially explored country of unequalled fertility, abounding in great lakes and navigable rivers, and for the most part so high above the sea that the products of the tropics mingle with those of the temperate zone. The cereals, durah, maize, rice, sugar cane, starch-yielding roots and tubers, cotton, coffee, tobacco, spices, gums and caoutchouc, dye-stuffs and medicinal plants, the banana, fig, date, orange, and the vine are among the known products of this region; and all are capable of becoming important staples of foreign commerce. The country is not less rich in coal, iron, copper, gold, and other valuable minerals. The climate, though moist from abundant rain, is less debilitating than India or Brazil; and everywhere, away from the miasmatic coast regions and the marshes of the lower river courses, European explorers have found small cause for complaining of excessive heat or unhealthiness. On the elevated plateaus which cover so large a part of Central Africa, the climate is like that of the sanitariums of India; while among the mountains the finest climates of the world are fairly rivalled. Stanley found in the mountainous region between the great lakes and within a degree of the equator every climatic condition and every element of landscape beauty that could attract and delight a white colony. It was a perfect alpine country, with mountains rising from twelve to fifteen thousand feet, yet free from alpine cold and snow. Countless torrents from the hills watered ever-verdant valleys as beautiful as those of Tyrol, lying under a brilliant equatorial sun, yet with a climate as cool and equable as any European might desire. Further south, among the mountains about Lake Nyassa, the same features are presented on a grander scale: a country aptly described as a second Switzerland of gigantic proportions.

There can be no question of the ability of Europeans to sustain themselves in the greater part of the interior—certainly on all the higher plateaus—nor of the possibility of building up in Central Africa a great civilized empire. Nature offers every facility, and the native population seem to be well fitted for productive industry. In every respect they are physically and morally superior to the negroes of the coast, and only need protection and the encouragement of legitimate commerce to weld them into a great nation. Already they stand on the borders of civilization. They are intelligent, industrious, and not unskillful in the manufacture of iron and copper ornaments, utensils, and weapons. The arts of tanning, spinning, weaving, dyeing, mat-making, etc., are widely diffused among them, and many of their products are remarkable for their fineness and strength. They carry on agriculture with considerable success; and, notwithstanding the chronic state of insecurity incident to slave-hunting, their wealth in cattle is very great. As soon as the disturbing and impoverishing influence of the slave traffic is abated, and a market provided for the products of peace, the advancement of the people in civilization is likely to go on with great rapidity. As the source of raw materials which we need, and as a market for the surplus manufactures of Europe and America, the country offers, to say the least, many attractions; and it will not be surprising if, within fifty years, thriving commercial stations will be founded on all its great lakes and rivers, and connected with the outer world by telegraphy, railways, and steamship lines.

ADDRESS OF CLARENCE KING ON CATASTROPHISM.

Mr. Clarence King lately delivered an interesting address before the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale College, New Haven, Conn., under the title of "Catastrophism, or the Evolution of Environment," which promises to evoke considerable discussion. We subjoin an abstract of the principal features of the address, which is quite lengthy. The full text will be found in our Supplements, Nos. 80, 81.

Mr. King refuted the doctrine of slow evolution as taught by Huxley and Darwin, and declared that the surface of the earth and climate had been subject to sudden and catastrophic mutation, which included in its environment all types of life.

He reasoned that marine fossils are found entombed in rocky beds far remote from present seas; and that these beds were once sea bottoms that have been upheaved by convulsions of Nature. The earliest history of mankind is pregnant with catastrophe, and we have historic story and biblical record of its sudden and destructive energy. He called to mind the vast and massive eruptions of the Pliocene basalt as seen upon our own continent.

The great obvious changes in the rocky crust were referred to a few processes; the sub-aerial decay of continents, delivery by streams of land-detritus into the sea, the spreading out of these comminuted materials upon a pelagic floor, and lastly upheaval, by which oceanic beds were lifted up into subsequent land masses. All these processes he declared to have been more rapid in the past than now. Suddenness, world-wide destructiveness, were the characteristics of geological changes. Periods of calm, like the present, are suddenly terminated by brief catastrophic epochs. Successive faunas and floras were created only to be extinguished by general cataclysms.

He believed in recurrent, abrupt accelerations of crust change, so violent as to destroy all life on the globe. He declared the idea to be the survival of a prehistoric terror, and was backed up by breaks in the great palæontological record. Of the geologic features of our continent, he said that beneath our America lies buried another distinct continent, which he called Archæan America, which was made up of what was originally ocean beds lifted into the air and locally crumpled into vast mountain chains, which were in turn eroded by torrents into mountain peaks. The original coast lines of this continent we may never be able fully to survey, but its great features, the lofty chains of the mountains which made its bones, were very nearly co-extensive with our existing systems, the Appalachians and Cordilleras. The cañon-cutting rivers of the present Western mountains have dug out the peaks and flanks of those underlying, primeval uplifts and developed an astonishing topography; peaks rising in a single sweep 30,000 feet from their bases, precipices lifting bold, solid fronts 10,000 feet into the air, and profound mountain valleys. The work of erosion, which has been carried on by torrents of the quaternary age, brings to light buried primeval chains loftier than any of the present heights of the globe.

At the close of the Palæzoic age, two enormous masses of what, probably, were then continents began to sink, and as they disappeared the present Atlantic and Pacific oceans appeared, while the sea-floor of a then ocean, emerged, and became the new continent of America. Dividing this new continent was a sea, but catastrophe removed this sea and resulted in the folding up of mountain ranges 20,000 and 40,000 feet in height, thereby essentially changing the whole climate of the continent. Of the land life of the mesozoic age we have abundant remains. The wonderful reptilian and avian fauna of the mesozoic age is now familiar to all. But after the catastrophe, and the change of climate which must necessarily have ensued, this fauna totally perished.

After criticising the opinions of Huxley, Lyell, Hutton, Darwin, and others, he recurred to the effects of sudden terrestrial or cosmical changes, and conceived that the effects of these changes would be, first, extermination; secondly, destruction of the biological equilibrium; and thirdly, rapid morphological change on the part of plastic species. When catastrophic change burst in upon the ages of uniformity, and sounded in the ear of every living thing the words "Change or die!" plasticity became the sole principle of salvation. And plasticity is the key to survival and prosperity. Mr. King remarked in conclusion of his address: "He who brought to bear that mysterious energy we call life upon primeval matter bestowed at the same time a power of development by change, arranging that the interaction of energy and matter, which make up environment should, from time to time, burst in upon the current of life and sweep it onward and upward to ever higher and better manifestations. Moments of great catastrophe, thus translated into the language of life, become moments of creation, when out of plastic organisms something newer and nobler is called into being."

DUPLEX EDUCATION.

The age in which we live is a fast one, and he who does not move with equal celerity, and keep pace with those around him, is ruthlessly thrust to the wall, and remains there unless he has strength and will to regain the lost position. We call to our aid every force of Nature and invoke the assistance of every appliance with which we are cognizant. We call our fathers slow, and to us they were so; but there was the same need of celerity in their every-day life as to-day there is in ours.

While calling to our aid the elements of Nature and adapting thousands of mechanical appliances to our wants, do we not often feel that there is beyond all these a "something" that may be invoked and trained to help us on in the race of life? Occasionally we find dim glimmerings of this "something" that we believe will eventually grow to be one of the prominent sciences. Physiologists tell us that the human brain is double, that the right and left lobes act in a degree independent of each other—the right lobe of the brain controlling the physiology of the left side of the individual from head to heel, while the left lobe exercises a like dominion on the opposite side. Grant this to be true, then can be explained the idiosyncrasy that is occasionally seen in individuals, of which we may instance that of writing at the same time with both hands; and again we have heard of telegraph operators sending and receiving two messages at the same time, operating with both hands, and independent of each other. It is said that Nasmyth, the inventor of the steam hammer, could actually produce two sketches or drawings in this way and at the same time. It is also affirmed that Sir Charles Fox, the architect of the Exhibition building of 1851, could write upon two ideas at the same time and transfer these ideas simultaneously to paper with right and left hand. The mechanic can often be found who can operate upon one piece of mechanism, while at the same time his brain is busy upon the study of some unborn idea, foreign to that work upon which he is laboring. Writers can be found who can write out one train of ideas, while ideas entirely different are being cogitated upon somewhere in their craniums. We have even heard it affirmed that an indistinct glimmering of a third idea would occasionally peep around the corner of the caputs of these favored ones.

Why not educate this? Why not form schools and institutions to bring it out and lead the brain to perform this double function? It can certainly be done. The world wants it, surely. The age demands it. Individuals need it. If these individuals can succeed and become experts in this method of double work, will not double compensation and a greater remuneration be their reward? This, certainly, will be an incentive to its acquirement. Go to the apprentice when first he takes position beside the vise, with chipping chisel in one hand and hammer in the other. The injunction he mentally receives as he raises the hammer is, that to miss the chisel is to hit his knuckles. After a few demonstrative blows he knows what it means, and therefore chisel and hammer soon come by some strange process to harmonize in action, so that in whatever position the head of the chisel may be, the blow is sure to be properly received, and that, too, without any sensible effort on his part. In this illustration both right and left hand are taught to act, by brain dictation, in a certain concerted manner.

Again, we find that mutes have been learned to articulate words and sentences by proper education, they being taught to imitate the motions of the mouth and labial organs as by their tutors directed. Education can do much, and these are some of its results. Can we not by proper teaching produce all the results as shown in the case of Nasmyth and Fox. The first lessons must necessarily be simple. For instance, two things done at the same time with both hands, giving expression at this time to ideas connected therewith, but distinct from each other. From this simple lesson we progress, and, as the ultimatum, we may arrive at greater achievements than Nasmyth or Fox ever dreamed of. We may find that we can so divide our entity that we can be conscious of a double-brain existence in a dual action.

THE CARRIGEEN CROP.

To the great majority of people, Carrigeen, under the more familiar name of Irish Moss, is known chiefly as the basis of a pleasant and wholesome drink for the sick room, or as an article of use in the preparation of delicacies for the table. Comparatively few are aware of its wide and varied use in the arts, or that the thousands of barrels of it employed annually by our manufacturers of paper, cloth, felt, and straw hats, etc., and by brewers, is not an Irish, but an American product, and, speaking strictly, is not a moss but a seaweed.

Carrigeen (chondrus crispus) is to be found more or less abundantly all along our northern coast, ranging between the low water line and the depth of forty feet, or so; but as a rule its fronds, which correspond to the leaves of air plants, are so numerously inhabited by small mollusca that they are spoiled for other use. The clean-growing article seems to be limited almost wholly to certain ledges in the neighborhood of Scituate, Mass.—a section of coast guarded by the celebrated Minot Ledge Lighthouse, and famous for its danger to shipping. Here, where the waves of the Atlantic dash with full force upon the rocky coast, the carrigeen grows to perfection; and wherever it escapes the spawn of mussels and other shellfish, is gathered during the summer season in vast quantities.

The harvest begins in May and ends about the first of September. The gathering is made in two ways—by hand-picking during exceptionally low tides, and by means of long-handled iron-toothed rakes at ordinary tides. Of course the work cannot be carried on except during fair weather. Hand-pulling is possible only during the bi-monthly periods of spring tides, that is, when the moon is full and again at new moon. At such times high tide occurs about midday and midnight, and the ledges are exposed for moss gathering morning and evening. The mossers' boats are rowed to the rocks where the finest grades abound, and the gatherers select with great care the growths that are freest from minute shells and other foreign matter. This portion of the crop, if properly handled afterwards, generally goes to the apothecary and fetches a price two or three times that of the common grade.

As the tide rises the pickers are driven to their boats, and proceed to the outer moss-bearing rocks where the rake is used, as it also is during ordinary low tides. Moss taken in this way is not so clean as the hand-picked, and is always mixed with tape grass, which must be removed during the process of curing and packing.

The curing of the moss is the most critical part of this peculiar farming. On being brought to the shore the moss is black and unsightly; it must be bleached as well as dried. The bleaching is effected by repeated wetting and drying in the sun; and as the moss is readily soluble in fresh water the bleaching beds are situated near the banks of the salt creeks that abound along the shore. After drying, the moss is packed in tubs and rolled to the water, where it is thoroughly washed, then rolled back to the bleaching bed, to be dried again in the sun. Five or six such exposures are usually sufficient. On the bleaching ground, the moss is carefully spread and turned, and watchfully guarded against wetting by rain. In this process it turns from black to red, then to the yellowish-white of the perfected article. When properly cured the moss is stored in bulk, in shanties; where, as time permits, it is picked over and packed in barrels. The crop averages about half a million pounds a year; and thanks to the brighter and more abundant sunshine of our coast, the moss has a brighter color and is of finer quality than the Irish product.

CATASTROPHISM IN GEOLOGY.

Mr. Clarence King was probably not a little surprised to learn from the Tribune that in his most suggestive address on "Catastrophism and the Evolution of Environment," he had turned the guns of Geology upon Biology; and that in calling attention to the influence of periods of accelerated change in environment upon exposed types of life he had swept away the "fundamental doctrines upon which has been built the scheme of development by natural selection and the survival of the fittest." Certainly nothing in the address betrays any consciousness of possible effects of that sort. And it is quite probable also that Mr. King will have to suffer some annoyance from seeing his name set up at gaze, like Joshua's moon in Ajalon, by the unscientific press generally, as that of the newest champion of orthodoxy against the leaders of modern scientific thought: a penalty which scientific men always have to pay for emphasizing neglected truths.

Mr. King certainly deals some telling blows against the position of the stricter school of Uniformitarians in geology, and brings into prominence a much neglected element in the struggle for existence; but there is no scientific revolution threatened, nor are any crumbs of comfort spread for those endeavoring to arrest the natural drift of scientific progress.

The issue between Mr. King and the sticklers for uniformity in rates of geological change is simply this: In the reaction against the sweeping cataclysms, the sudden wipings out of whole creations and the sudden introductions of new worlds of life believed in by earlier geologists, the modern English school has come to look upon time and the slower modifications of the earth's surface, now observable, with the struggle for existence under easy conditions, as the chief factors in geological change and its accompanying variations in the forms of life. Mr. King, on the other hand, insists that in so doing they have taken too little account of catastrophic changes, that is, widespread and sudden movements of sea and land. In other words, he raises rapid change of environment from the subordinate place it has hitherto occupied in the scheme of historical development, and gives special emphasis to the grand geologic movements which have to do with such changes.

In this Mr. King has unquestionably rendered good service to the science he has done so much to extend and honor in the field; while the illustrations from American geology which he brings to bear on the subject are as likely as his sturdy opinions to attract attention. Yet we are inclined to think that in some things he has allowed his enthusiasm to run away with him. The stolid self-confidence of extreme Uniformitarians has tempted him to exaggerate the periodic accelerations of geologic and biologic movement, and to overstate their effects quite as much as others have underestimated them; and when he charges the followers of Lyell with intellectual near-sightedness and a lack of "the very mechanism of imagination," they may possibly be able to retort not unjustifiably that he has mistaken the natural foreshortening of the geological vista due to distance for actual brevity; and that his belief in the abruptness and suddenness of the great changes which the earth's strata record, may be due to his own lack of sustained imaginative power for grasping and interpreting all the evidences of the enormous time really involved. But this is a question not of imaginative capacity but of logical deduction from observed facts; and however abrupt the beginning of some of the great geologic movements may have been, their subsequent progress cannot in all cases have been so rapid as to allow of their being called catastrophic in any ordinary acceptation of the term.

Take, for example, the alleged catastrophe which marked the close of the mesozoic age in the West. Of this movement Mr. King remarks: "In a quasi-uniformitarian way, 20,000 or 30,000 feet of sediment had accumulated in the Pacific and 14,000 in the [American] mediterranean sea; when these regions, which, during the reception of sediment, had been areas of subsidence, suddenly upheaved, the doming up of the middle of the continent quite obliterating the mediterranean sea and uniting the two land masses into one. The catastrophe which removed this sea resulted in the folding up of mountain ranges 20,000 and 40,000 feet in height, thereby essentially changing the whole climate of the continent."

That this great change occurred, and was attended with an obliteration of the wonderful reptilian and avian fauna of the mesozoic age, is most true: that it occurred suddenly does not appear. On the contrary, there is evidence to show that the prodigious folding up of mountain ranges involved could not have proceeded with sufficient rapidity to turn the course of a stream of water. It happened that one of those folds—one which, had no denudation been going on meanwhile, would have lifted its crest higher than the highest peak of the Himalayas—lay directly across the course of the Colorado river. The river held its course uninterruptedly, sawing its way through the uplift until six vertical miles of rocky strata had risen past it. At no time, therefore, could the rapidity of motion in the bulging strata have exceeded the capacity of the river to wear away the obstruction, and the bulge was fifty miles across! We do not know how rapidly a river may sink its channel through such a rising barrier; but we do know that a process of that nature cannot legitimately be described as swift or sudden. And surely it requires not less intellectual far-sightedness and imaginative faculty to carry the mind across the enormous stretch of time involved in such a change slowly wrought—a period during which at least three vertical miles of the rising mountain fold was worn down by rain and atmospheric abrasion—as to mass the continental doming, the mountain folding, and the attendant life changes together as a convulsive "catastrophe."

Mr. King, however, is not a Catastrophist of a very violent sort. He shelves among the errors of the past the belief in such cataclysms as Cuvier believed in, involving world-wide destruction of all life—"the mere survival of a prehistoric terror, backed up by breaks in the palæontological record and protected within those safe cities of refuge, the Cosmogonies;" though he rejects as equally unsatisfactory the mild affirmations of the Uniformitarians, that existing rates of change and indefinite time are enough to account for all the geological record. With our present light, he holds, geological history seems to be a dovetailing together of the two ideas. "The ages have had their periods of geological serenity, when change progressed in the still, unnoticeable way, and life through vast lapses of time followed the stately flow of years; drifting on by insensible gradations through higher and higher forms, and then all at once a part of the earth suffered short, sharp, destructive revolution unheralded as an earthquake or volcanic eruptions." Thus stated, his position does not seem to be radically different from that of the broader Uniformitarians, except that he marks the periods of accelerated physical change, and not those of comparative quiescence, as the dominant ones in their influence on life-change. He takes high and strong ground, too, in insisting that it is the business of geology not simply to decipher and map out the changes which have taken place in the configuration of the globe and in its climatic conditions, but also to investigate and fix the rates of change. And when the evolution of environment takes form as a distinct branch of geology, he expects to witness a marked modification in the dominant views of biologists. Its few broad laws will include "neither the absolute uniformitarianism of Lyell and Hutton, Darwin and Haeckel, nor the universal catastrophism of Cuvier and the majority of teleogists." "Huxley alone among prominent evolutionists opens the door for a union of the residue of truth in the two schools, fusing them in his proposed evolutional geology."

So, on looking back over a trail of thirty thousand miles of geological travel, Mr. King is impelled to say that Mr. Huxley's far-sighted view perfectly satisfies his interpretation of the broad facts of the American continent.

Of Mr. King's observations in regard to plasticity of physical structure in connection with rapidly changing environment and the struggle for existence, we propose to speak at another time.

The great stone monuments of England, like Stonehenge, are supposed, by Mr. James Fergusson, to be military trophies, erected in the time of King Arthur on the battle fields by the victorious armies.

A NEW APPARATUS FOR STORING AND UTILIZING SOLAR HEAT.

The apparatus herewith illustrated is devised to collect solar heat or other heat, store it up in a heat reservoir—a mass of iron or other suitable material—confine it in the reservoir until needed, keep it in such form that it can be transported from place to place, and utilize it for industrial or other purposes.

APPARATUS FOR STORING AND UTILIZING SOLAR HEAT.

A is a concave mirror for concentrating the solar rays upon the heat reservoir, B, which is a mass of iron. C is the heat box for confining the heat until needed, and also for serving as package for transporting the heat reservoir when hot. G is the heat reservoir chamber, in which the heat is communicated from the hot reservoir to the air. Under certain circumstances the heat reservoir may be heated in the heat reservoir chamber. H is a devaporizing chamber, for extracting the moisture from the air by means of a deliquescent substance or other material or treatment. A vertical stack or flue, I, communicates with the heat reservoir chamber, for conveying the heated air away for use.

The device for concentrating the solar rays may be either stationary or movable, and, if movable, may be moved by hand, or automatically, to follow the sun. The various chambers mentioned will have valves, J, at the ends to regulate the passage of the air, and there will be a door, K, at the side or bottom.

Patented through the Scientific American Patent Agency, March 20, 1877, by Messrs. John S. Hittell and Geo. W. Deitzler, of San Francisco, Cal.

Phosphorescent Sweating.

While the subject of phosphorescence in marine animals was under discussion at a society meeting in Florence, Professor Panceri cited the case of a medical man, who, after eating fish, felt indisposed, had nausea, and sweats that were luminous. This idiosyncrasy was laid to the pesce baudiera, a Neapolitan fish. Dr. Borgiotti, another member of the Academy, also narrated a case of phosphorescent sweating in a patient with miliaria, a fact which has previously been noticed.

UTILIZATION OF TIN SCRAP.

Messrs. Charles A. Catlin and George F. Wilson, of Providence, R. I., have patented, May 8, 1877, a new process of utilizing tin scrap, whereby they claim the tin is recovered, either as a valuable salt of that metal or in the metallic form, and the iron or other metal is left as a scrap at once available for reworking.

CALLIN AND WILSON'S PROCESS OF UTILIZING TIN SCRAP.

In any suitable building, a crane, A, is erected and placed in the sweep of that crane; in any convenient order are a boiler, D, two tanks, B and C, an evaporating pan, F, and an additional tank, E. From the crane is suspended a wire basket to contain the scrap to be treated, so perforated as to admit of the ready entrance of the liquid when submerged in, and its ready escape when withdrawn from, the boiler, D, in which boiler is put a sufficient quantity of the solution of caustic soda or potash to allow of a complete submersion therein of the basket and its contents. The basket, G, is then filled with the material to be treated, sprinkling in during the filling the requisite quantity of common salt or other chloride and nitrate of soda or other nitrate, using these dry, not in solution, either previously mixed or shaken in together in the proportion of from three to five pounds each to every hundred pounds of scrap, the requisite quantity depending upon the thickness of the tin plate to be removed. The loaded basket, being elevated by the crane, A, is then swung round, and, by lowering, submerged in the hot or boiling solution of caustic soda or potash in the iron boiler, D, which may hold in solution a further proportion of the chloride and nitrate used, the heat of which solution is maintained by a fire beneath the boiler, or in any other and ordinary way. In the ensuing reaction the oxygen of the nitrate combines with the tin to form stannic acid, and this, in turn, combining with the alkali present, forms a stannate of that base, which, entering into solution, leaves the before-plated metal tin-free, the chloride present assisting in the reaction. A further and more complex reaction takes place, by which copious fumes of ammonia are evolved, which may be utilized by proper appliances. When the reaction is complete, the basket containing the now tin-freed scrap is withdrawn from the boiler, and suspended above it long enough to drain. It is then swung over the tank, C, containing water, in which it is washed by submerging and withdrawing several times, and in like manner the washing completed in the water of the tank, B. The contents of the basket being now discharged, it is again filled with fresh scrap in the manner already described, and the process repeated. The loss by evaporation from the boiler, D, is supplied by the wash water in the tank, C; this, in turn, being supplied by the wash water in the tank, B, to which fresh water is supplied as required. When the caustic solution is sufficiently charged with the tin salt, it is allowed to deposit the impure crystals, which, being removed and drained, are redissolved in water in the iron tank, E. This solution in the iron tank, E, after filtration or decantation, is again concentrated in the evaporating pan, F, the crystals of stannate being removed from time to time, drained and dried; or the impure crystals obtained in the boiler, D, may be mixed with fine charcoal or other reducing agent, and subjected to the requisite heat for the reduction of the tin to the metallic form.

New Alloy.

A very beautiful new alloy, intended to replace brass in various ornamental uses, especially in window and door furniture, has been invented by W. A. Hopkins, of Paris. The alloy is composed of copper, tin, spelter, or zinc and lead, which metals are manipulated. A crucible is placed in the furnace and fired to red heat, and into the crucible thus heated the metals are placed in the proportions of—tin 1⅛ (say) 1 oz., spelter or zinc ½ oz., lead ⁵⁄16 of an ounce. These are the proportions he prefers to use, as he has found them to give excellent and satisfactory results, but he does not intend to confine himself rigidly to the precise proportions named, as they may, perhaps, be slightly varied in some particulars without materially detracting from the beautiful color of the alloy which it is intended to produce. The molten metals are kept well stirred, and any impurities therein should be removed. When thoroughly mixed, this alloy, which is termed the first alloy, is poured off into ingot moulds and left to cool. Copper, in the proportion of eight parts to one of this first alloy, is then placed in the crucible and brought to melting heat, when the tin or first alloy is added and intimately mixed with the copper, for which purpose the molten mass must be well stirred for several minutes; it is then poured into ingot moulds for sale in the form of ingots, or it may be poured into pattern moulds so as to produce the articles required. This is the mode of manipulation which it is preferred to employ, as an opportunity is thus afforded of removing any impurities from the first alloy before mixing it with the copper; but all the metals may, if preferred, be mixed together in the proportions given and melted at one operation. By this means an alloy is obtained of great strength, and of a very beautiful appearance, and which is particularly suitable for small work, such, for instance, as window and door furniture and other house furniture which is usually made in brass or other alloy of copper, though it is not intended to confine its use to such articles.

Sebastin—An Improved Explosive.

In the manufacture of the explosive known as dynamite, an infusorial earth is used, which is filled with or made to absorb nitroglycerin. As compared with certain kinds of charcoal, however, the absorptive and retentive power of infusorial earth in small changes of temperature unfavorably affect the common dynamite, and cause a separation of the nitrogylcerin from the infusorial earth. The improvement we now refer to is the invention of G. Fahnehjelm, of Stockholm, Sweden, and consists in the substitution of a highly porous and absorptive species of wood charcoal, in place of the earth heretofore employed. The author designates his production as "sebastin," and gives a number of interesting particulars as follow:

In order to produce a charcoal having the required quantities, the carbonization or coking must be done in such a manner as to completely destroy the organic substances, and to produce as porous a charcoal as possible. For this he selects by preference young trees or striplings or branches of poplar, hazelwood, or alder tree, and he burns them in an open fire. When the wood has been consumed he does not put out the fire by means of water, but leaves it to go out of itself. In this way he obtains a very inflammable and very porous charcoal, which can absorb more than five, and approaching six times its weight of nitroglycerin without any risk of the separation of the oil. The charcoal is pulverized in a wooden mortar, but it should not be reduced to too fine a powder, else it will not so completely absorb the nitroglycerin. The charcoal produced in the ordinary way, or by closed fire, is quite different as regards absorbing power. Charcoal of fir trees may, however, be used, and may acquire nearly the same qualities, that is, if charred a second time in a special oven.

By mixing the different kinds of charcoal, a material may be obtained possessing the required absorbing qualities, and an explosive compound may then be obtained of the required power without loss of the necessary consistency—that is, without being too dry, which is not desirable. The charcoal not only serves as the best absorbent for the nitroglycerin, but it plays also an important part in the combustion. The nitroglycerin in exploding decomposes into steam, carbonic acid, nitrogen, and oxygen. In the explosion of dynamite with inert base the oxygen goes away without being utilized, but in the explosion of this new compound (the new sebastin as he calls it) a part of the absorbent charcoal is burnt by means of the liberated oxygen. The quantity of gas is thus augmented, and also the development of heat, whereby again the tension of this gas is augmented. As, however, the quantity of charcoal necessary for the complete absorption of the nitroglycerin is in all cases much larger than that which can reduce the excess of oxygen produced at the explosion into carbonic acid, he adds to the compound a salt, which also by the combustion gives an excess amount of oxygen which may contribute to burn the rest of the charcoal. For this purpose he uses by preference nitrate of potassa, which may be added without any risk, and which gives the explosive compound a very much greater rapidity or vehemence, and consequent force of explosion.

The composition of the new sebastin depends upon the objects for which it is to be used, and the effects intended to be produced. The strongest compound, and even in this there is stated to be no risk of the separation of the nitroglycerin, is composed of 78 parts by weight of nitroglycerin, 14 of the wood charcoal, and 8 of nitrate of potassa; and when less power is required the proportions are varied, the second quality consisting of 68 per cent. by weight of nitroglycerin, 20 of the charcoal, and 12 of nitrate of potassa.

To show the relative strength of the compounds, the inventor says: Let the dynamic force of pure nitroglycerin be represented by the number 2,884,043.6, then the dynamic force of the sebastin No. 1, as above, will be indicated by 2,416,575, and of the sebastin No. 2 by 1,933,079.4, while that of dynamite No. 1 (consisting of 75 per cent. of nitroglycerin and 25 per cent. of infusorial earth) will be represented by 674,694.

For the above qualities of sebastin the increased effect produced by the greater rapidity of the explosion must be taken into account also. The increase has not yet been measured, but is estimated at 10 per cent. The sebastin may also be compounded in other proportions of the constituent parts, but the object being to produce explosive compounds of the greatest force which it is possible to employ without danger, he merely mentions that the proportion by weight may vary from 50 to 80 per cent. of nitroglycerin, 15 to 35 per cent. of the prepared charcoal, and 5 to 20 per cent. of the nitrate of potassa; the parts being taken by weight, as above stated.

A NEW METHOD OF BOOKBINDING.

The annexed engravings represent a new system of binding books, for which a number of important advantages are claimed. It obviates stitching, allows of each leaf being firmly secured, and hence is especially well suited for single-leaved books. It admits of plates and maps being bound in their proper places instead of being pasted in, and renders the book much stronger and more durable. The inventor claims a saving of 40 to 75 per cent of the time required for stitching, and of 50 per cent of the time needed in ordinary rebinding work.

Bookbinding Figs. 1, 2, 3

Bookbinding Fig. 4

The mode of operation is as follows: On receiving the sheets, the binder folds them and places them in consecutive order, according to the printer's signature. The front and bottom edges of the book are then trimmed so as to obtain two straight sides; and the backs of the sheets are cut off, transforming them into single leaves. Horizontal lines are now marked with pencil across the back of the book for the saw cuts; and a diagonal line, A, B, Fig. 2, is drawn to serve as a guide in replacing the leaves in their proper places. A thin coat of glue is next applied to the back; and when this is dry, the book is divided into sections of from four to eight leaves (without counting them) entirely disregarding the printer's signatures, but placing the sheets in their original order. The binder places the first section removed at his right hand, the next at his left, and so on, forming two piles. Each pile is then straightened, and in the back of each, a little below the transverse lines, are made bevel cuts with the saw. Said cuts are ⅛ inch in length, inclined at an angle of 45°, and so placed that one half their length is above and the other half below the marked line. When one pile of sheets is thus sawn, the other pile is similarly treated; but the corresponding cuts are made at relatively opposite angles. This will be understood from Fig. 1, in which C represents the edge of the right hand pile, for example, and D that of the left hand pile.

The sections of each pile are now returned in their regular order, according to the printer's signatures. Should a section have been misplaced, the diagonal line, being thus broken, will show the fact. It will be seen, however, that this arrangement involves the alternate use of sheets from each pile, so that, when all are put together, the beveled cuts will cross or form dovetails, as shown in Fig. 3. Half inch strips of white paper muslin, E, Fig. 4, are next pasted around the back edges of the first and last sections. This is done to strengthen the hold of the twines in the back of the book, said sections necessarily bearing the whole strain of the covers. The twine used corresponds in size to the holes made by the coincidence of the beveled saw cuts. This twine is passed through the holes by means of a blunt darning needle. The back of the book is shown in Fig. 2; and in Fig. 4 the twines are represented as passed. Nothing further remains to be done but to paste in the fly-leaves and lining, and finish the book in the usual manner.

It is evident that this a very much stronger method of securing the leaves than that in which the twine is simply laid and glued in a straight cut. Each leaf is independently fastened; and the thread is prevented from cutting through, as is commonly the case when the book has been used to any great extent. Books can be bound to open more or less as desired; and in rebinding, instead of taking the book apart and cutting threads, a thin shaving is sliced off the back, and the leaves are treated in the manner already described.

Patented March 20, 1877, by Mr. Florenz E. Schmitz. For further information, address Messrs. Schmitz and Slosson, box 1180, Middletown, Orange county, N. Y.

IMPROVED CURTAIN FIXTURE.

Improved Curtain Fixture Figs. 1 and 2

We illustrate herewith an improved curtain fixture, which may be adjusted to windows or curtains of different widths, and is adapted for use in connection with different means for raising and lowering the curtain. Fig. 1 represents the device in place, a portion of the cornice being broken away to exhibit it; and Fig. 2 shows the same in detail.

Attached to the cornice are guides, A, in which are sliding loops, B. The latter may be adjusted to suit the position of the hooks placed in the window case to sustain the cornice, so that said hooks need not be set with any particularity. The curtain roller, C, has both its ends screw-threaded, to receive hollow pulleys, as shown. The spindles projecting from these pulleys are inclosed in coiled springs which press against the bearings, D, and so hold the shade in any position in which it may be placed. The bearings, D, are clasped in the ways, A, and are laterally adjustable. Sliding blocks are also arranged in said ways, and through each block passes a set screw, E. It will be perceived that the bearings may be readily adjusted to curtains of different widths, and the parts may afterward be locked in position by the set screws, E. The curtain may be raised or lowered by cords wound on the hollow pulleys.

Patented December 5, 1876, by Mr. K. J. Pospisil. For further particulars relative to sale of patent, address the Penn Patent Agency, 133 South Second street, Philadelphia, Pa.

BOOT AND SHOE MACHINERY.

Boot and Shoe Machinery Fig. 1

No manufacturers have taken greater advantage of the ingenuity of the mechanical engineer than the American boot and shoe makers. Nearly every operation in the complex process of evolving finished boots from the plain skins of leather is the object of a special class of machinery; and for several years past, we have weekly chronicled the patenting of several improvements in the devices for effecting some of the numerous operations. We present herewith a series of eight labor-saving machines of the most approved construction, which we select from Knight's "American Mechanical Dictionary."¹

¹Published in numbers by Messrs. Hurd & Houghton, New York city.

Fig. 1 is a shoe-edge trimmer, in which the shoe is mounted on a jack, the carriage of which has a motion of translation and rotation communicated to it: so that, while the side of the sole is being trimmed, the shoe is fed longitudinally against the knife, but at the toe and heel is rotated beneath it. The knife is universally jointed, to permit the hands of the operator to determine the different bevels cut.

Boot and Shoe Machinery Fig. 2

Fig. 2 is an ingenious little machine for placing the eyelets of the lace holes in position, and fastening them. The eyelets are fed, one by one, from the reservoir at the top, down the inclined ways, and are seized at the foot between the plunger and anvil, and they are riveted in their proper places in the shoe or strip of leather, which is held and fed by the operator.

Boot and Shoe Machinery Fig. 3

Fig. 3 is a machine in which a shoe or boot is chucked and revolved against a burnishing tool, to impart a smooth and elegant finish to the heel. Our engraving shows a machine with what is called in the trade a "hot kit," a heated burnishing tool, with a flexible gas pipe of sufficient length, which follows the oscillations of the burnishing stock, a, and which conveys gas to the interior of the tool, where it is burnt in a jet. The tool is made to reciprocate over the surface of the heel, passing from breast to breast at each oscillation with an elastic pressure.

Boot and Shoe Machinery Fig. 4

Fig. 4 is a machine for pressing together the "lifts" which compose a boot or shoe heel, thus dispensing with the handiwork of the hammer and lapstone. The bed is adjusted vertically by a screw to any thickness to which the blank heel may be built; and the plunger is brought down by the depression of the treadle with such force as to compact the lifts together.

Boot and Shoe Machinery Fig. 5

Fig. 5 shows a heel-pricking machine. When the lifts of the heel are fairly pressed together by the appliance shown in Fig. 4, the pricking machine pierces the necessary holes through all the lifts at once by a gang of awls. The compressed heels are first secured together by tacking, and then placed on the platen; and the plunger, with its gang of awls, descends with great force.

Boot and Shoe Machinery Fig. 6

Fig. 6 is a heel trimmer, known in the trade as the Coté trimmer. The shoe is held stationary by the treadle clamp; and the knife stock, which is centrally pivoted to the outer plate or jaw bearing upon the tread lift, is then grasped in the hands of the operator, and moved to give a sweeping cut to trim the heel.

Boot and Shoe Machinery Fig. 7

Fig. 7 is a machine for pressing boot soles. Beneath the crosshead of the press is a swinging bed, on each end of which is a form, in order that a shoe may remain under pressure upon one while the operator is placing another shoe on the other. The pressure is given by the treadle, which brings down the upper platen on the channeled sole.

On Dyspepsia.

At a late meeting of the Harveian Society, of London, Dr. Farquharson read a paper on this subject. Attention was directed to the state of the tongue in dyspepsia. A deeply fissured tongue often meant little; whereas a thin white fur, composed of minute dots, was generally found along with pain immediately after food. Pain after a longer interval was accompanied by a pale, flabby tongue, with reddish tip and center. The treatment of dyspepsia consisted of two parts, that of food and that of drugs. The latter was the principal part with patients applying for gratuitous relief. The pain occurring immediately after food was usually relieved by alkalies; whereas acids were indicated where suffering was not experienced until an hour or two after the commencement of the digestive act. For the relief of the nausea and sickness remaining after the bowels were thoroughly cleansed, nothing was so effectual as hourly drop doses of ipecacuanha wine. Nux vomica was also a valuable remedy. Pain might be but the protest of the stomach against an overload, or be the result of deficient tone from general nervous exhaustion. In some cases each meal was followed by diarrhœa; and for these cases attention was directed to Ringer's plan of minute doses of the liquor hydrargyri perchloridi In speaking of diet, Dr. Farquharson pointed out that there are three forms of dyspepsia: 1. The dyspepsia of fluids, as it is called, where the stomach seems intolerant of all forms of fluid; 2. The digestive derangement following intemperance in the matter of animal food; and, 3. The dyspepsia connected with indulgence in tea, or other warm and weak infusions of tannin.

The Destructive Effects of Lightning.

The amount of destruction of life and property by lightning, or rather electrical discharges, has been very great throughout the world.

It is estimated that at least 45 persons are killed annually by lightning in this country. The average number of deaths by lightning has been 22 in England, 9 in Switzerland, 3 in Belgium, and 75 in France. In France alone, during a period of thirty years, over 10,000 persons were smitten, of which 2,252 were instantly killed. Eighty were wounded and 9 killed during one thunderstorm at Châteauneuf les Montiers in 1861, and within one week, when the air was highly charged with electricity, thirty-three fearful flashes of lightning were observed, each bringing death to some victims.

During the sixteen years between 1799 and 1816, 156 vessels of the British navy were struck by lightning; 73 men were killed and 138 injured, and the loss of materials amounted to over a million dollars; but since the system of metallic conductors, adapted for vessels, devised by Sir W. Snow Harris, has been applied to the vessels in that navy, the losses and damages by lightning have almost entirely ceased, although the number of vessels has been greatly increased.

In Fuller's Church History it is stated that "scarcely a great abbey in England exists which once, at least, was not burned down by lightning from heaven."

On the night of April, 1718, twenty-four steeples were struck along the coast of Brittany; and on the 11th of January, 1815, twelve steeples suffered a similar fate in the Rhenish provinces.

On the 27th of July, 1759, lightning burnt all the woodwork of the great cathedral at Strasbourg; and on the 14th of August, 1833, it was struck three times within a quarter of an hour, and so much damaged that the repairs cost about $6,000,000. In 1835 lightning conductors were placed upon the building and steeple, and since then it has not been damaged whatever by lightning, although discharges have on several occasions occurred in line with the top of the steeple, which is 437 feet above the ground.

On the 18th of August, 1769, the Tower of St. Nazaire, at Brescia, was struck, and the subterranean powder magazine, containing 2,076,000 lbs. of powder, belonging to the Republic of Venice, was exploded. One sixth of the whole town was laid in ruins and the rest very much injured, and about 3,000 persons killed.

On the 26th of June, 1807, the powder magazine of Luxembourg, containing 28,000 lbs., was struck, and besides about 30 persons killed and 200 injured, the town was ruined.

Explosions and large fires, involving a great loss, have become rather frequent in this country, owing to the iron tanks used for the storage of petroleum being struck by lightning. From March to August, in 1876, over 10,000,000 gallons, and on April 19, 1877, over 2,000,000 gallons of oil, and the village of Troutman, were destroyed in the oil regions of Pennsylvania.

Some of the thunderstorms which have prevailed in this country have been very terrific and destructive. During August 14th, 15th, and 16th, 1872, portions of New York State and the New England States were visited by some of the most terrific thunderstorms ever experienced, during which over 200 dwellings were struck and damaged, about 10 persons were instantly killed, and 160 stunned. Quite a number of barns, with their contents, hay and cattle, were also struck, fired, and consumed. Cars, while running on some of the railroads, were surrounded by a vivid electric light, but no passengers were injured, although they were greatly alarmed. Telegraph wires were melted by the half mile, telegraph instruments broken, and poles shattered in all directions. One of these storms occurred at midnight, at Arlington, Mass., August 14th, in which brilliant streams of electricity darted across the sky in every direction, and the thunder which followed was constant for a period of thirteen minutes, without the intermission of an instant of silence. Three hundred and thirty-one discharges were counted in seven minutes by an observer, and each discharge was followed by loud and sometimes rattling reports, whose reverberations rolled through the heavens in an endless procession of majestic and terrific sounds. During this scene, the moon, which was about half an hour above the western horizon, was visible, but so magnified, through the haze and vapor, as to appear like a brilliant flame suspended in the sky. For a period of twenty minutes the scene was one of grandeur and sublimity rarely witnessed.

In the States of Illinois and Iowa, and the prairie country west of the Mississippi river, thunderstorms are generally more terrific, and more lives have been lost there from the effects of lightning than in any other section of this country. Owing to the said country being level and devoid of trees, the equilibrium between the electricity of the atmosphere and that of the earth is principally restored by disruptive discharges.—Spang's "Treatise on Lightning Protection."

A tooth of a mastodon has been dug up near the Ashley river in South Carolina. It is 11½ inches long, 6 inches in diameter, and weighs more than 5 lbs.

The Sea Serpent Sighted from a Royal Yacht.

The Osborne, paddle royal yacht, Commander Hugh L. Pearson, which arrived at Portsmouth from the Mediterranean on Monday, June 11, has forwarded an official report to the Admiralty, through the Commander-in-Chief (Admiral Sir George Elliot, K.C.B.), respecting a sea monster which she encountered during her homeward voyage.

At about 5 o'clock in the afternoon of June 2, the sea being exceptionally calm, while the yacht was proceeding round the north coast of Sicily toward Cape Vito, the officer on the watch observed a long ridge of fins, each about 6 feet long, moving slowly along. He called for a telescope, and was at once joined by other officers. The Osborne was steaming westward at ten and a half knots an hour, and having a long passage before her, could not stay to make minute observations. The fins were progressing in a eastwardly direction, and as the vessel more nearly approached them, they were replaced by the foremost part of a gigantic monster. Its skin was, so far as it could be seen, altogether devoid of scales, appearing rather to resemble in sleekness that of a seal.

The head was bullet-shaped, with an elongated termination, being somewhat similar in form to that of a seal, and was about six feet in diameter. Its features were only seen by one officer, who described them as like those of an alligator. The neck was comparatively narrow, but so much of the body as could be seen, developed in form like that of a gigantic turtle, and from each side extended two fins, about fifteen feet in length, by which the monster paddled itself along after the fashion of a turtle.

The appearance of the monster is accounted for by a submarine volcano, which occurred north of Galita, in the Gulf of Tunis, about the middle of May, and was reported at the time by a steamer which was struck by a detached fragment of submarine rock. The disturbance below water, it is thought probable, may have driven up the monster from its "native element," as the site of the eruption is only one hundred miles from where it was reported to have been seen.—Portsmouth (Eng.) Times.

Sunstroke.

The sudden accession of heat has already produced one fatal, and more than one severe, case of sunstroke in the metropolis. Probably the affection so designated is not the malady to which the term coup de soleil can be properly applied. The condition brought about is an exaggerated form of the disturbance occasioned by entering too suddenly the "hot" room of a Turkish bath. The skin does not immediately perform its function as an evaporating and therefore cooling surface, and an acute febrile state of the organism is established, with a disturbed balance of circulation, and more or less cerebral irritation as a prominent feature of the complaint. Death may suddenly occur at the outset of the complaint, as it has happened in a Turkish bath, where the subject labors under some predisposition to apoplexy, or has a weak or diseased heart. It should suffice to point out the danger and to explain, by way of warning, that although the degrees of heat registered by the thermometer, or the power of the sun's rays, do not seem to suggest especial caution, all sudden changes from a low to a high temperature are attended with danger to weak organisms. The avoidance of undue exercise—for example, persistent trotting or cantering up and down the Row—is an obvious precaution on days marked by a relatively, if not absolutely, high temperature. We direct attention to this matter because it is obvious the peculiar peril of overheating the body by exertion on the first burst of fine weather is not generally realized. It is forgotten that the increased temperature must be measured by the elevation which has recently taken place, not the number of degrees of heat at present recorded. The registered temperature may be more or less than that which occurred a year ago; but its immediate effects on the organism will be determined by the conditions which have preceded it and the violence of the change.—Lancet.

Dead Horses Standing Erect.

The Danville Advertiser of the 7th inst. says: Mr. Smith was in town on Saturday with his hired man, and the two tell a singular story about a lightning stroke. Mr. Smith was on a grain drill in a field, and his hired man was about 12 rods from him, dragging. Suddenly Smith heard the noise of thunder, and became unconscious. The man also heard the noise, but neither of them saw any flash of lightning. The man went to Smith, and in about twenty minutes he was restored to consciousness. Then attention was given to the horses. One of them was standing erect, with one foot lifted a little way from the earth, and the other was kneeling with his nose in the earth, and both were stone dead, and retained their positions until they were pushed over. The supposition is that in this case the electricity went from the earth to the sky.

The Berlin correspondent of the London Times states that General Berdan, of the United States, has invented an instrument which will greatly improve the art of killing. He calls his invention a "range-finder." It consists of a telescope and other instruments, all of which can be carried on a dogcart, and which enable the engineers to measure with perfect accuracy up to 2,000 metres, or 1,500 yards. The time needed to ascertain distances, is only two minutes, and the General believes that his invention will double the accuracy of artillery fire, and quadruple that of infantry.

SETTING LOCOMOTIVE SLIDE VALVES.

BY JOSHUA ROSE.

E. G. asks: "How can I set the slide valves of a locomotive when she is on the road?" J. H. S. asks: "What is the method of setting locomotive slide valves from marks on the slide spindle?" And F. O. asks: "How are the valves of inside cylinder locomotives set, since the back ports are out of sight and you cannot measure the lead?"

Our correspondent will find these questions answered in full below.

It is presumed that the lengths of the eccentric rod, reverse rod, and other parts are correct, and they are properly connected and oiled so as to be in working order. The first thing to do is to place the reverse lever in the forward full-gear notch of the quadrants, or sectors, as they are sometimes called. The next procedure is to place the crank on its forward dead center as near as can be ascertained by the eye, and loosening the set screw of the forward eccentric, that is to say, the eccentric which connects with the upper end of the link, move that eccentric round on the shaft until the valve leaves the port at the front end of the cylinder open to the amount of whatever lead it is desired to give the valve. In moving the eccentric round on the shaft, it is necessary to move it in the direction in which it will turn when in operation. This is done in order to take up any lost motion there may be in the eccentric straps, in the eccentric rod eyebolts, or other working parts or joints between the eccentric and the slide valve rod or spindle. If the eccentric was turned backward instead of forward, all the lost motion would operate to vitiate the set of the valve, because, when the eccentric begins to move, its motion will have no effect in moving the slide valve spindle, until all the lost motion in the various parts is taken up by the eccentric movement. In considering this part of the operation, we must bear in mind that, to set the valve, we must move the wheels of the engine, it being impracticable to move the piston itself. Now, in moving the wheels, we are confronted with the fact that the crank pin is pulling the connecting rod; hence, if there is any lost motion in the brasses at either end of the connecting rod, the piston will not be at the end of its stroke when the crank is on its dead center.

Suppose, for instance, that we have moved the driving wheel forward until the crank stands upright at a right angle to the bore of the cylinder, the resistance to motion of the piston and crosshead has caused the crank pin to bed against the half-brass nearest to the cylinder, all the play or lost motion is then between the other half-brass and the crank pin. When, however, the engine is at work and the piston is driving the crank pin, instead of being driven by it, the lost motion will exist between the crank pin and the half-brass nearest to the cylinder, and the contact will exist between the crank pin and the other brass. The difference in the position of the piston, caused by this lost motion, may be ascertained by moving the piston back and forth until the crank pin contacts with first one and then the other half-brass. It is sometimes attempted to remedy the defect due to this lost motion by moving the crank pin past the dead center and then moving it back to the dead center, so that while on that center the play or lost motion in the connecting rod is taken up. This is all very well so far as the connecting rod and piston is concerned, and will cause them both to stand on their respective dead centers with the lost motion taken up; but, in moving the wheel back to the dead center, we have given full liberty to all the lost motion in the various parts of the valve motion or gear, as already explained, in reference to moving the eccentric upon the shaft. As there are so many more parts in the valve gear, in which lost motion may occur, it is manifestly preferable to take up that play by moving the driving wheel in a continuous direction, rather than to move the latter back to accommodate any play there may be in the connecting rod.

The crank being placed by the eye upon its forward dead center, and the eccentric connected to the top of the link being moved round on the axle (in the direction in which the wheels will run when the engine is going forward) until the steam port at the front end of the cylinder is open to the amount of the lead, we fasten the eccentric to hold in that position. We then throw the reverse lever over into the last notch at the other end of the sector, lifting the link up so that the eccentric connected to the lower end of the link may be approximately adjusted, which is done by moving the eccentric round upon the axle (in the direction in which the axle will revolve when the engine is running backward) until the crank stands upon the same dead center, and the front port is open to the amount of the lead. This being done, we have the eccentrics approximately adjusted and may proceed to the final adjustment, in which the first thing to do is to find the exact dead centers of the crank. It is obvious that a line drawn through the center of the crank pin and the center of the wheel axle, will stand horizontally true and level when the crank is on either of the dead centers, but the presence of the crank pin makes it impracticable to draw such a line. We can therefore draw one which will be parallel to those centers; and to do this we draw a circle upon the end of the wheel axle (and from its center) of the same diameter as that of the crank pin, and then resting a straight-edge upon the bearing of the crank pin (taking care to avoid the round corner upon the pin, if there is one), we place the other end of the straight-edge even with the top of the circle drawn upon the axle; and then, using the straight-edge as a guide, we draw a line across the end of the axle and the wheel face. When this line is level the crank will be upon its dead center. This plan is sometimes employed, but is not a very accurate one, because the length of the line is very short as compared to the circumference of the driving wheel; hence, an error of the thickness of the line becomes one equal to several thicknesses of the line when carried out to the wheel circumference. Furthermore, if the line of the cylinder does not stand horizontally level, as is sometimes the case, the result of the whole proceeding will be inaccurate. Again, the connecting rod end and the coupling rod is in the way, rendering it awkward to both draw and level the line.

A better and more accurate method to find the dead centers is as follows: Place the reverse lever into the end notch of the sector at the forward end, and then move the driving wheel forward until the guide block is within about a quarter of an inch of the end of its travel, then place a straight-edge against the end of the guide block, and draw, on the outside face of the guide bar, a line even with the end of the guide block. Bend a piece of wire (pointed at both ends) to a right angle, make a center punch mark either in the rail, under the driving wheel, or in some stationary, solid part contiguous to the wheel, or at such distance from it that when one end of the bent wire is placed in the center punch mark, the operator with the other end will be able to draw a line across the rim of the driving wheel. Here, however, arises another consideration, that it is better to set the valves with the wheel axle in its proper position in the pedestal shoes, and in order to do this the wheel should rest upon the rail with its proper proportion of the weight of the engine resting upon it. The springs will then be deflected to their proper amount, and the axle box will have passed its proper distance up the pedestals. It is obvious that if the engine is blocked up so that the driving wheels clear the rails (which is done in order to avoid having the weight of the engine to move while setting the valve), the axle boxes will drop in the pedestal and the valve will be set incorrectly, as the wheels are in a wrong position. To avoid this, and at the same time to avoid having to move the whole engine while setting the valve, the engine is blocked up from the rails, and the axle boxes of the driving wheels are wedged up so as to be lifted up into their proper position. In this case there is no very accurate means of ascertaining what is the exact proper height, save it be by first marking upon the outside faces of the shoes or pedestal a line even with the top of the axle box when the load is upon the wheels, and then, after blocking up the engine from the rails, wedging up the axle boxes till the face again comes even with the line.

Whatever plan is pursued, one end of the piece of wire is rested in the fixed center punch mark, and with the other a line is drawn across the outside face of the wheel rim. The driving wheel is then revolved forward until the guide block returns, having passed to the end of its travel. When its end again stands exactly even with the mark made upon the guide bar, the piece of wire is again brought into requisition, one end being rested in the fixed center punch mark as before, and with the other end another line is drawn across the outside rim of the wheel. It is obvious that by taking a pair of compasses and finding a point exactly equidistant between the two lines thus marked upon the wheel rim, and then marking that point with a center punch mark, the crank will be upon its exact dead center, when one end of the piece of bent wire rests in the fixed center punch mark, the other end rests in the center punch mark upon the wheel rim. To find the other dead center, the wheel must be moved about halfway round and the process repeated with the motion block at the other end of the guide bars.

Thus, whenever the piece of wire will stand with one end resting in the fixed center punch mark and the other end in either of the center punch marks upon the wheel run, the crank is upon a dead center. Having thus placed the crank upon either dead center, we measure the valve lead, and if in temporarily fixing our eccentrics we gave it too much lead, we mark where it stands upon the shaft by means of a line drawn on the axle and carried up on the side face of the eccentric; then move the eccentric back some little distance more than is necessary to make the adjustment, and then move it forward again a little at a time, noting when the valve has the proper amount of lead, and thus fasten the eccentric upon the axle by means of the set screw.

The object of moving the eccentric too far back and then moving it forward is to make the adjustment so that the latter may be made with the lost motion of the valve gear all taken up. The next proceeding is to move the driving wheel halfway round and try the lead at that end of the stroke. If the lead at the two ends is not equal, it shows that either the slide valve spindle or the eccentric rods are not of the proper length and must be rectified; this being done, the crank must be again placed upon first one and then the other dead center, the valve lead being measured at each end. When the lead is equal at each end, the rods are of correct length, and the amount of the lead must be regulated by moving the eccentrics as already directed.

If the link block does not come opposite the end of the eccentric rod when the reverse lever is in the end notch of the sector, the length of the reverse rod is wrong and should be corrected. If the link block comes right, under the above conditions, for the forward but not for the backward eccentric rod, the notches in the sector are not cut in their proper positions, or the link hanger is not of the proper length. In either case the error may be remedied by altering the length of the latter. But, as doing this would alter the amount of the valve lead, it is well, if there is any prospect of such errors, to correct them before setting the valves.

Instead of measuring the lead of the valve with a rule, or by a wedge, the following plan is very often adopted: After the valve and spindle are in position, the valve is placed with the proper amount of lead upon the front port. A center punch mark is then made upon the face of the steam chest. A piece of quarter inch iron wire is then bent at right angles and each end filed to a point. One end of this wire is placed in the fixed center punch mark in the steam chest, and with the other a mark is made upon the slide spindle. Upon this latter mark a center punch mark is also made sufficiently deep to be very plainly visible when the burr raised by center punching is filed off, which is necessary to prevent this burr from cutting the packing. It follows that whenever the bent piece of wire will rest with one end in the center punch mark in the steam chest, and the other end in the center punch mark in the slide spindle, the valve is in its proper position when the crank is on the corresponding dead center. This plan is a very old one and possesses the advantage that the valve may be set without seeing it, that is to say, with the steam chest cover on. If the length of the piece of wire measured direct from point to point is known, the valve may be set when the engine is upon the road without taking off the steam chest cover. The center punch mark upon the steam chest should, however, always be placed in about the same spot, so as to avoid mistakes in case of there being other similar marks upon the chest. It should always be made deep, so as not to get filled up with paint and be difficult to find. In course of time the mark upon the slide valve spindle is apt to disappear from the wear of the spindle, hence the center punch with which it is made should have a long conical point. To mark the position of the eccentric upon the axle, it is an excellent plan, after the eccentrics are finally adjusted, to take a chisel with the cutting end ground to the form of a fiddle drill, one cutting edge being at a right angle to the other. The chisel must be held so that while one edge rests upon the axle, the other edge will bear against the radial face of the eccentric. A sharp blow with a hammer upon the chisel-head will make a clean indented cut upon the axle and the eccentric, the two cuts exactly meeting at their junction and denoting the position of the eccentrics. In setting the valves of inside cylinder locomotives, the back ports being out of sight, the amount of lead is ascertained by making a wooden wedge about three inches long, a thirty-second of an inch thick at one end and three eighths of an inch thick at the other end. The faces of this wedge are chalked, and the lead is measured by inserting it between the edge of the valve and the edge of the port until its thickness just fills the space, and then moving it edgeways so that the valve and port edges will just mark it. By measuring the thickness of the wedge at the mark, the amount of lead is ascertained. After the valves are set, it is still desirable to mark the position by center punch marks upon the outside of the steam chests and upon the valve spindles, as already described.

If an eccentric should slip when the engine is upon the road, and there are no marks whereby to readjust them, it may be done approximately as follows: Put the reverse lever in the end notch of the forward gear, then place the crank as nearly on a dead center as the eye will direct, and open both the cylinder cocks, then disconnect the slide valve spindle from the rocker arm, and move the valve spindle until the opening of the port corresponding to the dead center on which the crank stands will be shown by steam blowing through the cylinder cock, the throttle valve being opened a trifle. The position of the valve being thus determined, the eccentric must be moved upon the shaft until the valve spindle will connect with the rocker arm without being moved at all. The throttle valve should be very slightly opened, otherwise so much steam will be admitted into the cylinder that it will pass through any leak in the piston and blow through both cylinder cocks before there is time to ascertain which cock gives first exit to the steam.

New Steamer.

A new steamer for the Mallory line, between New York and Texas, was lately launched from the yard of Roach & Co., Chester, Pa., 2,200 tons burden. Principal dimensions as follows: Length over all, 239 feet 7 inches; beam (moulded), 34 feet; depth from the base to the spar deck beams, 18 feet 2½ inches; depth of hold, 16 feet 5½ inches; diameter of propeller (Hirsch's patent—four blades), 11 feet 6 inches. She is to be provided with compound engines, having cylinders 24 and 44 inches in diameter, with a stroke of 44 inches, and two return tubular boilers 10 feet long, 10 feet 3 inches wide, and 8 feet 6 inches high. Aft are compartments capable of holding 80 tons of water, for the purpose of depressing the stern before and after crossing the bar at Corpus Christi. Her low draught is 7½ feet; speed, 14 knots.

A Tin-Can Telephone.

In Professor Bell's telephone a plate of sheet iron is made to vibrate by means of the electrical current, something after the manner of the skin of a drumhead. In a recent improvement by Mr. G. B. Havens, Louisville, Ky., the electrical wires are wrapped around a common tin fruit can. By means of tin cans at each end, sounds, it is said, were sent over 92 miles of wire, and included several pieces of music.

MR. HOTCHKISS, an American inventor, whose improved revolving cannon we illustrated some time since, has received intimation that his system has been approved by the French Government, and that they have decided to adopt his cannon.

COLLENDER'S IMPROVED BILLIARD TABLE.

In the accompanying engravings, we illustrate two important improvements in the construction of billiard tables, which have recently been devised by Mr. H. W. Collender, the well known billiard table manufacturer of this city. The first, which is represented in Fig. 1, relates to the construction of the bed-supporting frame, and aims to render the same stronger while cheapening its manufacture. In putting together the body and framework of the table, the usual practice is to cut away the stock of the cross beam and longitudinal beam, and halve them together. Longitudinal grooves are also formed on the inner surface of the side and "broad rails," to accommodate tenons on the ends of the cross beams; and the latter are secured in place by bolts fastening their ends to the broad rails. Mr. Collender claims that, by this mode of construction, not only are the cross beams weakened by being halved together, but the broad rails are also weakened by the cutting away of this stock near the middle to effect the framing into them of the ends of the cross beams.

Fig 1, BILLIARD TABLE SUPPORT FRAME.

From Fig. 1, it will be seen that the cross beam, A, is combined with the side broad rails in the following manner: Upon the inner face of each broad rail is secured a cast iron socket piece, B, into which fits one end of the cross beam, A. From said beam the bolt, C, passes through the shoe, B, and is secured by a nut, D, let into the stock of the broad rail. The shoe, B, has lugs which enter the broad rail; and the aperture in it, through which the bolt passes, is made oblong to admit of the drawing of the parts together after the insertion of the bolt. Upon the sides of the cross beam near the middle, and directly opposite each other, are two shoes, E; these have no bolt holes. In them are placed the adjacent ends of the longitudinal beams, F, the other extremities of which are seated in shoes on the broad rails. The shoes, E, have their lugs of such a length, compared with the thickness of cross beam, A, that when put in place on said beam said lugs will come together. The advantage of this is that, should the beam, A, shrink in width, the shoes on each side of it will still maintain their proper relation to form immovable abutments for the ends of pieces, F. This construction allows of shorter stuff being used in the manufacture, and renders the framework stronger.

Figure 2, BILLIARD TABLE FRAME CORNER.

In Fig. 2 is illustrated a new method of forming the corners of the table. Hitherto it has been customary to use corner blocks, of various sizes according to the dimensions of the table, located one at each corner. Into these the broad rails were framed and secured. To this arrangement Mr. Collender adduces a long category of objections, based on the possibility of the weight of the bed being thrown on these blocks in case of shrinkage of the frame, on the fact that the corner of the table bed must necessarily be left without any support where it extends over the upper end of the corner block, and also that in a bevel table, in which the area of the top of the corner block is unavoidably much greater than that of the top of the corner block of a vertical-sided table, a large portion of the table bed will be left without any support.

The new device consists of a cast iron union plate, G, which is bolted to the leg as shown. The broad rails and casting are securely fastened by the bolt, H. It will be seen that this bolt, passing through the end of one broad rail, and into a nut let into the other rail, will securely draw and hold together the ends of said rails and the interposed metal plate clamped between them, and that as the plain ends of the wooden rails just fit (widthwise) between the projecting heads on the edges of said interposed plate, the latter will form a sort of housing for the ends of the rails. And it will be understood that in this construction not only does the bead on the outer edge of the plate overlap the edges of the rails and form a neat and durable corner finish to the body, but the broad rails being bolted together in the direction of the grain of the wood with only an interposed metal plate, there will be no tendency to a loosening of the union of the parts of the frame. The main importance of this invention rests in the idea of dispensing with the usual corner blocks, and thus permitting the top edges of the broad rails, on which the bed rests, to practically come together and afford a perfect support to the bed clear out to the corners of the latter; at the same time the whole structure is rendered stronger and more durable with less weight of material.

These inventions are the subject of separate patents, that of the first being dated April 4, 1876, and of the second, November 16, 1875. For further information, address the manufacturer and patentee, Mr. H. W. Collender, 738 Broadway, New York city.

Coating Engraved Copper Plates with Steel.

In order to render copper plates which are used in printing more durable, they can be covered with an electrolytic deposit of iron which possesses an unusual degree of hardness almost superior to steel. The salt usually employed has been the double sulphate of iron and ammonia. Professor Böttger, who first invented this process, has recently devised an improvement in the bath employed. He dissolves 10 parts of ferrocyanide of potassium (yellow prussiate of potash) and 20 parts of the double tartrate of soda and potash (Rochelle salts) in 200 parts of water, and to this he adds 3 parts of persulphate of iron dissolved in 50 parts of water. A large precipitate of Prussian blue is formed. To the whole is added, drop by drop, with constant stirring, a solution of caustic soda until the blue precipitate entirely disappears, leaving a perfectly clear, light yellow liquid, which is now ready for use.

Professor Böttger also claims that this solution can be employed with advantage for dyeing cotton yarn and fabrics a beautiful blue, without the use of a mordant. For this purpose the goods are put into the bath, that has previously been slightly warmed, until they are saturated through and through, and then dried in the air, after which they are immersed in extremely dilute sulphuric acid (1 to 50), which neutralizes the alkali, and after washing and drying again they are permanently dyed a fine blue color.

Test for Sulphur in Organic Compounds.

H. Vohl recommends the following as the best method of detecting sulphur in organic compounds: The substance to be tested is heated in a solution of caustic lime and oxide of lead in glycerin. The latter is prepared as follows: One volume of distilled water is mixed with 2 volumes of pure glycerin and heated to boiling; freshly prepared slaked lime is added, little by little, until it is saturated. Freshly precipitated hydrated oxide of lead, or moist litharge, is added in excess, and the liquid allowed to boil gently for a few minutes, then tightly corked and left to cool, after which the clear liquid is decanted from the sediment into a glass vessel that can be tightly corked. If into this solution be introduced and heated any organic which contains sulphur, like hair, feathers, horn, albumen, and the like, it will at once turn black from the formation of sulphide of lead. The great delicacy of this test is evident from the fact that, when pure wheat bread is boiled with this reagent, it turns yellow at first and then dark gray in consequence of the presence of sulphur in the gluten of the bread.

IMPROVED BILLIARD BALL HOLDER.