The west shore., March 01, 1878, Page 108, Image 12

108
THE WEST SHORE.
March
SCIENCE AND INVENTION.
It is frequently asserted that it is by men of
small education that great inventions are marie.
In a recent lecture, Prof. Becker, of the State
University, says the assertion is incorrect, and
cites the following instances: James Watt was
a civil engineer and an accomplished scientific
man; ho hod been connected with the Univer
sity of Glasgow for years lefore his friend
Kobitison, Professor of Physics, suggested to
him to try to utilize the enormous motive power
of Bteam. (icorge Stephenson had studied
science ardently for years and had the assistance
of his only less eminent son Hubert, on whose
education no puius had been spared, lie fore lie in
vented the tumilar boiler, which is the essential
feature of the locomotive. Electricity was (irst
applied to telegraphic purpoeeo by I lauss, one of
the pnfoundan mathematicians ami physicists
who overlived. The electrio telegraph was in
dependently invented and lirst applied to com
mercial purposes by Morse, who had graduated
at Yale and who was Professor of the Fine Arts
in another college. Whitney, the inventor of
the cotton-gin, was a Vale graduate. The lirst
practical reaper was invented by the Rev, Peter
iui, a ncolcluiiuu, INusioyth, Lhu inventor ot
the steam-hammer, was a University of Ediu
burg man. The safety-lamp was the invention
a KM great saven, nir Humphry Davy
William Armstrong, of the hvdraulic
artillery fame, was well trained in science and
BUUlieil ami practiced (aw. The greatest fanner
who ever lived was undoubtedly Liebig. .Mur
doch introduced tho use of illuminating gas i
tlm result of a Bcientilic investigation on tli
product of thu dry distillation of matter.
Siemens, whose woiuferful furnace ami its nodi'
fixations represent a yearly economy of several
million tons of coal, is one of the most highly
educated men alive. In short, it is only rarely
mat genius, deprived t the assistance of ante
cedent exiMirience and thought, has been able t
arrive at results which have notably modified
thu industrial condition of mankind. The
(ireenwich observatory and tho astronomers
who have pursued their studies in it, by render
ing navigation safe and its extension possible,
liave contributed as greatly to the welfare of
mankind as the locomotive and its inventor;
and what could we do with our iron ships if the
laws oi magnetism, as well as those ol astron
omy, had not been investigated? Valtu'f
curious experiments paved the way to the elec
trotyjK', and Morsu would have- been impossible
had not Franklin preceded him. To make
llcssuiner steel WO call fa the help of sjiectral
analysis, our sugars are nought ami OJCj accord
ing to their effects upon thu plane of polariza
tion of light, and most of our chemical manu
factures are founded upon facts und laws which
wuro discovered not in pursuit of money, but of
truth. Science is not indebted to tho world for
the thousands it annually costs, hut the world
to it for tens of millions of its yearly profits.
NOTES ON ENGINE CONSTRUCTION.
Wo road in Knglish exchanges of an invontion
brought out by Knglish inventors, which con
sists of a construction and arrangement or com
bination of tho parts of steam-engines, whereby
simplicity of construction and compactness of
:id economy in manutacture arc obtained.
THE RAINFALL OF THE SANDWICH
INLANDS.
The rainfall on the Sandwich Islands differs
widely in tho various parts and is to a great ex
tent governed by purely local inllucnccB. Often
times these variations are very marked, and
even are appreciable on the opposite sides of
mi' -nuiiy iimes nave
parts and
They cast the lied, tho front cylinder cover, thu
two Iwanngaot tno crank slialt and the guides
in one piece, the lower odgo of tho said bed
being stiffened by a llangc, as well as tho upper
edge. Tho upper llaugu of the bed forajiortion
of its length is planed ami forms tho guido for
the cross-head. They placu tho eccentric
sheave between one of tho crank shaft-liearings
ami the crank, ami they cant a bob in tho Bido
of tho bed to allow thu eccentric rod to pAss
through. They bolt the feed pump to the back
of the Htoam-chest and actuate tno plunger of
tho feed-pump hy tho slide valvo-spindle, which
is carried through a stnlliug-lsix At thu liAck of
the steam-chest They construct tho connecting-rod
of cast-steel, haviug in section tho iiguro
of the letter II, the small end Wing bond out
for thu brasses of the cross-head pin. Thu
front brass bus a projection cast on it, which
(Us a corresponding groove in tho connecting
ml. Two screws, tapped into lugs on thu connecting-rod,
bear on toe said projection of the
front brass and are used for taking up tho wear
of the brasses. They construct the cross-head
of cost-steel ami a strong pin being east on tli
BpperauLeof the said tmrti-htedi on the said
pin the lower guidu-slipHr is placed and on
mis i no uper slipper, locK-nuts ising alter
wanu aorewea on lor ine paroooo m taking up
the wear. The pin desoriWd on the cross-bead
is cast, hollow ami serves the uirssc of oil-cup
or lubricator.
stood in Honolulu when tho aun was shining
"igiiuj mcriieau, mm woiciieu me rain tailing
heavily but a few miles away up the Nuuanu
valley. The causes which produce these seem
ingly strange results are very obvious to anyone
who stops to think.
These islands are situated in a zone of per
etual summer, and being Burrounded by water
on all sides, the warm atmosphere absorbs
large quantities of moisture. Now, in the par
ticular ease of tho Nuuanu valley, the rainfall is
easily explained. The island of I lahu. on which
Honolulu is situated, is divided bya high range
of mountains running nearly east and west.
This valley cutB these mountains to a depth of
uvuwocu i,wu aim :,uw iecr, i no trade-winds,
which here blow from a northerly direction,
when they meet these high mountains naturally
lind au gvxil down Lhu v alley. As fchav uass
down the valley, they meet the ascending cur
rout of warm moist air from tho sheltered south
side and immediately condense it into clouds.
The table which we publish below is taken
rom the Iuimihut (lazrtte, and was prepared
by Mr. W. W. Hall from the record of the rain
fall at his house in the Nuuaiiu valley. His
residence Wing alKiut midway between the two
extremes of local inllucncea, would bo a fair
approximatu of tho average rainfall of the isl
and. Hy looking through the table, one will
see that there is no regularity in tho time of the
heavy rains, and tho rainy months in ono year
may lie tho dry ouui tho next,
Rainfall for Pour Years in the Nuuanu Val-
1874. 1875. 1870. 1877.
January 10.0O fiS 3.73 3.21
Kuhruwy 3.11 2.112 4.73 U.iw
Msli 4.1 3.8ti (U.'I 0.111
April 1.28 4.22 3.68 341
May 1.14 4.10 6.87 7.27
J"'10 2.61 2.44 1,07 1.14
July 2.40 O.M 1.42 2.27
August 1.00 1.00 2.f,8 1.10
Bmumber 2.68 3.11 0.61 im
October 6.60 1.60 0.37 LSI
November 15,07 5.78 its tU
Lumber a.30 4.40 2.02 3.43
T"tul 62.15 3H.04 I 30 56 32.30
UcMMoono Examination oi- Ciyotaij.
Dr. P. T. Austen, m the London Chrmii'til Xrirn,
given tho following method of prciaring crys
tals for examination by the niicroseoicas much
better than the usual way of evaporating the
joIqUoo in a watch-glass and rubbing with a
ghun rodl "If the solution be cvajMirated to
the right conaiiteuey in a watch-glass and
another watcliglaN of the same size, previously
warmed, ho placed upon it, tho drop expands to
a tilm. The upper glass should not W presaod,
but allowed to rest of itself. The tilm is simi-
tar to the udo obtained in an animalcule, Wing,
however, thicker. If now a few drops of ether
W pin. i d in thu Qpper watch-glass, the cold
oaaaod by the erapotation ol the ether will
cause a crystallization to take place Wtweeii tho
watch glasses The growth of the cryaUli can
W qlllt
lenrateh managed by increasi
ng or
dtntinlihtng the oold on the nrnoi (by blowing
on me ciner. 1 ue crystals tornuil are. as a rule,
perfect m fane. 1 iuve In these means oh
klaed well defined erystala from mdutioits
which, by rubbing w ilhIiiss rods, afforded me
only amorphous powdere."
Qllflilimil fll IM M. Videau, director
of the Blanry ghua worki, uya the Jonmm
t'KfUf'i haa obtained oiiie line apevimeti of
eryatallutsl glau from a crucible that had Uh-ii
rmmilig. for eight mouth no. I a hall in Siemens
furnace, tic hocs to obtain Rtdl U tter cry a
tala, together with (lie "niotber water,'' from
a furnace that seems likely to act (or nine or
tell mouths.
Hie amount mid place of the rainfall w ill be
a ureal extent regulated bv the fores nf tlm
wind; when it is strong it forces the clouds
down tho valley, and the rain falls on the towu,
but generally the wind loses its miwcr ?
tho clouds of its own formation, and the rain
falli near the tuiddlo of the valley. It is a pecu
liar sight to see this valley tilled with clouds
which do not reach the topB of tho mountains
on oithor side, ami thu rain falling heavily in
the bottom. These rains aro almost of daily
occurrence, and depend on tho amount of wind.
Hcside these local rains, the tall mountain.
with which all the islands aro marked tend to
confine and distribute unevenly even tho larger
storms that may bo general to tho whole group
... stmi v Kawi mnm it win ne seen that
no rainfall wbioh is taken at any one point can
bo an exact showing of the rainfall of the islands
in general. Vatijit Hural Prent.
AS FOR FIFTY CENTS PK11 THOUSAND.
A Philadelphia press despatch, under date of
lanuary l'Jth, says: The trustees of the Phila
lulphia gas works, which arc owned and con.
ducted by the city government, have for some
time been examining a new process for producing
burning gas, thereby, it is claimed, that gas can
le manufactured at a cost of from 20 to 35
cuts pet 1.000 feel a moot reduction as com.
pared with tho 18,80 Wr 1,000 which con
sinners aru obliged to pay in this city. By the
new process it is proposed to use what is called
me siuck or rcuiau uiiuiuinous coal dUBt, Widen
oan be deUrered here at about f-.7r per ton,
instead of the lump coal now used, for which,
according to thu otheial report for last year,
the city wei obliged to pay per Urn. An
other allugud advantagu in tho new plan is that
thu duat is injected into tho retorts in a contin
uous current of duat mingled with steam, be
ing instantly converted into gas, purer and with
less waste of time and material than bv the
present practice of tilling the retorts wtthabottt
OUV POUDOi 01 coal w lin li has to 1k liaked sev
oralb ours to yield only BO pounds of impure
gas, leaving a residiuin of 1 SO pounds of coke.
tar, etc.. and injuring the retorts by sudden
oooiing ana nooning in too pro pom of changing
ami withdrawing. The inventor of the new
proeeas, a gentleman from Waahimrtnn. 1. I '
offers this city tho free uso of his patent and
improvements, provided the public aru bonetited
by selling the gas to the consumers at M cents
er l.is-KMeet, which can m doue, ho claims,
ami still leave a handsome nrotit to the citv,
The gas trustees have examined the plans of
the inventor of the automatic, or ateam coal
process, as be calls it. ami have authorised him
to exivriniont with bis new method, iirovidetl
the city is not obliged to pay the expense, this
Ishly Mt having the right to eiid anv of thrir
appronriatioiis for cueh purposes without tlie
sK-cial approval Ol the cor -oration. The in
ventor to-day addressed a communication to
the mayor, formally routing his oiler to make
me eiiy a present ..t the use ot the patent, and
guaranteeing the city a saving of from $I.IH0
to ?l,.'00 a day 00 tho '.'.OHO.tHK) feetofgaa
maiiiuaciiirvu nerv every V4 nours.
Orncni of the PootoAoe IVpartment esti.
mate that the n-venues of the IVpartment sro
sutVi'ring not less than $-.W,tkH DOf month
by the HimhI of stamps sold by Postmasters at
small euutry offices at a diacwunt for use in
cities and towns.
A NEW WAY ACROSS THE CONTINENT.
The latest jeheme for crossing the continent
by rail seems to leave California and Oregon
wholly out in the cold, and proposes to strike
across from Norfolk, Virginia, to Topolavampo,
on the west coast of Mexico, at latitude 2.V .Hi'
N. The advantages of such a route are painted
in glowing colors, and it will be interesting to
read the account, just to aee how well the
world can do without ua. Tho accounts say
that Topolovampo, or Topolobampo, occupies
geographically the apex of the great commer
cial V of the North American continent; that
is to say, that each and every port on the coast
of the Atlantic ocean and the ulf of Mexico,
from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Brazos do Santi
ago, and that each and every great center of in
dustry ami population in Lanada, rsova acotia.
New Brunswick, and the United States, east of
the Kocky mountains, the great lakes and the
valley of the St. Lawrence, is nearer, and has
less interruptions from topographic barriers and
climatic extremes to Topolovampo than to San
Diego, San Francisco or Puget sound. Data in
support of these statements have been pub
lished in an official pamphlet (War Depart
ment. Thu demonstrations sbowinir thu ad
vantages in distance cannot lie rututed success
fully, if tho principles of Kuclid are not in
error. St. I.iouis, Mo., is 810 miles, and Chi
cago -Jl miles nearer, as the crow Hies, to To
lxdovampo than to San Franchico. Omaha.
Neb., is 150 miles nearer to Topolovampo than
10 nan rrancisco, and fort Worth, Texas,
is over 400 miles nearer than to San Diego,
and nearly 800 miles nearer than to San Fran
cisco. Now York ifl 140 miles, and Philadel
phia :50 miles nearer to Topolovampo than to
San Francisco.
While thu Austin-Topolovampo indisputably
win givo a loss tracK, ami a loss "equated dis
tance from all worts on tho Eastern coast, and
from all metropolitan centers in the Atlantic
sections ot our continent, it will also have a bu
nerior claim upon the thnmoh travel and tratlh
between Kuropo and Asia. In glancing at the
uiciiiu, 11 is seen tniu an 'runcisco stands
within 4J60 miles of .fapan, yet vessels steam
from her ports, 5,850 miles, so as to have tho
advantages of tho upper edge of the trade
winds and currents which sweep towards Asia
on and below tho 30th parallel of north latitudu.
A steamer or sailing vessel from Magdalena hay,
or from Capo St. Lucas, has stronger winds anil
currents for the Sand wich Islands, and all ports
in Japan and China than from either San Fran
cisco or San Diego sufficient, it is believed, to
almost overcome the disadvantages the direct
distances. The advantages a rail line would
have from Norfolk to Topolovampo, over the
route from Now York to San Francisco, is 1,014
miles, and over that from Now York to San
Diego fi.ll miles. When the equated distances
of the transcontinental lines are established and
compared, the Norfolk -Topolovampo route will
appear, it iB thought, to still greater advantage.
To Find the Wekiilt of a Castino fhom
THAT OF THE pATTKtlN, In order tndefcurminn
Iwforehand the weight of the tinished article
when cast (in whatever metal), it is necessary,
says ttusZtitxehrtfttkrEiten und Sttthl-Industrie,
to know that tho specitic gravity both of tho
pattern or model as well as tho metal to be
coat. The contraction or shrinkage of the cast
ing mnst also be taken into account in the
ctwo of iron, this is in the proportion of one to
32. If wo designate in general the specitic
gravity of tho model as , the specific gravity of
the casting as S, the ratio of shrinkage as a, the
absolute weight of the model as M and that of the
casting as C, we shall havo tho general formula:
X O
By means of this formula, tho weight of the
casting, C, can bo calculated for individual
casos. to tuul the approximate weight of iron
castings from that of the wooden pattern, the
latter is multiplied by tho figures corresjionding
to the material as given in tno following table.
Very accurate results cannot bo expected, as
the specitic gravity of the wood as well as of
the iron fluctuates: P ine wood, 14.0; oAk wood,
9.0; beech wood, 9.7; linden wood, 13.4; birch
wood, 10.6; alder wood, 12.(i; pear treo
wood, 10.
The MANUFAcmtK of Au-minh-m. In the
most unique factory for tho prmluction of alum
inium metal in Salindres, near Alais, the min
oral bauxite is heated with soda in a reverber
atory furnace, the resulting aluminate of soda
is extracted by means of water and alumiiiA,
precipitated by a stream of earlKuiic acid; this
is then formed into balls, with salt ami coal,
and boated to a w hite heat in vortical retort!
during the introduction of chlorine gas. The
double chloride of aoda and alumina, which dis
tills over, is fused with the addition of 852 of
sodium, ami 40 of cryolite as a tlux, andthc
metal which settles at tho Mtom of the cru
cible is ponied into molds. The cost of pro
ducing ono keg of aluminium is stated to l SO
francs; while the selling price is 100 francs.
Ti'KKtsn CAITRtDOl Wouks. -A private let
ter from Conatantinople, says the Iron Ar,
states that sonio new large cartridge works
capable of turning out .VHl.lKHl per day (or
IttUHHl with Turkish lals.r), have been com
menced at ZebnlHiunia, on the Sea of Marmora
Wt four mQee bom Conatantinople. The
contract for tho whole of the macbinerv ku
bjan taken by tho Winchester liopoating 'Anna
Co, of New Haven, C. S.. who are shipping TlNI
tons. I he rolling null for the strip, toother
with furnaces and engines, and tho lead-aqnirt-
ing presses, are m the hands of Messrs. lireen.
wood A Hattey. of Ueds. This establishment
won unom.-o win atwort. the amaller factory
.r-mtx.: 1 1 ih'k. A tierman has
invented a OlOOh n, which the win.tm.r ,..
chioery is operated bv the alternate excision
and contraction of glycerine or other suitable
UtTU Si mk. looking at I08M picturva of
winged angvla, eiclaimed: "Mamma. I den t
want to W an angel'" "Why not, dear?" will wind up the Weight The inventor think:
NEW VIEWS OF THE SPHEROIDAL
STATE.
Prof. Barratt gave on the 3d of January, at
the London Institution, a lecture on "New
Views of the Spheroidal State. " He lirst re
minded thu audience, as reported by ron
what the condition was which is expressed by
the words "spheroidal state." When we allow
water to fall on a warm surface, such as the hob
of a grate, it rapidly evaporates without noise.
If the Biirface be nearly red hot, the water in
stantly and noisily hisses into steam. Reason
ing onwards from these facts, we should con
clude that if the surface bo intensely hot at a
white heat, for example, the water would flash
into vanor, And disappear the moment it tnn.l.oJ
tho iron. But this is not bo; and it is often
hero we arc met with ono of those anomalies
that so often arrest us, and show the need of
putting a priori conclusions to the test of actual
experiment The anomaly in this case is thia
Water, or any other liquid, falling on a red hot
Burface, does not Hash into steam, hut rolls
about on the glowing surface in liquid drops
comparatively cool. They are not perfectly
spherical, owtnir to pravitv, but this is their
Auomalous deportment which has been termed
the Bpheroidal state of liquids. So far back as
1740, Filer studied the phenomena, and Leiden
frost, a (ierniAii philosopher, in 1797, published
an elaborate dissertation on the subject. He
and after him Klaproth, proved that the drops
were below the boiling point of the liquid UBed,
and their explanation of the phenomena is that
which has been generally accepted to the pres
ent time. Their explanation was this: By its,
first contact with the hot surface, part of the
liquid is suddenly turned into vapon This
vapor has a definite and considerable tension or
pressure. Tho pressuro thus generated acts in
opposition to gravity, for it tends to push back
the atmosphere above, and with it the liquid
drop. It would soon Iw coualized. and tha
drop would 110 longer bo sustained, were it not
that the proximity of the hot surface constantly
generates more vapor and thus renews tho up
ward preBBure. Hence tho drop is buoyed up
by a shield of its own vapor on which it rests as
a mobile elastic spring. The contractile force
which exists on the surfsce of a11 liquids tends
to draw the particles of the liquid into the
smallest compAss, And by what is known aB the
superficial tension of the liquid, the drop freed
from the Adhesion of the solid gathers into a
little spherical drop. This has been tho state
of our knowledge up to tho present time.
Among the experiments which were used in
illustration of this part of the lecture, it wu
shown very successfully by an enlarged image
nuieuu omi it space reaiiy uin exist be
tween tho drop and the heated metal on which
it reBted. Manv allusionB to the tierv nrd!
and to more modern handling of heated metals
were mane, wnicn are explicable in conse
quence of the knowlcdio that with n tllliil nn
the skin highly heated metal cannot touch it.
M. Boutigny, some 20 years ago, showed that
even nitric acid on a copper dish, when thrown
by heat into a spheroidal state, would not
touch the copper. But there are cases in which
the old explanation cannot hold good. For ex
ample, in Borne states of the weatner, the water
splashed up in rowing will be noticed falling
back and rolling in spheroidal drops. So, too,
spirits of wine and petroleum may be agitated
by vibrations from a bow drawn across a glass
that contains them till they throw up globules
which roll about on the surface. It is here,
Prof. Barratt said, that Mr. Johnstone Stoney's
investigations on the forces which produce the
motion in the little vanea of Mr. Crookes'
radiometer come into consideration. To Mr.
Stoncy, he said, is unquestionably doe the
great honor of having been the first fully to ex
plain tno iruo wieory 01 ine radiometer, it was
in the coureo of these investigations that Mr.
Stoncy had (juite recently been led to Bhow that
the force which is so active in the high rarefac
tion (that is necessary for tho effective rotation
of the radiometer! is aIbo present at ordinary
atmospheric tensions. Now, it is this force
wmcn lorniBtlio new explanation of tho entire
phenomenon of the spheroidal state. Prof.
Barratt proposed to call it "Stoney's force." In
order to understand the action that occurs it
must be recollected that, according to calcula
tions, the number of molecules of air that at
ordinary pressuro occupies tho Bpace of a pin's
head iB 1,000,000,000,000,000,000; when the
radiometer globe is exhausted of these molecules
of air, as far as we can do it by mechanical
means, there are still some few millions remain
ing, and these are in constant motion. Heat
makes them move more rapidly, cold more
slowly. If wo have two surfaces very near each
other, one Biirface hot and the other cold, from
the hot Biirface the molecules will be thrown off
with greater rapidity than they reached it; and
if the cold surface be near enough, they will
uwuiiMni nonce mere will Pc a tendency
in tho hot and OOld surfaces to retreat fmm one
another, and when with ono of these, as in the
radiometer, tins is possiblu, it ensues.
Stalk of Modem at the Pakis Exfositios.
The following suL'Lreatinn I mi, bv , . .r-
reapondent of the London Time: "It may l
valuable to those of your readers who intend to
exhibit plans or models to know that those can
be made to a scale capable of being expressed
in any language. The only common measureB
between Knglish feet and inches and foreign
decimal Bcalus arc the numbers 2 and 10, so the
only possible international scales are the fol
lowing: Full size grandeur naturalle; half full
size, or ti in. I ft la moite ou ,5 quarter full
... iu. 1 n. iu quart ou. .'o; 1 s m. 1 it.
.1251 fin. L ft .OtioJo. Orl-lOthofanyof
the above, viz,: PM0 in. 'l ft -.1; ti-10
in. I ft. .-Him. 1 ft 3.10 ilL
I ft .Olffii; ;i-40in. I ft .OOtil'5. A draw
ing baa only to Ik; made to any of these Bcalei,
and marked with the English words, and the
corresponding decimal will lx understood all
over the world."
liquid. A piatou, on tie aurface of the glycer-
., ..m rwwnet w nceta and
tit-'thed ra. ks. that nietuui in either direction
"Humph! leae oil my pretty clothe, and wear that the contrivance will he especially valuable
feddera like a hen?" I for aelf-regiitering mote re,. logical instrument
Lv, arna PsEt-pARmoi.ru. The Canadian
r.ntoiniUo-n.-t rnnlain. .....,.. tli.
Witt its larval history fully reeonlcd, by the
distinguished Virginia entomologiat, W. H.
Kdwards. It is a paper of great interest to
students of the lepidoptera. The Entomologist
begina the new year with an excellent number.