New-York tribune., 1878-06-22
SCIENCE FOR THE PEOPLE.

raise or lower the machine and vertical one 10 proper
it. Both these are worked by the operatOr' IN Vno
OF these experiments, the machine not only rose IN VI"
air but moved backward and forward up ana GOWN "
the onton of the aeronaut and the eTouons were nc
compl,shed without waste Of gas in descending OF any
nae of ballast whatever The aeronaut worked the cen
tra propcer OF the machine and rose over every oosa
Gle 20 the height OF 100 feet The breeze was Do"nH
20 the eastward and the exhibitor aloWeu MS III"
chine to be carried with 1t for an eighth OF nle' anu
amused himself by showing his ability 10 ascenu vi
descend at WILL Then the propeller was SET
a. melton and tho machine shifted its course,
twisting and turning in small circles sun us
general drift was to the eastward with the Wlhu,
but at given signal the propelling wheel was "
full speed and with accelerated rapidly the a-shP
sailed along back, at an altitude oil lOo lee'' un'i
IL hovered over the exhibition grounds, whence
1t started then the central propeller was set III
notion and under its influence the machine sank
SLOWLY and easily 20 the earth. Another invention,
which is occupying the scientific world OF Paris ls the
Guglelmni Steam Balloon. II the experiments answer
the inventors hopes this balloon will be one OF the Won
dlS of tEis age OF wonders. The invention is based ON
cgbt noints. Ascension power. o. Transutye hOri-
ZOntal and diagonal power. 3. SAFETY against acclueh
4 Direction from one point TO another gwen point o;
The material employed iu the construction OF aerial
steamboats,. g. Perfectly aerial architecture 4 luc
dIspotOn of the ascensiye power. 8. The manGuvres
on board aud the degree OF temperature OF toe aelOs
The gus employed IL hydrogen, disposed IN WE'VE
obes instead OF one Once III the air the boat which Is
Gbong like a ship is moved on by two steam engines
placed underneath the keel Thus It cuts the
fifteen horsepower thirty metres are made In second;
The acting maUWuyres consist IN passing the excess pi
hydrogen in the globes into others reserved expressly
for the guidance Ot the boat aud then r6pasSnG lc
into their first globes, according to tie descent OF asce'
which may be required. No trld trip OF tue nc" l'on
tiOn has yet been made.
THE MICRoPHoNE IN SURGERY.-The value
Of the micrOphOne in operations for stone ana othcr ue
icate surgical maupulaOns has us been shown at the
COLL. Tna unu
tie usual feeble battery with wires, connected with
two telephones running to different parts of the room
The ordinary Sound used in operations for crushing the
stone was attached by wire TO the circuit OF the ba
tery Near the handle piece Of carbon, such az Is used
by Professor Hughes, was carefully balanced ana At
tached by delicate spring to the battery circuit "heh
end of the Sound strikes against the smallest piece OF
calculus the acoustic wave Is transmitted along tue
steel Of the instrument the carbon where It Is trans
formed into electric vibrations, which are multiplied
through the telephone that the noise becomes LOUD
and unmisakablc The carbon arrangement on Inc
Sound must not be too delicate. nor the battery too
strong; but with the miorophone properly Gdusted was
easy 10y trial detect the presence OF even minute
fragment Of unIemOycd calculus. The carbon needed
Ouly 10 be fitted 10 The probe also To defect q"
fragments OF bone But while u quite pos-lnr IoT j
skul surgeon to make hInseii aOSOuIeB vcI.tu ti y,
Of the mcrOphonc Of what hc was previously
only morally convinced OF, no very reinarka3e les,,
least IN ordinary practice, are Hntclpacd from 'ho
use Of the instrument.
CUTTLEFIsH CASTING ITS INK.-Mr. Frank
Buckand the welknown Engsh naturalist describesin
Lad and Water his good fortune in seeing, under favor
able conditions cuttlesh casting It's lux Three or four
specmcns Of cuttcs live IN the Westminster Aquarium
One Of them passing the window OF his tank evidently
misook the naturalist for foe. "So" writes SIR Buck
land cas- he swan along he elected from bis inEbag
jet OF what looked Ike cloud Of the most intensely
black smoke that ever came forth from factory chin
IL. I...f .IIf tram
CutteGsh then went into the middle OF the water he had
so ar;flly made Opaque When there he elected more
ink ana I'm less than half q minute the water round him
became backer than the backe5i thunder cloud ever he
held The ink gradually dispersed Itself through the
water forming clouds OF the most delicIte shadlngs'
fading of from the very black place under which the
beast was concealed Not Turner the great artist
ever imagined such n cloud. TEs ink f. usel In the
arts, sepia being the very substance taken from tbc
cuttlehsh ana dried without doubt this power OF shoot
seTve the animal from being eaten by ifs enemies ana
10 not be- impossible that the lIeh OF gpls anu Fo
des-rs appearing from the clouds and disappearing iuo
clouds so often described by VIRGIL might have taken MS
origin from the power o tue cutileush 10 5ulf"uuN 6u
with cloud OF Ink. May We MOI also compare tii' CUT
tlcsn To yolumnuus autror, VINO concchs MS dchlliy
Iu clouds Of Ink.'
IyvULNERABLE ARMoR PLATING.-Anothcr
importnt stcp has been made in the contest between
guns and armor plates. SIR Jos Whitworh, of Man
chester, England, has devised what hc terms imhcg-
uab,c armor plating formed OF huid-cOmprcssod steel
and built up hexdgonal sections, each composed oI
series of conccutc rags around central ciculnr disc
The object OF this construction meet the only weak
ness OF steel its liability to crack; for the concenirc
rings prcyeu, any crack from passing beyond the
limits Of the one in which IL occurs. small
target 2I2 inches In thickness. aud representing
one section Of such armor-pating, was lately
fred at with threc-pouud shot with the result
that all iron shot broke mp against It harmIes-y ana
that compressed steel procce only ndcned its sur
face to rlnng extent Tao experiment has since been
repeated upon SCALE with target nine inches
in thickness supported by n wood backing against a
sandbank In front OF this horizontal iron tube was
fixed TO receive the fragments Of the shot. Tde pro-
iactlle was a Pascr she'll Weighing $50 pounds, fired
from g-nch gun with 80 pounds Of pebble powder, at
a distance OF 30 yards from the target Such pro
iectiIe would nave passed through twelve inches
of ordinary iron armOr-platug; but against the
new new ,HnhEmerable small fragments The only piece
OF any size that survived the shock was a hattencd
the she'll which left imbeddcd in the surface Of the
target where I, had made 0rse an excavation about
eight inches n diameter and one and 1ourtenths OF an
inch deep the central or deepest part save Tor TINS
shallow depression the tarsgt was aDSo ntelJ unl.
iured the ring which received the shOck not having
cracked and disturbance OF the back surface having
been produced.
SWEDISH ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS.-PrOfes
Nordenskyodd, the Swedish explorer, expects T.
sail from Gothenburg early in July, in the Vega,
a steamer OF 300 tons, on voyage along Northern
Asia professor intends 10 proceed along the North
estern coast OF the sO-caed Tamurand far Cape
TscheIyuskin, where he expects TO find open sea on
account Of tho immense quantities OF warm
water discharged by the large rivers ol and Yensci
AT Cape Tschelyuskin he believes that on account Of
the rotation OF the earth the current OF the warm wa
Ter will take an easerly direction, which will
leave open sailing far into the Autumn.
The nIan then Is 10 along the OF Siberia
IN Behring'S Straits reached possibly, If the
stote of the ico permits making some
attempts to explore few of the Islands
70 the north Of Siberia, which have never yet
Zen visited by any European ship, ft less
nv a steamer. The expenses OF the exploration will
- nv King OF Sweden, Who gives