The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-06-21
SCIENTIFIC.

d JVonderul Testing Machine.-The
great machine designed by Mr.. Albert
Emery, for the United States Commits
sion for testing iron and steel which
has been In process of construction for
three years past at Wutertown Mass
Arsenal, Is now completed. Some ex-
perimental test made with 1t in the
presence of the commissioners are thus
described in The Boston 1rareler: The
merit of this new testing machine Is Its
great power united with It's mathemat-
ical accuracy. A five inch bar of iron
was pulled apart, and the strain regis
tered In doing 1t was 722,OOO
pounds. 10 attest its minute exact
ness, 4 horse hair WAS next submitted
to the strain, and 1t yielded to II regis
tered force Of two pounds. Again, Il
pine block Of four inches thickness and
Cwo feet In length was taken and press
cd into board of two inches thickness.
| Then to ascertain its refinement of ac-
| curacy, q hens egg was taken and in
| closed in plaster Of Paris, with two
small holes at each end, and, the press
ure being applied, the contents were
forced out or these small apertures ut a
strain OF thirty-two pounds, and such
Is the command over the action of the
machine that the pressure was stopped
In All instant, and the yolk ceased TO be
expelled, and the shell OF the remain
ing unbnck0n. n nuC was also cracked
by the machine without crushing the
kernel. No such niccty OF regulated
pressure, combined with such an cnor-
NOUS range OF power and absolutely
exact registration Of the cXertcd, has
ever before been attained. The cost Of
the machine to the Government, under
the contract, is $3l 900, but Mr.. Emery
has expended over 500, 900 in perfect
ing 1t.
Il Po'cerfM 'Spcctroscope.-A new spec
troscope OF remarkable power has just
been brought to the notice of the
French Academy by NJ. Thollon. Its
chief feature Is the use OF sulphide OF
carbon prisms, which are closed later
ally, not by plates with parallel faces,
but by prisms having curved sides
meeting at an angle. Two of these
compound prisms arc used in the spec
troscOpc, and in this way an enormous
dispersion is obtained; with a mugni-
lying power of fifteen to twenty times,
The spectrum has n length of fifteen
metres. This instrument should throw
considerable light on the structure of
the spectrum, and NJ. Thollon has al
ready noticed some interesting facts.
The lines of sodium and magnesium
present dark nucleus passing into Il
| ncbulosity, which becomes gradually
! merged into the continuous spectrum,
Many lines have been split up, and all
| that have been thus resolved have been
found to belong to two different sub
stances. One of the hydrogen lines
presents neDul0sity without u nu-
| clcus. The spectrum Of carbon from
the electric arc observed with the new
Instrument Is said To be very fine. The
spcclru of iron, copper and magnesium
III the same arc are also seen with great
clcarness and brilliuncy.
TegetoJle isinglass, which has hith-
erto been derived from Eastern Asia,
is now extracted from French sea-
weed and mat'e useful In French fac
tories. 1t Is, in its crude state, q yell
lOwish gelalinc. but which, after re-
Deateu cXpei imcnts under the auspices
of the Industrial Society OF Rouen, has
been successfully converted into what
bids fair to prove the best sizing for
cotton cloth known.
The French Academy has received
number OF letter giving details ola re-
markable RAIN, which lrcze as 1t fell,
for several day In some parts OF France,
aud did great damage. The drops had
exidently been brought to state of
surtusion In their passage through cold
air and soliditied on meeting solid bod
les.
When lead pipes become incrustcd
with sulphidc Of lead, they may be
cleaned In this way: Allow Il hot con-
centrated solution Of sulphide Of sodi-
um to flow through the pipes for ten or
| fifteen minutes. The inside Of the pipes
| will then appear rs If coated witha gray
glaze, and water may then be passed
through them free OF any lead,