New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1879-04-19
SCIENCE FOR THE PEOPLE.

A PoIysPuENIC SmP.-For the last SIX
years saws The English Mechanic the Rev c. NJ Ramus
Rector of East Guldeford and Payden, England, mas
held his invention Of the poysphenic ship at the as
posa OF the Admiralty. This vessel 1t Ia calcuIa'eu'
Will skim the the rate Of forty miles an hour OF
more The word skim dscloses the secret Oh uio
tdea for the invention il mainly based the fact that
n "A vessel can be made by the mere force WIN "hch
moves TO ride over the instead OF driving through
Them there is prima facie TO believe that much
higher speed than anything yet reached VIII NC
achieved. The principle OF Mr Ramnss invention co"
ssts in making the bottom Of the vessel series OF III
clncd planes. In S72 Mr.. Eamus made moueI nav
ing bottom composed OF two parallel ana conSecu'No
inclined planes or the vessel may be described ms uaue
up OF two wedges the thick ends of which are placed
abaft the thin ends There is thus IN the centre OF the
vessel n ridge where the thin end of the sterinost
wedge abuts against the thick end OF the foremost ANY
floating body thus shaped must. when driven ioicpy
through the tend to rise and II the speed IL En
enough IL will rise the surface instead OF drlFns
through the water. These facts were demonstraedV
some rough experiments made In the presence OF cred
BILE witnesses. The prOpelling power in these eNpeti
ments was siXounce rocket. In one trlai tue HVcI
weighing pounds ounces, ran distance OF ~ 10
seconds water being ripped by sr0hg DIrcI' pu'
nm srtc ~ mis- hc deck was found be dry. The iiin-
cnlr imderyiuc these models says The Mechan,c may
be taken advantage of 10 construct wedS NH
for it has demonstrated that the resistance To suc
vessels which al first increases about as the slui.II
their velocity, decreases as the speed Is aueoen,
until aftcra certain period there IS no ulnti me- ~
ofrc,lsancc given the required n,tnlh'iS ' lp pv
probability that speeds Of forty miles an hour OF more
can be attained.
A DARIEN CANAL-M. de LcsScpS, OF Suez
Canal fame has announced that q committee, Of which
he is president appointed by the French Geographical
Society 10 consider the most advisable means of con-
structing canal through the iSthmus OF DarIch has
decided on holding Congress Of engineers, delegated
from all the states in any way interested IN the project
to meet in Paris on the 18th Of May next He states
that he has no doubt that the invitations will be ac
ceptcd He had already received from Dom Pedro the
assurance that Brazil should bc represented at H. ms HIS
Majesty for forty taken the greatest interest
every scheme proposed for the Junction oI the Aan
tic and Pdclhc Oceans.
TIE HELOsTAT IN WAR.-Mr II. Baden
Prtchard contributes Nature an interesting account
Of the use made OF the hch1stat by the English In their
campaigns I'm AfchInistau and Zuluaud IL Is claimed
that is the first application Of the mirror as an I'M
plement of warfare. Ilcliosat stations, says MI.
Fntclard, are established throughout the khyber
Pass and General Samuel Browne, at Jelalabad has
his orders passed up to him by flashes OF light from
Peshawur and All Musid. Lord Chelmsford has OF late
also been furnished with hciostas, IN order to provide
him with better means OF communication along te
Tugca. The plan Of working ia very simple. The
mirror OF the hcostatis placed so az 70 reflect the
suns image to distant station, and when the nstru-
sufices to maintain tho mirror in its proper position
I'm tins way the station in question always sees
the dazzling ray reflected from the mirror except when
the latter Is purpOsey obscured The appearance and
disappearance Of the bright spot or flash constitute the
signals There l. need for any superintendent when
once the apparatus has been put in working order and
a trained sisnalman sufices for tue duty. The ordi-
nary Morse alphabet supplies Ineligible code, and
no one out OF the line Of signals read understand
the message. As substitute for the dot and
dash, which go to make NJ the ordinary written
Morse code the light for short and long inter
by long perIod signifies A. while is represented by
long period followed by three short ones in the case OF
c. long short long snort signals are made III turn, aud
10 form l., tho letter most frequently used, the ght is
permitted u SHINE Tor one single sOit p,Iouony me
intensity of sunshine signals can scarcely be I'M
nrIng 9rcr and tnc distance TO which they might be
made travel, could suitable stations be provided, Is
ance Of tie light can be noticed at ten twenty miles
distance without the and Of telescope or field-gla5s
An IMPROVED MICROPHoNE.-At the recent
meeting the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Mr. T
l.. Young described an ingenious and novel arrange
ment Of the microphone The new instrument has the
form OF a small box with the usual telephone mouth
piece top Attached to the under surface Of the
diaphragm a small piece of rubber holding carbon
cup. similar cup is fixed the inside OF the brass
ring used for holding The erroype plate diaphragm IN
its place rod Of carbon rests lightly the cups, and
is covered with rubber a small watch sprng bearing
upon the middle. The spring Is adjusted by means
of a screw. THIS arrangement, II Is claimed does away
entirely with the grating sound in other forms of the
mi,rOphOnc The instrument ~ arranged so IA 10 De
placed against wall or other support, the carbon rod
being then IN vertical position.
A SUPPOSED PLANET BEYOND NEPTU Me-
Professor Asapb Hall. in a brief note in Nature,
possible ransNeptunan planet, says Ii Is known to
that at least two American astronomers. armed
with powerful telescopes have been searching quite
recently for traus-Neptunan planet These searches
have been caused by the fact that Professor New
combs tables of Uranus and Neptune already begin 70
differ from observation. But to infer from these
Of the planetary tables the existence OF trans
Ncptmian planetl 1t Is possible that such planet
may exist, but the probability H. | THINK, that the
differences caused by the theories of these
planets" On the general discrepancies between Obser
walton and theory, Mr. Hall remarks: a few years
ago the remark was frequently made that the abors OF
astronomers the solar system were flushed, ana
that hcncriorth they could turn their whole attention
to siderca astronomy. To-day we have the lunar
theory very discOuragng condition aud the theories
Of Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn. Uranus and Neptune all
In need OF revision unless indeed Leyerrers theories
Of the last planets shall stand the test Of Obscrya
But after all such condition Of things Is only the
natural result o. long and accurate of Obserya
which make evident the small inequalities I'm the
motions and bring TO light the errors of theory"