The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1880-01-08
USEFUL AND SCIENTIFIC,
UTILIZATION OF WASTE FORCE

UTILIZATION OF WASTE FORCES.
According to Prof. Wall, the vast,
forces of nature are so enormous that
if they could be utilized, the presen
means of producing force would be com
paratively useless. Thus the sun, by it.
heat on the ocean, raises two billion
tons of water to a height of three anC
one-half miles every minute; and the
time may come, he thinks, when sur
engines already invented-may bt
able, in many portions of the world, tt
do more work than is now done b,
steam engines, by utilizing, for the me
chanical wants of man, this prodigiou.
power of solar heat. Then, too, the i'm
mense force of wind, in places where its
action is steady and continuous, as
where the trade-winds prevail, might,
it is thought, be made of great import
ance in producing economical power.
The ebbing and flowing of the tides,
too. but little used at present, furnish
sufficient power to move all the ma
chinery the world needs. Again, only
the smallest fraction of the immense
power of falling water in rivers is util-
lied at the present time; it nearly all
runs to waste. Niagara alone repre-
sents $4,000 horsepower wasted every
minute. In this connection is the ques-
ton of the practicabllity of transmitting
mechanical power to great distances by
converting it into electricity, through
the agency Of dynamo electric machines.
The most wonderful statement made in
regard to this motor source is that by
Profs. Houston and Thompson, viz,
that it is possible to convey the whole
power OF Niagara Falls to the distance
OF 800 miles or more by copper cable
one-haf inch thick.
The New COPYING PRoCEss.-The
imperfections of the ordinary copyino
press have led to the invention of q
number of appliances for copying let
ters, drawings, etc, by chemical and
actinic means. Of these, the "blue
process and one or two others have
come into general use, and are more or
less satisfactory; and more recently a
new chemical process, said to be cheap
and effective, has been announced
Make warm mixture of 100 grams of
fine gelatine with 400 or 500 cubic CEN
tlmeters OF pasty precipitate of sui
phate OF baryta, and when well mixed
add 100 grams of dextrine and from
LOCO to 1920 grams of glycerine.
When melted, allow it to cool till lust
sufficiently fluid to flow, when lit
tie may be poured into shallow dish
and allowed to harden. If this be-
comes quite hard and stiff, add more
glycerine, and pour the whole into a
shallow tin tray and let it COOL Write
the letters in thick aniline ink" Vio-
let de Paris - will answer-and lay the
sheet, written side down, on the Jelly
like preparation, and press it down gem
tiy for a minute or two. On lifting the
paper part of the ink will be found
transferred to the jelly, when sheets of
paper may be laid on the jelly and re-
prints taken from it. Sufficient ink
clings to the jelly to give 40 or so i'm
pressions, when the surface of the Jelly
must be sponged clean with cold water.
The tray containing the jelly must be
kept in cool place, and if not used for
day or two must be moistened with a
sponge before using. Another formula
employs 100 grams of gelatine, 1900
grams glycerine, and 500 cubic cent?
meters sulphate of baryta, and gives
sharper impressions from the sheet of
jelly; but in cleaning il warm water
must be used.-Scribner for September.
HARD AND SOFT WATER-The house
keeper Of experience knows that it is a
disagreeable and difficult matter to wash
in what are termed 'shard waters. -
Their popularity arises from the fact
that they contain salts whose bases are
lime and magnesia. When soap is dis
solved in them these mineral salts and
the soap act upon each other, or, in the
chemical language, undergo a double
decomposition, the result of which is the
formation of insoluble compounds OF
the fatty acids of the soap (oleic and
stearic) and the bases of the salts. These
oleates and stearates of lime and magne-
sia, being insoluble, are, of course, pre-
cipitated, but they are of a stringy ma
ture, and adhere to any kind of textile
fabric, rendering it difficnlt to wash
clothes in such waters Various WAYS
have been proposed to i" soften water,''
the object of which will be at once com.
pretended when we state that these salts
are not by nature soluble in water, but
are rendered SO by the presence of car.
bonic acid gas. If, for instance, some
powdered chalk be shaken up in bot.
tie of water, the liquid will become
milky; but if the experiment be re.
peated with bottle of soda-water -
freshly opened, the chalk will dissolve,
and the water retain its transparency
If by any means the carbonic acid gas
can be driven out of the hard water, its
salts will be precipitated, and will be.
come soft. This may partially be eff
fected by boiling; hence the explana
ton of the calcareous deposit found al
the bottom of boilers. This fact may
be readily exhibited by boiling a fash
of hard water; after some minutes il
will become milky, owing to the pre-
cipitation of salts. A similar effec
may be produced by adding a littl,
lime-water; the lime appropriates tn,
carbonic acid, and, consequently, tn,
salts originally in the water and tn,
newly made carbonate of lime are pre-
cipitated together.