The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-06-12
Tho Rule of Contrariety in Inventions.

There is apt to be fine irreverence about
the inventor which leads him to suspect
| that any old way OF doing a thing Is for
that very reason not the best way. Often
he observes some time-honored plan OF
working. audaciously makes up his mind to
do the exact opposite. and hits upon sue
cess. Guns were loaded at the muzzle for
ages, until one day man OF originality
thought OF loading them at the other end.
the preferable end on many accounts be-
sides that OF manifest convenience. The
same path was trodden by the Frenchman
who first put the eye Of a needle near its
point Instead of away from its point He
little knew that he was doing a great deal
to make the sewing machine a possibility.
One of the notions of the pioneer railway
engineers in England was that their rails
must be Hanged so that the wheels OF loco
motives and carriages should not get Off
the track. But some one Of skeptical mind
inquired: Why not leave the top Of the
rail fat or nearly fiat. and put the aange on
the wheel. an easier thing to do? Accord
ingly the fiange was taken from the rail to
the wheel and remains there to this day. to
remind the traveller that On Eastern phi
losopher said long ago: ITO him that Is
well shod 1t Is as IL the whole earth were
covered with leather"
1t is good many years now since steam
was first used for heating buildings. and as
air when warmed ascends. what more nat
ural than that steam coils should hug the
floors just as the stoves before them had
done? But in some OF the largest factories
in this country the coils are fastened. not to
the floor. but to the ceiling. which proves to
be better place for them. AS everybody
knows who ever sat before an open fire. ra-
diation Is peasanter means OF warmth
than convection. than heat carried along by
currents of air; floor space Is incidentally
saved. and the risk Of gathering combusti-
bic rubbish about tho coils Is avoided.
In tho ages OF simplicity which came down
to WATTS time and the invention of the
steam engine. when kettle was to be heat
ed the proper place for the fire was thought
to DO outside. But when big boilers came
In. with pressing need that their contents
be heated in the shortest time possible. it
was found ganful to put the fire inside.
STEPEENsoS's locomotive. the Rocket"
derived no small part Of its efficiency from
his knowledge to which side OF the boiler
to apply flame.
On somewhat tho same principle Lord
DUNpoNALD. one OF the early improvers
OF the steam engine. forced the hot.air cur
rents under his boiler from above down
ward. against their natural tendency to
move from below upward. In this way he
made available much heat that otherwise |
would have been wasted. The steam engine.
whether mounted on wheels or not. always |
keeps its fuel outside. furnace and cylinder |
are distinct. To-day the steam engines |
pr1macy Is challenged by a motor which |
uses Its fuel inside. the furnace being no
other than tho cylinder. precisely as In the |
barrel Of gun. SO much more work does
a gas engine yield than steam engine, in
comparison with the heat applied, that only
the dearness OF heat as supplied by gas
prevents the speedy supersedure OF steam
for motive power. AS gas engines grow
larger. their margin OF economy
becomes 30 decided that it begins to pay to
make gas on purpose to burn IN them.
In the reduction OF bauxite. the refrac-
tory ore OF aluminium. 1t is necessary to
an extreme temperature. The
melting point OF the mineral is high. and
only 30 much Of the heat as ranges above
that temperature does work. In the Min
ing Department OF the Worlds Fair Is an
exhibit showing how the modern metal
lurgist reduces aluminium with new econ
omy. Instead OF employing the old crucible
method. and applying the fire from with l