New-York tribune., 1841-12-10

BE- reroirfng around .be SIS outside OF SGtara
some otter Planet ye: REliscoTerea, which may
exert an influence on the comets path Within
two Or three and twenty wears after this asio1Ish
IN suggestion Herscheu was discovered revolving
around the Sun AID not Only ihi-. but II vas &C
tuallv demonstrated thai at the Tine OF ClalrauIls
remark. !, was in position % have precisely The
co,i,c-,red -fcc, Clairault added thar - -
thought he comet would STRIVE - perihe.on on
the An Of Anrii Il was possible ;nat nom ne II
auence- ke mad fr.t mentioned, BIZ, calculations
EIight be erroneous, and the comet might oe 80
DAYS sooner or lafcr tHaa be rad predicted i
would certainly appear "iihia Ina; period ms
prediction he !ais before the Institute n Deem
5er. Yea NAV imagine TIE inten,e Anxiety ~ifieh
pervaded g.. Europe While watching Tor the return
q body winch rad been iourneylas four thousand
nil ,0rs % mics irsm ,H5 tarth. and 1850 M
liass ocyoad the most remote body II The Soar
>ys;en.
But me honor i irst discovering the comet on
t.. return was not vocch,aied 70 Ciairsuit. but was
rcserved ;ur o.1e w.o was only By nature phi
lo.opher. \ peasant mined Paitzch an innate
# ~ humbIe cottage, near Dresden, happened
one nisnc to be -sirg rejecting telescope tor ms
amusement Whe her he sacw IN what qsartsr 10
10 X f5r the expected come, or not, do not anow;
but one thing q. cer.aIu-he was thu :lr-. SEE II:
II made is appearance en Christmas. I15S. Ihe
dav after. he went 20 Dre.dsr. 20 Or. Hoffman.
and showed the comet 10 him. X reached IL
point in IL orbit nearest the Sun, on the ban OF
March. 1853. Caraut lad predicted that II
would DO 30 OF the I'm = April-with an allow
ance OF thirty days Tor possible errors, and thus
limit was not exceeded According 10 all tae JUS
uca O; philosophical logic this prediction was tui-
sled 70 the letter.
! ,-.. nj az.
seyeniy-six years would marx the year 1885 "a the
period fer IL return. Again it rsshed in lis
path > Geo 600 000 OF miles ocyond tie bounds OF
tA- solar system nathan ecians computed - pro.
srss-. calceat0as were made by scientific men. and
IL actually returned within 'ery few days OF tue
,.ue appointed.
The lecture on comets for the evening was
hsre closed. and the models OF The Steam Engine
we're introdsced during ne interval between the
TWO acts
The second portion Of the Lecture was a popu-
:. .i,,cidaton OF The Steam Engine. and Dr. Lard
ner remarked that be hoped 10 be able not only 10
explain IL general principles but 70 make clear the
details OF is operations. ne whole power Of this
extraordinary engine. he proceeded. may be said
70 ari.e from single natural phenomenon which
admits OF a clear and satisfactory EXPLANATION
suppose
square in this tube place the depth OF
one inch then viii there be 10 it cubic inch OF
water Submergc "a thermometer in this and place
spon It's surface disc which shall Ii the tube per-
'ectly end upon this place aweishi OF ID pounds.
This weight may b. imagined to represent the
weight of the atmosphere but f-r the present wee
will put this out OF tho question: Beneath the tube
place lighted lamp; the water will gradually
become heated. What will be the result
Ia the first place, the thermometer will exhibit
an elevation st the temperature OF the water. The
thermometer will begin 10 rise aud go on ustll II
indicates temperature OF 2l2', when it will no
longer rise although the lamp Is still mParting heat
10 the water which nevertheless, will grow no hot
Jer. What tnen becomes OF the heat Another
effect begins TO be produced The weight begins
graduall, to recede from the water and to leave be-
hind it an apparent vacuum. The whole fifteen
pounds IS lifted up by soue unseen agent, and II
will go on rising leaving empty space behind it
until il has reached the hgnt # lac feet \ that
point the weight vii remain fixed but the water
will have disappeared here Is apparently nothing
in the tube, and sui the thermometer remains at
2l2o The water ha> become invisible, and
weight OF L. los. hus been raised l40 feet. IT,
however the whole apparatus be now weighed, 1t
,. be found to weigh Just as much rs 1t did while
the water IN II: that the water cannot have
escaped from the tube. Now suppose the lamp
removed as the tube gradually cools--if we sup
pose string be passed over pulley attaching the
weight in the tube TO an eqzal weight without
the slightest Impulse will cause thai in the tube 10
descend A, il fall. the tube no longer appears to
be empty the inside l. covered with dew, which
gradually forms into drops which fall to the bottom,
and finally the apparatus returns TO Ia former state
Here one we ght has been raised 40 feet by heat
ins aHd another equal weight to equal height
b, cooling, cubic inch Of water.
But there arc circumsta connected with this
experiment important to be noted. The cubic inch
oi water We see produces nearly 100 cubic inches
Of steam-for it fills the space between the bot
tom of the tube and the weight when the latter is
at the hight l40 feet. Therefore a cubic inch
of water in passing into steam swelis into l15O
times its own bulk and in swelling exerts force
capable of ra-ins - lbs. on zach square inch.
mechanical power thus evolved capable oil raising
- lbs, 40 feet or 100 lbs. one loot. So thatw
may say in round terms that q cubic inch OF water
In passing into steam evolves Il force which will
raise a ton eight one foot And Inc same pow
er IS produced IL destroying the cyaporatlon-ia
re-converting the steam into wafer.
Il matters not how this evaporation be produced,
wheeler by n lamp, furnace or by the heat OF the
sun: it cannot go on without developing this i'm
nense mechanical power. Now, if man were not
The dullest OF anmsls-it things did not transpire
daily under his very eyes. which he neither saw nor
dreamed of their existence, how could evapora-
ton have been goiag on for sixteen hundred years
beiors his very face. and yer the steamengine not
be discovered until the middle Of the last century
But tae eva por..ion that Is constantly going on
from the surface Of the ocean-is this available Tor
man, p-rposes Undoubtedly II IS: Ter all the
water power used in driving his mills, and pro-
polling Els machinery, al the beautiful streams
and leaping cascades winch please the eye-what