out of the lathe, whereas between centres the part where the carrier was screwed on would be left unfinished. In this case, then, when making the pattern we put a lug at each end, and one on each side, and drill them through to fit the holes in the table. It will thus be easy to fix, planing the bottom first, then planing the top and V's, and cutting off the side lugs as we plane the square part of the sides, having no further need of them, as the end ones will keep it firm enough, and also suffice for the slight task of planing the ends, cutting them off, too, in the machine with the finishing cut. There are a great many small things we want planed or turned, very difficult to fix without interfering with the path of the tool; in the lathe either a brass face chuck to which they can be soldered, or what the brass finisher styles a lead chuck-that is, a chuck made of lead in which a proportion of tin is put to harden it, and which is cast on a stout face chuck (Fig. 6), or on a brass nut like Fig. 7, or on the end of a short piece of iron, screwed the same size as the mandrel, as in Fig. 8; the modus operandi being in Fig. 6 either to bed the chuck in the sand, face up, with a round cylinder of wood or tin resting on it, rather bigger than the diameter INSTANTANEOUS PHOTOGRAPHY.* from 40 to 44in. from the floor; therefore 42in. may be considered as an average height best suited for IN reply to many inquiries I give the following instructions for the composition and preparation of the collodion and the silver and iron baths that I use in taking instantaneous photographs of marine views and of objects in motion. per all heights of workmen, when the vice is to be manently fixed. If the work to be filed is small and delicate, requiring simply a movement of the arms, or right hand and arm alone, the vice should be higher, not only in order that the workman may more closely scrutinise the work, but that he may be able to stand more erect. If the work to be filed is heavy and massive, requiring great muscular effort, its surface should be below the elbow joint, as the operator stands further from his work, with his feet separated from 10 to 30in., and his knees somewhat bent, thus lowering his stature; besides, in this class of work, it is desirable to throw the weight of the body upon the file, to make it penetrate, and thus, with a comparative fixedness of the arms, depend largely upon the momentum of the body to shove the file. It will therefore be seen that in fixing the height of the vice, the nature of the work and the deemed necessary to apply the principle correctly. Pulverise the salts, and dissolve them in the alcohol. stature of the operator should be considered, if it is 50 C.C. Cadmium bromide Ammonium bromide Potassium bromide Treat in the same way as No. 2. Add these three ... •12 wanted (to stand trueing up, ram it round with solutions together, stir several times, and let it stand TH Distilled water Silver Bath. Pure silver nitrate The silver nitrate must have been fused at a low temperature. Dissolve it in the alcohol and filter; then add a few centimetres of the above collodion, shake well, and filter again. Extra-rapid Iron Bath. ... 600 c.c. 50 grams THE UTILISATION OF NATURAL GAS. HE petroleum product of Pennsylvania now reaches the fabulous sum of eighty millions of dollars per year, while the exportation runs to about sixty millions. Until recently, or at least within a few years, but little use has been made of the natural gas which has discharged into either the open air or been burned in hoge torchlights through the oil regions. In Beaver Falls, a manufacturing town of considerable note, located about 30 miles west of Pittsburg, on the Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad, one well was put down about 16 years ago for oil, and struck gas at about 1,100ft. in depth, whence it poured continuously until about two years ago, when it was leased, cased up, and brought into use. This induced the Harmony Society to put down more wells in Place the salt in a filter, pour the water over it, and different localities (five in number), all of which give filter several times. No. 2.-Alcohol of 40° 25 c.c. Glacial acetic acid 15 grams Dissolve the acid in the alcohol; then mix No. 2 with No. 1. the sand draw cylinder, and cast the hardened lead for some days. * into the hole on top of chuck, or oftimes merely wrapping two or three plies of stout brown paper, so as to form a cylinder round circumference of chuck, tying it with a string and casting the lead into it, the paper standing perfectly the heat of the molten metal. In Fig. 7a cylinder of wood or tin is bedded half or more into the sand, and after it is drawn the nut, which has been cleaned and tinned outside, with a short bit of wood screwed into the hole to act as a prong, is pressed down into its place in the centre of the hole, and the molten metal cast round it. In Fig. 8 the operation is the same; after smoking the screw of the iron it is pressed into the sand, leaving the screw exposed, the iron being gcrewed out after the chuck is cast, thus leaving it ready to screw on to mandrel; the brass-finishers in most engine shops never use wood chucks, as they won't stand the heavy work lead ones do; besides which after the lead chuck has been once formed it is almost everlasting; you can with the hammer make a hole less, or make the outside bigger-make it bigger or longer by casting a piece on it, with the use of the paper cover, or fill up a hole that is too big; the turnings being kept do again and again. It is also usual to insert a wooden core (Figs. 6 and 8), so as to have less to turn out. In chucking with these, if we can get the article held so as to see if it runs true, either by chucking it sufficiently to bear its own weight, or by putting the centre of the puppit head against it, we can then solder it hard and fast to the chuck, turning off the solder as we finish; thus for heavy work far excelling the wooden chuck. But to return to the planing machine: a plate of brass with holes drilled in it is very handy to solder small articles to, so as to be able to fix them to the table, and when finished, by holding over the fire, they can be separated, and the it be ever so delicate no damage is done to it by solder wiped clean off the work with a rag, and let thus fixing. table = But say the casting has no lugs; if there are any holes to be drilled through the bottom we can do it at once; it may help us in fixing, or if the casting is brass we may solder strips on, or if we take four iron plates 24 or 3in. long, lin. broad, and or in. thick, with a hole through the centre to clear a gin. bolt, four small pieces of hard wood the same thick ness as slide, and four fin. bolts the length of thickness of plate thickness of slide + thickness of 2in. long, we can then bolt it to the table, bottom out-thus (Fig. 9); besides which we require to bolt a piece fast to the table, resting against top of work to resist the thrust of the tool and relieve the clamps. The worst feature in this fixing is that the clamps are in the path of the tool; so, beginning at left, we plane until the tool comes near the clamps, then taking off the centre ones, one at a time, and fixing them on the planed part, plane until the tool comes to the others, shift them to where the first came off top and bottom and finish. It is not a desirable thing to alter fixings during the progress of the work, but it is impossible to avoid it here without more elaborate fixings. Planing the face, the clamps can be fixed below the V's on the square edge, leaving the top free to plane, then shifting the clamps from one side, and fixing them top and bottom on planed part, and plane down square edge; then give the slide rest the necessary angle, and plane the V; and here the utmost caution is needed in going into the corner, as a little too far is apt to treak something (best to work as if you had no safety valve), or throw the work off the table, then repeat the process with the other side. The ends are easily done, as they may be fixed without interfering the least with the tool, and it is immaterial whether we alter the throw of the crank or not, except that with a short stroke we have it slower and steadier. * Moulder's word for taking pattern out of sand. Remarks. Veiling will take place in proportion as the silver bath is heavier, or as the collodion is more strongly iodised, or as the iron bath is more concentrated. It is necessary, therefore, that the silver bath should absorb a sufficient quantity of silver iodide, and to effect this a few c.c. of collodion are added as directed above. I find that a mixture of a new silver bath with one of 8 per cent., which has been in use for ordinary purposes, answers equally well, on condition, however, that the latter be not exhausted, and that the collodion is made with the same iodides as the former. A new bath should be heavy enough to restore the whole at 10 per cent. According to several authorities, a new silver bath should be slightly acid, and a few scales of icdine should be added to the collodion. For my own part, I do not find it necessary to have recourse to these means; above indicated, will not fog, and works more my experience is, that a neutral bath, prepared as rapidly, while the extra-rapid collodion is, and remains, in good order without the addition of iodine. I recommend that the plate be moved about briskly in the silver bath, in order to prevent any to repel liquid. It is indispensable to work in full streakiness of the film, which has a great tendency daylight, and with fine weather. Very quick objectives must be used, and they must be fitted with diaphragms as may be necessary. An instantaneous shutter is necessary, as it often happens that an exposure of one-sixtieth of a second is sufficient, and under such circumstances covering and uncovering the lens by hand would be quite impossible; with such an apparatus, also, the negative is much more delicate. HEIGHT OF WORK FOR FILING. VARIOUS ideas naturally exist among mechanics as to the height at which the jaws of the vice should be set from the floor, for use in filing, arising, no doubt, from the varied nature of the work upon which the advocates of the different ideas have been accustomed to operate. In a "Treatise on Files," issued by the Nicholson File Company, of Providence, Rhode Island, the following points are laid down:-For filing general work, the top of the vice jaws should be placed so as to be level with the elbow of the workman, which will be found to range By M. E. LETELLIER, in the Photographic News-Revus Photographique. That is of specific gravity 815. out liberal supplies, some as high as 100,000ft. every 24 hours, which is now being used in nearly every half of the gas used for lighting the town comes from manufacturing establishment in the town. About onethese wells; it is also used under the gas retorts for heating (five in number). The large cutlery works use it in 49 heating furnaces; the hinge works, in three large heating furnaces; the pottery works, in two large kilns and two very large furnaces for drying ware; the shovel works, in one large heating furnace; the file works, in seven large annealing furnaces; the saw works, in one very large hesting furnace, 14ft. long by 11ft. wide, which is run to s very high heat. furnace. It is also used in one forging Two drying kilns for seasoning lumber use it; and it is also introduced into dwelling houses, heating furnaces, and stoves and cooking stoves, and is exclusively used direct from the wells for lighting one large dwelling. Other wells are now going down, and everything indicates the exclusive use of this gas for all heating, illuminating, and manufacturing purposes. Its value is really incal culable in working steel. It is said to be fully equal to A remarkable feature about it is-at least, so say charcoal, if not superior, there being no base substance like sulphur or other matters so damaging to its quality. Mr. J. E. Emerson-that men work right along in a room filled with it, take it freely into their lungs, in short, breathe it as they do air-and it appears rather healthful than otherwise, while manufactured clear white, and gives an intense heat with very little gas is actually dangerous to inhale. The flame is smoke. There seems no diminution in the supply; there may be a limit to the supply, but the gas is in all probability being constantly produced down deep in the earth. THE COMPOSITION AND WORKING OF ALLOYS-VI.* Burning Together. THE process of uniting two or more pieces of metal, by partial fusion is called burning together. This operation differs from the ordinary soldering in the fact that the uniting or intermediate metal is the same as those to be joined, and there is generally no flux used, but the metals are simply brought almost to the fusing point and united together. The operation of burning together is, in many cases, of great importance, for when the operation is successfully performed the work is stronger than when soldered, for all parts of it are alike and will expand and contract evenly when heated, while in soldering the solder often expands and contracts more or less than the metals which they unite, and this uneven contraction and expan sion of the metal and solder often tears the joint apart; and another objection to soldering is that the solders oxidise either more or less freely than the metals, and weaken the joints, as is the case if lead vessels or chambers for sulphuric acid are soldered with tin, the tin being so much more freely dissolved by the acid than the lead soon weakens or opens the joints. From a series of articles by Mr. E. KIRK, published in The Iron Age. Fine work in pewter is generally burned together at the corners or any sharp angles of the work, where it cannot be soldered from the inside; this is done that there may be no difference of colour in the external surface of the work. In this operation spiece or strip of the same pewter is laid on the parts to be united, and the whole is melted together with a large soldering iron or copper bit, heated almost to redness; the superfluous metal is then cressed off and leaves the metals thoroughly united, without any visible joint. In burning together jewter or any of the very fusible metals great care is required to avoid melting and spoiling the work. Castings of brass are often united by burning together. In this operation the ends of the two pieces to be united are filed or scraped, so as to remore the outside surface or scale; they are then embedded in a sand mould in their proper position, and a shallow or open space is left around the joint or ends of the castings; thirty or forty pounds of melted brass are then poured on to the joint, and the surplus metal allowed to escape through a flow-gate. In this way two castings may be united so that they are as soldered as if they had been cast in one piece. This process is resorted to by all brassfounders in making large and light castings, such as wheels, large circular rims, &c.; when too large to be run in one piece they are usually cast in segments and united by burning together. plumber's solder is generally cast into small ingots or cakes, two or more inches square, according to the work for which they are intended and size of pot they are to be melted in. Some of the very fusible solders that are intended for very light work are trailed from the ladle upon an irou plate, so as to draw the solder into thin or large bars, so that the size of the solder may always be of a size to suit the work that it is used upon. USEFUL AND SCIENTIFIC NOTES. A Nail Gun.-Respecting an implement on view at the Wellington Industrial Exhibition, the New Zealand Times says:-" One of the most simple, and at the same time most ingenious implements on view at the exhibition is an invention of a young man in this city, a Mr. F. Falkner. It is called a nail gun." and is used for nailing down flooring boards. We have seen the implement in use, and as far as we are able to judge it is quicker in its work, and insures greater cleanliness than hand nailing could do. The apparatas is not unlike a gun in shape, and is about the same length. It is kept in position with the foot and knee, and the nail to be driven is placed (point down) in an aperture at the top of the concern. It slides down to the bottom, and then the operator draws up a rod, and by one downward stroke of this the nail is cleanly driven into the boards beneath. A practised hand, by this simple contrivance, could do the work of half a dozen men. We believe that Mr. Falkner is now improving upon his invention, and is making a "nail gun" which will be self-feeding. We have no doubt that when the implement comes to be generally known it will be brought into general use.' Decoration of Zinc.-Dr. L. Stille has recently described a chemical process for covering zinc with coloured coatings. The articles of zinc are first brightened by scouring with quartz sand, moistening with dilute muriatic acid, putting them quickly in water, and then wiping them dry most carefully with white blotting-paper. To insure success, howpossible from lead, and to have it bright like a ever, it is necessary to employ zinc as free as mirror. When these conditions are fulfilled the metal may be coated with a variety of beautiful colours by immersion in a solution of alkaline tartrate of copper for a shorter or longer time, depending on the colour desired. red the borax fuses quietly, like glass, and shortly after, as the heat of the metal is increased to a bright red, the solder also fuses, which is indicated by a small blue flame from the burning of the zinc. Just at this time the work should be jarred slightly by being tapped lightly with the poker or hammer, to put the solder in vibration and cause it to run into the joint. For some work it is not necessary to tap it with the poker, for the solder is absorbed into the joint and nearly disappears without tapping. In order to do good work it is necessary to apply the heat as uniformly as possible, so as to have the solder melt uniformly. This is done by moving the work about in the fire. As soon as the work has been properly heated and the solder has flushed, the work should be removed from the fire, and after the solder has set it may be cooled in cold water without injury. Tubes to be soldered are generally secured by binding wire twisted together around the tube with the pliers. All tubes that are soldered upon the open fire are soldered from within, for if they were soldered from the outside the heat would have to be transmitted across the tube with greater risk of melting the lower part of the tube, the air in the tube being a bad conductor of heat, and it is necessary that both ends of the tube should be open so as to watch for the melting of the solder. In soldering long tubes the work rests upon the flat plate of the brazier's hearth, and portions equal to Cast iron is often united by burning together, or, the length of the fire are soldered in succession. more properly, burning on, for in this case one of The common tubes or gas-pipes are soldered or the metals added or united is in the fluid state. When welded from the outside. This is done by heating about to burn on to a piece of casting the part to the tube in a long air furnace, completely surrounded be united to is scraped or filed perfectly clean, and by hot air, by which means the tube is heated more is then embedded in sand, and a mould of the uniformly than in the open fire. After the tubes desired shape formed around the casting; the metal have been heated to the welding heat they are then is then poured into the mould and allowed to escape taken out of the furnace and drawn through clamps through a flow-gate until the surface of the casting or tongs to unite the edges, and are then run is melted and the metals unite, the same as in burn- through grooved rollers two or three times, and the ing together of brass castings. In this way small process is complete. The soldering or welding of pieces that have broken off of large castings are iron tubes requires much less precaution in point of burned on, and cylinders that have had part of the the heat than some of the other metals or alloys, for fanges torn off by blowing out of the heads are re- there is little or no risk of fusing it. In soldering paired by burning on a new flange or the part that light ironwork, such as locks, hinges, &c., the work has been torn off. In burning on to cast iron there is usually covered with a thin coating of loam to are several very important points that must be prevent the iron from being scaled off by the heat. observed in the operation in order to make it a Sheet iron may be soldered at a cherry-red heat, by success. The ingate, as well as the flow-gate, using iron filings and pulverised borax as a solder should be made of a good size, so that the molten and flux. The solder and flux are laid between the metal may be flowed through them rapidly if irons to be soldered, and the whole is bound necessary. The molten iron used should be the together with binding wire and heated to a red heat hottest that can be procured, and in pouring it into and taken from the fire and laid upon the anvil, and the gate it should be poured in rapidly at first, and the two irons are united by a stroke upon the set the metal allowed to run out freely at the flow-gate hammer. Steel or heavy iron may be united in the Plaster of Paris.-M. Landrin has just comso as to prevent the molten metal being chilled' same way at a very low heat. For soldering iron, municated to the Academy of Sciences the results of upon the surface of the casting. After the casting steel and other light-coloured metals, and also brass long-continued studies relative to the different has been heated in this way the metal should be work that requires to be very neatly done, the silver qualities of this substance, and the information he poured and flown through the gates slowly, so as to solder is generally used on account of its superior furnishes may be of considerable practical value to give the solid metal a chance to melt and unite with fusibility and combining so well with most all metals, architects, builders, modellers, and others whose the fluid metal. After the surface of the metal has without gnawing or eating away the sharp edges of business requires the use of this material. He been melted the pouring should be urged, so as to the joints. Silver solder is used a great deal in the finds that the more or less rapid setting of the site the metals more thoroughly; the operation arts, and from the sparing or careful way in which plaster is due to the mode in which it is burned. bould be continued for some time, so that the cast-it is used most work requires but little or no finish Its properties are very different when it is prepared ing may be more thoroughly heated, and not be after soldering, so that the silver solder, although in lumps or in powder. The former, when mixed to liable to crack from uneven expansion and expensive, is in reality the cheapest solder in the with its own weight of water, sets in five minutes; shrinkage. long run. For silver soldering the solder is rolled while the latter, under similar conditions, takes 20. into thin sheets and then cut into narrow strips The reason probably is that plaster in powder is more with the shears. The joints or edges to be united easily burned than when it is in lumps, and what are first coated with pulverised borax which has tends to prove that fact is that when the latter is been previously heated or boiled to drive off the exposed longer than usual to the action of fire it water of crystallisation. The small strips of solder sets more slowly. Gypsum, when prepared at a are then placed with forceps upon the edges or joints high temperature, loses more and more its affinity to be united, and the work is then heated upon the for water, retaining, however, its property of brazier's hearth. The process of silver soldering absorbing its water of crystallisation. upon the larger scale is essentially the same as the heated to the red, and mixed in the ordinary manner, operation of brazing. For hard soldering small will no longer set, but if, instead of applying the work, such as drawing instruments, jewellery, ordinary quantity of liquid, the smallest possible buttons, &c.. the blowpipe is almost exclusively portion is used, say one-third of its weight, it will used, and the solder used is of the finest or best set in ten or twelve hours, and then it is less porous Hard soldering is the art of soldering or uniting quality, such as gold or silver solder, which is and becomes extremely hard. To prepare plaster two metals or two pieces of the same metal together always drawn into thin sheets or very fine wire, and for moulding it must be burned slowly for a long by means of a solder that is almost as hard and it is sometimes pulverised or granulated by filing; time, sufficiently to drive off all its water, and for fusible as the metals to be united. In some cases but if solder is pulverised very fine a greater degree its molecules to lose a part of their affinity for the the metals to be united are heated to a high heat, of heat is always required to fuse a minute particle liquid. M. Landrin stated that a similar result and their surface united without solder by means of of metal than is required to fuse a large piece. could be obtained by other means. If the plaster fering the surface of the metals. This process is then termed brazing and some of the hard soldering the borax or other flux in solution with a very small enough to allow it to retain 7 or 8 per cent of its In soldering jewellery, the jeweller usually applies is exposed to the fire of the kiln for a time short Rrocesses are also often termed brazing; both camel's-hair brush. The solder is rolled into very water, it is useless, as it sets almost immediately. brazing and hard soldering is usually done in the thin sheets and then clipped into minute particles of If, however, the burning is again resumed, the subopen fire on the brazier's hearth. When soldering any desired shape or size, which is so delicately stance soon loses its moisture, and, if then exposed Pork of copper, iron, brass, &c., the solder generally applied to the work that it is not necessary to file to the air, it very rapidly retakes its water of tsed is a fusible brass, and the work to be soldered or scrape off any portion of it, none being in excess. crystallisation, and then absorption continues more prepared by filing or scraping perfectly clean the The borax or other flux used in the operation is slowly. It can then be used; it sets slowly, but edges or parts to be united. The joints are then put removed by rubbing the work with a rag that has acquires great hardness.-Galignani. in proper position and bound securely together with been moistened with water or diluted acids. binding wire or clamps; the granulated solder and powdered borax are mixed in a cup with a very Soft Soldering. httle water and spread along the joint to be united Soft soldering is the art of soldering or uniting with a strip of sheet metal or a small spoon. The two of the fusible metals or two pieces of the same work is then placed upon a clear fire and heated metal. The solder used is a more soft and fusible gradually to evaporate the water used in uniting the solder and borax, and also to drive off the water contained in the crystallised borax, which causes the borax to boil up with an appearance of froth. If the work is heated hastily the boiling of the borax may displace the solder, and for this reason it is better to roast or boil the borax before mixing with the solder. When the borax ceases to boil the heat is then increased, and when the metal becomes a faint The process of burning together or mending is often resorted to by stove-plate moulders for stopping small holes in the plates; this is done by aying the plate on the sand, with the sand firmly tucked under the part to be mended; a little sand is also put on top of the plate, around the part to be headed, so as to prevent the iron spreading over the plate; the molten iron is poured on the part to be mended, until the edges are fused, and the surplus metal is then scraped off with the trowel or a clamp iron while in the molten state. Hard Soldering: Plaster Club-root in Turnips.-We have great pleasure in stating that Mr. A. S. Wilson has recently examined the club-root in turnips, and has completely confirmed the observations of Mons. Woronin. We have ourselves had an opportunity of examining his preparations, which are very satisalloy than the metals united, and is termed soft factory. The turnips which he sent broke out in solder; and as it is very fusible the mode of apply- every direction with Peronospora Parasitica, the ing the heat is consequently very much different common parasite on the leaves of Crucilers, but from that employed in hard soldering. The soft we do not suppose that there is any connection solders are prepared in different forms to suit the between the two fungi, though the matter suggests different classes of work for which they are intended. further investigation. The whole substance of the Thus for tin soldering it is cast into bars of 10 or roots is infested with the parasite, exactly as the 12in. long by lin. wide, and by some it is cast into tubers of potato are affected by the potato murrain. cakes 10 or 12in. long by 3 or 4in. wide. The-M. J. B. in Gardeners' Chronical. THE SCIENTIFIC NEWS. HE celebrated "calculating boy," better known to the present generation as Mr. George Parker Bidder, a distinguished engineer, died on the 20th inst. in his 73rd year. Mr. Bidder was the son of a working man, and was born in Devonshire in the year 1806. He attributed the first stimulus given to his genius to the questions propounded by a neighbouring blacksmith. Little Bidder answered the questions for the sake of being "raised to the dignity" of blowing the bellows, but his fame quickly spread, and, as he says, "what was better," halfpence began to flow into his pocket, and at last he was introduced to George III. and Queen Charlotte. Through the kindness of a friend he was sent to Edinburgh and educated for an engineer, and subsequently making the acquaintance of George Stephenson, he was introduced to the hard work of the profession, and was engaged in building some of the greatest railways. Mr. Bidder was one of the promoters of the Electric Telegraph Company, and during the latter part of his career he was frequently consulted by the Government on important matters. He retired entirely from professional pursuits at the beginning of the present year, and his death, though not premature, came rather suddenly at last. Mr. Thomas Grubb, the distinguished optician, died at Rathmines, Dublin, on the 19th inst., in his 78th year. Originally intended for the mercantile profession, his mechanical tastes developed so strongly that he gave up commerce and turned his attention to the manufacture of mathematical and optical instruments. How well he succeeded all the world knows, and the crowning honour of his life was being chosen to construct the great Vienna refractor of 27in. clear aperture, the largest telescope of the kind yet made. Mr. Grubb was a self-taught mechanician, and de. vised many useful pieces of machinery, but during the latter half of his life his name has become best known by means of his photographic lenses and the instruments he supplied to the observatories of Dunsink, Armagh, Markree, and Melbourne. Another small planet (No. 189) was discovered by Prof. Peters, of Clinton, New York, on the 17th inst. The Cryptogamic Society of Scotland will hold its fourth annual conference at Edinburgh on the 9th, 10th, and 11th of October. Prof. Balfour is president, and Dr. Buchanan White, of Perth, is the secretary. Specimens for exhibition should be sent to him at the Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh. The Clothworkers' Exhibition at Cam- The Maharajah of Burdwan has granted to the Experiments were made last week in the light have been made at Ayr. The lamp was The Channel Tunnel is still only a possibility. Mr. J. Pearson, M.A., F.R.A.S., in a letter to the Times, points out that the tides of the A death from the bite of a viper is reported, present week will be exceptionally high. "A the unfortunate victim being one of three City remarkable combination of circumstances clerks walking across the downs to Amberley, favours their development. The moon at con- in Sussex. The bite was inflicted while the junction with the sun is near the plane of the party were resting on a bank, and although the earth's equator, and in unusual proximity to reptile was killed no alarm seems to have been the earth. The line of anti-lunar action (which felt as to the man, who was seized with serious is the prolongation of the line joining the moon symptoms before reaching Amberley, and died and earth) at this period passes from the in great agony at a village public-house. southern hemisphere to the northern, and from this cause the magnitude of the tide-wave life-history of insects injurious to crops, Mr. With a view of spreading a knowledge of the which passes up the Atlantic Ocean is aug- Carrington, the editor of the Entomologist, has mented. The effect is to bring up an extra- attempted to keep them under glass cases, and ordinarily high tide to the western shores of has succeeded to a very gratifying extent. He the British Isles at 4 o'clock on Friday evening, obtained permission to erect the cases at the September 27. This tide will arrive at the Westminster Aquarium, and considerable inmouth of the Thames at 11 o'clock the same terest has been displayed in the work, visitors night, and will there be blended with a lunar having frequently asked for information as to tide-i.e., a tide generated on the side of the how similar collections might be exhibited in earth next the moon-12 hours older, which the country. With a few glass cases, and a has travelled round through the North Sea. schoolmaster to take a little interest in the Following this will be the day tide of Saturday, work, there is no reason why the children in and this is formed by the superposition of the the agricultural districts should not become large tide already mentioned, which has by well acquainted with the noxious and beneficent this time traversed the North Sea, and a lunar insects of the country. tide of less magnitude which has come up the English Channel. Hence the night tide of It is stated that the high prices put upon Friday and the day tide of Saturday will each be the publications of the Geological Survey are of unusual height." In his almanac published authorised by the Stationery Office. It seems at the beginning of the year, Lieut. Saxby says that September 28 will see a very high and inundating tide everywhere, unless the wind keeps it back. It will be high water at London Bridge at half-past two in the morning. that a red-tapeish interpretation of a Treasury A company, under Government sanction, has A Trades Exhibition is to be held next year in Berlin, in a building that will cover about 24,000 square yards. News has arrived that the Bremen steamer Neptune, Capt. Rasmussen, which left for the Ob, in Siberia, on July 16, reached Hammerfest on the 6th instant with a full cargo of Siberian wheat. The Neptune was laden with all sorts of mercantile goods. She entered the Nadym on August 13, and had no ice difficulties on the voyage out. Referring to the proposal to employ eleDr. P. L. Sclater writes:-"We have of late phants in opening up Africa to civilisation. years become aware that the supposed untamability of the African elephant is a figment. So many of these animals have recently been imported into Europe from Upper Nubia that in elephant, until these last few years quite an zoological gardens and menageries the African unknown animal, is almost as familiar an object as his Indian congener. And it has been discovered by experience that, so far from being untamable, the African elephant, when properly treated, is just as docile, just as intelligent, and just as easy to manage as the Indian species. In proof of this fact I have only to refer the sceptic to the Zoological Society's gardens, where two large African elephants may be seen daily carrying about numbers of women and children, and under the most com. plete control of their keepers. To Zanzibar, which it is universally agreed is the best basis for the exploration of the lake region of Africa, it would be easy to bring over a detachment of elephant catchers from one of the Kheddah departments of India, with a few selected elephants to set them going. Elephants being still abundant on the main land opposite Zanzibar there would be an ample field for the labour of such a party, and the captured animals would be ready on the spot where expeditions into the interior commence their journeys." to the Meteorological Commission of Vaucluse M. Bischoffsheim, says the Débats, has given 10,000 fr. in aid of the erection of the obser vatory it is proposed to construct on Mont Ventoux. Sir Richard Griffith, the distinguished Irish geologist, died on Monday last in his 95th year. It will be remembered that the president of the geological section of the British Association referred to Sir Richard in very complimentary terms in opening his address at the recent meeting. A Pattern Working Man.-A man named Richard Rogerson has completed his 66th year of service as turner for Messrs. R. Dalglish and Co., of the St. Helen's Foundry. He is nearly 77 years of age, and is in the enjoyment of excellent health, September, 1812, and has and likely to continue bis service for some years to come. He first joined the foundry on the 14th of Dalglish's employment since that time. He has bad never left Messrs. 14 childrea, five of whom are now living, and has 42 grand children and 12 great grand-children living. Perhaps there is a pattern employer in connection with this pattern working man. Fish Culture in the Far West.-The propa gation of salmon at the United States fish hatching It is said that the run of fish is plentiful, and preestablishment on the McCloud river promises well. parations have been made for securing 12,000,000 eggs. The catfish placed in the Sacramento some years ago are doing well. No further distribution of catfish will be made by the commissioners, as they think the supply already distributed will be sufficient for the State. It is said that shad are becoming abundant. The commissioners expect to receive a supply of superior carp from the Govern ment some time this year. Fish Commissioner Parker, of Nevada, has obtained 2,500 catfish t stock the Humboldt river. Nevada also receives this year 500,000 salmon, to be placed in the Truckee river, so that they can go to Pyramid Lake. The California commissioners will get 2,500,000 young salmon this year to replenish the stock in the Pitt, McCloud, and Sacramento rivers. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. [We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions of our correspondents, The Editor respectfully requests that all communications should be drawn up as briefly as possible.] All communications should be addressed to the Editor of the ENGLISH MECHANIC, 81, Tavistock-street, Covent-garden, All Chequer and Post-office Orders to be made Payabl to W.C. J. PASSMORE EDWARDS. • In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents, when speaking of any Letter previously inserted, will oblige by mentioning the number of the Letter, as well as the page on which it appears. "I would have everyone write what he knows, and as much as he knows, but no more; and that not in this only, but in all other subjects: For such a person may have some particular knowledge and experience of the nature of such a person or such a fountain, that as to other things, knows no more than what everybody does, And yet, to keep a clutter with this little pittance of his, will undertake to write the whole body of physioks: a vice from whence great inconveniences derive their original." -Montaigne's Essays. SCIENCE The mention of popular science in connection with Mr. Lankester's letter in the Times suggests to me to remark that an extraordinary improvement has recently taken place in the scientific articles of the leading journal. Admirably written and exhaustive popular expositions of the chief points of interest in connection with the recent Solar eclipse, Klein's new Lunar Crater, &c., seem to have replaced those articles which from time to time appeared, and which used so strongly to suggest the idea that they emanated from the pen of the person who was most loudly and persistently puffed in them. Whether this very desirable alteration is referable to the change of editorship or not, it is one upon which our great English newspaper may most legitimately be congratulated; and which cannot fail to prove greatly to the advantage of all who turn to its columns for scientific information. "J. L." (query 34055, p. 24) may with great advantage read Dr. De la Rue's paper on "Celestial Photography in England," in the "Report of the British Association" for 1859. He might doubtless obtain good (small) photographs of the moon with the instrument he possesses, but the planets would be beyond his means. Mr. Coulthard (query 34058, p. 24) can scarcely THE ENDOWMENT OF RESEARCH- do better than procure Dr. Carpenter's "Microscope "THE TIMES" AND POPULAR and its Revelations," published by Churchill, London PHOTOGRAPHING THE a book containing an enormous mass of inforMICROSCOPICAL MANIPU. mation, profusely illustrated, on the instrument PROPERTY IN "LOST" itself and every variety of accessory apparatus, together with detailed and explicit directions for ARTICLES-DOG SNORING-ASCEND. procuring, preparing, exhibiting, and mounting objects of every description. He will find it the very MOON LATION ING LIGHTNING-VULCAN (?)-STAR MAGNITUDES USE FOR A GRA. DUATED CIRCLE-MATHEMATICAL INSTRUMENTS. book he requires. STATE AID FOR SCIENCE. [14875]-A LETTER from Mr. Ray Lankester appeared in the Times of the 5th inst. on the subject of the endowment of research. I had hoped that his remarks would have been answered by some one who can deal with them from a more advantageous stand-point than myself, and who may have more leisure than I have. But as they have not been noticed, and as it seems to me rather important that they should be, I ask your permission to make some comments on his suggestions. Mr. Lankester, in the first place, referring to your leading article on the views of Virchow and Haeckel (the Times of Sept. 4), accepts and emphasizes the alleged deterioration in tone of scientific thought, ascribing it to the habit of popularising science. He takes the entirely false position of supposing that the advancement of pure science is in itself valuable, apart from the influence of science on human affairs and interests. Intrinsically the advancement of pure science is of very small moment, as compared with the influence of scientific results and scientific methods of thinking, on the public mind. The popularisation which Mr. Lankester deplores, is in its influence, far more important than the mere attainment of a few more scientific results, since to it we must look for the liberalisation of the general mind, the change in the general conception of the universe, and the resulting change in the views taken of human life and conduct. Even the benefits derived from those scientific discoveries, which directly tend to improve teemed small by comparison with those which are the physical condition of mankind, must be esderived from science as a means of mental and moral Mr. W. J. Chesterton (query 34112, p. 25) is culture. Take one instance only. It is a matter of entitled to the watch he found as against everybody small intrinsic importance to men whether the but the real owner. If such owner, in your querist's nebular theory, or any other theory of the deve words, "is never heard of," and the railway com-lopment of the solar system, is sound or not; but a pany were to detain the watch, then Mr. Chesterton clearly-defined and widely-spread belief in the domimight bring an action against them for its recovery nion of law (as illustrated by such theories) and (vide the case of Armorie v. Delamire, 1st Smith's the consequent recognition of the futility of lawLeading Cases," 107). lessness, no matter under what names disguised, would be of incalculable service to the human race. Such teaching could not but prove a safeguard against superstition and the multitudinous forms of lawlessness to which supersitition has given birth. [14874.]-BUYING as I do the weekly edition of the Times, I read the daily one, when I read it at all, spasmodically, and at distant intervals. Thus it has come to pass that I have only just seen Mr. Ray Lankester's letter on the Endowment of Scientific Research, which appeared in the impression of the Sth, or I should certainly have had something to say concerning it before this. What the writer advocates is apparently the provision of a series of professional stipends, and the maintenance of laboratories in the same proportion to the population as that which the existing institutions bear in the If "Sigma" (letter 14844, p. 36) will re-read German Empire," which would, as he goes on to what I said in letter 14757 (Vol. XXVII., p. 627) late, "involve an annual expenditure of £800,000." again, I think he will find that the explanation of It is, however, to Mr. Lankester's two illustrative" J. T. M." was "accepted by me in a very instances of the benefit of "endowment" that I qualified sense indeed, for I simply remark there that would particularly invite attention. "Quem Deus it may be the true one. The time necessary for valt perdere prius dementat," and it really seems the perception of a luminous image, and that during as though some mischievous spirit must have sug- which (when once perceived) it persists on the retina gested the names of Faraday and Darwin to him, (or rather sensorium) are very different. For as examples of the beneficial results of the Govern- example, the flash of the discharge of a Leyden jar ment endowment of science. For, to begin with in a dark room, which can only last for the most inFaraday: neither proximately nor remotely was he finitesimal fraction of a second, is perfectly well seen indebted to the State for anything whatever. The for a time enormously exceeding that of its actual Royal Institution-the scene of his immortal duration. Moreover, if "J. T. M." was ever prelabours-is a purely voluntary and private founda- sent at artillery practice he must know that by tion, which neither asks nor accepts public money watching the ball from a suitable position, it may at all. Will Mr. Lankester-can be-mention any be traced from the gun's mouth to the butt or target, tationally subsidised establishment whatever where albeit if I understand his theory perfectly, it ought more real solid tangible work has been done for the to appear to travel from the target to the gun's advancement of science than in Albermarle-street ? muzzle if the target were being steadily regarded. His reference to Mr. Darwin is more unfortunate I wonder why letter 14846 (page 36) is headed stall. It is simply because that great naturalist is a "Vulcan ?" man of private fortune that he has been able to arry on his unparalleled researches at all. Just onceive the result of an application for an annual grant from the Consolidated Fund for the purpose of investigating the origin of species! Why, we hould have had Convocation going stark mad, and petitions from the whole bench of bishops, and the major part of the parochial clergy, backed up by the signatures of all the boys and girls in their parish schools. Popular theology affirms definitely hat species are the result of special creative acts; and any attempt to employ the national funds to Accumulate evidence to the contrary would have have raised a bowl in Exeter Hall which must have almost drowned the roar of the traffic in the Strard ataide. Give State aid to such investigations as those of Mr. Darwin! Oh, Mr. Lankester-Mr. Lankester, you must have been most curiously ignorant-or astonishingly forgetful of English I think that if "Brickwall" (query 34113, p. 25) were to starve his dog, the nuisance he complains of would cease. The two or three dogs I have known to snore have, one and all, done so from overfeeding. On reading Mr. Espin's letter (14848) on the next spondents who are interested in the subject of star page I am tempted to recommend all your corremagnitudes to obtain that very beautiful book of Mr. Bazley's The Stars in their Courses," recently advertised in these columns; as preceding the maps all stars visible to the naked eye in England, with proper in it, there is an exhaustive catalogue of their magnitudes, as given in the B. A. C. and by Proctor, Argelander, and Heis. This will be found invaluable for reference. when a question may arise as to the possible variability of any particular star, and will supply an authoritative source of information on the subject of star magnitudes generally "J. M." (query 34144, p. 49) will find that, as be himself surmises, the divisions of bis circles are rather more suitable for those of the hour-circle of an Equatoreal than for its declination circle. For if there are 2,160 primary divisions, each of these must represent 10′ of arc = Now, 90 of these divisions must be 40 seconds of time. 24), and as 40 divisions of the Ver popular opinion when you selected such a most unfortunate illustration as this. I have said it was with Mr. L.'s illustrative examples that I should principally deal; but I cannot forbear from a brief (for reference to the monstrous assumption underlying the whole letter, that the fostering of pure science nier by the State is the one thing needful, and that the popularising of scientific results is in every way to be deprecated. A country dotted over with laboratories, in which highly paid officials shall (when they are in the humour) make" original researches," 1-40th of this, or 15". and the stern suppression of those pestilent people whose lives are spent in the diffusion and populariation of the truths of science, and in the expansion and enlargement of the public mind, may be Mr. Lankester's idea of Utopia-it is not mine. English = How many columns of the ENGLISH MECHANIC does "Science Teacher" (query 34189, p. 50) sur pose it would require to give a thoroughly intelligible reply to his string of questions? He will find full answers to them (occupying a good many pages) in astronomers know full well what that most con- "Heather on Mathematical Instruments," published temptible imposture, the "Physical Observatory," in Weale's Series by Lockwood and Co, London. means. Ex uno disce omnes. A Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. [Supplement to the English MECHANIC, September 27, 1878.] But the scientific deterioration which Mr. Lankester admits and deplores may, I think, be confi dently denied. Our men of science-our Herschels, Lyells, Darwins, Spencers, Tyndalls, Carpenters, Huxleys, and the rest (I take simply the first names which occur to me)-do unquestionably publish their results more freely and more quickly than the scientific men of former generations. This is not, however, because they are less disposed to longcontinued research, and study or less willing to weigh all the evidence available. On the contrary, it is in the main because they know that such a course is precisely the one by which false theories and erroneous views will most readily be eliminated. Not a few of the mistaken views, which in former ages were long adopted and taught, owed their temporary vitality only to the circumstance that they were not in good time brought into the light and thoroughly ventilated. Moreover, the caution shown by men of science in former times was notoriously due in great part to a somewhat contemptible anxiety about priority. In this respect assuredly the tone of scientific thought in our own time has not deteriorated. The particular illustrations selected by Mr. Lankester are unfortunate. Faraday was enabled to wholly voluntary in its origin and maintenance, and make his researches by the support of an institution wholly independent of the State. In that voluntarilysupported institution more has been done for the advancement of science than in any State-supported would ask what would have been the present posiinstitution that can be named. As to Darwin, I tion of Darwin's researches had he been dependent minister might have been supplied with funds for on a minister of science, however lavishly such a the endowment of research? Whether such a minister had depended on his own judgment, or had been aided by the judgment of naturalists 25 years ago, he would never have dared to afford Darwin An application for such assistance would have been the means necessary for carrying on his researches. rejected, 25 years ago, alike by the political and the scientific world, with all but universal derision. The present attitude of the public mind towards the views of our great naturalist is due in great part, no doubt, to the soundness of his methods, the wide range of his researches and observations, the care and caution of his reasoning; but in the main it is assuredly due to his skill in presenting his subject to the general public-in other words, it is due to the process of popularisation which Mr. Lankester deems so mischievous. And as in this special case the only chance of State endowment would have resided in that weight of public opinion which popularisation has since brought to bear, 80 generally, if science enters "the pleasant paths of endowment," she will owe that result not to the caprice of a minister or of a party, but to public opinion influenced by the popularisation of science. From the Times For my own part, I must confess I dread such a result rather than hope for it, believing that, as Alphonse Decandolle said four or five years since, the great danger for science in England at present is the increasing tendency of scientific men to lean on the State. We know what happened to literature in France under the burden (for such it really was) of State aid. No true lover of science can wish that she should in a similar way be trammelled by State restrictions under the guise of State assistance. COST OF LIVING. [14876.-I was very pleased to see the letter on the above subject, and would offer some further facts and opinions. It is very possible to live on 6d. a day, and it does not necessarily follow that any one who limits his daily expenditure for food to 6d. will deprive himself of all or anv enjoyment in eating his meals. A cultivation of simplicity of taste is the forerunner of a disregard for luxuries formerly indulged in, and the food which is of the simplest kind is eaten with a zest and enjoyment unknown to the high liver. The writer referred to above has, like myself, proved from experience that life can be maintained more healthfully on a diet from which flesh meat is excluded. I have been a total abstainer from intoxicants all my life, and a vegetarian more than two years. When a flesh-eater I enjoyed tolerably good health, varied occasionally by head-aches, severe colds, bilious attacks, &c. Now I scarcely ever know what a pain or even a temporary derangement of the system is. I have two meals a day, though I prefer three, but my occupation is one which prevents me from getting three at regular hours, and as I can observe regularity in two I do so. The following is a statement of what it generally costs me for food per week :-Wheat meal for porridge and bread, 1s.; potatoes, 4d.; cocoa, 2d.; fruit, 8d.; milk, 7d.: sugar, 4d.; butter, 6d. ; extras, 4d.; total, 3s. 11d. The man who adopts vegetarianism will, if he pursues the system properly, enjoy better health and improve his mental powers-in fact, every mental faculty will become clearer and brighter. He will not, perhaps, after a week's trial, leap forth like a new man, but with steady perseverance he cannot fail to convince himself that vegetarianism alone, as a system of diet, is in consonance with truth. There is a great danger of a man trying it for a short time, and then becoming disgusted with the preparations of his cook, giving it up in disgust, and ever after, when the matter is mentioned in his presence, he denounces it as impracticable. This is unfair. As well might a man commence the study of Euclid to strengthen his mind, and to help him to think correctly and accurately, and then, when he gets to the famous "bridge of asses," throw it down and declare his mind was not strengthened in the least by the study, and that Euclid was a humbug. I would recommend all my readers who are desirous of obtaining information on the subject to write for circulars, which will be sent free of cost, to the Vegetarian Society, 91, Oxford-street, Manchester. Mansfield, Notts. R. M. Tuttle. 114877. WITH your kind permission I will give "J. N. M." and "our" readers generally the results of my experience, which extends over twenty years, I fear it will not go far to "strengthen the cause,' if by that he means Good Templarism and vegetarianism, as it will be seen that two items in my list, which are rejected by him, constitute more than onethird of my total expenditure. My household consists of seven individuals-myself, a housekeeper, four eons and a daughter; the last one, being the youngest, is a little over nine years of age. I have carefully extracted all the food items from ny house. keeper's book for last year, and from them make out the following FOOD BILL FOR A YEAR FOR A FAMILY OF SEVEN. £ s. d. Flour Yeast Rice 1 6 8 0 8 104 0 8 7 0 15 11 097 £74 6 10 This gives £1 8s. 7d. per week, equal to 4s. 1d. per head, or 7d. per head per day; only 1d. per day above the oft-quoted standard of 6d. per day, and actually 2d. a day less than "J. N. M." managed to live upon, when he was "trying" what he could do. Yorkshire fashion (as you will see by the first two items), we bake our own bread. We did brew our own beer at one time, but gave it up, as we found brewer's beer kept better. The item meat, includes butcher's meat, home-fed bacon, hams, and fish. Vegetables include potatoes, as well as green vegetables. Fruit includes currants, raisins, apples, plums, gooseberries, and various kinds of preserves, and jam. Rice includes sago and tapioca, and condiments include salt, pepper, mustard, vinegar, &c. For breakfast we have tea or coffee, with bacon or ham, and bread. For dinner we have pudding of some kind, and meat and potatoes, and sometimes green vegetables, or fruit pies. For tea we have buttered bread, buttered tea-cakes, and currant cake, varied occasionally by muffins and biscuits. The grand secret of cheap living is seeing that nothing is wasted. J. P. [14879.]-YOU'R readers and correspondents have reason to feel obliged to Mr. Sidney Jewsbury (letters 14571 and 14691) for the trouble he has taken in copying, without acknowledgment, formule and forms of magic squares (errors included) from "Hutton's Mathematical Recreations.' The work may not be accessible to all, and it is known as containing a fair summary of what has been discovered on the subject, but I was in hopes that he would have been able to communicate something original. I have continued to investigate the question of how many magical combinations the 42 is capable of. When I wrote you last I was able to show a formula by which 144 different forms of magic square of 42 can be produced. Component squares were to be formed, one filled with the natural numbers 1 to 4, and the other multiples of 4, 0 to 12, and the numbers were to be so placed that no number shall be repeated in any row, column, or diagonal. We found that to enter any number, so as to avoid its repetition in any row, column, or diagonal, it will fall into this diagram : 1 4 2 3 2 3 1 4 3 24 1. 4 1 3 2 X I have called one the Y formation and the other the diamond, from a fancied resemblance to these forms. It will readily be perceived that only one form of Y combination is of use--viz., that in which two 1's and two 4's form a diagonal, and also that only two forms of diamond can be used-that in which the diagonals are formed of 4's and 1's, and that in which they are formed of 2's and 3's. 3 1 4 2 4 2 3 1 1 324 24 13 Let us see how many additional combinations this will give us. First we notice we cannot use these new forms with the six formerly dealt with because when we attempt such combinations we find the results contain repeated figures. Neither can we combine Y of natural numbers with Y of multiples, but the Y of naturals with each of the two diamonds of multiples gives 4 squares thus : BICYCLE MATTERS. forming six combinations whose configuration bears these pages a letter by "56in. Superb [14880.]-A WEEK or two ago there appeared in on the some resemblance to All England Bicycle Crank. I have often thought it a good thing, but have never had an opportunity of testing it, nor have I seen any notice of it in ours "till his letter. Any one can easily underat should like to know whether he never finds it stand the advantages of an adjustable crank, and I shall very likely go in for one myself next season, to slip up or down, as the case may be, by pressing serious drawback if it is as easy to be done a the spring accidentally. This would prove rather a and which are of necessity possessed of the property that the total of every row, column, and diagonal equals 10, because each contains the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4. But we will find that in the case of some of these combinations (of which the above is an example), if we transpose the top row to the bottom one of Granger's cane-seated saddles: it is very much cooler, but the shape is not quite right, and the front part is very hard, and is almost as bad after a long journey as the pigskin. I have s notion, not yet put in practice, that a combination of the cane and air saddles would unite the benefits specially-made air saddle should cover the front part and sides-the parts where the most friction occurs -and the seat would still be kept cool by the cane bottom. Has anything of this sort yet been tried? An easily managed alarm would also be a great benefit. Your bells are very little real use. They are better than nothing, perhaps, but the noise is not enough to scare dogs or children. Something is wanted which can be set on in a moment by eimple pressure of the finger, and which will make a good din for the time being. That such an alarm can be constructed easily, and to take up very little space, I fully believe, and a description and drawing of one would be a great benefit to others besidesStanley Roadster. [Supplement to the ENGLISH MECHANIC, September 27, 1878.] |