Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1876-11-10
MECHANICAL AND SCIENTIFIC

England has lately been the scera
OF numerous meteoric showers of in
teresting proportions.
Not long ago the bones of moe
todon were found in Washington Tsr-
ritory, the skull bone of which alona
weighed 500 pounds, and conta;nnS
when found quantity of gold and
silver quartz. The tusks were twen+u u
feet in length, and the leg stood twer
ty feet high. They are said to be tho
largest fossil remains ever discovered
According to DR.. Richardson ~
his lecture on certain occupations in
furious to health and life, it apnearS
that apoplexy, paralysis, INSANITY and
various other serious diseases are nrn
ducable in artisans by contact with in.
furious substances and vapors. esnec-
tally that of lead, which affects M.
only the workingman using it, but IL.
50 his offspring. Cleanliness and caro-
in this as in similar instances. viii ~
course greatly mitigate the mischief
in question, but still the startling fact
remains, that, of the men exposed ~
the vapors of lead, the deaths are tbir,
ty-eight per cent. in excess OF ordinary
mortality.
The rotary engine invention
brought forward by M. Chauveau Of
Paris, is an ingenious device, a cvlin.
der being arranged with piston which
may be actuated by steam, compressed
ar, or gas, so as to move round an
axis passing through a center. If
point of the piston-rod is forced To
move in the space of a fixed circle hay.
ing for its center given point. so that
the distance is equal to one-half of the
stroke of the piston, it will be readily
understood that the alternate motion
of the piston in the cylinder will pro-
duce a continuous rotary motion Of the
said cylinder round the axle. Different
arrangements of mechanical parts NAV
be employed to carry out the principle
here involved, and The construction Of
rotary engines of this character NAV
be varied to great extent, and vet in
accordance with the same idea.
What is termed the "voltaic Gas
lighter an ingenious device which
obviates the use of matches or tapers,
and does away with the attendant
danger III lighting gas, is coming into
extensive use abroad. 1t consists of a
small bichromate of potash battery
the zinc plate of which is so arranged
that by the pressure of the finger it
can be immersed in the exciting fluid
and put the battery in action. Rising
from the top of the battery is Il light
brass stem, like taper holder, but in
| the form of a swans neck, terminal
ing in little bell, within which the
two poles of the battery are united by
a spiral of platinum wire; this wire,
when the battery is put in action by
the immersion of the zinc plate, be.
comes white hot, and will instantly
ignite the gas if held over the open
burner, nothing more being essential.
The thickest armor-piate ever
produced has recently been rolled at
the Scammell Works, Sheffield, Eng
land. From four and one-half inches.
the size has been increased step by
step, till ii finally reached fourteen
inches, and now they have succeeded
III producing one of twenty-five
inches, tins being eight inches thicker
than any armor plate ever yet rolled
The plates of which this is a sample
are intended for two war vessels now
being constructed for the Italian Gov
eminent, and the gun to be used in
testing this great plate, which weighs
thirty-tive tons, is a 100 ton Arm
strong gun. The vessels are to have
two turrets, each turret to contain
two of these enormous pieces of ar
! tillery. The manufactures states that
if these guns succeed in penetrating
this plate, he shall have no hesitation
in rolling one of thirty or even forty
inches III thickness.