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SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN


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


NEW YORK, JULY 3, 1880.

Vol. XLIII.--No. 1. [NEW SERIES.]

[$3.20 per Annum [POSTAGE PREPAID.]]

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CONTENTS.

(Illustrated articles are marked with an asterisk.)

   1     Agricultural inventions              1
  40     Aspirator and compressor*           11
  38     Astronomical notes                  11
  25     Baby elephant takes a bath           7
  22     Bath, shower, portable, new*         6
  11     Boiler explosions, prevention of*    4
  38     Canal boat, improved                10
  17     Carpetings, etc., printing gold on   5
  30     Chloral hydrate, simple test for     7
  13     Chloroforming during sleep           5
  35     Corn magnets                        10
  14     Dipper, watering, improved*          5
  29     Drowned, perseverance with the       7
  15     Electric lamp, improved*             5
  25     Elephant, baby, takes a bath         7
  37     Engineering inventions              10
   6     Epidemic, strange, a                 2
  33     Exhibition, internation., Sydney*    8
  11     Explosions, boiler, prevention of*   4
  39     Fires in New York                   11
   8     Fogs, navigation in*                 3
  16     Fruit, preserving app. for*          5
   3     Gas machine, Maxim's*                1
   3     Gas making, simple process*          1
  20     Genessee Falls, utilization of       5
  34     Horology, report of judges*          8
  33     International exhibition, Sydney*    8
   1     Inventions, agricultural             1
  37     Inventions, engineering             10
  24     Inventions, mechanical               7
  12     Inventions, miscellaneous            4
  42     Inventions, new                     11
   9     Iron, effect of age on quality       3
  15     Lamp, electric, improved*            5
  23     Leadville mines and railroads*       6
  35     Magnets, corn                       10
  36     Materials, resistance of, exp. on   10
   3     Maxim's gas machine*                 1
  24     Mechanical inventions                7
  31     Natural history notes                7
   8     Navigation in fogs*                  3
   7     Oil tanks, cannonading of            3
  18     Ore separator, Edison                5
  41     Photoglyptic process, new           11
  26     Phyllirhoe Bucephala*                7
  32     Ruggles, S. P                        7
  22     Shower bath, portable, new*          6
  19     Slate washer, novel*                 5
   2     Specimen, rare, lost                 1
   5     Steamer, little, remarkable          2
  10     Steamers, large, collision between   3
  21     Stevens Institute of Technology      5
  33     Sydney Industrial Exhibition*        8
  28     Tree growth, force of*               7
  27     Trees and shrubs, care of            7
  19     Washer, slate, novel*                5
   4     Watches, Am., superiority of         2
  14     Watering dipper, improved*           5

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AGRICULTURAL INVENTIONS.

Mr. Sterling A. Millard, of Clayville, N. Y., has invented a scythe
blade that contains much less weight of metal and possesses equal or
greater strength than the ordinary scythe blades. It is made in the
usual manner from what is termed by scythe makers a "scythe rod," and
is wrought and shaped in such form that a proper thickness is left
to serve as the back of the blade. A longitudinal auxiliary rib or
supplementary back is formed on the blade, which stiffens the scythe
without requiring the same weight of metal as those of the usual
construction.

Mr. George C. Winslow, of Kalamazoo, Mich., has patented an
improvement in spring harrow teeth, which consists generally in
hinging the harrow tooth in the forward end of a rectangular frame
bolted to the harrow bar, and combining therewith a spring, which
at its back end is clamped to the harrow bar by the same bolts which
secure the rectangular frame, and which spring then curves upward and
forward, and then down through the slot or opening of the rectangular
frame, and is jointed at its extremity, near the bottom of the harrow
tooth, so that its tension serves to throw the harrow tooth forward,
but allows it to yield to obstruction.

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A RARE SPECIMEN LOST.

Captain Ingalls, of the schooner Chalcedony, has let slip an
opportunity to make a small fortune and at the same time settle the
long vexed question as to the reality of the elusive and possibly
mythical sea serpent. His story, as told in the _Argus_, of Portland,
Maine, June 8, runs as follows:

"Last Saturday, about one o'clock in the afternoon, we were slowly
sailing past Monhegan, there being very little wind, about twenty
miles southwest of the island, when we caught sight of what looked
like a large schooner floating bottom up. As the object lay almost
dead ahead, we made directly for it, but before we got very close a
Cape Ann schooner lay to and sent a boat's crew to inspect what now
plainly appeared to be a monstrous carcass of some species or other.
We finally hove to, about a ship's length off, and took a leisurely
survey of the thing. It was dead, and floated on the water, with its
belly, of a dirty brown color, up. It head was at least twenty feet
long, and about ten feet through at the thickest point. About midway
of the body, which was, I should guess, about forty feet long, were
two fins, of a clear white, each about twelve feet in length. The body
seemed to taper from the back of the head down to the size of a small
log, distinct from the whale tribe, as the end had nothing that looked
like a fluke. The shape of the creature's head was more like a tierce
than anything I can liken it to. I have seen almost all kinds of
shapes that can be found in these waters, but never saw the like of
this before.

Two years ago, off Seguin, I saw shooting through the water a thing
which, I think, resembled this creature considerably, but I didn't
get close enough to it to say for certain. The men from the Cape Ann
schooner got on this dead creature, and one of the boys cut a double
shuffle on its belly, which for all the world looked like the bottom
of a schooner covered with barnacles and seaweed by the weather. We
should have towed the thing to Portland had there been any wind,
but as there wasn't, we steered away and left it. What sort of a sea
monster this was I can't say for sure, but in my opinion it was the
original'sea serpent,' which has been seen once in a while for years
past, and which, when alive, was too swift a swimmer for any sailing
vessel to get alongside of."

The report of the captain of the "Cape Ann schooner" will be in order
now.

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[Illustration: MAXIM'S NEW GAS MACHINE.]

SIMPLE AND CHEAP PROCESS OF GAS MAKING.

When a current of air is passed over the surface of gasoline it
becomes carbureted or charged with its vapors to saturation. Air thus
charged is somewhat heavier than pure air, and when passed through an
Argand or bat's wing burner, it burns with a brilliant white flame.
Nothing would seem easier than to make a machine that would force
a current of air through, over, or on some material saturated with
gasoline, and this apparently simple process has led many into
attempts to make a successful gas machine. Many fortunes have been
spent by the unscientific in the chase after this, to them, _ignis
fatuus_. The stumbling block which has wrecked so many enterprises
in this line has been the cold produced by the evaporation of the
gasoline. One pound of gasoline, in passing from a liquid to a vapor,
requires about as much heat as would be required to melt two pounds of
cast iron. It is therefore obvious that where no heat is supplied,
the gasoline, air, and machine must soon become very cold when any
considerable quantity of gas is being made. The heat must come from
somewhere, and as none is supplied, it is taken from the apparatus,
air, and gasoline, making them very cold. A beautiful and simple
experiment to illustrate this refrigeration can be made as follows:
Place a gill of water in a common washbasin, then pour over it
one pint of light gasoline; shake the basin, and blow the liquids
vigorously, when very soon the basin will become intensely cold--the
water will freeze, and may be taken out in the form of a snowball.
If the water and basin are hot, and the experiment performed in a hot
room or in the sun, it is much more striking.[1]

This refrigeration operates upon the gas as follows: Air will take up
and hold in suspension any volatile liquid in proportion to the square
of its temperature, so that when the temperature of the gasoline and
air have fallen off one half, the quantity of gasoline in the air has
fallen off three quarters, and the light is destroyed. The quality of
the gas in such machines varies from a rich smoky flame to a pale
blue and blowing flame in a short time. Every change of quality in the
liquid, temperature of the apparatus, or number of burners used causes
a vexatious change in the quality of the gas. If heat is applied at
the right time and in the right quantity it is not so bad, but too
much heat, or neglecting to regulate it properly, converts the machine
into a still, the condenser of which is the pipes of the building
lighted, when danger is added to vexation. About ten years ago a
machine was illustrated in these columns that obviated all these
troubles; it was the invention of the well known mechanical engineer,
Hiram S. Maxim, of this city. His machine was on an entirely new
principle, and has since gone into general use. It was intricate and
somewhat expensive, but it performed its work well. Messrs. A. T.
Stewart & Co. use them largely in their mills and hotels. Mr. Maxim
made one of six thousand burner capacity for the Grand Union Hotel,
Saratoga Springs, it being the largest gas machine ever built. It has
supplied gas of an unvarying quality for six years, and is as good as
new to-day.

To reduce the cost as far as possible, Mr. Maxim has designed a new
machine on another principle, which we herewith illustrate. Fig. 1
shows the machine in perspective, and Fig. 2 is a sectional view.
The vertical cylinder is a common gas holder of sheet brass. It is 36
inches in diameter for a thousand burner machine. The operative parts
of the machine are best shown in the sectional view, which represents
the portion of the machine called the injector. A is a steam chamber
supplied with four or more pounds of steam through the pipe, K. B is
the gasoline supply pipe, and C the air supply. D is an index valve.
The operation is as follows: Steam being in the chamber, A, the
descent of the holder opens the valve, M, and allows the steam to
[_Continued on page 4._]

[Footnote 1: This experiment should not be tried in the vicinity of
a gaslight or fire.]

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ESTABLISHED 1845

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NEW YORK, SATURDAY, JULY 3, 1880.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS OF THE SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT

No. 235,

For the Week ending July 3, 1880.

Price 10 cents. For sale by all newsdealers.


                                                                  PAGE
I.  ENGINEERING AND MECHANICS.--The New Railway up Mount
    Vesuvius. 6 illustrations. Plan of road.--General view of
    mountain and railway.--Side view and end view of passenger
    car.--Mount Vesuvius Railway.--Map showing railway,
    mountain, crater, and surrounding country.--The carriage
    road and railway                                              3735
    The St. Gothard Tunnel--Notes on the junction of the two
    galleries. By Dr. CALLADON                                    3736
    The St. Gothard Tunnel.--Conditions and causes of air
    currents in the tunnel                                        3736
    Protection of Ships from Loss by Fire and from Loss by
    Sinking. Recent improvements in the construction of ships
    and steamers                                                  3738
    Regenerative Stoves.--A Sketch of their History and Notes
    on their Use. By JOHN N. HARTMAN. An important paper read
    at the Pittsburg meeting of the American Institute of
    Mining Engineers. 1 figure                                    3738
    Cowper's Hot Blast Stoves. 2 full page illustrations of
    hot blast stoves for a pair of furnaces.--Plan and cross
    section of stove.--Plan and cross section of furnace.--Plan
    and cross section of gas downcomer.--Sectional elevation of
    stove and downcomer                                           3739
    Wilson's Lock-up Safety Valve. An important improvement.
    10 figures.                                                   3742
    Working Low Grade Ores                                        3742
    The Largest Concrete Tank in England                          3742

II. ELECTRICITY, ETC.--Siemens' Improvements in Electric
    Railways. 4 figures. Siemens' combined steam and electric
    railway.--Siemens' electric mail railway                      3743
    Difference in the Actions of Positive and Negative
    Electricity                                                   3743
    Forces Exciting Electricity                                   3743
    The New Electrical Middlings Purifier. By THOS. B. OSBORNE.
    5 figures                                                     3744
    Physical Society, London. Photo--electricity.--Electrometer
    key.--Air in water.--Steam thermometer                        3745
    Atmospheric polarization. Influence of terrestrial magnetism  3745

III. HYGIENE AND MEDICINE.--Lead Poisoning. Clinical lecture
    by Dr. WM. PEPPER. Effects of a cosmetic of carbonate of
    lead.--Symptoms of lead poisoning.--Affinity of lead for
    nerves and muscles.--Treatment of lead poisoning              3745
    Recent Investigations of the Blood                            3746
    The Pulse. Lecture on the pulse in