[Illustration]

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT NO. 829

NEW YORK, November 21, 1891. 

Scientific American Supplement. Vol. XXXII, No. 829. 

Scientific American established 1845

Scientific American Supplement, $5 a year. 

Scientific American and Supplement, $7 a year. 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

I. ASTRONOMY. --The Sun's Motion in Space. --By A. M. CLERKE. -- A very interesting article on the determination of this hitherto uncertain factor. 

II. BOTANY. --Hemlock and Parsley. --By W. W. BAILEY. --Economic botany of Umbelliferæ. 

 Raphides--the Cause of the Acridity of Certain Plants. --By R. A. WEBER. --Effect of these crystals on the expressed juice from calla and Indian turnip and other plants. 

 The Eremuri. --A very attractive flower plant for gardens. --1 illustration. 

III. DECORATIVE ART. --The Decorative Treatment of Natural Foliage. --By HUGH STANNUS. The first of a series of lectures before the London Society of Arts, giving an elaborate classification of the principles of the subject. --5 illustrations. 

IV. ELECTRICITY. --The Independent--Storage or Primary Battery--System of Electric Motive Power. --By KNIGHT NEFTEL. --Abstract of a recent paper read before the American Street Railway Association on the present aspect of battery car traction. 

V. GEOGRAPHY. --The Colorado Desert Lake. --A description of the new overflow into the Colorado Desert, with the prognosis of its future. 

VI. GEOLOGY. --Animal Origin of Petroleum and Paraffine. --A plea for the animal origin of geological hydrocarbons based on chemical and geological reasons. 

 The Origin of Petroleum. --By O. C. D. Ross. --A further and more lengthy discussion in regard to petroleum and theory of its production by volcanic action. 

VII. GUNNERY. --Weldon's Range Finder. --An instrument for determining distances, with description of its use. --3 illustrations. 

VIII. MECHANICAL ENGINEERING. --Mercury Weighing Machine. --A type of weighing machine depending on the displacement of mercury. --1 illustration. 

 Wheels Linked with a Bell Crank. --Curious examples of mechanical constructions in the communication of motion between wheels. --3 illustrations. 

IX. MEDICINE AND HYGIENE. --Cold and Mortality. --By Dr. B. W. RICHARDSON. --The effect of cold upon the operation of the animal system, with practical rules. 

 On the Occurrence of Tin in Canned Food. --By H. A. WEBER. --A very valuable and important series of analyses of American and other food products for tin and copper. 

 The Treatment of Glaucoma. --Note on the treatment of this disease fatal to vision. 

X. METALLURGY. --On the Elimination of Sulphur from Pig Iron. By J. MASSENEZ. --The desulphurization of pig iron by treatment with manganese, with apparatus employed. --5 illustrations. 

XI. MISCELLANEOUS. --The California Raisin Industry. --How raisins are grown and packed in California, with valuable figures and data. 

 The Recent Battles in Chile. --The recent battles of Concon and Vina del Mar. --2 illustrations. 

XII. NATURAL HISTORY. --The Whale-headed Stork. --A curious bird, a habitant of Africa and of great rarity. --1 illustration. 

XIII. NAVAL ENGINEERING. --A Twin Screw Launch Run by a Compound Engine. --The application of a single compound tandem engine to driving twin screws. --2 illustrations. 

 Improvements in the Construction of River and Canal Barges. --By M. RITTER. --A very peculiar and ingenious system of construction, enabling the same vessel to be used at greater or less draught according to the requirements and conditions of the water. --5 illustrations. 

 Reefing Sails from the Deck--An effective method of reefing, one which has been subjected to actual trial repeatedly in bad weather off Cape Horn. --3 illustrations. 

XIV. PHYSICS. --The Cyclostat. --An apparatus for observing bodies in rapid rotary motion. --5 illustrations. 

XV. TECHNOLOGY. --A New Process for the Bleaching of Jute. --By Messrs. LEYKAM and TOSEFOTHAL. --A method of rendering the fiber of jute perfectly white, with full details. 

 A Violet Coloring Matter from Morphine. --The first true coloring matter obtained from a natural alkaloid. 

 Liquid Blue for Dyeing. --Treatment of the "Dornemann" liquid blue. 

 New Process for the Manufacture of Chromates. --By J. MASSIGNON and E. VATEL. --Manufacture of chromates from chromic iron ore by a new process. 

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[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF CONCON, CHILE. August 21, 1891. 

The Congressional troops advancing. The river Aconcagua. Balmaceda's troops retreating. The Esmeralda. Concon Point. The Magellanes. ]

[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF VIÑA DEL MAR, CHILE, AUGUST 1891. 

Esmeralda firing shell at Fort Callao. Almirante Cochrane firing at Balmaceda's artillery behind Fort Callao. Battery of Congress artillery trying to silence government troops at Viña del Mar. Balmaceda's field batteries at back of Fort Callao. Fort Callao. Congress infantry firing at troops at Vina del Mar, Balmaceda's infantry returning fire of Congress troops opposite. English, American, German, and French men-of-war watching the battle of Viña del Mar. ]

THE RECENT BATTLES IN CHILE. 

The battle of Concon took place Aug. 21, 1891. Nine thousandCongressional troops advancing toward Valparaiso from Quinteros Bay, where they had landed the day previous, were met by Balmaceda's troopson the other side of the river Aconcagua. The Esmeralda and theMagellanes, co-operating from the sea, made fearful havoc among theBalmacedists with their machine guns and shell. After a stubborn fightthe Balmacedists were totally defeated, and were pursued by thevictorious cavalry, losing 4, 000 out of 12, 000 in killed, wounded anddeserters. All their field pieces were captured, and thus the road wasleft open for the Congressionalists to advance on Viña del Mar. 

THE BATTLE OF VIÑA DEL MAR, CHILE. 

A general engagement took place on Aug. 23, 1891, between divisions ofBalmaceda's and the Congressional troops, with the Esmeralda and theAlmirante Cochrane aiding the latter by firing at Fort Callao, endeavoring to silence the field batteries at the back. TheCongressional troops failed to capture Viña del Mar, but eventuallycut the railway line a few miles out, and crossed over to the back ofValparaiso, which was soon captured. --_The Graphic. _

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THE SUN'S MOTION IN SPACE. 

By A. M. CLERKE. 

Science needed two thousand years to disentangle the earth's orbitalmovement from the revolutions of the other planets, and theincomparably more arduous problem of distinguishing the solar share inthe confused multitude of stellar displacements first presented itselfas possibly tractable a little more than a century ago. In the lackfor it as yet of a definite solution there is, then, no ground forsurprise, but much for satisfaction in the large measure of successattending the strenuous attacks of which it has so often been made theobject. 

Approximately correct knowledge as to the direction and velocity ofthe sun's translation is indispensable to a profitable study ofsidereal construction; but apart from some acquaintance with thenature of sidereal construction, it is difficult, if not impossible, of attainment. One, in fact, presupposes the other. To separate acommon element of motion from the heterogeneous shiftings upon thesphere of three or four thousand stars is a task practicable onlyunder certain conditions. To begin with, the proper motionsinvestigated must be established with _general_ exactitude. The errorsinevitably affecting them must be such as pretty nearly, in the totalupshot, to neutralize one another. For should they run mainly in onedirection, the result will be falsified in a degree enormouslydisproportionate to their magnitude. The adoption, for instance, ofsystem of declinations as much as 1" of arc astray might displace tothe extent of 10° north or south the point fixed upon as the apex ofthe sun's way (see L. Boss _Astr. Jour. _, No. 213). Risks on thisscore, however, will become less formidable with the further advanceof practical astronomy along a track definable as an asymptote ofideal perfection. 

Besides this obstacle to be overcome, there is another which it willsoon be possible to evade. Hitherto, inquiries into the solar movementhave been hampered by the necessity for preliminary assumptions ofsome kind as to the relative distances of classes of stars. But allsuch assumptions, especially when applied to selected lists, arehighly insecure; and any fabric reared upon them must be considered tostand upon treacherous ground. The spectrographic method, however, here fortunately comes into play. "Proper motions" are only angularvelocities. They tell nothing as to the value of the perspectiveelement they may be supposed to include, or as to the real rate ofgoing of the bodies they are attributed to, until the size of thesphere upon which they are measured has been otherwise ascertained. But the displacement of lines in stellar spectra give directly theactual velocities relative to the earth of the observed stars. Thequestion of their distances is, therefore, at once eliminated. Now theradial component of stellar motion is mixed up, precisely in the sameway as the tangential component, with the solar movement; and sincecomplete knowledge of it, in a sufficient number of cases, is rapidlybecoming accessible, while knowledge of tangential velocity must for along time remain partial or uncertain, the advantage of replacing thediscussion of proper motions by that of motions in line of sight isobvious and immediate. And the admirable work carried on at Potsdamduring the last three years will soon afford the means of doing so inthe first, if only a preliminary investigation of the solartranslation based upon measurements of photographed stellar spectra. 

The difficulties, then, caused either by inaccuracies in starcatalogues or by ignorance of star distances may be overcome; butthere is a third, impossible at present to be surmounted, and notwithout misgiving to be passed by. All inquiries upon the subject ofthe advance of our system through space start with an hypothesis mostunlikely to be true. The method uniformly adopted in them--and noother is available--is to treat the _inherent_ motions of the stars(their so-called _motus peculiares_) as pursued indifferently in alldirections. The steady drift extricable from them by rules foundedupon the science of probabilities is presumed to be solar motionvisually transferred to them in proportions varying with theirremoteness in space, and their situations on the sphere. If thispresumption be in any degree baseless, the result of the inquiry is_pro tanto_ falsified. Unless the deviations from the parallactic lineof the stellar motions balance one another on the whole, theirdiscussion may easily be as fruitless as that of observations taintedwith systematic errors. It is scarcely, however, doubtful that law, and not chance, governs the sidereal revolutions. The point open toquestion is whether the workings of law may not be so exceedinglyintricate as to produce a grand sum total of results which, from thegeometrical side, may justifiably be regarded as casual. 

The search for evidence of a general plan in the wanderings of thestars over the face of the sky has so far proved fruitless. Localconcert can be traced, but no widely diffused preference for onedirection over any other makes itself definitely felt. Some regard, nevertheless, _must_ be paid by them to the plane of the Milky Way;since it is altogether incredible that the actual construction of theheavens is without dependence upon the method of their revolutions. 

The apparent anomaly vanishes upon the consideration of theprofundities of space and time in which the fundamental design of thesidereal universe lies buried. Its composition out of an indefinitenumber of partial systems is more than probable; but the inconceivableleisureliness with which their mutual relations develop renders theharmony of those relations inappreciable by short-lived terrestrialdenizens. "Proper motions, " if this be so, are of a subordinate kind;they are indexes simply to the mechanism of particular aggregations, and have no definable connection with the mechanism of the whole. Noconsiderable error may then be involved in treating them, for purposesof calculation, as indifferently directed, and the elicited solarmovement may genuinely represent the displacement of our systemrelative to its more immediate stellar environment. This is perhapsthe utmost to be hoped for until sidereal astronomy has reachedanother stadium of progress. 

Unless, indeed, effect should be given to Clerk Maxwell's suggestionfor deriving the absolute longitude of the solar apex fromobservations of the eclipses of Jupiter's satellites (Proc. Roy. Soc. , vol. Xxx. , p. 109). But this is far from likely. In the first place, the revolutions of the Jovian system cannot be predicted with anythinglike the required accuracy. In the second place, there is no certaintythat the postulated phenomena have any real existence. If, however, itbe safe to assume that the solar system, cutting its way throughspace, virtually raises an ethereal counter-current, and if it befurther granted that light travels less _with_ than _against_ such acurrent, then indeed it becomes speculatively possible, through slightalternate accelerations and retardations of eclipses taking placerespectively ahead of and in the wake of the sun, to determine hisabsolute path in space as projected upon the ecliptic. That is to say, the longitude of the apex could be deduced together with the resolvedpart of the solar velocity; the latitude of the apex, as well as thecomponent of velocity perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic, remaining, however, unknown. 

The beaten track, meanwhile, has conducted two recent inquirers toresults of some interest. The chief aim of each was the detection ofsystematic peculiarities in the motions of stellar assemblages afterthe subtraction from them of their common perspective element. Byvarying the materials and method of analysis, Prof. Lewis Boss, Director of the Albany Observatory, hopes that correspondingvariations in the upshot may betray a significant character. Thus, ifstars selected on different principles give notably and consistentlydifferent results, the cause of the difference may with some show ofreason be supposed to reside in specialties of movement appertainingto the several groups. Prof. Boss broke ground in this direction byinvestigating 284 proper motions, few of which had been similarlyemployed before (_Astr. Jour. _, No. 213). They were all taken from anequatorial zone 4° 20' in breadth, with a mean declination of +3°, observed at Albany for the catalogue of the AstronomischeGesellschaft, and furnished data accordingly for a virtuallyindependent research of a somewhat distinctive kind. It was carriedout to three separate conclusions. Setting aside five stars withsecular movements ranging above 100", Prof. Boss divided the 279 leftavailable into two sets--one of 185 stars brighter, the other of 144stars fainter than the eighth magnitude. The first collection gave forthe goal of solar translation a point about 4° north of [alpha] Lyræ, in R. A. 280°, Decl. +43°; the second, one some thirty-seven minutes oftime to the west of [delta] Cygni, in R. A. 286°, Decl. +45°. For athird and final solution, twenty-six stars moving 40"-100" wererejected, and the remaining 253 classed in a single series. The upshotof their discussion was to shift the apex of movement to R. A. 289°, Decl. +51°. So far as the difference from the previous pair of resultsis capable of interpretation, it would seem to imply a predominant settoward the northeast of the twenty-six swifter motions subsequentlydismissed as prejudicial, but in truth the data employed were notaccurate enough to warrant so definite an inference. The Albany propermotions, as Prof. Boss was careful to explain, depend for the mostpart upon the right ascensions of Bessel's and Lalande's zones, andare hence subject to large errors. Their study must be regarded assuggestive rather than decisive. 

A better quality and a larger quantity of material was disposed of bythe latest and perhaps the most laborious investigator of thisintricate problem. M. Oscar Stumpe, of Bonn (_Astr. Nach. _, Nos. 2, 999, 3, 000), took his stars, to the number of 1, 054, from variousquarters, if chiefly from Auwers' and Argelander's lists, criticallytesting, however, the movement attributed to each of not less than 16"a century. This he fixed as the limit of secure determination, unlessfor stars observed with exceptional constancy and care. His discussionof them is instructive in more ways than one. Adopting, the additionalcomputative burden imposed by it notwithstanding, Schonfeld'smodification of Airy's formulæ, he introduced into his equations afifth unknown quantity expressive of a possible stellar drift ingalactic longitude. A negative result was obtained. No symptom came tolight of "rotation" in the plane of the Milky Way. 

M. Stumpe's intrepid industry was further shown in disregard ofcustomary "scamping" subterfuges. Expedients for abbreviation vainlyspread their allurements; every one of his 2, 108 equations wasseparately and resolutely solved. A more important innovation was hissubstitution of proper motion for magnitude as a criterion ofremoteness. Dividing his stars on this principle into four groups, heobtained an apex for the sun's translation corresponding to each asfollows:

 Number of Proper motion. Apex. Group included stars. " " ° ° I. 551 0. 16 to 0. 32 R. A. 287. 4 Decl. +42. II. 340 0. 32 to 0. 64 " 279. 7 " 40. 5III. 105 0. 64 to 1. 28 " 287. 9 " 32. 1 IV. 58 1. 28 and upward " 285. 2 " 30. 4

Here again we find a marked and progressive descent of the apex towardthe equator with the increasing swiftness of the objects serving forits determination, leading to the suspicion that the most northerlymay be the most genuine position, because the one least affected bystellar individualities of movement. 

By nearly all recent investigations, moreover, the solar _point demire_ has been placed considerably further to the east and nearer tothe Milky Way than seemed admissible to their predecessors; so thatthe constellation Lyra may now be said to have a stronger claim thanHercules to include it; and the necessity has almost disappeared forattributing to the solar orbit a high inclination to the medialgalactic plane. 

From both the Albany and the Bonn discussions there emerged withsingular clearness a highly significant relation. The mean magnitudesof the two groups into which Prof. Boss divided his 279 stars wererespectively 6. 6 and 8. 6, the corresponding mean proper motions 21". 9and 20". 9. In other words, a set of stars on the whole six timesbrighter than another set owned a scarcely larger sum total ofapparent displacement. And that this approximate equality of movementreally denoted approximate equality of mean distance was made manifestby the further circumstance that the secular journey of the sun provedto subtend nearly the same angle whichever of the groups was made thestandpoint for its survey. Indeed, the fainter collection actuallygave the larger angle (13". 73 as against 12". 39), and so far anindication that the stars composing it were, on an average, nearer tothe earth than the much brighter ones considered apart. 

A result similar in character was reached by M. Stumpe. Between themobility of his star groups, and the values derived from them for theangular movement of the sun, the conformity proved so close asmaterially to strengthen the inference that apparent movement measuresreal distance. The mean brilliancy of his classified stars seemed, onthe contrary, quite independent of their mobility. Indeed, its changestended in an opposite direction. The mean magnitude of the slowestgroup was 6. 0, of the swiftest 6. 5, of the intermediate pair 6. 7 and6. 1. And these are not isolated facts. Comparisons of the same kind, and leading to identical conclusions, were made by Prof. Eastman atWashington in 1889 (Phil. Society Bulletin, vol. Xii, p. 143;Proceedings Amer. Association, 1889, p. 71). 

What meaning can we attribute to them? Uncritically considered, theyseem to assert two things, one reasonable, the other palpably absurd. The first--that the average angular velocity of the stars variesinversely with their distance from ourselves--few will be disposed todoubt; the second--that their average apparent luster has nothing todo with greater or less remoteness--few will be disposed to admit. But, in order to interpret truly, well ascertained if unexpectedrelationships, we must remember that the sensibly moving stars used todetermine the solar translation are chosen from a multitude sensiblyfixed; and that the proportion of stationary to traveling stars risesrapidly with descent down the scale of magnitude. Hence a mean struckin disregard of the zeros is totally misleading; while the account isno sooner made exhaustive than its anomalous character becomes largelymodified. Yet it does not wholly disappear. There is some warrant forit in nature. And its warrant may perhaps consist in a preponderance, among suns endowed with high _physical_ speed, of small or slightlyluminous over powerfully radiative bodies. Why this should be so, itwould be futile, even by conjecture, to attempt to explain. --_Nature. _

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ANIMAL ORIGIN OF PETROLEUM AND PARAFFIN. 

R. Zaloziecki, in _Dingl. Polyt. Jour. _, gives a lengthy physical andchemical argument in favor of the modern view that petroleum andparaffin owe their origin to animal sources; that they are formed fromanimal remains in a manner strictly analogous to that of the formationof ordinary coal from wood and other vegetable debris. For geologicalas well as chemical reasons, the author holds that Mendeleeff's theoryof their igneous origin is untenable, pointing out that thehydrocarbons could not have been formed by the action of waterpercolating through clefts in the gradually solidifying crust until itreached the molten metallic carbides, as these clefts could only occurwhere complete solidification had taken place, and between this pointand the metallic stratum a considerable space would be taken up bysemi-solid, slag-like material which would be quite impervious towater. Under the conditions, too, existing beneath the surface of theearth, such polymerization as is necessary to account for the presenceof the different classes of hydrocarbons found in petroleum isscarcely credible. 

On the other hand it is to be specially noticed that, with a fewunimportant exceptions, all bituminous deposits are found in thesedimentary rocks, and that just as these are constantly changing incomposition, so the organic matter present changes, there being adefinite relationship between the chemical constitution of thepetroleum and the age of the strata in which it is found. It is almostcertain that in the most recent alluvial formations no oil is everfound, its latest appearance being in the rocks of the tertiaryperiod, the place where the solid paraffin is almost exclusively metwith; thus helping to show that the latter has been formed from thedecomposition of the oil, and is not a residue remaining after the oilhas been distilled off. To this conclusion the fact also stronglypoints, that the paraffin is much simpler in constitution, purer, andoften of far lighter color than the crude oil, which could not be thecase if it were the original substance. 

On examining by the aid of a map the position of the chief oil-bearinglocalities it will be noticed that the most prolific spots followfairly accurately the contour lines of the country, so that at onetime they formed in all probability a coast line whereon would beconcentrated for climatic reasons most of the animal life both of theland and sea. During succeeding generations their dead bodies wouldaccumulate in enormous quantities and be buried in the slowlydepositing sand and mud, till, owing to the gradual alterations oflevel, the sea no longer reached the same point. This theory is borneout by the fact that oil deposits are usually found in marinesediments, sea fossils being frequently met with. The first process ofthe decomposition of the animal remains would consist in the formationof ammonia and nitrogenous bases, the action being aided by thepresence of air, moisture, and micro-organisms, at the same time, owing to the well known antiseptic properties of salt, thedecomposition would go on slowly, allowing time for more sand andinorganic matter to be deposited. In this way the decomposing matterwould be gradually protected from the action of the air, and finallythe various fatty substances would be found mixed with large amountsof salt, under considerable pressure, and at a somewhat hightemperature. From this adipocere, fatty acids would be graduallyformed, the glycerol being washed away, and finally the acids would bedecomposed by the pressure into hydrocarbons and free carbonic acidgas. That many of these hydrocarbons would be solid at ordinarytemperatures, forming the so-called mineral wax, which exists in manyplaces in large quantities, is much easier to imagine, in the light ofmodern chemical knowledge, than that the fatty acids were at oncesplit up into the simpler liquid hydrocarbons, to be afterwardcondensed into the more complex molecular forms of the solidsubstance. 

In this way from animal matter are in all probability formed the vastpetroleum deposits, the three substances, adipocere, ozokerite, andpetroleum oil being produced in chronological order, just as lignite, brown coal and coal are formed by the gradual decomposition ofvegetable remains. 

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THE ORIGIN OF PETROLEUM. [1]

 [Footnote 1: Abstract of a paper read before the British Association, Cardiff meeting, 1891, Section G. ]

By O. C. D. Ross, M. Inst. C. E. 

Petroleum is one of the most widely distributed substances in nature, but the question how it was originally produced has never yet beensatisfactorily determined, and continues a problem for philosophers. In 1889 the total production exceeded 2, 600, 000, 000 gallons, or about10, 000, 000 tons, and, at fourpence per gallon, was worth about£44, 000, 000, while the recognition of its superior utility as aneconomical source of light, heat, and power steadily increases; but, notwithstanding its importance in industry, the increasing abundanceof the foreign supply, and the ever-widening area of production, practical men in England continue to distrust its permanence, andowing to the mystery surrounding its origin, and the paucity ofindications where and how to undertake the boring of wells, theyhesitate to seek for it in this country, or even to extend the use ofit whenever that would involve alterations of existing machinery. Theobject of this paper is to suggest an explanation of the mystery whichseems calculated to dissipate that distrust, since it points to veryabundant stores, both native and foreign, yet undiscovered, and evenin some localities to daily renovated provisions of this remarkableoil. 

The theories of its origin suggested by Reichenbach, Berthelot, Mendeleeff, Peckham, and others, made no attempt to account for theexceeding variety in its chemical composition, in its specificgravity, its boiling points, etc. , and are all founded on somehypothetical process which differs from any with which we areacquainted; but modern geologists are agreed that, as a rule, therecords of the earth's history should be read in accordance with thoselaws of nature which continue in force at the present day, e. G. , thedecomposition of fish and cetaceous animals could not now produce oilcontaining paraffin. Hence we can hardly believe it was possiblethousands or millions of years ago, if it can be proved that any ofthe processes of nature with which we are familiar is calculated toproduce it. 

The chief characteristics of petroleum strata are enumerated as:

 I. The existence of adjoining beds of limestone, gypsum, etc. 

 II. The evidence of volcanic action in close proximity to them. 

 III. The presence of salt water in the wells. 

I. All writers have noticed the presence of limestone close topetroleum fields in the United States and Canada, in the Caucasus, inBurma, etc. , but they have been most impressed by its being"fossiliferous, " or shell limestone, and have drawn the erroneousinference that the animal matter once contained in those shellsoriginated petroleum; but no fish oil ever contained paraffin. On theother hand, the fossil shells are carbonate of lime, and, as such, capable of producing petroleum under conditions such as many limestonebeds have been subjected to in all ages of the earth's history. Alllimestone rocks were formed under water, and are mainly composed ofcalcareous shells, corals, encrinites, and foraminfera--the lattersimilar to the foraminfera of "Atlantic ooze" and of English chalkbeds. Everywhere, under the microscope, the original connection oflimestone with organic matter--its organic parentage, so to speak, andcousinship with the animal and vegetable kingdoms--is conspicuous. When pure it contains 12 per cent. Of carbon. 

Now petroleum consists largely of carbon, its average compositionbeing 85 per cent. Of carbon and 15 per cent. Of hydrogen, and in thelimestone rocks of the United Kingdom alone there is a far largeraccumulation of carbon than in all the coal measures the worldcontains. A range of limestone rock 100 miles in length by 10 miles inwidth, and 1, 000 yards in depth, would contain 743, 000 million tons ofcarbon, or sufficient to provide carbon for 875, 000 million tons ofpetroleum. Deposits of oil-bearing shale have also limestone close athand; e. G. , coral rag underlies Kimmeridge clay, as it also underliesthe famous black shale in Kentucky, which is extraordinarily rich inoil. 

II. As evidence of volcanic action in close proximity to petroleumstrata, the mud volcanoes at Baku and in Burma are described, and asulphur mine in Spain is mentioned (with which the writer is wellacquainted), situated near an extinct volcano, where a perpetual gasflame in a neighboring chapel and other symptoms indicate thatpetroleum is not far off. While engaged in studying the geologicalconditions of this mine, the author observed that Dr. ChristoffBischoff records in his writings that he had produced sulphur in hisown laboratory by passing hot volcanic gases through chalk, which, when expressed in a chemical formula, leads at once to the postulatethat, in addition to sulphur, _ethylene_, and all its homologues(C_{n}H_{2n}), which are the oils predominating at Baku, would beproduced by treating:

 2, 3, 4, 5 equivs. Of carbonate of lime (limestone) with 2, 3, 4, 5 " sulphurous acid (SO_{2}) and 4, 6, 8, 10 " sulphureted hydrogen (H_{2}S);

and that marsh gas and its homologues, which are the oilspredominating in Pennsylvania, would be produced by treating:

 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 equivs. Of carbonate of lime with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 " sulphurous acid and 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 " sulphureted hydrogen. 

Thus we find that:

 Carbonate of lime, 2CaCO_{3}, } { 2(CaSO. H_{2}O) (gypsum), Sulphurous acid, 2SO_{2}, and } yield { 4S (sulphur), and Sulphureted hydrogen, 4H_{2}S, } { C_{2}H_{4}, which is { _ethylene_. 

And that:

 Carbonate of lime, CaCO_{3} } { (CaSO_{4}. H_{2}O) (gypsum), Sulphurous acid, SO_{2}, and } yield { 3S (sulphur) and Sulphureted hydrogen, 3H_{2}S, } { CH4, which is marsh gas. 

So that these and all their homologues, in fact petroleum in all itsvarieties, would be produced in nature by the action of volcanic gaseson limestone. 

But much the most abundant of the volcanic gases appear at the surfaceas steam, and petroleum seems to have been more usually producedwithout sulphurous acid, and with part of the sulphureted hydrogen(H_{2}S) replaced by H_{2}O (steam) or H_{2}O_{2} (peroxide ofhydrogen), which is the product that results from the combination ofsulphureted hydrogen and sulphurous acid:

 (H_{2}S + SO_{2} == H_{2}O_{2} + 2S). 

It is a powerful oxidizing agent, and it converts sulphurous intosulphuric acid. Thus:

 CaCO_{3} } { CaSO_{4}. H_{2}O (gypsum) H_{2}S, } yield { and 2H_{2}O, } { CH_{4}, which is marsh gas. 

And

 2CaCO_{3}, } { 2CaSO_{4}. H_{2}O 2H_{2}S, } yield { and 2H_{2}O_{2}, } { C_{2}H_{4}, which is _ethylene. _

Tables are given showing the formulæ for the homologues of ethyleneand marsh gas resulting from the increase in regular gradation of thesame constituents. 

 _Formulæ Showing how Ethylene and its Homologues (C_{n}H_{2}{n}) are Produced by the Action of the Volcanic Gases H_{2}S and H_{2}O_{2} on Limestone. _

Carbonate Sulphureted Peroxide of Ethylene and of lime. Hydrogen. Hydrogen. Gypsum. Its homologues. 

 2CaCO3 + 2H2S + 2H2O2 yield 2(CaSO4. H2O) + C2H4 ethylene (gaseous). 3CaCO3 + 3H2S + 3H2O2 " 3(CaSO4. H2O) + C3H6 4CaCO3 + 4H2S + 4H2O2 " 4(CaSO4. H2O) + C4H8 5CaCO3 + 5H2S + 5H2O2 " 5(CaSO4. H2O) + C5H10 6CaCO3 + 6H2S + 6H2O2 " 6(CaSO4. H2O) + C6H12 Boiling point. 7CaCO3 + 7H2S + 7H2O2 " 7(CaSO4. H2O) + C7H14 -- 8CaCO3 + 8H2S + 8H2O2 " 8(CaSO4. H2O) + C8H16 189°C. 9CaCO3 + 9H2S + 9H2O2 " 9(CaSO4. H2O) + C9H18 136°C. 10CaCO3 + 10H2S + 10H2O2 " 10(CaSO4. H2O) + C10H20 160°C. 11CaCO3 + 11H2S + 11H2O2 " 11(CaSO4. H2O) + C11H22 180°C. 12CaCO3 + 12H2S + 12H2O2 " 12(CaSO4. H2O) + C12H24 196°C. 13CaCO3 + 13H2S + 13H2O2 " 13(CaSO4. H2O) + C13H26 240°C. 14CaCO3 + 14H2S + 14H2O2 " 14(CaSO4. H2O) + C14H28 247°C. 15CaCO3 + 15H2S + 15H2O2 " 15(CaSO4. H2O) + C15H30 --

It is explained that these effects must have occurred, not at periodsof acute volcanic eruptions, but in conditions which maybe, and havebeen, observed at the present time, wherever there are activesolfataras or mud volcanoes at work. Descriptions of the action ofsolfataras by the late Sir Richard Burton and by a British consul inIceland are quoted, and also a paragraph from Lyall's "Principles ofGeology, " in which he remarks of the mud volcanoes at Girgenti(Sicily) that _carbureted hydrogen_ is discharged from them, sometimeswith great violence, and that they are known to have been casting outwater, mixed with mud and _bitumen_, with the same activity as now forthe last fifteen centuries. Probably at all these solfataras, if thegases traverse limestone, fresh deposits of oil-bearing strata areaccumulating, and the same volcanic action has been occurring duringmany successive geological periods and millions of years; so that itis difficult to conceive limits to the magnitude of the stores ofpetroleum which may be awaiting discovery in the subterraneandepths. [2]

 [Footnote 2: Professor J. Le Conte, when presiding recently at the International Geological Congress at Washington, mentioned that in the United States extensive lava floods have been observed, covering areas from 10, 000 to 100, 000 square miles in extent and from 2, 000 to 4, 000 feet deep. We have similar lava flows and ashes in the North of England, in Scotland, and in Ireland, varying from 3, 000 to 6, 000 feet in depth. In the Lake District they are nearly 12, 000 feet deep. Solfataras are active during the intermediate, or so-called "dormant, " periods which occur between acute volcanic eruptions. ]

Gypsum may also be an indication of oil-bearing strata, for thesubstitution in limestone of sulphuric for carbonic acid can only beaccounted for by the action of these hot sulphurous gases. Gypsum isfound extensively in the petroleum districts of the United States, andit underlies the rock salt beds at Middlesboro, where, on beingpierced, it has given passage to oil gas, which issues abundantly, mixed with brine, from a great depth. 

III. Besides the space occupied by "natural gas, " which is veryextensive, 17, 000 million gallons of petroleum have been raised inAmerica since 1860, and that quantity must have occupied more than100, 000, 000 cubic yards, a space equal to a subterranean cavern 100yards wide by 20 feet deep, and 82 miles in length, and it issuggested that beds of "porous sandstone" could hardly have containedso much; while vast receptacles may exist, carved by volcanic waterout of former beds of rock salt adjoining the limestone, which wouldaccount for the brine that usually accompanies petroleum. It isfurther suggested that when no such vacant spaces were available, thehydrocarbon vapors would be absorbed into, and condensed in, contiguous clays and shales, and perhaps also in beds of coal, onlypartially consolidated at the time. 

There is an extensive bituminous limestone formation in Persia, containing 20 per cent. Of bitumen, and the theory elaborated in thepaper would account for bitumen and oil having been found in Canadaand Tennessee embedded in limestone, which fact is cited by Mr. Peckham as favoring his belief that some petroleums are a "product ofthe decomposition of animal remains. "

Above all, this theory accounts for the many varieties in the chemicalcomposition of paraffin oils in accordance with ordinary operations ofnature during successive geological periods. --_Chem. News. _

 * * * * *

THE COLORADO DESERT LAKE. 

Mr. J. J. Mcgillivray, who has been for many years in the United Statesmineral survey service, has some interesting things to say about theoverflow of the Colorado desert, which has excited so much comment, and about which so many different stories have been told:

"None of the papers, so far as I know, " said Mr. McGillivray, "havedescribed with much accuracy or detail the interesting thing which hashappened in the Colorado desert or have stated how it happened. TheColorado desert lies a short distance northwest of the upper end ofthe Gulf of California, and contains not far from 2, 500 square miles. The Colorado River, which has now flooded it, has been flowing alongto the east of it, emptying into the Gulf of California. The surfaceof the desert is almost all level and low, some of it below the sealevel. Some few hundreds of years ago it was a bay making in from theGulf of California, and then served as the outlet of the ColoradoRiver. But the river carried a good deal of sediment, and in time madea bar, which slowly and surely shut off the sea on the south, leavingonly a narrow channel for the escape of the river, which cut its wayout, probably at some time when it was not carrying much sediment. Then the current became more rapid and cut its way back into the land, and, in doing this, did not necessarily choose the lowest place, butrather the place where the formation of the land was soft and easilycut away by the action of the water. 

"While the river was cutting its way back it was, of course, carryingmore or less sediment, and this was left along the banks, buildingthem all the time higher, and confining the river more securely in itsbounds. That is the Colorado River as we have known it ever since itsdiscovery. Meantime, the water left in the shallow lake, cut off fromthe flow of the river, gradually evaporated--a thing that would takebut a few years in that country, where the heat is intense and thehumidity very low. That left somewhere about 2, 000 miles of desertland, covered with a deposit of salt from the sea water which hadevaporated, and most of it below the level of the sea. That is theColorado desert as it has been known since its discovery. 

"Then, last spring, came the overflow which has brought about thepresent state of affairs. The river was high and carrying an enormousamount of sediment in proportion to the quantity of water. Thisgradually filled up the bed of the stream and caused it to overflowits banks, breaking through into the dry lake where it had formerlyflowed. The fact that the water is salt, which excited much comment atthe time the overflow was first discovered, is, of course, due to thefact that the salt in the sea water which evaporated hundreds of yearsago has remained there all the time, and is now once more in solution. 

"The desert will, no doubt, continue to be a lake and the outlet ofthe river unless the breaks in the banks of the river are dammed byartificial means, which seems hardly possible, as the river has beenflowing through the break in the stream 200 feet wide, four feet deep, and flowing at a velocity of five feet a second. 

"It is an interesting fact to note that the military survey made in1853 went over this ground and predicted the very thing which has nowhappened. The flooding of the desert will be a good thing for thesurrounding country, for it does away with a large tract of absolutelyuseless land, so barren that it is impossible to raise there what theman in Texas said they mostly raised in his town, and it will increasethe humidity of the surrounding territory. Nature has done with thispiece of waste land what it has often been proposed to do by privateenterprise or by public appropriation. Congress has often been askedto make an appropriation for that purpose. "

Mr. McGillivray had also some interesting things to say about DeathValley, which he surveyed. 

"It has been called a _terra incognita_ and a place where no humanbeing could live. Well, it is bad enough, but perhaps not quite so badas that. The great trouble is the scarcity of water and the intenseheat. But many prospecting parties go there looking for veins of oreand to take out borax. The richest borax mines in the world are foundthere. The valley is about 75 miles long by 10 miles wide. The lowestpoint is near the center, where it is about 150 ft. Below the level ofthe sea. Just 15 miles west of this central point is Telescope peak, 11, 000 ft. Above the sea, and 15 miles east is Mt. Le Count, in theFuneral mountains, 8, 000 ft. High. The valley runs almost due northand south, which is one reason for the extreme heat. The only streamof water in or near the valley flows into its upper end and forms amarsh in the bed of the valley. This marsh gives out a horrible odorof sulphureted hydrogen, the gas which makes a rotten egg sooffensive. Where the water of this stream comes from is not verydefinitely known, but in my opinion it comes from Owen's lake, beyondthe Telescope mountains to the west, flowing down into the valley bysome subterranean passage. The same impurities found in the stream arealso found in the lake, where the water is so saturated with salt, boracic acid, etc. , that one can no more sink in it than in the waterof the Great Salt lake; and I found it so saturated that afterswimming in it a little while the skin all over my body was gnawed andmade very sore by the acids. Another reason why I think the water ofthe stream enters the valley by some fixed subterranean source is thefact that, no matter what the season, the flow from the springs thatfeed the marsh is always exactly the same. 

"The heat there is intense. A man cannot go an hour without waterwithout becoming insane. While we were surveying there, we had thesame wooden cased thermometer that is used by the signal service. Itwas hung in the shade on the side of our shed, with the only stream inthe country flowing directly under it, and it repeatedly registered130°; and for 48 hours in 1883, when I was surveying there, thethermometer never once went below 104°. "--_Boston Herald. _

 * * * * *

HEMLOCK AND PARSLEY. 

By W. W. BAILEY. 

The study of the order Umbelliferæ presents peculiar difficulties tothe beginner, for the flowers are uniformly small and strikinglysimilar throughout the large and very natural group. The familydistinctions or features are quite pronounced and unmistakable, and itis the determination of the genera which presents obstacles--serious, indeed, but not insurmountable. "By their fruits shall ye know them. "

The Umbelliferæ, as we see them here, are herbaceous, with hollow, often striated stems, usually more or less divided leaves, and nostipules. Occasionally we meet a genus, like Eryngium or Hydrocotyle, with leaves merely toothed or lobed. The petioles are expanded intosheaths; hence the leaves wither on the stem. The flowers are usuallyarranged in simple or compound umbels, and the main and subordinateclusters may or may not be provided with involucres and involucels. Tothis mode of arrangement there are exceptions. In marsh-penny-wort(Hydrocotyle) the umbels are in the axils of the leaves, and scarcelynoticeable; in Eryngium and Sanicula they are in heads. The calyx iscoherent with the two-celled ovary, and the border is either obsoleteor much reduced. There are five petals inserted on the ovary, andexternal to a fleshy disk. Each petal has its tip inflexed, giving itan obcordate appearance. The common colors of the corolla are white, yellow, or some shade of blue. Alternating with the petals, andinserted with them, are the five stamens. 

The fruit, upon which so much stress is laid in the study of thefamily, is compound, of two similar parts or carpels, each of whichcontains a seed. In ripening the parts separate, and hang divergentfrom a hair-like prolongation of the receptacle known as thegynophore. Each half fruit (mericarp) is tipped by a persistent style, and marked by vertical ribs, between or under which lie, in manygenera, the oil tubes or vittæ. These are channels containing aromaticand volatile oil. In examination the botanist makes delicate crosssections of these fruits under a dissecting microscope, and by theshape of the fruit and seed within, and by the number and position ofthe ribs and oil tubes, is able to locate the genus. It, of course, requires skill and experience to do this, but any commonly intelligentclass can learn the process. It goes without saying, and as acorollary to what has already been stated, that these plants shouldalways be collected in full fruit; the flowers are comparativelyunimportant. Any botanist would be justified in declining to name oneof the family not in fruit. An attempt would often be mere guesswork. 

In this family is found the poison hemlock (Conium) used by theancient Greeks for the elimination of politicians. It is a powerfulpoison. The whole plant has a curious mousy odor. It is of Europeanorigin. Our water hemlock is equally poisonous, and much more common. It is the _Cicuta maculata_ of the swamps--a tall, coarse plant whichhas given rise to many sad accidents. _Æthusa cynapium_, anotherpoisonous plant, known as "fool's parsley, " is not uncommon, andcertainly looks much like parsley. This only goes to show howdifficult it is for any but the trained botanist to detect differencesin this group of plants. Side by side may be growing two specimens, tothe ordinary eye precisely alike, yet the one will be innocent and theother poisonous. 

The drug asafetida is a product of this order. All the plants appearto "form three different principles: the first, a watery acid matter;the second, a gum-resinous milky substance; and the third, anaromatic, oily secretion. When the first of these predominates theyare poisonous; the second in excess converts them into stimulants; theabsence of the two renders them useful as esculents; the third causesthem to be pleasant condiments. " So that besides the noxious plantsthere is a long range of useful vegetables, as parsnips, parsley, carrots, fennel, dill, anise, caraway, cummin, coriander, and celery. The last, in its wild state, is said to be pernicious, but etiolationchanges the products and renders them harmless. The flowers of all aretoo minute to be individually pretty, but every one knows how charmingare the umbels of our wild carrot, resembling as they do the choicestold lace. Frequently the carrot has one central maroon colored floret. 

Though most of the plants are herbs, Dr. Welwitsch found in Africa atree-like one, with a stem one to two feet thick, much prized by thenatives for its medicinal properties, and also valuable for itstimber. In Kamschatka also they assume a sub-arboreous type, as wellas on the steppes of Afghanistan. 

As mistakes often occur by confounding the roots of Umbelliferæ withthose of horse radish or other esculents, it is well, when in doubt, to send the plants, _always in fruit_, if possible, foridentification. None of them are poisonous to the touch--at least toordinary people. Cases of rather doubtful authenticity are reportedfrom time to time of injury from the handling of wild carrot. We havealways suspected the proximity of poison ivy; still, it is unwise todogmatize on such matters. Some people cannot eat strawberries--more'sthe pity!--while the rest of us get along with them very happily. Lately the _Primula obconica_ has acquired an evil reputation as anirritant, so there is no telling what may not happen with certainconstitutions. 

Difficult as is the study of Umbelliferæ, it becomes fascinating onacquaintance. To hunt up a plant and name it by so scientific aprocess brings to the student a sufficient reward. --_AmericanNaturalist. _

 * * * * *

THE EREMURI. 

[Illustration: EREMURUS HIMALAICUS. (Flowers white. )]

It has often been a matter of astonishment to me that eremuri are notmore frequently seen in our gardens. There are certainly very fewplants which have a statelier or more handsome appearance during thesummer months. Both in point of brightness of color and their generalhabit and manner of growth they are very much to be recommended. Forsome reason or other they have the character of being difficultplants, but they do not deserve it at all, and a very slight attentionto their requirements is enough to ensure success. They can stand agood many degrees of frost, and they ask for little more than a soilwhich has been deeply worked and well enriched with old rotten manure. Give them this, and they are certain to be contented with it, and thecultivator will be well rewarded for his pains. Only one thing shouldperhaps be added by way of precaution. If an eremurus appears too soonabove ground, it is well just to cover it over with loose litter ofsome sort, so that it may not be nipped by spring frosts; and oneexperienced grower has said that it answers to lift them afterblossoming, and to keep them out of the ground for a few weeks, sothat they may be sufficiently retarded. But I have not yet been ableto try this plan myself, and I do not speak from experience about it. My favorite is Eremurus Bungei, which I think is one of the handsomestplants I have in my garden. The clear yellow color of the blossom isso very good, and I like the foliage also; but of course it is not themost imposing by any means and if height and stateliness areespecially regarded, E. Robustus or E. Robustus nobilis would carryoff the palm. This commonly rises to the height of eight or nine feetabove the ground, and on one occasion I have known it to be greatly inexcess even of that; but such an elevation cannot be attained for morethan a single year, and it afterward is contented with more moderateefforts. E. Himalaicus is of the purest possible white, and the spikeis very much to be admired when it is seen at its best. It can be veryeasily raised from seed, but a good deal of patience is needed beforeits full glory has come. E. Olgæ is the last of all, and it shows byits arrival that summer is hastening on. It is of a peach-colored hue, and very pretty indeed. Altogether it is a pity that eremuri are notmore commonly grown. I think they are certain to give greatsatisfaction, if only a moderate degree of attention and care bebestowed upon them. --_H. Ewbank, in The Gardeners' Magazine. _

 * * * * *

RAPHIDES, THE CAUSE OF THE ACRIDITY OF CERTAIN PLANTS. 

By R. A. WEBER, Ph. D. 

At the last meeting of the American Association for the Advancement ofScience, Prof. W. R. Lazenby reported his studies on the occurrence ofcrystals in plants. In this report he expressed the opinion that theacridity of the Indian turnip was due to the presence of thesecrystals or raphides. This opinion was opposed by Prof. Burrill andother eminent botanists, who claimed that other plants, as thefuchsia, are not at all acrid, although they contain raphides asplentifully as the Indian turnip. Here the matter was allowed to rest. 

The United States Dispensatory and other works on pharmacy ascribe theacridity of the Indian turnip to an acrid, extremely volatileprinciple insoluble in water, and alcohol, but soluble in ether. Heating and drying the bulbs dissipates the volatiles principle, andthe acridity is destroyed. 

At a recent meeting of Ohio State Microscopical Society this subjectwas again brought up for discussion. It was thought by some that theraphides in the different plants might vary in chemical composition, and thus the difference in their action be accounted for. Thisquestion the writer volunteered to answer. 

Accordingly, four plants containing raphides were selected, two ofwhich, the _Calla cassia_ and Indian turnip, were highly acrid, andtwo, the _Fuchsia_ and _Tradescantia_, or Wandering Jew, wereperfectly bland to the taste. 

A portion of each plant was crushed in a mortar, water or dilutealcohol was added, the mixture was stirred thoroughly and thrown upona fine sieve. By repeated washing with water and decanting asufficient amount of the crystals was obtained for examination. Fromthe calla the crystals were readily secured by this means in acomparatively pure state. In the case of the Indian turnip thecrystals were contaminated with starch, while the crystals from thefuschia and tradescantia were embedded in an insoluble mucilage fromwhich it was found impossible to separate them. The crystals were allfound to be calcium oxalate. 

Having determined the identity in chemical composition of thecrystals, it was thought that there might be a difference of form ofthe crystals in the various plants, from the fact that calcium oxalatecrystallizes both in the tetragonal and the monoclinic systems. Alaborious microscopic examination, however, showed that this theoryalso had to be abandoned. The fuchsia and tradescantia containedbundles of raphides of the same form and equally as fine as those ofthe acrid plants. At this point in the investigation the writer wasinclined to the opinion that the acridity of the Indian turnip andcalla was due to the presence of an acrid principle. 

Since the works on pharmacy claimed that the active principle of theIndian turnip was soluble in ether, the investigation was continued inthis direction. A large stem of the calla was cut into slices, and thejuice expressed by means of a tincture press. The expressed juice waslimpid and filled with raphides. A portion of the juice was placedinto a cylinder and violently shaken with an equal volume of ether. When the ether had separated a drop was placed upon the tongue. Assoon as the effects of the ether had passed away, the same painfulacridity was experienced as is produced when the plant itself istasted. This experiment seemed to corroborate the assumption of anacrid principle soluble in ether. The supernatant ether, however, wasslightly turbid in appearance, a fact which was at first ignored. Wishing to learn the cause of this turbidity, a drop of the ether wasallowed to evaporate on a glass slide. Under the microscope the slidewas found to be covered with a mass of raphides. A portion of theether was run through a Munktell filter. The filtered ether was clear, entirely free from raphides, and had also lost every trace of itsacridity. 

The same operations were repeated upon the Indian turnip with exactlysimilar results. 

These experiments show conclusively that the acridity of the Indianturnip and calla is due to the raphides of calcium oxalate only. 

The question of the absence of acridity in the other two plants stillremained to be settled. For this purpose some recent twigs and leavesof the fuchsia were subjected to pressure in a tincture press. Theexpressed juice was not limpid, but thick, mucilaginous and ropy. Under the microscope the raphides seemed as plentiful as in the caseof the two acrid plants. When diluted with water and shaken withether, there was no visible turbidity in the supernatant ether, andwhen a drop of the ether was allowed to evaporate on a glass slide, only a few isolated crystals could be seen. From this it will be seenthat in this case the raphides did not separate from the mucilaginousjuice to be held in suspension in the ether. A great deal of time andlabor were spent in endeavoring to separate the crystals completelyfrom this insoluble mucilage, but without avail. With the tradescantiasimilar results were obtained. 

From these experiments the absence of acridity in these two plants, inspite of the abundance of raphides, may readily be explained by thefact that the minute crystals are surrounded with and embedded in aninsoluble mucilage, which prevents their free movement into the tongueand surface of the mouth, when portions of the plants are tasted. 

The reason why the Indian turnip loses its acridity on being heatedcan be explained by the production of starch paste from the abundanceof starch present in the bulbs. This starch paste would evidently actin a manner similar to the insoluble mucilage of the other two plants. 

So also it can readily be seen that when the bulbs of the Indianturnip have been dried, the crystals can no longer separate from thehard mass which surrounds them, and consequently can exert no irritantaction when the dried bulbs are placed against the tongue. --_Jour. Am. Chem. Soc. _

 * * * * *

THE WHALE-HEADED STORK. 

[Illustration: THE WHALE-HEADED STORK--BALÆNICEPS REX. ]

Of all the wonders that inhabit the vast continent of Africa, the mostsingular one is undoubtedly the _Balæniceps_, or whale-headed stork. It is of relatively recent discovery, and the first description of itwas given by Gould in the early part of 1851. It is at present stillextremely rare. The Paris Museum possesses three specimens of it, andthe Boulogne Museum possesses one. These birds always excite thecuriosity of the public by their strange aspect. At first sight, saysW. P. Parker, in his notes upon the osteology of the balæniceps, thisbird recalls the boatbill, the heron, and the adjutant. Other birds, too, suggest themselves to the mind, such as the pelican, the toucan, the hornbills, and the podarges. The curious form of the bill, infact, explains this comparison with birds belonging to so differentgroups, and the balæniceps would merit the name of boatbill equallywell with the bird so called, since its bill recalls the small fishingboats that we observe keel upward high and dry on our seashores. Thisbill is ten inches in length, and four inches in breadth at the base. The upper mandible, which is strongly convex, exhibits upon its medianline a slight ridge, which is quite wide at its origin, and thencontinues to decrease and becomes sensibly depressed as far as to thecenter of its length, and afterward rises on approaching the anteriorextremity, where it terminates in a powerful hook, which seems to forma separate part, as in the albatrosses. Throughout its whole extent, up to the beginning of the hook, this mandible presents a strongconvexity over its edge, which is turned slightly inward. The lowermandible, which is powerful, and is indented at its point to receivethe hook, has a very sharp edge, which, with that of the uppermandible, constitutes a pair of formidable shears. The color of thebill is pale yellow, passing to horn color toward the median ridge, and the whole surface is sprinkled with dark brown blotches. Thenostrils are scarcely visible, and are situated in a narrow cleft atthe base of the bill, and against the median ridge. The tongue is verysmall and entirely out of proportion to the vast buccal capacity. Thisis a character that might assimilate the balæniceps to the pelican. The robust head, the neck, and the throat, are covered withslate-colored feathers verging on green, and not presenting therepulsive aspect of the naked skin of the adjutant. As in the latter, the skin of the throat is capable of being dilated so as to form avoluminous pouch. Upon the occiput the feathers are elongated andform a small crest. The body is robust and covered upon the back withslate-colored feathers bordered with ashen gray. Upon the breast thefeathers are lanceolate, and marked with a dark median stripe. Finally, the lower parts, abdomen, sides, and thighs, are pale gray, and the remiges and retrices are black. According to Verreaux, thefeathers of the under side of the tail are soft and decompounded, butat a distance they only recall the beautiful plumes of the adjutant. The well-developed wings indicate a bird of lofty flight, yet of allthe bones of the limbs, anterior as well as posterior, the humerusalone is pneumatized. The strong feet terminate in four very long toesdeprived at the interdigital membrane observed in most of theCiconidæ. The claws are powerful and but slightly curved, and that ofthe median toe is not pectinated as in the herons. 

The balæniceps is met with only in or near water, but it prefersmarshes to rivers. It is abundant upon the banks of the Nile onlyduring the hot season which precedes the rains and when the entireinterior is dried up. During the rest of the year it inhabits naturalponds and swamps, where the shallow water covers vast areas andpresents numerous small islands, of easier access than the banks ofthe Nile, which always slope more or less abruptly into deep water. Insuch localities it is met with in pairs or in flocks of a hundred ormore, seeking its food with tireless energy, or else standingimmovable upon one leg, the neck curved and the head resting upon theshoulder. When disturbed, the birds fly just above the surface of thewater and stop at a short distance. But when they are startled by thefiring of a gun, they ascend to a great height, fly around in a circleand hover for a short time, and then descend upon the loftiest trees, where they remain until the enemy has gone. 

Water turtles, fish, frogs and lizards form the basis of their food. According to Petherick, they do not disdain dead animals, whosecarcasses they disembowel with their powerful hooked beak. They passthe night upon the ground, upon trees and upon high rocks. As regardsnest-making and egg-laying, opinions are most contradictory. Accordingto Verreaux, the balæniceps builds its nest of earth, vegetabledebris, reeds, grass, etc. , upon large trees. The female lays two eggssimilar to those of the adjutant. It is quite difficult to reconcilethis opinion with that of Petherick, who expresses himself as follows:"The balæniceps lays in July and August, and chooses for that purposethe tall reeds or grasses that border the water or some small andslightly elevated island. They dig a hole in the ground, and thefemale deposits her eggs therein. I have found as many as twelve eggsin the same nest. "

The whale-headed stork is still so little known that there is nothingin these contradictions that ought to surprise us. Authors are no morein accord on the subject of the affinities of this strange bird. Gouldclaims that it presents the closest affinities with the pelican and isthe wading type of the Pelicanidæ. Verreaux believes that its nearestrelative is the adjutant, whose ways it has, and that it represents inthis group what the boatbill represents in the heron genus. Bonaparteregards it as intermediate between the pelican and the boatbill. If welisten to Reinhurdt, we must place it, not alongside of the boatbill, but alongside of the African genus Scopus. The boatbill, says he, ismerely a heron provided with a singular bill, which has but littleanalogy with that of the balæniceps, and not a true resemblance. Thenostrils differ in form and position in those two birds, and in theboatbill there exists beneath the lower mandible a dilatable pouchthat we do not find in the balæniceps. An osteological examinationleads Parker to place the balæniceps near the boatbill, and thepresent classification is based upon that opinion. The family ofArdeidæ is, therefore, divided into five sub-families, the three lastof which each comprises a single genus. 

Ardeidæ. --Ardeineæ (herons). Botaurineæ (bitterns). Scopineæ (ombrette). Cancomineæ (boatbill). Balænicepineæ (whale-headed stork). 

All the whale-headed storks that have been received up to the presenthave come from the region of the White Nile; but Mr. H. Johnston, whotraveled in Congo in 1882, asserts that he met with the bird on theRiver Cunene between Benguela and Angola, where it was even verycommon. Mr. Johnston's assertion has been confirmed by other travelersworthy of credence, but, unfortunately, the best of all confirmationsis wanting, and that is a skin of this magnificent wader. We can, therefore, only make a note of Mr. Johnston's statement, and hope thatsome traveler may one day enrich our museums with some balæniceps fromthese regions. The presence of this bird in the southwest of Africais, after all, not impossible; yet there is one question that arises:Was the balæniceps observed by Mr. Johnston of the same species asthat of the White Nile, or was it a new type that will increase thisfamily, which as yet comprises but one genus and one species--the_Balæniceps rex_?--_Le Naturaliste_. 

 * * * * *

THE CALIFORNIA RAISIN INDUSTRY. 

Fresno County, for ten miles about Fresno, furnishes the best exampleof the enormous increase in values which follows the conversion ofwheat fields and grazing land into vineyards and orchards. Not evenRiverside can compare with it in the rapid evolution of a great sourceof wealth which ten years ago was almost unknown. What has transformedFresno from a shambling, dirty resort of cowboys and wheat ranchersinto one of the prettiest cities in California is the raisin grape. Though nearly all fruits may be grown here, yet this is pre-eminentlythe home of the raisin industry, and it is the raisin which in asingle decade has converted 50, 000 acres of wheat fields intovineyards. No other crop in California promises such speedy returns orsuch large profits as the raisin grape, and as the work on thevineyards is not heavy, the result has been a remarkable growth of theinfant industry. It is estimated that in this county, which contains5, 000, 000 acres and is nearly as large as Massachusetts, there are400, 000 acres that may be irrigated and are specially adapted to thegrape. As the present crop on about 25, 000 acres in full bearing isvalued at $6, 000, 000, some idea may be formed of the revenue that willcome to the Fresno vineyardists when all this choice valley land isplanted and in full bearing. And what makes the prospect of permanentprosperity surer is the fact that nine out of ten new settlers arecontent with twenty-acre tracts, as one of these is all which a mancan well care for, while the income from this little vineyard willaverage $4, 000 above all expenses, a larger income than is enjoyed bythree-quarters of the professional men throughout the country. 

The raisin industry in California is very young. To be sure, driedgrapes have been known since the time of the Mission Fathers, but thedried mission grape is not a raisin. The men who thirty years ago sentover to Europe for the choicest varieties of wine grapes importedamong other cuttings the Muscatel, the Muscat of Alexandria, and theFeher Zagos; the three finest raisin grapes of Spain. But the raisin, like the fig, requires skillful treatment, and for years theCalifornia grower made no headway. He read all that had been writtenon the curing of the raisin; several enterprising men went to Spain tostudy the subject at first hand; but despite all this no progress wasmade. Finally several of the pioneer raisin men of Fresno cut loosefrom all precedent, dried their grapes in the simple and naturalmanner and made a success of it. From that time, not over ten yearsago, the growth of the industry has eclipsed that of every otherbranch of horticulture in the State, and the total value of theproduct promises soon to exceed the value of the orange crop or theyield of wine and brandy. 

It required a good deal of nerve for the pioneers of Fresno County tospend hundreds of thousands of dollars in bringing water upon what theold settlers regarded as a desert, fit only to grow wheat in a verywet season. In other parts of the State the Mission Fathers had dugditches and built aqueducts, so that the settlers who came after themfound a well devised water system, which they merely followed. But inFresno no one had ever tried to grow crops by irrigation. When Fremontcame through there from the mountains he found many wild cattlefeeding on the rank grass that grew as high as the head of a man onhorseback. The herds of the native Californians were almost equallywild. The country was one vast plain which in summer glowed under asun that was tropical in its intensity. As late as 1860 one couldtravel for a day without seeing a house or any sign of habitation. Thecountry was owned by great cattle growers, who seldom rode over theirimmense ranches, except at the time of the annual "round-up" of stock. About thirty years ago a number of large wheat growers secured bigtracts of land around Fresno. At their head was Isaac Friedlander, known as the wheat king of the Pacific Coast. Friedlander would havetransformed this country had not financial ruin overcome him. Hisplace was taken by others, like Chapman, Easterby, Eisen andHughes--men who believed in fruit growing and who had the courage tocarry on their operations in the face of repeated failures. 

The great development of Fresno has been due entirely to the colonysystem, which has also built up most of the flourishing cities ofSouthern California. In 1874 the first Fresno colony was started byW. S. Chapman. He cut up six sections of land into 20-acre tracts, andbrought water from King's River. The colonists represented all classesof people, and though they made many disastrous experiments, with poorvarieties of grapes and fruit, still there is no instance of failurerecorded, and all who have held on to their land are now incomfortable circumstances. Some of the settlers in this colony wereSan Francisco school teachers. They obtained their 20-acre tracts for$400, and many of them retired on their little vineyards at the end offive or six years. One lady, named Miss Austen, had the foresight toplant all her property in the best raisin grapes, and for many yearsdrew a larger annual revenue from the property than the whole placecost her. The central colony now has an old established look. Thebroad avenues are lined with enormous trees; many of the houses areexceedingly beautiful country villas. What a transformation has beenwrought here may be appreciated when it is said that 150 families nowproduce $400, 000 a year on the same land which twenty years agosupported but one family, which had a return of only $35, 000 fromwheat. The history of this one colony of six sections of old wheatland is the key to Fresno's prosperity. It proves better than columnsof argument, or facts or figures, the immense return that careful, patient cultivation may command in this home of the grape. Near thiscolony are a half-dozen others which were established on the samegeneral plan. The most noteworthy is the Malaga colony, founded byG. G. Briggs, to whom belongs the credit of introducing the raisingrape into Fresno. 

Fresno City is the center from which one may drive in three directionsand pass through mile after mile of these colonies, all showing signsof the wealth and comfort that raisin making has brought. Only towardthe west is the land still undeveloped, but another five years promiseto see this great tract, stretching away for twenty miles, also laidout in small vineyards and fruit farms. Fresno is the natural railroadcenter of the great San Joaquin Valley. It is on the main line of theSouthern Pacific and is the most important shipping point between SanFrancisco and Los Angeles. The new line of the Santa Fe, which hasbeen surveyed from Mojave up through the valley, passes throughFresno. Then there are three local lines that have the place for aterminus, notably the mountain railway, which climbs into the Sierra, and which it is expected will one day connect with the Rio Grandesystem and give a new transcontinental line. Here are also buildinground houses and machine shops of the Southern Pacific Company. These, with new factories, packing houses, and other improvements, go far tojustify the sanguine expectations of the residents. There has neverbeen a boom in Fresno, but a high railroad official recently, inspeaking of the growth of the city, said: "Fresno in five years willbe the second city in California. " This prediction he based on thewonderful expansion of its resources in the last decade and thesubstantial character of all the improvements made. It is a prettytown, with wide, well-paved streets, handsome modern business blocks, and residence avenues that would do credit to any old-settled town ofthe East. The favorite shade tree is the umbrella tree, which has thegraceful, rounded form of the horse chestnut, but with so thick afoliage that its shadow is not dappled with sunlight. Above it is anintensely dark green, while viewed from below it is the most delicateshade of pea green. Rivaling this in popularity is the pepper tree, also an evergreen, and the magnolia, fan palm, eucalyptus, orAustralian blue gum, and the poplar. All these trees grow luxuriantly. It has also become the custom in planting a vineyard to put a row ofthe white Adriatic fig trees around the place, and to mark off ten ortwenty acre tracts in the same way. The dark green foliage of the figis a great relief to the eye when the sun beats down on the sandysoil. Leading out of Fresno are five driveways. The soil makes anatural macadam, which dries in a few hours. Throughout the year theseroads are in good condition for trotting, and nearly every raisingrower is also an expert in horseflesh, and has a team that will do amile in less than 2:30. The new race course is one of the finest inthe State. Toward the west from Fresno has recently been opened amagnificent driveway, which promises in a few years to rival theMagnolia ave. Of Riverside. This is called Chateau Fresno ave. It hastwo driveways separated by fan palms and magnolias, while along theouter borders are the same trees with other choice tropical growths, that will one day make this avenue well worth traveling many miles tosee. This is the private enterprise of Mr. Theodore Kearney, who madea fortune in real estate, and it is noteworthy as an illustration ofthe large way in which the rich Californian goes about any work inwhich he takes an interest. Probably the finest avenue in Fresno isthe poplar-lined main driveway through the Barton vineyard. It is amile in length, and the trees, fully fifty feet high, stand so thicklytogether that when in full leaf they form a solid wall of green. Thevineyard, which is a mile square, is also surrounded by a single rowof these superb poplars. 

A visit to one of the great raisin vineyards near Fresno is arevelation in regard to the system that is necessary in handling largequantities of grapes. The largest raisin vineyard in the State, if notin the world, is that of A. B. Butler. It comprises 640 acres, of whicha trifle over 600 acres is planted to the best raisin grapes. Butlerwas a Texas cowboy, and came to Fresno with very little capital. Hesecured possession of a section of land, planted it to grapes; he readeverything he could buy on raisin making, but found little in thebooks that was of any value. So he made a trip to Spain, and inspectedall the processes in the Malaga district. He gathered many new ideas. One of the most valuable suggestions was in regard to prunings andkeeping the vine free from the suckers that sap its vitality. When hereturned from this trip and passed through Los Angeles County he sawthat the strange disease which was killing many hundred acres of vineswas nothing else than the result of faulty prunings--the retention ofsuckers until they gained such lusty growth that their removal provedfatal to the vine. His vineyard is as free from weeds and grass as acorner of a well kept kitchen garden. The vine leaves have that deepglossy look which betrays perfect health. When my visit was made thewhole crop was on trays spread out in the vineyard. These trays hadbeen piled up in layers of a dozen--what is technically known asboxed--as a shower had fallen the previous night, and Mr. Butler wasuncertain whether he would have a crop of the choicest raisins orwhether he would have to put his dried grapes in bags, and sell themfor one-third of the top price. Fortunately the rain clouds clearedaway. The crop was saved and the extreme hot weather that followedmade the second crop almost as valuable as the first. 

The method of drying and packing the raisin is peculiar and well wortha brief description. When the grape reaches a certain degree ofripeness and develops the requisite amount of saccharine matter alarge force is put into the vineyard and the picking begins. Thebunches of ripe grapes are placed carefully on wooden trays and areleft in the field to cure. The process requires from seven days tothree weeks, according to the amount of sunshine. This climate is soentirely free from dew at night that there is no danger of must. Thegrape cures perfectly in this way and makes a far sweeter raisin thanwhen dried by artificial heat. When the grapes are dried sufficientlythe trays are gathered and stacked in piles about as high as a man'swaist. Then begins the tedious but necessary process of sorting intothe sweat boxes. These boxes are about eight inches deep and hold 125pounds of grapes. Around the sorter are three sweat boxes for thethree grades of grapes. In each box are three layers of manila paperwhich are used at equal intervals to prevent the stems of the grapesfrom becoming entangled, thus breaking the fine large bunches whenremoved. The sorter must be an expert. He takes the bunches by thestem, placing the largest and finest in the first grade box, thosewhich are medium sized in the second grade, and all broken and raggedbunches in the third class. When the boxes are filled they are hauledto the brick building known as the equalizer. This is constructed soas to permit ventilation at the top, but to exclude light and air asmuch as possible from the grapes. The boxes are piled in tiers in thishouse and allowed to remain in darkness for from ten to twenty days. Here they undergo a sweating process, which diffuses moisture equallythroughout the contents of each box. This prevents some grapes fromretaining undue moisture, and it also softens the stems and makes thempliable. 

From the equalizing room the sweat boxes are taken to the packingroom. Here they are first weighed. The first and second grades arepassed to the sorter, while the third grade raisins are placed in abig machine that strips off the stems and grades the loose raisins inthree or four sizes. These are placed in sacks and sold as looseraisins. The higher grades are carefully sorted into first and secondclass clusters. After this sorting the boxes are passed to women andgirls, who arrange the clusters neatly in small five pound boxes withmovable bottoms. These boxes are placed under slight pressure, andfour of them fill one of the regular twenty pound boxes of commerce. The work of placing the raisins in the small boxes requires muchpractice, but women are found to be much swifter than men at thislabor, and, as they are paid by the box, the more skillful earn from$2 to $3 a day. It is light, pleasant work, as the room is large, cooland well ventilated, and there is no mixing of the sexes, such as maybe found in many of the San Francisco canneries. For this reason thework attracts nice girls, and one may see many attractive faces in atrip through a large packing house. One heavy shouldered, masculine-looking German woman, who, however, had long, slenderfingers, was pointed out as the swiftest sorter in the room. She maderegularly $3 a day. The assurance of steady work of this kind forthree months draws many people to Fresno, and the regular disbursementof a large sum as wages every week goes far to explain the thrift andcomfort seen on every hand. 

The five pound boxes of grapes are passed to the pressing machine, where four of them are deftly transferred to a twenty pound box. Thetwo highest grades of raisins are the Dehesa and the London layers. Ithas always been the ambition of California's raisin makers to producethe Dehesa brand. They know that their best raisins are equal in sizeand quality to the best Spanish raisins, but heretofore they havefound the cost of preparing the top layer in the Spanish style verycostly, as the raisins had to be flattened out (or thumbed, as it istechnically called) by hand. In Spain, where women work for 20 cents aday, this hand labor cuts no figure in the cost of production, buthere, with the cheapest labor at $1. 50 a day, it has proved a bar tocompetition. American ingenuity, however, is likely to overcome thishandicap of high wages. T. C. White, an old raisin grower, has inventeda packing plate of metal, with depressions at regular intervals justthe size of a big raisin. This plate is put at the bottom of thepreliminary packing box, and when the work of packing is complete thebox is reversed and the top layer, pressed into the depressions of theplate, bears every mark of the most careful hand manipulation. Mr. Butler used this plate for the first time this season, and found it asuccess, and there is no question of its general adoption. Every yearsees more attention paid to the careful grading of raisins, as uponthis depends much of their marketable value. The large packing houseshave done good work in enforcing this rule, and the chief sinners whostill indulge in careless packing are small growers with poorfacilities. Probably the next few years will see a great increase inthe number and size of the packing houses which will prepare andmarket most of Fresno's raisin crop. The growers also will availthemselves of the co-operative plan, for which the colony systemoffers peculiar advantages. 

Geometrical progression is the only thing which equals the increase ofFresno's raisin product. Eighteen years ago it was less than 3, 000boxes. Last year it amounted to 1, 050, 000 boxes, while this year theproduct cannot fall below 1, 250, 000 boxes. New vineyards are cominginto bearing every year, and this season has seen a larger planting ofnew vineyards than ever before. This was due mainly to the stimulusand encouragement of the McKinley bill, which was worth anincalculable sum to those who are developing the raisin industry inCalifornia. Besides raisins, Fresno produced last year 2, 500, 000gallons of wine, a large part of which was shipped to the East. Therailroad figures show the wealth that is produced here every year fromthese old wheat fields. The dried fruit crop last year was valued at$1, 123, 520; raisins, $1, 245, 768; and the total exports were$8, 957, 899. 

The largest bearing raisin vineyard in Fresno is that of A. B. Butler, who has over 600 acres in eight year-old vines. The pack this yearwill be fully 120, 000 boxes. As each box sells for an average of$1. 75, the revenue from this vineyard will not fall far below aquarter of a million. One of the finest places in the county isColonel Forsythe's 160-acre vineyard, from which 40, 000 boxes arepacked. Forsythe has paid so much attention to the packing of hisraisins that his output commands a fancy price. This year he wanted togo to Europe, so he sold his crop on the vines to a packing house, receiving a check for $20, 000. These, of course, are the greatsuccesses, but nearly every small raisin grower has made money, for itcosts not over 1½ cents per pound to produce the raisin, and the priceseldom falls below 6 cents per pound. Good land can be secured inFresno at from $50 to $200 per acre. The average is $75 an acre forfirst-class raisin land that is within ten miles of any large place. It costs $75 an acre to get a raisin vineyard into bearing. In thethird year the vines pay for cultivation, and from that time on theratio of increase is very large. Much of the work of pruning, picking, and curing grapes is light, and may be done by women and children. Theonly heavy labor about the vineyard is the plowing and cultivating. Fresno is a hot place in the summer, the mercury running up to 110degrees in the shade, but this is a dry heat, which does not enervate, and, with proper protection for the head, one may work in the sun allday, without any danger of sunstroke. 

The colony system, which has been brought to great perfection aroundFresno, permits a family of small means to secure a good home withoutmuch capital to start with. Where no money is paid for labor, avineyard may be brought to productiveness with very small outlay. Atthe same time there is so great a demand for labor in the largevineyards, that the man who has a five or ten acre tract may be sureof work nearly all the year. In some places special inducements havebeen held out to people of small means to secure a five-acre vineyardwhile they are at work in other business. One colony of this sort wasstarted eighteen months ago near Madera, in Fresno County. A tract of3, 000 acres was planted to Muscat grapes, and then sold out in fiveand ten acre vineyards, on five years' time, the purchaser paying onlyone-fifth cash. The price of the land was $75 an acre, and it wasestimated that an equal sum per acre would put the vineyard into fullbearing. Thus, for $750, or, with interest, for $1, 000, a man workingon a small salary in San Francisco will have in five years a vineyardwhich should yield him a yearly revenue of $500. From the presentoutlook there can be no danger of over-production of raisins, any morethan of California wine or dried fruits. The grower is assured of agood market for every pound of raisins he produces, and the more carehe puts into the growing and packing of his crop, the larger hisreturns will be. For those who love life in the open air, there isnothing in California with greater attractions than raisin growing inFresno County. --_N. Y. Tribune. _

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COLD AND MORTALITY. 

By Dr. B. W. RICHARDSON. 

During the seven weeks of extreme atmospheric cold in which the lastyear ended and with which the present year opened, every one has beenstartled by the mortality that has prevailed among the enfeebled andaged population. Friends have been swept away in a manner most painfulto recall, under the influence of an external agency, as natural as itis fatal in its course, and over which science, as yet, holds the mostlimited control. 

In the presence of these facts questions occur to the mind which havethe most practical bearing. Why should a community wake up one daywith catarrh or with the back of the throat unduly red and the tonsilslarge? Why, in a particular village or town, shall the medical men besummoned on some particular day to a number of places to visitchildren with croup? What is the reason that cases of sudden death, byso-called "apoplexy, " crowd together into a few hours? Why, in a givenday or week, are shoals of the aged swept away, while the young liveas before? These are questions which curative and preventive medicinehave not yet mastered as might be desired. Curative medicine, at thename of them, too often stands abashed, if her interpreter be honest;and preventive medicine says, if her interpreter be honest, "Thequestions wait as yet for full interpretation. "

Still, we are not altogether ignorant; some circumstances appear to befollowed by effects so definite, that we may almost consider we havebefore us, in true position, cause and effect. Let us look at thisposition in reference to _the simple influence of temperature on thevalue of life_. 

If we observe the fluctuation of the thermometer by the side of themortality of the nation at large, no calculable relationship seems, atfirst sight, to be traceable between the one and the other. But if, inconnection with the mortality, care be taken to isolate cases, and todivide them into groups according to the ages of those who die, asingular and significant series of facts follow, which show that aftera given age a sudden decline of the temperature influences mortalityby what may be considered a definite law. The law is, that variationsof temperature exert no marked influence on the mortality of thepopulation under the age of thirty years; but after the age of thirtyis reached, a fall of temperature, sufficient to cause an increasednumber of deaths, acts in a regular manner, as it may be said, inwaves or lines of intensity, according to the ages of the people. Ifwe make these lines nine years long, we discover that they double ineffect at each successive point. Thus, if the, fall in the temperaturebe sufficient to increase the mortality at the rate of one person ofthe age of thirty, the increase will run as follows: 1 death at 30years of age will become 2 deaths at 39 years of age, 4 at 48 years, 8at 57 years, 16 at 66 years, 33 at 75 years, and 64 at 84 years. 

In these calculations nothing seems to be wanting that should renderthem trustworthy; they resulted from inquiries conducted on thelargest scale; they were computed by one of our greatest authoritiesin vital statistics, the late Dr. William Farr, and they accord withwhat we gather from common daily observation. They supply, in a word, the scientific details and refinements of a rough estimate founded onuniversal experience, and they lead us to think very gravely on manysubjects which may not have occurred to us before, and which are ascurious as they are important. 

We often hear persons who know little about vital phenomena, by whichterm I mean nothing mysterious, but simply the physics embraced inthose phenomena which we connect with form and motion under the termlife, harping on the one string, that man knows nothing of the laws oflife and death. But what an answer to such presumption do the factsrendered above supply. Life and death are here reduced, on givenconditions, to reasonings as clear and positive as are the reasoningson the development of heat by the combustion of fuel. It is notnecessary for the vital philosopher to go out into the towns andvillages to take a new census of deaths to enable him to give us hisreadings of the general mortality under the conditions specified. Hemay sit in his cabinet, and, as he reads his thermometer day by day, predict results. There is a fall of temperature that shall be known byexperience to be sufficiently deep and prolonged to cause an increaseof one death among those members of the community who have reachedthirty years. Then, rising by a definite rule, there have diedsixty-four, in proportion to that one, of those who have reachedeighty-four years. This is sound calculation, and it leads toreflection. It leads one to ask, what, if the law be so definite, arecurative and preventive medicine doing meanwhile, that they shall notdisturb it? I fear that they hardly produce perturbations, and I donot see why they should; because, as the truth opens itself to themind, the tremendous external change in the forces of the universethat leads to the result, is not to be grappled with nor interferedwith by any specific method of human invention. The cause is toogeneral, too overwhelming, too grasping. It is like the lightningstroke in its distance from our command; but it is widely spread, notpointed and concentrate; prolonged, not instantaneous; and, by virtueof these properties, is so much the more subtile and devastating. 

At first it seems easy to explain the reason why a sudden fall intemperature should lead to an increase in the number of deaths, and itis to be admitted that, to a certain extent, the reason is clear. 

ANIMAL POWER AT DIFFERENT PERIODS OF LIFE. 

Without entering on the question whether heat is the animatingprinciple of all living organisms, we may accept that in the evolutionof heat in the body we have a measurement of the capacity of the bodyto sustain motion, which is only another phrase for expressing theresistance of the body to death. For example, if we assume that ahealthy man of thirty respires sufficient air per day to produce asmuch heat as would raise fifty pounds of water at 32° Fahr. To 212°Fahr. , and if we assume that a man of sixty in the same temperature isonly able to respire so much air as shall cause him to evolve so muchheat as would raise forty pounds of water from 32° to 212°, we see ageneral reason why the older man should feel an effect from a suddenchange in the temperature of the air which the younger would not feel;and if we assume, further, that a man of eighty could in the same timeproduce as much heat as would raise only twenty pounds of water from32° to 212°, we see a good reason why the oldest should suffer morefrom a decrease of external temperature than the other two. It isnecessary, however, to know more than this general statement of anapproximate fact; we ought to understand the method by which thereduction of temperature influences, and the details of thephysiological process connected with the phenomena. When a human bodyis living after the age when the period of its growth is completed andbefore the period of its decay has commenced, it produces, when it isquite healthy, by its own chemical processes, so much heat or force asshall enable it, within given bounds, (1) to move its own machinery;(2) to call forth, at will, a limited measure of extra force which hasbeen lying latent in its organism; and (3) to supply a fluctuatingloss that must be conveyed away by contact with the surrounding air, by the earth, and by other bodies that it may touch, and which arecolder than itself. There is thus produced in the body, _applied_force, _reserve_ force, and _waste_ force, and these distributions ofthe whole force generated, when correctly applied, maintain theperfect organism in such balance that life is true and steady. So muchactive force carries with it the power to perform so much labor; somuch reserve force carries with it the power to perform a measure ofnew or extra labor to meet emergencies; so much waste force enablesthe body to resist the external vicissitudes without trenching on thesupply that is always wanted to keep the heart pulsating, the chestbreathing, the glands secreting or excreting, the digestive apparatusmoving, and the brain thinking or absorbing. 

Let us, even in the prime of manhood, disturb the distribution offorce ever so little, and straightway our life, which is the resultantof force, is disturbed. If we use the active force too long, we becomeexhausted, and call on the reserve; if we continue the process, theresult is failure more or less perfect, sleep, and, in the end, thelast long sleep. Let us, instead of exhausting the force, cut it offat the sources where it is generated; let us remove the carbon or coalthat should go in as fuel food, and we create prostration, and incontinuance a waning animal fire, sleep, and death; or let us, insteadof removing or withdrawing the supply of fuel, cut off the supply ofair, as by immersion of the body in water, or by making it breathe avapor that weakens the combination of oxygen with carbon--such a vaporas chloroform--and again we produce, at once, prostration, sleep, ordeath, according to the extent to which we have conducted the process. Lastly, if instead of using up unduly the active and reserve force, orof suppressing the evolution of force by the withdrawal of itssources, we expose the body to such an external temperature that it isrobbed of its heat faster than it can generate it; if to supply thewaste heat we draw upon the active and reserve forces, we call forthimmediately the same condition as would follow extreme over-exertion, or suppression of the development of force; we call forth exhaustionand sleep, and, if we go far enough, death. 

We have had in view, in the above description, a man in the prime oflife, in the center of growth, and decay. In regard to the force ofanimation in him, let us look at him now retrospectively andprospectively. In the past his has been a growing, developing body, and in the course of development he has produced an excess of forcecommensurate with the demands of his growth; this has enabled himgradually to bear more fatigue and more exposure, without exhaustion, and even with ease, until he has reached his maximum. When he hasstopped in development, when he stands on a fair level with theexternal forces that are opposed to him, then his own force, for ashort time balanced, soon stands second in command. He feels cold moretenderly; if his rest be broken, the demand for artificial heat ismore urgent; if he lose or miss food, he sinks quickly; and, returningto our facts, as to the influence of the external temperature onmortality, these are the reasons why a fall in the thermometer sweepsaway our population according to age so ruthlessly and decisively. 

If we analyze the facts further by the side of the diseases which killthe old, we find those diseases to be numerous in name, but all of twotypes. They are diseases which of themselves tend either to produceundue loss of force, or that tend to prevent the development of forceat its origin. Thus affections which are accompanied with exhaustiveloss of fluids from the body, such as diabetes, dropsies, andhæmorrhages, are of the first class; affections in which due supply ofair to the lungs is prevented are of the second class, especiallybronchitis, a disease so commonly assigned as the cause of the deathsamong the members of the aged and enfeebled population, that succeedimmediately on an extreme fall of the thermometer. 

FALL OF TEMPERATURE--MODE OF ACTION. 

In what has been written above I have stated simply and in open termsthe fact that the fall of temperature produces a specified series ofresults, by reducing the force of the living organism, and disposingit to die. We may from this point investigate, from a physiologicalpoint of view, the mode by which the effect is produced in theeconomy. How does the decline of temperature act? Is the processsimple or compound?

EXTRACTION OF HEAT. 

The process is compound, and into it there enter three elements. Inthe first place, the body is robbed rapidly of its waste force, andthe reserve and active elements of force are, consequently, calledupon to the depression of the organism altogether. This obtainsbecause the medium surrounding the body, the air, unless it beartificially heated, removes from its contact with the body a largerproportion of heat than can be spared; and it might be possible toproduce such an influence on the body by sudden extraction of its heatas to destroy it at once by the mere act. If a man could be surroundedwith frozen mercury he would die instantaneously, as from shock, bythe immediate extraction of his heat. But in ordinary cases, and underordinary circumstances, the mere rapid extraction of waste heat is notsufficient to account for all the mischief produced by a lowtemperature; for by artificial warmth and non-conducting garments, wecounteract the influence, and that, too, in a manner which provespretty successful. We may, therefore, leave this element of extractionof heat as a most important, but not as the sole, agent of evil. 

SUPPRESSED OXIDATION. 

The second element is the effect on the process of oxidation of bloodunder the influence of cold. We all are aware that if a portion ofdead animal or vegetable matter be placed at a low temperature, itkeeps for a considerable time; and we have evidence of dead animalswhich, clothed in thick ribbed ice, have been retained fromputrefaction for centuries. Hence we say that cold is an antiseptic asalcohol is, and chloroform, and ammonia, and other similar bodies. Cold is an antiseptic then, but why? Because it prevents, even in thepresence of a ferment, the union of oxygen gas with combustiblematter. The molecules of oxygen, in order that they shall combine, andin their combination evolve heat, require to be distributed, and to bedistributed by the form of motion known as heat; deprive them of thisactivity, and they come into communion with themselves, are attractedto each other, and lose to the extent of this attraction their powerof combining with the molecules of other bodies for which they have anaffinity. In an analogous, but more obvious way, we may see the sameeffect of motion in the microscopic examination of blood. In theblood, while it is circulating briskly in its vessels, there aredistributed through it, without contact with each other, the millionsof oxygen carriers called blood corpuscles. In the circulation in thefree channels of the body, the arteries and veins, it is motion thatkeeps these corpuscles apart; we draw a drop of blood and let it cometo rest on the microscope glass, and as the motion ceases theseparated corpuscles run together, and adhere so firmly that we cannoteasily separate them without their disintegration. If we were able todrive them in this state round the body, through the vessels, theywould not combine readily with the tissues; they have, in fact, forfeited the condition necessary for such combination. So with theoxygen they carry; when its invisible molecules are deprived of theforce called heat, which is motion, they do not readily combine withnew matter. But perfect combination of oxygen and carbon in the bloodis essential to every act of life. In the constant clash of moleculeof oxygen with molecule of carbon in the blood lies the mainspring ofall animal motion; the motion of the heart itself is secondary tothat. Destroy that union, however slightly, and the balance is lost, and the animal body is, in a plain word, _ill_. 

Cold or decreased temperature, below a given standard, which for sakeof comparison we may take at a mean of 40° Fahr. , reduces thiscombination of oxygen and carbon in blood. In my Lettsomian lecturesto the Medical Society of London, delivered in 1860, I entered veryfully into this subject, and illustrated points of it largely byexperiment. Since then I have done more, and although I have not timehere to state the details of these researches, I will epitomize theprincipal facts. I found then that, by exposing blood in chambers intowhich air can pass in and out, the blood could be oxidized attemperatures of 70° if the distribution of air and blood wereeffectually secured, and I also found a proper standard of oxidationfrom a proper temperature. Afterward I proceeded to test forcombination at lower temperatures, and discovered a graduallydecreasing scale until I arrived at 40° Fahr. , when efficientcombination ceased. Of course, my method was a very crude imitation ofnature, but it was sufficient to show this fair and reliable result, that the oxidation of blood decreases as the temperature of the oxygendecreases. 

From this point I went to animal life itself. I exposed animals topure cold oxygen and to cold atmospheric air, and compared the resultswith other experiments in which animals of similar weight were exposedto warm air and warm oxygen. The facts gleaned were most important, for they proved conclusively that the products of combustion, that isto say, the products resulting from the union of oxygen and carbon, were reduced in proportion as the temperature of the oxygen wasreduced. In the course of this inquiry another singular andinstructive fact was elicited. It has been long known that at ordinarytemperature, say 60°, pure neutral oxygen does not support animal lifeso well as oxygen that is diluted with nitrogen. In the nitrogen themolecules of oxygen are more freely distributed under the influence ofmotion, that is the meaning of the observed fact. What, then, would bethe respective influence of low and high temperatures on therespiration of pure oxygen? To settle this question, animals of thesame size and weight were placed in equal measures of oxygen gas andcommon air at a temperature of 30° Fahr. , and with the inevitableresult that the animal in the pure oxygen ceased to respire one-thirdsooner than did the animal in common air. Carrying the inquiryfurther, I found that if the oxygen gas were warmed to 50° Fahr. , therespiration was continued six times as long as in the previousexperiment, while if the warming were carried to 70°, it was sustainedtwenty-four times as long. I reversed the experiment; I made oxygenwith cold produce anæsthetic sleep in a warm-blooded animal. 

I need not carry this argument further; it is the easiest of thedemonstrative facts of physiological science that reduction oftemperature lessens the combining power of oxygen for blood, andtherewith causes a reduction of animal force, and a tendency to arrestof that force, which, in the end, means _death_. 

MECHANICAL COLD. 

The third element in the action of cold is more purely mechanical, andthis, though in a sense secondary, is of immense import. When anybody, capable of expansion by heat, that is to say, by radiant motionof its own particles, is reduced in temperature, it loses volume, contracts, or shrinks. The animal body is no exception to this rule; aring that will fit tightly to the warm finger will fall off the samefinger after exposure to cold. The whole of the soft parts shrink, andthe vessels contract and empty themselves of their blood. Cold appliedto the skin in an extreme degree blanches the skin, and renders itinsensible and bloodless, so that if you prick it it does not bleed, neither does it feel. In cases where the body altogether is exposed toextreme cold this shrinking of the external parts is universal; thewhole surface becomes pale and insensible; the blood in the smallvessels superficially placed is forced inward upon the heart andvessels of the interior organs; the brain is oppressed with blood;sleep, or coma, as it is technically called, follows, and at last lifeis suspended. 

In exposure to the lowest wave of temperature in this country theseextreme effects are not commonly developed; but minor effects arebrought out which are most significant. In particular, the effect onthe lungs is strongly marked. The capillary vessels of the lungs, making up that fine network which plays over the computed six hundredmillions of air vesicles, undergo paralysis when the cold air enters, and in proportion as such obstruction from this cause is decisive, theblood that should be brought to the air vesicles is impeded, and theprocess of oxidation is mechanically as well as chemically suppressed. The same contraction is also exerted on the vessels of the skin, driving the blood into the interior and better protected organs. Hencethe reason why on leaving a warm room to enter a cold frosty air thereis an immediate action of the visceral organs from pressure of bloodon them, and not unfrequently a tendency to diarrhoea from temporarycongestion of the digestive tract. Three factors are at work, in fact, whenever the low wave of temperature affects the animal body;abstraction of heat from the body, beyond what is natural; arrest ofchemical action and of combustion; paralysis of the minute vesselsexposed to the cold. 

COMBINED EFFECTS. 

We cannot view the extent of change in the organic life induced by thelow wave of heat without seeing at once the sweep of mischief whichexposure to the wave may effect. It exerts an influence on healthylife in the middle-aged man, and I know of no disease which it doesnot influence disastrously. Is the healthy man exhausted, it favorsinternal congestion; has he a weak point in the vascular system of hisbrain, it renders that point liable to pressure and rupture, withapoplexy as the sequence; is he suffering from bronchial disease, andobstruction, already, in his air passages, here is a means by whichthe evils are doubled; has he a feeble, worn-out heart, it is unableto bear the pressure that is put upon it; has he partial obstructionof the kidney circulation, he is threatened with complete obstruction;is he indifferently fed, he is weakened generally. It is from thisextent of action that the mortality of all diseases runs up so fastwhen the low wave of heat rolls over the population, affecting, as wehave seen, the feeblest first. 

Another danger sometimes follows which is remote, but may be fatal, even to persons who are in health. It is one of the best known factsin science that when a part of the surface of the body has beenexposed long to cold, the greatest risk is run in trying suddenly towarm it. The vessels become rapidly dilated, their coats relax, andextreme congestion follows. But what is true of the skin is trueequally, and with more practical force, of the lungs. A man, a littlebelow par, goes out when the wave of temperature is low, and feelsoppressed, cold, weak, and miserable; the circulation through hislungs has been suppressed, and he is not duly oxidizing; he returns toa warm place, he rushes to the fire, breathes eagerly and long theheated air, and adds to the warmth by taking perchance a cup ofstimulant; then he goes to bed and wakes in a few hours with what iscalled pneumonia, or with bronchitis, or with both diseases. What hashappened? The simple physical fact of reaction under too sudden anexposure to heat after exposure to cold. The capillaries of the lungshave become engorged, and the circulation static, so that there mustbe reaction of heat, inflammation, before recovery can occur. Nearlyall bronchial affections are induced in this manner, not always nornecessarily in the acute form, but more frequently by slow degrees, byrepetition and repetition of the evil. Colds are often taken in thissame way, from the exposed mucous surfaces of the nose and throatbeing subjected first to a chill, then to heat. 

The wave of low temperature affecting a mixed population findsinevitably a certain number of persons of all ages and conditions onwhom to exert its power. It catches them too often when they leastexpect it. An aged man, with sluggish heart, goes to bed and reclinesto sleep in a temperature, say, of 50° or 55°. In his sleep, were itquite uninfluenced from without, his heart and his breathing wouldnaturally decline. Gradually, as the night advances, the low wave ofheat steals over the sleeper, and the air he was breathing at 55°falls and falls to 40°, or it may be to 35° or 30°. What may naturallyfollow less than a deeper sleep? Is it not natural that the sleep soprofound shall stop the laboring heart? Certainly. The great narcoticnever travels without fastening on some victims in this wise, removingthem, imperceptibly to themselves, into sleep ending in absolutedeath. 

SOME SIMPLE RULES. 

The study of the physiological influence of the wave of lowtemperature, and of its relation to the wave of mortality, suggests afew rules, simple, and easily remembered. 

1. Clothing is the first thing to attend to. To have the body, duringvariable weather, such as now obtains, well enveloped from head tofoot in non-conducting substance is essential. Who neglects thisprecaution is guilty of a grievous error, and who helps the poor toclothe effectively does more for them than can readily be conceivedwithout careful attention to the subject we have discussed. 

2. In sitting-rooms and in bedrooms it is equally essential tomaintain an equable temperature; a fire in a bedroom is of first valueat this season. The fire sustains the external warmth, encouragesventilation, and gives health not less than comfort. 

3. In going from a warm into a cold atmosphere, in breasting the waveof low temperature, no one can harm by starting forth thoroughly warm. But in returning from the cold into the warm the act should always beaccomplished gradually. This important rule may readily be carried inmind by connecting it with the fact that the only safe mode of curinga frozen part is to rub it with ice, so as to restore the temperatureslowly. 

4. The wave of low temperature requires to be met by good, nutritious, warm food. Heat-forming foods, such as bread, sugar, butter, oatmealporridge, and potatoes, are of special use now. It would be againstscience and instinct alike to omit such foods when the body requiresheat. 

5. It is an entire mistake to suppose that the wave of cold isneutralized in any sense by the use of alcoholics. When a glass of hotbrandy and water warms the cold man, the credit belongs to the hotwater, and any discredit that may follow to the brandy. So far fromalcohol checking the cold in action, it goes with it, and therewithaids in arresting the motion of the heart in the living animal, because it reduces oxidation. 

6. Excessive exercise of the body, and overwork either of body or ofmind, should be avoided, especially during those seasons when a suddenfall of temperature is of frequent occurrence. For exhaustion, whetherphysical or mental, means loss of motion in the organism; and loss ofmotion is the same as loss of heat. 

One further consideration, suggested by the subject of this paper, hasreference to the bearing of the public toward the labors of themedical man in meeting the effects of the low wave of heat. Thepublic, looking on the doctor as a sort of mystical high priest whoought to save, may often be dissatisfied with his work. Let thedissatisfied think of what is meant by saving when there is a suddenfall in the thermometer. Let them recall that it is not bronchitis asa cause of death, nor apoplexy, nor heart disease, as such, that thedoctor is called on to meet; but an all-pervading influence whichoverwhelms like the sea, and against which, in the mass, individualeffort stands paralyzed and helpless. When the doctor is summoned themischief has at least commenced, and, it may be, is so far over thattreatment by mere medicines sinks into secondary significance. Thenhe, true minister of health, candid enough to bow humbly before thegreat and inevitable truth, and professing no specific cure by nostrumor symbol, can only try to avert further danger by teaching elementaryprinciples, and by making the unlearned the participators in his ownlearning. --_The Asclepiad. _

 * * * * *

THE TREATMENT OF GLAUCOMA. 

As this disease is so fatal to vision, any remedy that may besuggested to diminish the frequency of its termination in blindnesscannot fail to be read of with interest. M. Nicati, in the _Revuegenerate de clinique et de therapeutique_, has had marked success inthe treatment of glaucoma by drainage of the posterior chamber, eitherby sclerotomy or by sclero-iritomy, as the conditions of theindividual case may require. --_N. Y. Med. Jour. _

 * * * * *

A TWIN SCREW LAUNCH RUN BY A COMPOUND ENGINE. 

[Illustration: TWIN SCREW STEAM LAUNCH GEMINI. ]

The launch shown in our illustration was built in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada. She is 42 ft. Keel and 7 ft. Beam, and has 4ft. Depth of hold. She has an improved Clarke compound engine, alsoshown in an accompanying illustration, with a high pressure pistonfour inches in diameter, and a low pressure piston eight inches indiameter, the stroke being six inches, and the engine driving twotwenty-six inch screws. With 130 pounds of steam, and making 275revolutions per minute, the launch attains a speed of nine miles perhour, thus fully demonstrating the adaptability of this engine to thesuccessful working of twin screws. 

[Illustration: THE CLARKE COMPOUND TWIN-SCREW OPERATING ENGINE. ]

In the Clarke engine, the exhaust pipe from the high pressure cylinderleads to the steam chest of the low pressure cylinder, while thepiston in the upper cylinder is secured on a piston rod extendingdownward and connected with a piston operating in the lower cylinder, the exhaust pipe from the latter leading to the outside. On the pistonrod common to both cylinders is secured a crosshead pivotallyconnected by two pitmen with opposite crank arms on crank shaftsmounted to turn in suitable bearings on the base, which also supportsa frame carrying the low pressure cylinder, on top of which is a framesupporting the high pressure cylinder. The valves in the two steamchests are connected with each other by a valve rod connected at itslower end in the usual manner with the reversing link, operated fromeccentrics secured on one of the crank shafts. 

The crank arms stand at angles to each other, so that the crank shaftsare turned in opposite directions, and the position of the link issuch that it can be readily changed by the reversing lever tosimultaneously reverse the motion of the crank shafts. On the crankshafts are also formed two other crank arms pivotally connected byopposite pitmen with a slide mounted in vertical guideways, supportedon a frame erected on the base, the motion of the crank shafts causingthe vertical sliding motion of the slide traveling loosely in theguideways, and thus serving as a governor, as, in case one of thepropellers becomes disabled, the power of the shaft carrying thedisabled propeller is directly transferred to the other shaft throughthe crank arms, pitmen, and slide, and the other propeller is causedto do all the work. All the parts of the engine are within easy reachof the engineer, and there are so few working parts in motion that thefriction is reduced to a minimum. 

It is said that the plan of construction and the operation of thisengine have been carefully observed by practical engineers, and that, considering the dimensions of the boat, her speed, the smallness ofthe power, the ease with which she passes the centers, the absence ofvibration while running, and the very few working parts in motion, theengine is a notable success. She can be run at a very high velocitywithout injury or risk, and is designed to be very economical in costand in weight and space. This engine has been recently patented in theUnited States and foreign countries by Mr. James A. Clarke, of NewWestminster. 

 * * * * *

IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RIVER AND CANAL BARGES. 

By M. RITTER (KNIGHT) VON SZABEL, late Austrian Naval Officer, ofVienna. 

This innovation consists essentially in an arrangement by which twodistinct vessels, on being revolved round their longitudinal axis toan angle of 90°, can be combined into one single duplex vessel, or, toput it in different words, a larger vessel is arranged so that it canbe parted into two halves (called "semi-barges"), which can be usedand navigated with equal facility as two distinct vessels, as ifcombined into one. By the combination of the two semi-barges into oneduplex barge the draught of the vessel is nearly doubled, the ratioexisting between the draught of a loaded semi-vessel and the equallyloaded duplex vessels being 5:8 (up to 8. 5)

The advantage of the invention consists:

 1. In this difference of draught. 

 2. In the smaller width of the semi-vessel as compared with the duplex vessel. 

 3. In the fact that the combination and separation of the vessels can be effected, without the least disturbance of the cargo, in a minimum of time. 

It facilitates the utilization, to the highest possible extent, of thevarying conditions and dimensions of canal locks and rivers. 

The transition from rivers to canals, and from larger canals tosmaller ones, is expedited by the possibility afforded of, on thearrival at the locks, dividing the vessel in a space of a few minutes;of passing with the semi-vessel, singly, the various smaller locks orthe shallow canal, after which the two sections may be re-combined andnavigated again as one vessel. The process of "folding up" the twovessels will of course take longer than that of separation. 

On rivers, the channels of which are interrupted by sand banks andrapids, the same operation may be carried out, thus avoiding theexpense and delay necessitated by, perhaps, repeated "lightering, "i. E. , reduction of the cargo. 

Thus, the through traffic on large rivers like the Danube, with itsrepeated obstacles to navigation, such as the "iron gate, " and severalsand-banks known and dreaded by bargemen, would be materiallyfacilitated, any necessity for unloading part of the cargo beingobviated; moreover, such a duplex vessel composed of two semi-vesselsaffords the advantage of utilizing to a fuller degree the power oftraction, and one large vessel will be more convenient for trafficthan two smaller ones. 

Further, the mode of construction of the semi-vessels--both ends ofwhich are of a similar pattern--allows of their being navigated up anddown a water channel without the necessity of turning them round;provision having also been made for the fixing of the rudder at eitherend, which would therefore merely require exchanging. This is of someadvantage in narrow river beds and canals, and applies equally to theduplex vessel as to the single semi-vessels. 

[Illustration: FIG. 1. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 2. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 3. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 4. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 5. ]

Each semi-barge on its part is also constructed of two equalhalves--which are, however, inseparable--and as there is no distinctstem or stern, any one of these semi-vessels will fit any othersemi-vessels of the same dimensions, and can be attached to the sameby means of the coupling apparatus, and the two "folded up" into oneduplex vessel. This process does not present any materialdifficulties. The two single boats on being coupled together can bemade to lean over toward each other, by filling their lateral watercompartments, to such an extent that the further closing up can beeasily effected by means of specially constructed windlasses. In thecase of petroleum vessels the "folding up" operation is facilitated bythe circumstance that the petroleum may be made to serve the purposesof water ballast. 

As regards the size and tonnage of the new vessels, this will ofcourse depend on the local condition of the rivers and canals to benavigated. Thus a vessel destined for traffic on canals with locks ofvarying dimensions will have to be adapted to the dimensions of thesmallest existing lock. 

Supposing the size of the latter to be such as found in the case ofthe Rhine-Marne or the Rhine-Rhone Canal, or on the Neckar down toCannstadt, or in the Danube-Main Canal and some smaller canals in theWeser district, etc. , viz. :

 Length of lock 34. 5 meters. Width 5. 2 " Depth 1. 6 to 2. 0 meters. 

The semi-barge may be made 32 meters in length, 4 meters in breadthand 2. 5 meters total depth, and with a draught of 1. 5 meters will becapable of carrying a load of 100 tons (of 1, 000 kilos each). Correspondingly the duplex vessel will be able to carry 200 tons, witha minimum draught of 2. 4 meters and a width of 5. 4 meters, but, with afavorable height of the water level, the draught of the semi-barge maybe increased to 1. 65 and that of duplex vessels to 2. 7 meters. 

Where not limited to certain proportions by the dimensions of thelocks to be passed, the vessel may in the first place be made longer;the width and height may also be increased accordingly (provided thatthe proportion of breadth to width is kept within the ratio 4:2. 5), sothat the semi-barges may be constructed for a single burden up to 300tons, or 600 for the duplex vessel. 

As regards the nature of the cargo, parcels would not be admissible inthis instance, but any kind of homogeneous cargo would be suitablewhich would bear laying over on one side. 

Thus this style of vessel would be well adapted for petroleum tankvessels, for the transport of all kinds of cereals, flour, coffee, andsugar in sacks--these latter being held in position by an arrangementof planking and boards so as to prevent any overturning of the goodson the vessels being folded up or taken apart. Similarly in the caseof a cargo of loose grain or other loose produce, the same must beprevented from being upset by a kind of wooden casing. 

Two semi-vessels loaded with different cargoes may be coupledtogether, provided that there is not too much difference between theirrespective draughts. Slight differences may be balanced by the watercompartments being filled to a greater or smaller extent. 

The peculiar position of the hatches allows of loading thesemi-vessels separately as well as when coupled together. 

If there is for the time being no necessity for using the vessels intheir capacity of separate and duplex barges, any kind of cargo mightbe loaded that does not require large hatches. 

The vessels, on account of their more complicated construction, willbe somewhat more expensive, but wherever the advantage offered by themoutweighs the extra expenditure, they can be used with success. 

The innovation might be of particular importance where a new canalsystem is being constructed, since the latter might be subdivided intomain canals and branch canals--similarly as in the case of ordinaryand narrow gauge railways--the main canal being built of a largersection and with larger locks to suit the duplex barges, while thebranch canals could be planned of smaller dimensions calculated tosuit the semi-barge. Thus the first cost of such a canal system wouldbe materially reduced as compared with a canal installation of oneuniform section throughout. 

Likewise in mountainous districts with rock soil it would be animportant consideration whether a canal had to be blasted out of thesolid rock or a tunnel cut, in dimensions suitable for a vessel of 6or of 14 square meters section below the water line. 

In this case, even in certain portions of a main canal--where rendereddesirable by the rocky nature of the ground--a smaller section mightbe adopted, which would only be large enough for single semi-barges, so that the duplex vessel would in these instances have to be takenapart in the same way as in a branch canal. 

The saving to be effected by constructing a canal on this principle, as compared with a canal of one uniform section throughout, must beconsiderable, and the advantages of the arrangement are apparent. 

The appended figures will further illustrate the arrangement. Fig. 1shows two separate semi-barges ready to pursue their journeyindependently. Fig. 2 shows two semi-barges coupled together ready tobe "folded up" by means of ropes and specially constructedwindlasses--their lateral water compartments having previously beenfilled. Fig. 3 shows the duplex vessel after the "folding up"operation just described; and Figs. 4 and 5 show the cross section oftwo loaded semi-barges as outlined in Figs. 2 and 3. 

These Figs. 4 and 5 will also serve to illustrate the manner in whichsacks and loose produce should be loaded. Fig. 4 also shows the filledwater compartments, and the effect of their weight in making the boatslean toward each other. 

The materials most suited for this new style of vessel will be ironand steel such as generally used in the construction of canal andriver vessels. 

The new ship can be moved by any motor or driving implement, nor couldthere technically a great difficulty be found for making the boilersmove on a quadrant-like rail base in the shape of a circle segment'squarter, or for building a double screw steamer by combining twosingle screw propellers. 

May be a ship owner is willing to submit the innovations to anattempt, so much the more as there is running no great risk by doingso; for in case the ships should not answer the expectations, bothseparable as well as joinable, they can be used like single ships, without any further alteration being made, except as to the loadinggaps. 

The above invention is covered by United States patent No. 435, 107. Any further information may be had by addressing M. V. Szabel, ixBezirk, Beethovengasse 10, Wien, Austria. 

 * * * * *

WELDON'S RANGE FINDER. 

Colonel Weldon has recently considerably modified and improved hisingenious range finder, and we illustrate herewith from _Engineering_the form in which it is now manufactured. It consists of a metal box, the lid of which is shown open in the engraving, and on this lid arefitted three prisms which are the essential constituents of theinstrument. When the lid is closed, these, with the compass and level, also attached to the lid, lie inside the metal box, and are thusthoroughly protected. The upper prism marked 1 is a right-angled oneand is mounted with the right angle outward; looking into theleft-hand corner of this prism one will see in it, by doublereflection, objects lying on one's right hand. Below this is a secondprism with a principal angle of 88 deg. 51 min. 15 sec. , and belowthis a third with a principal angle of 74 deg. 53 min. 15 sec. 

A level and a compass are also mounted on the lid as shown. To use theinstrument the observer stands so that the object the range of whichis required lies on his right hand, and looking into the left-handcorner of the upper prism views it there by double reflection from theinternal faces of the prism. At the same time looking through theopening shown in the lid below the prism he selects some object, whichappears nearly in line with the image seen in the prism. He thenshifts his position till these two images coincide, in which caselines joining him with the two objects will make right angles witheach other. In Fig. 2, O is the object whose range is required, D theobject seen by direct vision, and A the position of the observer. Theobserver now marks his position on the ground, and shifting theinstrument looks into the left-hand corner of the second prism, whenhe again sees the image of the object, whose range is required, bydouble reflection, but lying now to the right of the object, D. Hethen retires, keeping in line with A and D, till he reaches B, whenthe two images again coincide; the lines joining them and the observernow make an angle of 88 deg. 51 min. 15 sec. Then in the triangle, OBA, OA = tan 88 deg. 51 min. 15 sec. X A B = 50 AB. The length AB iseasily paced, and the distance OA is 50 times this length. 

A longer base, and probably greater accuracy, can be obtained by usingthe second prism only, as indicated in Fig. 3, in which case thedistance of the object is 25 times the distance BC. This second prismis, however, best adapted for predicting the range of moving objects. Three observers are required. Two of them have finders, while theother measures the distance between the two. The first two observersseparate, and No. 2 takes a position such that the object is reflectedto one side of observer No. 1, whom he views by direct vision. As theobject continues to move, its image gets nearer and nearer No. 1, whoduring the whole of the time moves a little to one side or the other, so as to keep the image of the object constantly in line with No. 2. Just as the image of the object gets very near No. 1, No. 2 calls out"Ready, " the distance between the two observers is taken by the third, and when the image of the object actually falls on No. 1 its distanceis just 25 times the distance between them, and the guns set to thisrange are fired by word of command from No. 2. 

[Illustration: FIG. 2. & FIG. 3. ]

By using the third prism in conjunction with the second a still longerbase of one-fourth the distance of the object can be employed. Therange finder can also be used as a depleidoscope for transitobservations. For this purpose it is mounted on a block of wood bymeans of elastic band and leveled by the level on its lid, being atthe same time set in the meridian of the place. The lid is opened tomake an angle with the horizon equal to the latitude of the place ofobservation. On looking into the upper prism two images of the sunwill be seen on each side of the apex of the prism, which graduallyapproach each other as the sun nears the meridian, and finallycoincide as it passes it, the time of which being noted gives thelongitude of the place. 

Extensive trials of the instrument have been made both in this countryand in India, which agree in showing that the average error in usingthe instrument is about 2½ to 3½ per cent. 

 * * * * *

WHEELS LINKED WITH A BELL CRANK. 

[Illustration: FIG. 1]

There are four ways in which a connecting rod is made use of inmachine work. The first is in linking two wheels together that standin the same position, but a slight distance off centers. The rod inthis case has only to lead the driven wheel around by connecting itwith the driver, and consequently has only to endure a pulling strainin the direction of its length. The second is when the rod is calledupon to stand a pull and a push at every revolution. The third takesin the matter of the twisting strain that a rod can manage; but thefourth brings the hardest usage that a connecting rod can be calledupon to endure, and that is by making a lever of the rod to get adriving action by prying on a fulcrum in the center. In Fig. 1 is seena case of this kind taken from a machine in which a disk engine wasmade use of. The rod has a chance to turn about on its center from aball and socket joint, and engages with both wheels in nicely fittedjournals, and boxes set in line with the center of the socket joint, so that when one wheel turns, the rod pries the other around by usingthe rod as a lever and the ball joint for a fulcrum, giving a uniformleverage all the while, with no dead centers. 

[Illustration: FIG. 2. ]

To set this arrangement around at right angles, or where the shaftswill bring the wheels together, as for bevel gears, a bent lever armwould need to be used, as shown in Fig. 2, but the bend in theconnecting arms brings in another feature that must be provided, as itallows the wheels to turn either with or against each other, andleaves two places where the bent arms will come to a dead center. Whatis needed here is another element that will take all the twistingstrain on the rod and keep the pitch of both arms alike in everyportion of a revolution. To do this the ball and socket joint willneed to be replaced by a gambrel joint like a ship's compass, andarranging the bent driving arms as shown in Fig. 3; then the drivingend of the connecting frame will move about in a true circle, producing as great a tendency to turn the driving wheel in oneposition as another. In this arrangement there must be at least sixnicely fitted journals and their bearings, four of which will berequired to take care of the forked connecting rod that joins thewheels together. Besides all this the bearings must all line up withthe same center that the shafts are centered from or there will be a"pinch" somewhere in the system. It may seem at first that there mustbe more or less end-on movement provided for, and that the bearingsshould be spherical; but that it is not the case will be noticed whenall the points are understood to be working from one center similar tothat provided for in bevel gears. --_Boston Journal of Commerce. _

[Illustration: FIG. 3. ]

 * * * * *

THE DECORATIVE TREATMENT OF NATURAL FOLIAGE. [1]

 [Footnote 1: Lectures before the Society of Arts, London, 1891. ]

By HUGH STANNUS. 

_Lecture I. _

§ 1. --THE ELEMENTS OF DECORATION. 

The chief impelling Motives which have caused that treatment ofobjects which is now termed _Decorative_, have been:

 (a) That necessitated by the Usage, which is FUNCTIONAL;

 (b) That resulting from the Instinct to please the eye, which is ÆSTHETIC;

 (c) That arising from the Desire to record or to teach, which is the DIDACTIC motive;

The ÆSTHETIC instinct of the early peoples was gratified by:

 (a) The _forms_ of their weapons or tools;

 (b) The _patterns_ with which they are decorated;

 (c) The _imitation_ of the surrounding animals, e. G. The Deer scratched on the horn at the British Museum. 

Imitation was afterward applied to the vegetable creation; and much ofwhat is termed Ornament was derived from that class of elements. 

The ELEMENTS OF DECORATION are the material used by the Artist. Theymight be considered to include everything that is visible; but sinceDecoration is a result of the æsthetic instinct, the field is narrowedto such as are pleasing _at the first glance_. And the selection isfurther limited to such as are suitable to the shape and size ofobjects. 

They may be classified according to their relative Dignity, asfollows:

 The Human form, Animal forms, Natural foliage, Artificial objects, Artificial foliage, and Geometrical figures. 

§ 2. --THE TWO KINDS OF FOLIAGE. 

A Distinction is made between natural and artificial foliage. Theyhave much in common; and consequently many have supposed that ourWestern artificial foliage is merely a very-much-conventionalizedversion of natural foliage. The supposition is correct with regard toEastern Pattern work, but not in Western Architectural ornamentation. 

A simple generalization may make this clear. The ordinary stockfoliage of the Ornamentist was evolved in connection with:

 (In the West) (In the East) ARCHITECTURE, TEXTILES, as in Greece. As in Persia. 

Hence the primary Elements of decoration were derived from:

 (In the West) (In the East) GEOMETRICAL LINES, NATURAL FLOWERS and LEAVES, e. G. The meander, spiral, etc. E. G. The pine, pomegranate, etc. 

Further, it may be observed that the Method of treating these Elementshas been different:

 (In the West) (In the East) The Geometrical lines The natural foliage was were enriched by the introduction codified by the introduction of the details of of Geometrical arrangement; Natural vegetation; thus thus becoming becoming gradually more gradually more _naturalesque_. _artificial_. 

An APPROXIMATION between the two treatments, sometimes appears; butthe two kinds--Artificial, and Natural--are essentially different inorigin; and should be kept distinct in their application. 

This approximation may be shown, in a tabular arrangement, thus:

GEOMETRY........................................................... NATURE

The patterns are merely The plants are copied as straight lines, dots, and accurately as possible. Portions of circles. 

 The lines become stems. The plant is applied without repetition. 

 Leaves are added to the Repetition is used with the stems. Plants. 

 Serration is added to the Weaving economy induces leaf-edge. Symmetry. 

 Similarity of serrated Symmetry induces Geometrical leaf-edge to the Akanthos Severity, and the Omission plant, is observed; of all details of the Imitation becomes more original plant which are not direct; and this artificial easily worked in connection foliage becomes termed with geometrical "Acanthus. " arrangement. 

 Flowers generally circular The Flowers and Leaves in mass-shape, are added (_only_) survive; the growth at the ends of the spiral of the stems is forgotten; stems. And tradition does the rest. 

§ 3. --APPLICATION OF THE TWO KINDS. 

Each of these two kinds of foliage has its own proper use. Artificialfoliage is appropriate to the enrichment of Architecture; and Naturalfoliage to those objects which are not architectural, but are termed"movables, " including under this term, Furniture, and more especiallyHangings and other applications of the Textile art. 

This may be seen on comparing the two columns below, of which the L. H. One refers to Architecture, and the R. H. One to Natural foliage. 

 (Architecture) (Natural foliage) RULES: Governed by severe Exhibits _apparent_ playful rules of Repetition, Freedom. There _are_ Axiality, Symmetry, etc. , underlying Rules, which which are apparent to are detected by the scientific the passer-by. Hence Botanist; but these Artificial foliage, being are not seen by the casual regular in its structure, observer. Is more appropriate than the (apparently) irregular growth of Natural foliage. CHARACTERISTICS: Rigidity and Stability. Elasticity and Tremulousness in every breeze. 

 LINES OF COMPOSITION: Geometrical lines. In determinate curves, The geometrical lines which are very subtile, and spirals of Artificial and varied, and therefore foliage demand an unmoving suitable to a hanging and surface for proper view. Swaying material. 

 The curves of Nature They would generally be spoiled are not spoiled when on a if not on a plane surface. Folded material. 

 DISTRIBUTION: Symmetrical. The Balanced. The growth symmetry of artificial of natural foliage is generally foliage is appropriate to symmetrical; but that of Architecture. This is not apparent. 

 BEAUTY: Depends on _form_, with More appropriate to objects color as a secondary adjunct. Which depend on _color_ for their principal charm. 

There have been waves of the desire to introduce Natural foliage intoArchitecture (e. G. In the "Decorated period" of Gothic architecture);but the Artificial elements have always proved too strong, and the twohave never mixed. In Architecture, everything has three dimensions;and the artificial foliage is carved with leaves, etc. , of a suitablethickness: in Natural foliage the tenuity of leaves, etc. , is suchthat it cannot be reproduced. Even in the architraves round theglorious doors of Florence the natural foliage is not always asuccess; and where Ghiberti has stopped short in the ductile bronze, it is not probable that the modern carver will succeed in stone. Itmay therefore be suggested that the close imitation of Natural foliageshould be confined to objects of _two_ dimensions, i. E. , to planesurfaces and figured materials. 

This selection of the Elements of Decoration, according to theirassociation, is analogous to the selection made use of by the Poet, from the words and ideas, which are his Materials. It will be observedthat, as on a Classic or Heroic subject, the choice is of learnedwords and classical ideas, and on a Domestic or Pastoral one, simplewords and homely similes are used--so, in conjunction with the severeforms of Architecture, the formal character of artificial foliage issuitable; and for decorating Textiles and other movable Accessories, the Natural foliage, with which the earth is clothed and beautified, is appropriate. 

ENRICHMENT OF SURFACE may be beautiful for one reason; IMITATION OFNATURE is beautiful for another. When imitations of natural foliageare introduced decoratively on a surface, then may it be twicebeautiful--first, in the _principles_ according to which thedistribution is arranged; and secondly, because of the _elements_which are worked in being beautiful in themselves. Geometricalelements might be so used as to serve the first end, but can neverfulfill the second: Storiation fulfills the second; but its increaseof interest absorbs the first. 

This course of Lectures is intended to treat of Natural foliage, leaving Artificial foliage to be dealt with at another opportunity. Itis not Historical. The History of the Decorative treatment of Naturalfoliage, showing its evolution in the past, is a large and interestingtheme; but, unless this were accompanied by critical remarks based ongiven principles, the method might be barren of results. Tradition isnot to be undervalued; but the student should be led to Traditionthrough Principles. 

It is further intended more especially to apply to the æsthetic use. When natural foliage is used Æsthetically (i. E. , decoratively), thenthe Shape of the surface should govern the Mass shape of the foliage, and there should be Parallelism between them (see § 29). When usedDidactically (i. E. , symbolically), then the foliage may be treatedmore freely. 

§ 4. --THE FOUR TREATMENTS. 

There are, broadly speaking, four methods of treating Natural foliage. These may be arranged in a Chart, according to their relation to thetwo poles of Art and Science; from Realism (which is all Art and noScience) to the "Botanical Analysis" method (in which is a littleScience but no Art), thus:

The first two of these methods are Artistic and legitimate: the othersare inartistic and misleading. Before treating of the artistic methodsit will be well to clear the ground by dismissing the others. 

 ART POLE.......................................... SCIENCE POLE

 Realism | Conventionalism | Disguised | Botanical (See § 10). | (See § 14). | Artificialism | Analysis | | (See § 6). | (See § 5). 

§ 5. --THE BOTANICAL ANALYSIS TREATMENT. 

In this method the student was taught (i) to draw each plant with theStem _straightened out_, the Leaves _flattened out_, and the Flowersrepresented as in _side elevation_ or _plan_. (ii) The Flowers werefurther _pulled in pieces_, and the Petals were _flattened out_ in amanner similar to the Entomologists' practice of displaying their"specimens" scientifically. Often, also (iii) the Stems and Buds were_cut through_; and "patterns" were made with the Sections. 

With regard to the first of these practices (i): it should be observedthat much of the beauty of appearance of natural foliage results fromthe variety of view, the subtile curvature, and the foreshortening, asseen in perspective; and that to sacrifice all these for the sake of a_diagram_ would be a wasted opportunity. 

With regard to the other practices (ii) and (iii): it is obvious thatthese statements of the facts of the plant are useful as a part of theScience of Botany; but can no more be considered as making Decorationthan Anatomical diagrams can be looked upon as Pictures. Someknowledge of external Botany is useful to a Pattern artist as someknowledge of external Anatomy is useful to the Pictorial artist. Ineach of these cases, the Science, which discovers and records facts, is subservient to its sister, Art, which uses the facts to interpretappearances; and, when scientific diagrams are put forth as Art, theScience is in its wrong place: it has then been treated as if it werethe Building instead of being only the Scaffolding; and the results ofsuch attempts cannot be considered as complete or final. 

Examples of this method are given in Figs. 1 and 2. It was officiallyencouraged about twenty-five years ago; and books like "Plants, theirNatural Growth and Ornamental Treatment, " and "Suggestions in FloralDesign, " both by F. Edward Hulme, F. L. S. , etc. , show it at its best. 

[Illustration: FIG. 1. ]

In criticising this method, there is no desire to cast any slight uponthose who were responsible for it. They were groping in the dark, anddid the best they knew, according to their lights. But Japanese workwas not known at that time, and, but for that, the Pattern artist ofto-day might still be occupied in pinning leaves and flowers againstthe wall. It was, moreover, a protest against the Cabbage Rose on theHearth rug, that some may still remember with shuddering. 

[Illustration: FIG. 2. ]

§ 6. --THE DISGUISED ARTIFICIALITY TREATMENT. 

In this method the student was taught to sketch out what he consideredto be good Curves and Spirals; and then (i) to bend the selected plantso that its stem might coincide with them, regardless of its ownproper natural growth; or (ii) to deck out the first drawn spiralswith the leaves and flowers of the selected plant. 

With regard to the first of these practices: it is much more foolishthan the Analysis method; and is little short of blasphemy against theGreat Designer. He has determined how each plant shall grow: how, within limits of cultivation, its stems and branches shall separate, each to seek its own share of air and sunshine; how its leaves shallstand erect or droop, each according to its function; and always inperfect beauty. And further: how each family of plants shall have itsown method of branching; which is as much a part of its character andoften of its beauty as are the Flowers and Leaves. 

The second practice, which generally produces a result similar to thefirst, is quite as unthinking. It is more often practiced; and isresponsible for many of the labored and uninteresting designs whichare common. If the Pattern-artist deck-out the old worn-out and commonplace spirals with leaves and flowers borrowed from Nature--the resultis like the "voice of Jacob and the hands of Esau;" it is merely aDisguise of Artificiality. 

An example of this method is given in Fig. 3. It was generallypracticed in Germany; and books like "Das Vegetabile Ornamente, " by K. Krumbholz, show it at its best. 

[Illustration: FIG. 3. ]

If this treatment were universally followed--there would soon be anend to design with natural foliage. The spectator might observe oneborder which appeared to be a Rose, another a Tulip, the third aThistle, and the fourth a Fuchsia; and, on examination, discover thatthese were not Rose, Tulip, Thistle, and Fuchsia; but merely that veryartificial old friend--the Spiral-scroll--_in disguise_. 

An apologist for this method remarks:--" ... In such matters as theramification of plants, ... Nature is always making angles and elbows[_sic_] which we are obliged, in decorative treatment, to change intocurves for our purpose;... ". This opinion needs only to be applied toanimals in order to exhibit its absurdity; and with regard to plants, it will be seen that this tampering has not even the poor merit ofsuccess. 

§ 7. --NOTE ON SYMMETRY. 

A desire for Symmetry often accompanies these two treatments. This isa quality to be avoided whenever possible in Natural foliage design. The so-called "Turn-over patterns" are an economy in Weaving-design, but the economy is of the wrong kind. An artist should spend histhought to spare material or cost in working. When he spares his_thought_--making the least amount of thought cover the greatestamount of surface--then is his work worth to the world just what ithas cost him, i. E. , very little. 

So injurious is the influence of Symmetry in Natural foliage design, that it might almost be a test question--"Is the design symmetrical?"When the exigencies of Machine-reproduction necessitate this withNatural foliage--it is a hardship which the Artist regretfully accepts, and no one would willingly make a design for Hand-reproduction whichwas symmetrical; rather would he spend himself to insure the worthierresult which ensues from Balance. 

An example of Symmetry is given in Fig. 4; and of Balance in Fig. 5. Each panel contains two classes of Elements:--Natural foliage (i. E. , two branches of the Bay tree), and an Artificial object (i. E. , aRibbon which ties them). The lower Element (i. E. , the Ribbon) istreated symmetrically in both panels: the higher Element (i. E. , theBranches) are _symmetrical_ in the former panel, and _balanced_ in thelatter. This latter treatment, will be seen to be not only the moreinteresting, but the more like the infinite variety of Nature; whilethe former is a wasted opportunity, and contrary to Nature. 

[Illustration: FIG. 4. ]

The Student will observe by experience that the mind soon tires ofArtificiality, both in Curvature and in Symmetry; the lines of Naturehave a pleasant freshness and inexhaustible variety; and the _Natural_method of treating Nature is not only the most true, but also the mostbeautiful. 

[Illustration: FIG. 5. ]

§ 8. --REALISM AND CONVENTIONALISM: DEFINITIONS. 

REALISM--the result of _Realistic_ treatment, i. E. , the attempt torender the reproduction as like the reality as is possible, even tothe verge of deception--is the aim of the Pictorial-Artist. InPictures the surface appears to have been annihilated, and thespectator beholds the scene as if there were a hole through the wall. It is not the highest, and should not be the only aim in Art; but ithas always been sought for and admired. It requires perfectconditions, of materials and tools; i. E. , _complete Technicalappliances_. 

CONVENTIONALISM--the result of _incomplete Technical appliances_, andthe attempt to render so much of the Beauty of the original as ispossible, with due regard to their capabilities--is the aim of theDecorative-Artist. It is not the highest aim; though a necessary curbin Decorative-Art, both for the technical reason, and also as a resultof the Position or Function of the object. 

It will thus be seen that the two words, when used with regard tofoliage of any kind, refer to the _Method of representing it_, and notto its Kind or its manner of Growth. 

§ 9. --SCALES FROM REALISM TO CONVENTIONALISM. 

These two methods, when applied absolutely, form the twoextremes:--The most complete REALISM being at one end, and the mostlimited CONVENTIONALISM at the other. There are scales of gradualreduction between them, which may be shown on two charts:

(i) Reduction in the NUMBER OF PARTS which preserve their Realisticrendering. 

(ii) Reduction in the DEGREE OF REALISM through all parts. 

(i) According to the number of the features or parts of the designwhich are treated with less than realism. Thus there might be a panelrepresenting a Window-opening with an architectural framing, with aFlower-vase on the sill, and a Landscape-background. The first part tobe reduced in realistic rendering would be the Background, the secondwould be the Framing, leaving the third, the Flower-vase, as thesurvival. This is a Scale of reduction in _Number of Parts_. 

It may be shown, in tabular arrangement, thus:--

 REALISM............................................ CONVENTIONALISM. 

 COMPLETE PICTORIAL REALISM, in which all parts are realistically represented (see § 10). 

 SEMI-PICTORIAL REALISM, in which the Back-ground is reduced to a flat-tint, while all the remaining parts are realistically represented (see § 11). 

 DECORATIVE REALISM, in which the chief Feature (_only_) is realistically represented, and all the other parts are reduced to conventional renderings (see § 12). 

 COMPLETE CONVENTIONALISM, in which all parts are reduced to conventional renderings (see Conventionalism). 

Inasmuch as there is some realistic part remaining in each of thefirst three methods--these are classified under the heading ofREALISM. 

(ii) According to the Degree in which color, gradation, or shading, issacrificed, in consequence of the limited Means at the disposal of theArtist; resulting in the gradual departure from Realism to the mostsevere Conventionalism. The reduction is applied to all parts of thework. This is a scale of reduction in _Degree_. There are twoVarieties in each degree; and they are marked with italic letters. 

It may be shown, in tabular arrangement, thus:--

 REALISM............................................. CONVENTIONALISM. 

 COMPLETE REALISM, in which all parts are represented, in proper colors, and perfect gradation, with correct light and shade (see § 10). 

 FIRST DEGREE OF CONVENTIONALISM, in which all parts are represented: (a) By a reduced number of Pigments, the other qualities remaining; (b) By reduction in gradation and shading to Flat-tints of several pigments (see § 15). 

 SECOND DEGREE OF CONVENTIONALISM, in which all parts are represented: (c) By a reduction to Monochrome of color, with Gradation (_only_) remaining; (d) By reduction to Monochrome of White and Black, with Gradation (_only_) remaining (see § 16). 

 THIRD DEGREE OF CONVENTIONALISM, in which all parts are represented: (e) By reduction to a Flat-tint of one pigment on a ground of another; (f) By reduction to a Flat-tint of White on Black, or _vice versa_ (see § 17). 

 ULTIMATE CONVENTIONALISM, in which all parts are represented; (g) By reduction to Outline of several pigments; (h) Reduction to Outline of one pigment (see §18). 

Inasmuch as Realism ceases so soon as any reduction in the threequalities (of color, gradation, and shadow) is introduced; and thetreatment becomes more Conventional in each method after thefirst--these are classified under the heading of CONVENTIONALISM. 

[There is an analogous scale of reduction in Form, from theComplete-relief of an isolated Statue to the Flatness of aFloor-plate; but this does not belong to the present subject. ]

 * * * * *

THE CYCLOSTAT. 

The various processes commonly employed for the observation of bodiesin motion (intermittent light or vision) greatly fatigue the observer, and, as a general thing, give only images, that are difficult toexamine. We are going to show how Prof. Marc Thury, upon makingresearches in a new direction, has succeeded in constructing anapparatus that permits of the continuous observation of a body havinga rapid rotary motion. The principle of the method is of extremesimplicity. 

[Illustration: FIGS. 1, 2, AND 3. --DIAGRAMS EXPLANATORY OF THEPRINCIPLE OF THE CYCLOSTAT. ]

Let us consider (Fig. 1) a mirror, A B, reflecting an object, C D, andrevolving around it: when the mirror will have made a half revolution, the image, C' D', of the object will have made an entire one. Thefigure represents three successive positions of the mirror, distant byan eighth of a revolution. The structure of the image shows that ithas made a quarter revolution in an opposite direction in each of itspositions. But if (Fig. 2) the body itself has revolved in the samedirection with an angular velocity double that of the mirror, itsimage will have described a circle in remaining constantly parallelwith itself. The image will be just as insensible as the objectitself; but it is very easy to bring it back to a state of rest. 

Let us suppose (Fig. 3a) the observer placed at O, the revolvingobject at T, the axis of rotation being this time the line O F. Let usplace a mirror at A B and cause it to revolve around the same axis;but, instead of looking at the image directly in the mirror, let usreceive it, before and after its reflection upon A B, upon twomirrors, C D and D E, inclined 30° upon the axis of rotation of thesystem; the image, instead of being observed directly in the mirror, AB, will always be seen in the axis, O F, and will consequently appearimmovable. 

The same result may be obtained (Fig. 3b) with a rectangular isoscelesprism whose face, A B, serves as a mirror, while the faces, A C and BD, break the ray--the first deflecting it from the axis to throw it onthe mirror, and the second throwing it back to the axis of rotation, which is at the same time the line of direction of the sight. 

The principle of the instrument, then, consists in causing therevolution, around the axis of rotation of the object to be observed, of a mirror parallel with such axis, and in observing it in the axisitself after sending the image to it by two reflections or tworefractions. In reality, the entire instrument is contained in thesmall prism above, properly mounted upon a wheel that may be revolvedat will; and, in this form, it may serve, for example, to determinethe rotary velocity of an inaccessible axis. For this it will sufficeto modify its velocity until the axis appears to be at rest, and toapply the revolution counter to the wheel upon which the prism ismounted, or to another wheel controlling the mechanism. 

But Mr. Thury has constructed a completer apparatus, the _cyclostat_(Fig. 4), which, opposite the prism, has a second plate whoseactuating wheel is mounted upon the same axis as the first, thegearing being so calculated that the prism shall revolve with twiceless velocity than the second plate. This latter, observed through theprism, will be always seen at rest, and be able to serve as a supportfor the object that it is desired to examine. 

[Illustration: FIG. 4. --THE CYCLOSTAT. 

1. General view of the apparatus. 2. Section of the ocular, O. ]

The applications are multitudinous. In the first place, in certaindifficult cases, it may serve for the observation of a swingingthermometer, which is then read during its motion. Then it may beemployed for the continuous observation of a body submitted tocentrifugal force. Apropos of this, we desire to add a few words. Mostof the forces at our disposal, applied to a body, are transmitted frommolecule to molecule, and produce tension, crushing, etc. Gravity andmagnetic attraction form an exception; their point of application isfound in all the molecules of the body, and they produce pressures andslidings of a peculiar kind. But these forces are of a very limitedmagnitude; but it might nevertheless be of great interest to amplifythem in a strong measure. Let us, for example, suppose that a magicianhas found a means of increasing the intensity of gravity tenfold inhis laboratory. All the conditions of life would be modified to theextent of being unrecognizable. A living being borne in this spacewould remain small and squat. All objects would be stocky and bespread out in width or else be shattered. Viscid or semi-solid bodies, such as pitch, would rapidly spread out and take on a surface asplane and smooth as water under the conditions of gravity upon theearth. On still further increasing the gravity, we would see the softmetals behaving in the same way, and lead, copper and silver would inturn flow away. These metals, in fact, are perfectly moulded under astrong pressure, just like liquids, through the simple effect of theattraction of the earth applied to all their molecules. Upon causingan adequate attractive force to act upon the molecules of metals theywill be placed under conditions analogous to those to which they aresubmitted in strong presses or in the mills that serve for coiningmoney. The sole difference consists in the fact that the action ofgravity is infinitely more regular, and purer, from a physicalstandpoint, than that of the press or coining mill. Through verysimple considerations, we thus reach the principle which wasenunciated, we believe, by the illustrious Stokes, that our idea ofsolid and liquid bodies is a necessary consequence of the intensity ofgravity upon the earth. Upon a larger or smaller planet, a certainnumber of solid bodies would pass to a liquid state, or inversely. Letus return to the cyclostat. In default of gravity, centrifugal forcegives us a means of realizing certain conditions that we would find inthe laboratory of our magician. The cyclostat permits us to observewhat is going on in that laboratory without submitting ourselves toforces that might cause us great annoyance. We have hitherto beencontent to put poor frogs therein and study upon them the effect ofthe central anæmia and peripheral congestion produced on theirorganism by the unrestrained motion of the liquids carried along bycentrifugal force. The results, it seems, have proved verycurious. --_La Nature_. 

 * * * * *

MERCURY WEIGHING MACHINE. 

We illustrate herewith a novel type of weighing machine. Hitherto theweighing machines in common use have either been designed with somekind of steelyard apparatus, upon which weights could be moved todifferent distances from a fixed fulcrum, or springs have been soapplied as to be compressed to different degrees by different weightsput upon the scale pan, or table, of the machine. In other instancesmore complicated mechanism is used, and various movable counterpoisesare usually required in order to balance the moving parts of themachine. 

[Illustration]

The type of machine which we now illustrate has been recently broughtout by Mr. G. E. Rutter, and the system has given very satisfactoryresults with platform weighing machines. The engraving illustrates aform of balance which may be applied to strength testing machines, orfor any work where an apparatus of the type of a Salter's balancewould be of use. It is simple in construction, and consists of a tubeA closed at the bottom and forming a reservoir for mercury. The bodywhich it is required to weigh is hung upon the hook B carried by thecrossbar C, which is connected by rigid rods to the upper part of thetube, and by means of the internal rods D is attached to the crosshead E, which works freely inside the tube A. The top part of the tubeis, as will be clearly understood from the illustration, cut away toallow of the descent of the rods. To the cross head E is attached thepiston F, which may be made of wood or of a hollow metal tube closedat the end, or other suitable material. It will be easily understoodthat when a weight is hung upon the hook B, the piston F is caused todescend into the mercury which rises in the annular space between thepiston and the tube. The weight of the volume of displaced mercury isproportional to the weight of the body hung upon the hook, and thebuoyancy of the piston in the mercury forms the upward force whichbalances the downward pull of gravity. When the apparatus is at restthe piston F descends into the mercury to such a distance as willbalance the weight of the rods, hook, and piston itself. If, now, thecross bar G, provided with a pointer H, be fixed to the rods, itshould at that time register zero, upon the scale J fixed to theoutside of the tube, and as the descent of the piston into the mercuryis directly proportional to the weight of the body attached to thehook B, the divisions of the scale will all be equal. It will thus beseen that the apparatus is extremely simple in theory, and it onlyremains to construct it in such a form that the mercury may not easilybe spilt in moving the instrument from place to place. This iseffected by causing the cross head E to fill the tube while workingfreely therein, and a small valve is arranged to allow for the passageof air. The cross bar G can be regulated upon the rods by means of setscrews. --_Industries. _

 * * * * *

REEFING SAILS FROM THE DECK. 

While this method may be applied to topsails and top-gallant-sails, Iespecially apply it to courses, which, being so difficult to reef theold way, may by this method be reefed from the deck in a few minutes. 

After several years of trial by myself and others, on voyages aroundCape Horn under all circumstances of weather, of sleet and snow, thismethod has always given the utmost satisfaction. 

[Illustration: REEFING SAILS FROM THE DECK. Front View. Rear View. ]

The average time required for reefing and setting was noted for fiveyears, being seven and one-half minutes. 

This trial was made on a mainsail, the yard being seventy-one feetlong, and reefyard sixty-six feet long, eleven inches diameter atcenter and nine at yard-arms. 

By reference to the drawing it will be seen that it is not necessaryto have clewgarnets or buntlines in reefing. The operation isperformed by easing of the sheet and hauling the lee reef-tacklefirst, also the midship reef tackle. 

When the yardarm of the reefspar is up at the lee side, the sailcannot sag to leeward when the tack is eased away. Now haul theweather reef-tackle likewise midship, snug up to the yard, belay alldown the tack, and sheet aft. 

As all the reef-tackles lead to the slings of the yard, there is noimpediment in swinging the yard when the reef-tackles are taut andbelayed. 

The slack sail will not chafe, as it remains quiet, but if so desiredmay be stopped up at leisure with only a few hands with stops providedfor that purpose. 

In case of a sudden squall the sail may be hauled up the usual way. The buntlines will draw the part of the sail below the reef well up onthe part above the reefyard, and remain becalmed, while the weight ofthe reefspar will prevent any slatting or danger of losing the sailany more than any other sail clewed up. 

In case there is steam power at hand, all three reef-tackles may behauled simultaneously, easing sheet and tack sufficiently to let thewind out of the sail without shaking. 

There are other advantages gained by this method; while itsessentials are positive, quick reefing from the deck in all weathers, it is also better reefed than by the old method. For by this newmethod the sail is not strained or torn, and the sail will wearlonger, not being subject to such straining. 

It may be carried longer, as the spar supports the sail like a band, especially an old sail. 

This method does not interfere with the use of the so calledmidship-tack, but change of putting on bands, from the leech of thesail at the reef to the center tack would be necessary. 

The weight of the spar may be considered by some as objectionable, (anold argument against double-topsail yards). The spar used for the reefmay be about one-half the diameter of the yard on which it is to beused. 

Such critics do not consider that a crew of men aloft on the yard areseveral times heavier than such a spar. 

L. K. MORSE. 

Rockport, Me. , Oct. 28, 1891. 

 * * * * *

A NEW PROCESS FOR THE BLEACHING OF JUTE. 

By Messrs. LEYKAM and TOSEFOTHAL. 

Jute is well known as a very cheap fiber, and its employment intextile industry is consequently both extensive and always increasing. Accompanying this increase is a corresponding one in the amount of oldwaste jute, which can be employed for the manufacture of paper. 

Up to the present time, only very little use has been made of jute forthe manufacture of thread and the finer fabrics, because thedifficulty of bleaching the fiber satisfactorily has proved a veryserious hindrance to its improvement by chemical means. All themethods hitherto proposed for bleaching jute are so costly that theycan scarcely be made to pay; and, moreover, in many cases, the jute isscarcely bleached, and loses considerably in firmness and weight, owing to the large quantities of bleaching agents which have to beapplied. 

In consequence of this difficulty, the enormous quantities of jutescraps, which are always available, are utilized in paper makingalmost entirely for the production of ordinary wrapping paper, whichis, at the best, of medium quality. In the well known work of Hoffmannand Muller, the authors refer to the great difficulty of bleachingjute, and therefore recommend that it be not used for making whitepapers. 

Messrs. Leykam and Tosefothal have succeeded in bleaching it, andrendering the fiber perfectly white, by a new process, simple andcheap (which we describe below), so that their method can be veryadvantageously employed in the paper industry. 

The jute fiber only loses very little of its original firmness andweight; but, on the other hand, gains largely in pliability andelasticity, so that the paper made from it is of great strength, andnot only resists tearing, but especially crumpling and breaking. 

The jute may be submitted to the process in any form whatever, eithercrude, in scraps, or as thread or tissue. 

The material to be bleached is first treated with gaseous chlorine orchlorine water, in order to attack the jute pigment, which is verydifficult to bleach, until it takes an orange shade. After havingremoved the acids, etc. , formed by this treatment, the jute is placedin a weak alkaline bath, cold or hot, of caustic soda, caustic potash, caustic ammonia, quicklime, sodium or potassium carbonate, etc. , or amixture of several of these substances, which converts the greatestpart of the jute pigment, already altered by the chlorine, into a formeasily soluble in water, so that the pigment can be readily removed bya washing with water. After this washing the jute can be bleached aseasily as any other vegetable fiber in the ordinary manner, by meansof bleaching powder, etc. , and an excellent fibrous material isobtained, which can be made use of with advantage in the textile andpaper industries. 

The application of the process may be illustrated by an example:

One hundred kilos. Of waste jute scraps are first of all treated inthe manner usually employed in the paper industry; 15 per cent. Ofquicklime is added, and they are treated for 10 hours at a pressure of1½ atmospheres. The scraps are then freed from water by means of ahydro-extractor, or a press, and finally saturated with chlorine in agas chamber for 24 hours or less, according to the requirements of thecase. Every 100 kilos. Of jute requires 75 kilos. Of hydrochloric acid(20° B. ) and 20 kilos. Of manganese peroxide (78-80 per cent. ). 

The jute then takes an orange color, and is subsequently washed in atank, a kilo. Of caustic soda being added per 100 kilos. Of jute; thisamount of alkali is sufficient to dissolve the pigment, which colorsthe water flowing from the washer a deep brown. After washing, thejute can be completely bleached by the use of 5-7 kilos. Of bleachingpowder per 100 kilos. Of jute. --_Mon. De la Teinture_. 

 * * * * *

THE INDEPENDENT--STORAGE OR PRIMARY BATTERY--SYSTEM OF ELECTRIC MOTIVEPOWER. [1]

 [Footnote 1: Abstract of a paper read before the American Streel Railway Association, Oct. 23, 1891. ]

By KNIGHT NEFTEL. 

Owing to a variety of causes, the system which was assigned to me atthe last convention to report on has made less material progress in acommercial way than its competitors. 

PRIMARY BATTERIES. 

So far, primary batteries have been applied only to the operation ofthe smallest stationary motors. Their application in the near futureto traction may, I think, be entirely disregarded. Were it not apurely technical matter, it might be easily demonstrated, with ourknowledge of electro-chemistry, that such an arrangement as anelectric primary battery driving a car is an impossibility. 

In view of the claims of certain inventors, I regret to be obliged tomake so absolute a statement; but the results so far have producednothing of value. 

SECONDARY BATTERIES. 

The application of secondary or storage batteries to electricaltraction has been accomplished in a number of cities, with a varyingamount of success. Roads equipped by batteries have now beensufficiently long in operation to allow us to draw some conclusions asto the practical results obtained and what is possible in the nearfuture. The advantages which have been demonstrated on Madison Avenue, in New York; Dubuque, Iowa; Washington, D. C. , and elsewhere, may besummarized as follows:

_First_. The independent feature of the system. The cars independentof each other, and free from drawbacks of broken trolley wires;temporary stoppages at the power station; the grounding of one motoraffecting other motors, and sudden and severe strains upon themachinery at the power station, such as frequently occur in directsystems; the absence of all street structures and repairs to the same, and the loss by grounds and leakages, are also very considerableadvantages, both as to economy and satisfactory operation. 

_Second_. The comparatively small space required for the powerstation. Each car being provided with two or more sets of batteries, the same can be charged at a uniform rate without undue strain on themachinery of the power station, and as it can be done more rapidlythan the discharge required for the operation of the motors, a lessamount of general machinery is necessary for a given amount of work. 

Another and important advantage of the system is the low pressure ofthe current used to supply the motors, and the consequent increaseddurability of the motor, and practically absolute safety to life fromelectrical shock. 

It has been demonstrated also that the cars can be easily handled inthe street; run at any desired speed, and reversed with far moresafety to the armature of the motor than in the direct system. Theincreased weight requires simply more brake leverage. 

The modern battery, improved in many of its details during the lastyear, is still an unknown quantity as to durability. There is the samedoubt concerning this as there was at the time incandescent lamps werefirst introduced. At that time some phenomenal records were made bylamps grouped with other lamps. 

Similarly, some plates appeared to be almost indestructible, whileothers, made practically in the same manner, deteriorate within a veryshort time. It is, consequently, very difficult to exactly and fairlyplace a limit on the life of the positive plates as yet. Speakingsimply from observation of a large number of plates of various kinds, I am inclined to put the limit at about eight months; though it isclaimed by some of the more prominent manufacturers--and undoubtedlyit is true in special cases--that entire elements have lasted tenmonths, and even longer. 

It must be remembered, however, that the jolting and handling to whichthese batteries are subjected, in traction work, increases thetendency to disintegrate, buckle and short circuit, and that therecord for durability for this application can never be the same asfor stationary work. A serious inconvenience to the use of batteriesin traction work is the necessary presence of the liquid in the jars. This causes the whole equipment to be somewhat cumbersome, and unlessarranged with great care, and with a variety of devices latelydesigned, a source of considerable annoyance. 

The connections between the plates, which formerly gave so muchtrouble by breaking off, have been perfected so as to prevent thisdifficulty, and the shape of the jars has been designed to prevent thespilling of the acid while the car is running. The car seats are nowpractically hermetically sealed, so that the escaping gases are notoffensive to the passengers. 

The handling of the batteries is an exceedingly importantconsideration. Many devices have been invented to render this easy andcheap. I have witnessed the changing of batteries in a car, one setbeing taken out and a charged set replaced by four men in the shortspace of three minutes. This is accomplished by electrical elevators, which move the batteries opposite the car, and upon the platforms ofwhich the discharged elements are again charged. 

The general conclusions which the year's experience and progress haveafforded us an opportunity to make may be summarized as follows:

Storage battery cars are as yet applicable only to those roads whichare practically level; where the direct system cannot be used, andwhere cable traction cannot be used; and applicable to those roadsonly at about the same cost as horse traction. 

I feel justified in making this statement in view of the guaranteeswhich some of the more prominent manufacturers of batteries arewilling to enter into, and which practically insure the customeragainst loss due to the deterioration of plates: leaving the questionof the responsibility of the company the only one for him to lookinto. 

 * * * * *

ON THE ELIMINATION OF SULPHUR FROM PIG IRON. [1]

 [Footnote 1: Paper read before the Iron and Steel Institute. ]

By J. MASSENEZ, Hoerde. 

If in the acid and the basic Bessemer processes the molten pig iron istaken direct to the converter from the blast furnace, there is thedisadvantage that the running of the individual blast furnaces canhardly ever be kept so uniform as it is desirable should be the casein order to secure regularity in the converter charges. In themanufacture of Bessemer steel the variable proportions of silicon andof carbon here come chiefly under consideration, while in the basicprocess it is chiefly the varying proportions of silicon and ofsulphur; and in cases where either ores containing variablepercentages of phosphorus, or puddle slags, are treated, the varyingproportion of phosphorus has also to be considered. This disadvantageof the irregular composition of the individual blast furnace chargesis obviated in a simple and effective manner by W. R. Jones's mixingprocess. In this as much pig iron from the various blast furnaces of aworks as is sufficient for a large number of Bessemer charges, sayfrom seven to twelve charges, or, in other words, from 70 to 120 tonsof pig iron, is placed in a mixing vessel. Only a portion of pig ironplaced in the mixer is taken for further treatment for steel, whilenew supplies of pig iron are brought from the blast furnace. In thisway homogeneity sufficient for practical purposes is obtained. 

In the treatment of phosphoric pig iron, which is employed in theproduction of basic steel, it is, however, not sufficient merely toconduct the molten pig iron in large quantities to the converter in amixed condition, but the problem here is to render the proportion ofsulphur also independent of the blast furnace process to such anextent that the proportion of sulphur in the finished steel is so lowthat the quality of the steel is in no way influenced by it. Thequestion of desulphurization has, especially of late years, become ofthe utmost importance, at any rate for the iron industry of theContinent. By the great strike of 1889, the German colliers havesucceeded in greatly improving their wages; and with this increase inwages not only is there a distinct diminution in the amount of coalwrought, but, unfortunately, the coal produced since then is raised ina much less pure condition than was formerly the case. Consequentlythe proportion of sulphur in the coke has considerably increased. Whereas formerly this proportion did not exceed one per cent. , it hasnow in many cases risen to 18 per cent. ; so that an unpleasant ratioexists between the wages of the workmen and the amount of sulphur inthe coal raised. It is therefore not remarkable that, even when oresfairly free from sulphur are treated, it easily happens that asulphureted pig iron is obtained. 

In order to effect satisfactory desulphurization, attention has beenbestowed on the fact that iron sulphide is converted by manganese intomanganese sulphide and iron. If sulphureted pig iron, poor inmanganese, is added in a fluid condition to manganiferous molten pigiron, poor in sulphur, the metal is desulphurized, and a manganesesulphide slag is formed. It may be urged that it does not seemnecessary to effect the desulphurization by means of the reaction ofthe manganese and iron sulphide outside of the blast furnace, as it ispossible, by suitably directing the blast furnace, by the employmentof manganiferous ores or highly basic slag, so to desulphurize theiron in the blast furnace itself that it would be unnecessary furtherto lower the percentage of sulphur. Every blast furnace manager, however, will have observed that, even with every precaution in theblast furnace practice, pig iron will often be obtained with so high apercentage of sulphur as to render it useless for the Bessemer acid orbasic processes. If the desulphurization in the blast furnace iscarried sufficiently far, it is always necessary to work the furnacehot, and thus to obtain hotter iron than is desirable for furthertreatment in the converter. On the other hand, the method of furtherdesulphurization outside the blast furnace, described in this paper, presents the double advantage that part of the blast furnace can bekept cooler, and thus lime and coke be saved, and that there is acertainty that no red-short charges are obtained in the treatment inthe converter, while the pig iron passes to the converter at asuitable temperature. 

[Illustration: FIGS. 1 through 5]

A further advantage presented by the direct process described in thispaper is that the Bessemer works is independent of the time at whichthe individual blast furnaces are tapped, as the pig iron required forthe Bessemer process can be taken at any moment from thedesulphurizing plant. In Hoerde, where the mixing and desulphurizingprocess has for a considerable time been regularly in use, it has beenfound that all the chief difficulties formerly encountered in themethod of taking the fluid pig iron direct from the various blastfurnaces to the converter have been obviated. At Hoerde the mixing anddesulphurizing plant shown in the accompanying engravings is employed. This apparatus holds 70 tons of pig iron. It is, however, advisable tohave an apparatus of greater capacity, say 120 tons. The apparatus hasthe shape of a converter, and the hydraulic machinery by which it ismoved is simple and effective. An hydraulic pressure of eightatmospheres is sufficient to set it in motion. The vessel is providedwith a double lining of firebricks of the same quality as those usedfor the lining of blast furnaces. This lining is gradually attackedonly along the slag line, and does not require repair until it hasbeen in use for some six weeks. Further repairs are then necessaryevery three weeks. Only the few courses of spoilt bricks are renewed, and for the repairs, including the cooling of the vessel, a period oftwo or three days is required. At the end of the week the vessel iskept filled, so that its contents suffice for the last charge to beblown on Saturday. On Sunday night the vessel is again filled. Theconsumption of manganese is very low; theoretically, it is thequantity required for the formation of manganese sulphide, and inpractice it has been found that this amounts to about 0. 2 per cent. The proportion of manganese which the desulphurized pig iron comingfrom the vessel should contain is best kept at about 1. 5 per cent. Inorder to render the desulphurization as complete as possible. Thus, amean proportion of 1. 7 per cent. Of manganese in the pig iron passinginto the vessel is more than sufficient to effect a thoroughdesulphurization. Indeed, 1 to 1. 2 per cent. Of manganese issufficient to effect a satisfactory desulphurization. For the extentof the removal of the sulphur, the temperature and the duration of thereaction are of importance. It has been found that if highlysulphureted pig iron is poured from the blast furnace into thedesulphurizing vessel, fifteen to twenty minutes are sufficient toeffect the desulphurization requisite for the steel process. The partplayed by the duration of the process is seen from the resultsobtained with the last charges, if the vessel is emptied at the end ofthe week without fresh pig iron being added from the blast furnace. If, for example, 60 tons of pig iron with 0. 065 per cent. Of sulphurremain in the vessel, the proportion of sulphur with the last chargesfalls to 0. 03 per cent. The iron in the vessel remains sufficientlyfluid for several hours. When necessary, a little wood is thrown in. It has been found quite unnecessary to obtain heat by passing andburning a current of gas above the bath of metal. 

A number of results, showing the separation of sulphur at the HoerdeWorks, was published a few months ago[2] by Professor P. Tunner, oneof our honorary members. 

 [Footnote 2: "Oesterreichische Zeitschrift fur Berg und Huttenwesen, " 1891, No. 19. ]

The totals represent, respectively, 138, 500 kilogrammes of pig ironand 98, 654 kilogrammes of sulphur. 

Thus, from 138, 500 kilogrammes of pig iron there has been eliminated179, 577-98, 654 = 80, 923 kilogrammes of sulphur, or, in other words, 45. 063 per cent. 

The proportion of sulphur in the slags rises with that in the ironfrom the blast furnace to 17 per cent. , an inappreciable portion ofthe sulphur of the slag being oxidized to sulphurous anhydride byaccess of air. An analysis of the slag yielded the following results:

 Per cent. Sulphur 17. 07 Manganese 30. 31 Phosphoric anhydride 0. 61 Iron 7. 13 Bases 35. 04

An analysis of an average sample gave:

 Per cent. Manganese sulphide 28. 01 Manganous oxide 20. 23 Ferrous oxide 25. 46 Silica 18. 90 Alumina 5. 00 Lime 3. 53 Magnesia 0. 43

The great convenience and certainty presented by the method describedin this paper will in all probability lead to its general adoption. Asa matter of fact, several works are now occupied with the installationof this mixing and desulphurizing plant. 

 * * * * *

ON THE OCCURRENCE OF TIN IN CANNED FOOD. 

By H. A. WEBER, Ph. D. 

The following investigation of the condition of foods packed in tincans was prompted by an alleged case of poisoning, which occurred atMansfield, Ohio, in April, 1890. A man and woman were reported to thewriter as having been made sick by eating pumpkin pie made from cannedpumpkin. The attending physician pronounced the case one of leadpoisoning. The wholesale dealer from whose stock the canned pumpkinoriginally came, procured a portion of the same at the house where thepoisoning occurred, and sent it to the writer for examination. 

The results of the examination as reported in Serial No. 552, below, showed that the canned pumpkin contained an amount of stannous saltsequivalent to 6. 4 maximum doses and 51. 4 minimum doses of stannouschloride per pound. On being notified of this fact, the dealer sent acan of the same brand of pumpkin from his stock. The inner coating ofthe can was found to be badly eroded, and upon examination, asreported in Serial No. 563, below, one pound of the pumpkin containedtin salts equivalent to 7 maximum and 56 minimum doses of stannouschloride. 

The unexpected large amount of tin salts in such an insipid article ascanned pumpkin, and the claimed ill effects of the consumption of thesame, suggested the advisability of extending the investigation toother canned goods in common use. Accordingly a line of articles waspurchased in open market as sold to consumers, no pains being taken toprocure old samples. The collection embraced fruits, vegetables, fishand condensed milk. With the exception of the condensed milk, everyarticle examined was contaminated with salts of tin. In most cases theamount of tin salts present was so large that there can be no doubt ofdanger to health from the consumption of the food, especially ifseveral kinds are consumed at the same meal. 

METHOD. 

The method employed in the determination of the tin was simply asfollows:

The contents of each can were emptied into a large porcelain dish, andthe condition of the inner coating of the can noted. After thoroughlymixing the contents, fifty grammes were weighed off and incinerated ina porcelain dish of suitable size. The residue was treated with alarge excess of concentrated hydrochloric acid, evaporated to dryness, moistened with hydrochloric acid, water was added, and the mass wasfiltered and washed, the insoluble matter being all washed upon thefilter. After drying the filter with its contents, the whole was againincinerated in a porcelain dish and the residue treated as before. Thesolution thus obtained was properly diluted and saturated withhydrogen sulphide. After standing about twelve hours in a coveredbeaker the precipitate was filtered off and the tin weighed as stannicoxide. 

RESULTS OF EXAMINATION. 

_Serial No. 552. _--Sample of canned pumpkin, received of F. A. Derthick, April 22, 1890, sent by Albert F. Remy & Co. , Mansfield, Ohio. Pie made from it supposed to have made a man and woman sick. Theattending physician pronounced the case one of lead poisoning. 

 Per cent. Tin dioxide with trace of lead 0. 0424 Grains per pound 2. 97 Equivalent to stannous chloride 3. 74 Minimum doses 51. 4 Maximum doses 6. 4

_Serial No. 563. _--Sample of canned pumpkin, received of EdwardBethel, June 27, 1890. Labeled: Choice Pie Pumpkin, packed at Salem, Columbiana County, Ohio, by G. B. McNabb, sent by A. F. Remy & Co. , Mansfield, Ohio. 

 Per Cent. Tin dioxide 0. 0444 Grains per pound 3. 11 Equivalent to stannous chloride 3. 91 Minimum doses 56 Maximum doses 7

 Can eroded. 

_Serial No. 565. _--Sample of canned pumpkin, bought of T. B. Vaure, July 11, 1890. Labeled: Belpre Pumpkin, Golden. George Dana & Sons, Belpre, Ohio. 

 Per Cent. Tin dioxide 0. 0054 Grains per pound 0. 38 Equivalent to stannous chloride 0. 48 Minimum doses 7. 7 Maximum doses 1. 0

 Can eroded. 

_Serial No. 566. _--Sample of canned Hubbard Squash, bought of T. B. Vaure, July 11, 1890. Labeled: Ladd Brand, L. Ladd, Adrian, Michigan. 

 Per Cent. Tin dioxide 0. 026 Grains per pound 1. 85 Equivalent to stannous chloride 2. 33 Minimum doses 37. 00 Maximum doses 4. 7

 Can badly eroded. 

_Serial No. 567. _--Sample of canned tomatoes, bought of T. B. Vaure, July 11, 1890. Labeled: Extra Fine Tomatoes. Blue Label. Curtice Bros. Co. , Rochester, N. Y. 

 Per Cent. Tin dioxide 0. 012 Grains per pound 0. 84 Equivalent to stannous chloride 1. 06 Minimum doses 16. 00 Maximum doses 2. 00

 Inner coating eroded. 

_Serial No. 568. _--Sample of canned tomatoes, bought of T. B. Vaure, July 11, 1890. Labeled: Fresh Tomatoes, Curtice Bros. Co. , Rochester, N. Y. 

 Per Cent. Tin dioxide 0. 014 Grains per pound 0. 98 Equivalent to stannous chloride 1. 23 Minimum doses 19. 00 Maximum doses 2. 5

 Can eroded. 

_Serial No. 569. _--Sample of canned peas, bought of T. B. Vaure, July11, 1890. Labeled: Petites Pois, P. Emillien, Bordeaux. 

 Per Cent. Copper oxide 0. 0294 Grains per pound 2. 06 Equivalent to copper sulphate 3. 95 Tin dioxide 0. 0068 Grains per pound 0. 48 Equivalent to stannous chloride 0. 6 Minimum doses 9. 6 Maximum doses 1. 2

 No visible erosion. 

_Serial No. 570. _--Sample of canned mushroom, bought of T. B. Vaure, July 11, 1890. Labeled Champignons de Choix. Boston fils. Paris. 

 Per Cent. Tin dioxide 0. 02 Grains per pound 1. 40 Equivalent to stannous chloride 1. 76 Minimum doses 28. 00 Maximum doses 3. 50

 Inner coating highly discolored. 

_Serial No. 571. _--Sample of canned blackberries, bought of T. B. Vaure, July 11, 1890. Labeled: Lawton Blackberries. Curtice Bros. Co. , Rochester, N. Y. 

 Per Cent. Tin dioxide 0. 0114 Grains per pound 0. 80 Equivalent to stannous chloride 1. 01 Minimum doses 16. 00 Maximum doses 2. 00

 Inner coating eroded. 

_Serial No. 572. _--Sample of canned blueberries, bought of T. B. Vaure, July 11, 1890. Labeled: Blueberries. Eagle Brand, packed by A. & R. Loggie, Black Brook, N. B. 

 Per Cent. Tin dioxide 0. 03 Grains per pound 2. 10 Equivalent to stannous chloride 2. 64 Minimum doses 42. 00 Maximum doses 5. 30

 Can badly eroded. 

_Serial No. 574. _--Sample of canned salmon, bought of T. B. Vaure. July11, 1890. Labeled: Best Fresh Columbia River Salmon, Eagle CanningCo. , Astoria Clatsop Co. , Oregon. 

 Per Cent. Tin dioxide 0. 0134 Grains per pound 0. 94 Equivalent to stannous chloride 1. 18 Minimum doses 18. 90 Maximum doses 2. 30

 Inner coating eroded. 

_Serial No. 578. _--Sample of canned pears, received of Mr. EdwardBethel, July 29, 1890. Labeled: Bartlett Pears. Solan's Brand, packedin Solano Co. , California. 

 Juice. Fruit. Per Ct. Per Ct. Tin dioxide 0. 0074 0. 0074 Grains per pound 0. 5180 0. 5180 Equivalent to stannous chloride 0. 65 0. 65 Minimum doses 10. 40 10. 40 Maximum doses 1. 30 1. 30

 Can eroded. 

_Serial No. 579. _--Sample of canned peaches, received of EdwardBethel, July 29. 1890. Labeled: Peaches, Wm. Maxwell, Baltimore, U. S. A. 

 Juice. Fruit. Per Ct. Per Ct. Tin dioxide 0. 0324 0. 0414 Grains per pound 2. 2680 2. 8980 Equivalent to stannous chloride 2. 85 3. 65 Minimum doses 45. 60 58. 40 Maximum doses 5. 70 7. 30

 Can badly eroded. 

_Serial No. 580. _--Sample of canned blackberries, received of EdwardBethel, July 29, 1890. Labeled: Blackberries, Clipper Brand, Wm. Munson & Sons, Baltimore, Md. 

 Per Cent. Tin dioxide 0. 06 Grains per pound 4. 20 Equivalent to stannous chloride 5. 28 Minimum doses 84. 00 Maximum doses 10. 60

 Can badly eroded. 

_Serial No. 581. _--Sample of canned cherries, received of EdwardBethel, July 29, 1890. Labeled: Red Cherries, Cloverdale Brand, G. C. Mournaw & Co. , Cloverdale, Va. 

 Per Cent. Tin dioxide 0. 0414 Grains per pound 2. 8980 Equivalent to stannous chloride 3. 65 Minimum doses 58. 40 Maximum doses 7. 30

 Can badly eroded. 

_Serial No. 582. _--Sample of canned pumpkin, received of EdwardBethel, July 29, 1890. Labeled: Royal Pumpkin, Urbana Canning Co. , Urbana, O. 

 Per Cent. Tin dioxide 0. 0184 Grains per pound 1. 2990 Equivalent to stannous chloride 1. 62 Minimum doses 25. 90 Maximum doses. 3. 20

 Can eroded. 

_Serial No. 583. _--Sample of canned baked sweet potatoes, received ofEdward Bethel, July 29, 1890. Labeled: Tennessee Baked Sweet Potatoes, Capital Canning Co. , Nashville, Tenn. 

 Per Cent. Tin dioxide 0. 0132 Grains per pound 0. 92 Equivalent to stannous chloride 1. 16 Minimum doses 18. 50 Maximum doses 2. 30

 Can eroded. 

_Serial No. 584. _--Sample of canned peas, received of Edward Bethel, July 29, 1890. Labeled: Marrowfat Peas, Parson Bros. , Aberdeen, Maryland. 

 Per Cent. Tin dioxide 0. 0044 Grains per pound 0. 30 Equivalent to stannous chloride 0. 38 Minimum doses 6. 20 Maximum doses 0. 80

 Can slightly eroded. 

_Serial No. 585. _--Sample of string beans, received of Edward Bethel, July 29, 1890. Labeled: String Beans. Packed by H. P. Hemingway & Co. , Baltimore City, Md. 

 Per Cent. Tin dioxide 0. 0154 Grains per pound 1. 08 Equivalent to stannous chloride 1. 36 Minimum doses 21. 70 Maximum doses 2. 70

 Can eroded. 

_Serial No. 586. _--Sample of canned salmon, received of Edward Bethel, July 29, 1890. Labeled: Puget Sound Fresh Salmon, Puget Sound SalmonCo. , W. T. 

 Per Cent. Tin dioxide 0. 0044 Grains per pound 0. 30 Equivalent to stannous chloride 0. 38 Minimum doses 0. 20 Maximum doses 0. 80

 Can slightly eroded. 

_Serial No. 587. _--Sample of condensed milk, received of EdwardBethel, July 29, 1890. Labeled: Borden's Condensed Milk. The GailBorden Eagle Brand, New York Condensed Milk Co. , 71 Hudson Street, NewYork. 

 Tin dioxide none. 

 No visible erosion. 

_Serial No. 592. _--Sample of canned pineapples, bought of Mr. Brown, Fifth Avenue, August 4, 1890. Labeled: Pineapples, First Quality. Packed by Martin Wagner & Co. , Baltimore, Md. 

 Per Cent. Tin dioxide 0. 0098 Grains per pound 0. 6860 Equivalent to stannous chloride 0. 8640 Minimum doses 13. 6 Maximum doses 1. 7

 Can eroded

_Serial No. 593. _--Sample of canned pineapples, bought of Mr. Brown, Fifth Avenue, August 4, 1890. Labeled: Florida Pineapple, Oval Brand. Extra Quality. A Booth Packing Co. , Baltimore, Md. 

 Per Cent. Tin dioxide 0. 0158 Grains per pound 1. 11 Equivalent to stannous chloride 1. 40 Minimum doses 22. 40 Maximum doses 2. 80

 Can eroded. 

--_Jour. Amer. Chem. Soc_. 

 * * * * *

NEW PROCESS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CHROMATES. 

By J. MASSIGNON and E. VATEL. 

The ordinary method of manufacturing the bichromates consists inmaking an intimate mixture of finely pulverized chrome ore, lime inlarge excess, potash or soda, or corresponding salts of these twobases. This mixture is placed in a reverberatory furnace, andsubjected to a high temperature, while plenty of air is supplied. During the operation the mass is constantly puddled to bring all theparticles into contact with the hot air, so that all the sesquioxideof chromium of the ore will be oxidized. After the oxidation isfinished, the mass is taken from the furnace and cooled; thebichromate is obtained by lixiviation, treated with sulphuric acid andcrystallized. This method of manufacture has several seriousobjections. 

The authors, after research and experiment, have devised a newprocess, following an idea suggested by Pelouze. 

The ore very finely pulverized is mixed with chloride of calcium orlime, or carbonate of calcium, in such proportions that all the base, proceeding from the caustic lime or the carbonate of calcium put inthe mixture, shall be in slightly greater quantity than is necessaryto transform into chromate of calcium all the sesquioxide of chromiumof the ore, when this sesquioxide will be by oxidation changed intothe chromic acid state. The chloride of calcium employed in proportionof one equivalent for three of the total calcium is most convenientfor the formation of oxychloride of calcium. If the mixture is madewith carbonate of lime (pulverized chalk), it will not stiffen in theair; but if lime and carbonate of calcium are employed at the sametime, the mass stiffens like cement, and can be moulded into bricks orplates. The best way to operate is to mix first a part of the ore andwell pulverized chalk, and slake it with the necessary concentratedchloride of calcium solution; then to make up a lime dough, and mixthe two, moulding quickly. The loaves or moulds thus formed arepartially dried in the air, then completely dried in a furnace at amoderate temperature, and finally baked, to effect the reduction ofthe carbonate of calcium into caustic lime. It is only necessary thento expose the loaves to the air at the ordinary temperature, for theoxidation of the sesquioxide of chromium will go on by degrees withoutany manipulation, by the action of the atmospheric air, the matterthus prepared having a sufficient porosity to allow the air freeaccess to the interior of the mass. Under ordinary conditions theoxidation will be completed in a month. The division of thiswork--mixing, slaking or thinning, roasting or baking, and subjectionto the air--is analogous to the work of a tile or brick works. Theadvance of the oxidation can be followed by the appearance of thematter, which after baking presents a deep green color, which passesfrom olive green into yellow, according to the progress of calciumchromate formation. When the oxidation is completed, the masscontains: Chromate of calcium, chloride of calcium, carbonate of limeand caustic lime in excess, sesquioxide of iron and the gangue, partof which is united with the lime. This mass is washed with water bythe ordinary method of lixiviation, and there is obtained aconcentrated solution containing all the chloride of calcium, and asmall quantity only of chromate of calcium, the latter being about 100times less soluble in water. 

This solution can be used in the following ways:

1. It can be concentrated and used in preparing a new charge, thesmall quantity of calcium chromate present being an assistance, or:

2. It can be used for making chromate of lead (chrome yellow), byprecipitating the calcium chromate with a lead salt; this being a veryeconomical process for the manufacture of this color. 

The mass after lixiviation, being treated with a solution of sulphateor carbonate of potash or soda, will yield chromate of potash or soda, and by the employment of sulphuric acid, the correspondingbichromates. The solutions are then filtered, to get rid of theinsoluble deposits, concentrated, and crystallized. 

If, instead of chromate or bichromate of potash or soda, chromic acidis sought, the mass after lixiviation is treated with sulphuric acid, and the chromic acid is obtained directly without any intermediatesteps. 

This process has the following advantages:

1. The oxidation can be effected at the ordinary temperature, thussaving expense in fuel. 

2. The heavy manual labor is avoided. 

3. The loss of potash and soda by volatilization and combination withthe gangue is entirely avoided. 

4. It is not actually necessary to use rich ores; silicious ores canbe used. 

5. The intimate mixture of the material before treatment being mademechanically, the puddling is avoided, and in consequence a greaterproportion of the sesquioxide of chromium in the ores isutilized. --_Bull. Soc. Chem. _ 5, 371. 

 * * * * *

A VIOLET COLORING MATTER FROM MORPHINE. 

A violet coloring matter is formed, together with other substances, byboiling for 100 hours in a reflux apparatus a mixture of morphine(seven grammes), p-nitrosodimethylaniline hydrochloride (fivegrammes), and alcohol (500 c. C. ). The solution gradually assumes a redbrown color, and a quantity of tetramethyldiamidoazobenzene separatesin a crystalline state. After filtering from the latter, the alcoholicsolution is evaporated to dryness, and the residue boiled with water, a deep purple colored solution being so obtained. This solution, whichcontains at least two coloring matters, is evaporated almost todryness, acidulated with hydrochloric acid, and then rendered alkalinewith sodium hydrate, the coloring matters being precipitated and theunchanged morphine remaining in solution. The precipitate is collectedon a filter, washed with dilute sodium hydrate, dried, and extractedin the cold with amyl alcohol, which dissolves out a violet coloringmatter, and leaves in the residue a blue coloring matter or mixture ofcoloring matters. The violet coloring matter is obtained in a purestate on evaporating the amyl alcohol. Its platinochloride has theformula PtCl_{4}. C_{25}H_{29}N_{3}O_{4}. HCl, and has thecharacteristic properties of the platinochlorides of the majority ofalkaloids. The coloring matter, of which the free base has theformula--

 (C_{6}H_{4}N(CH_{3})_{2})--N==(C_{17}H_{19}NO_{4})

forms an amorphous mass with a bronze-like luster; it is sparinglysoluble in water, freely so in alcohol, its alcoholic solution beingstrongly dichroic; its green colored solution in concentratedsulphuric acid becomes successively blue and violet on dilution withwater; it dyes silk, wool, and gun cotton, but is not fast to light. 

Morphine violet is the first true coloring matter obtained from thenatural alkaloids, the morphine blue of Chastaing and Barillot (Compt. Rend. , 105, 1012) not being a coloring matter properly so called. --_P. Cazeneuve, Bull. Soc. Chim. _

 * * * * *

LIQUID BLUE FOR DYEING. 

The new liquid blue of M. Dornemann is intended to avoid the formationof clots, etc. , which lead to irregularity in shade, if not to theformation of spots on the textile. In addition to accomplishing thisend, the process is accelerated by subjecting the blue to a previoustreatment. 

In this preliminary treatment of the blue, the object is to remove thesulphur which retards the solution of the color. 

The liquid is prepared as follows: The pigment, previously dried at150° C. , is crushed and finely ground, and contains about 47 per cent. Of coloring matter; to this is added 53 per cent. Of water. 

To this mixture, or slurry, the inventor adds an indefinite quantityof glucose and glycerine of 43° B. , having a specific gravity of1. 425. It is then ready for use. --_Le Moniteur de la Teinture_. 

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