The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-05-16
VOTES ON SCIENCE AMI INDUSTRY.

and subsequently, became Government mote.
oroiogist OF Queensland. aims at the establishments
OF similar twin stations at outstanding points In
the southern hemisphere, partly with the view of
comparing the high level with the low level results
at these points. and, further. with the view OF
comparing such results with those obtained at cor.
responding ATTITUDES in the northern hemisphere.
There has been for some years q meteorological sta
ton on Mount wellington. in tasmania. which
Me. wrnggc organized. and Mount Wellington 10 the
Ben Nevis OF tho Antipodes; and though its lati.
tude IL some degrees lower than that OF Its north.
ern prototype, its elevation-some t.l2O feet-is
within ESQ feet OF being the same. Although the
permanent establishment of twin stations on Mount
wellington ia the primary consideration involved
in this undertaking.. aud which has excited 10 much
interest in the scientific world. II 10 also designed
TO have high level STATIONS at several points in the
Australian Alps. such rs Mount Cork-lS.o0o feet.
The manufacture of Portland cement in Bel.
gium forms the subject of an interesting communi.
cation by Consul Roosevelt TO the state Depart.
ment. 1t 10 obtained. he says, from the calcareous
stone OF the quarriss in the district OF Tournia.
The stone for this purpose is carefully analysed
and dosed, treated in coke-hoated krns. and. after
burning. 10 finely puiverlzed. Before burning the
stone presents q nne ana vlose grain and 10 OF q
peculiar pasty appearance. and prior to caloina-
tion the exact quantity OF lime IL contains ID ascer-
tanned. as also the other chemical properties which
characterize It. The stone losea about one.third of
its weight during the process OF burning. which
also changes II TO n brown tinGo. When with.
drawn from the kiln the cement 10 placed under
sheds to thoroughly cool before being ground. and.
after grinding and before being packed into
barrels, It 10 placed in pits and left undisturbed
for Two months. Analyses Of tho calcareous stone
utilized in this manner show the composition to be
as follows; silicic acid. 1878 Der cent. oxide OF
iron. I per cent: aiumina. 8.95, lime, sa.li mag.
nesia, o.ts; %sulphurio acid, OBS loss In nrins.
1881 per cent.
Not q little interest has been created among man.
uf,cturers OF textiles by the improved mechanical
equipment introduced in the n ~ whitman mills.
New Bedford. Mass. The engines arc pronounced
remarkable In every respect. They are OF the up.
right type. totally unlike anything in use In Amer
can cotton II Ills. are said to show great efficiency.
and. though so ponderous. are run more quietly
than three. fourths of the engines in the mills or the
country. The engines are characterized by the Pc
cuiiar distinction of having IN open rope drive. q
feature which has attracted considerable atten.
ton. The face OF tie driving wheel 10 about nine
feet and Is cut in grooves some four inches from
centre to centre. The ropes sink into these
grooves and arc covered with q preparation made
for preserving them, the covering to be applied.
say. once q year. Cotton is the material of which
these ropes are made. and although they have been
run steadily for more than a year no trouble has
been thus fa- experienced, and the drive 10 pro.
nounced the most nearly noiseiess one that has ever
been devised. One point OF preference expressed
in favor OF this arrangement is that In damp
weather the drive acts so differently from the or.
binary leather belilng. inasmuch as It shrinks in.
stead of growing faoby and slipping.
Sufficient Importance is attached by the franklin
Institute. Philadelphia, to the new Fischer method
of enamelling marble TO make it the subject OF an
Official invest cation and report. The plan con.
sists in imparrng to marble a glazed or polished
surface by submitting it to the action OF hydro
chloric acid for q certain time. This glazing solu.
ton 10 composed OF one part acid and seven parts
water for general use. but for action upon very
hard marbles q stronger solution. having only nve
parts water. is employed. The action OF the dilute
acid upon the marble Immersed in it is to attack
every part of the surface. slowly dissolving the
same. and causing the Same to assume q glossy ap-
pearance without relatively changing its shape
that is. as The acid is equally active upon the entire
exposed surface of the stone, the minute crevices
are treated to the same erosion rs the prominent or
fiat surfaces, and the result 10 uniformly perfect
The report adds that though OF necessity the mar.
BILE 10 eaten away somewhat, and very sharp sculp-
turing 10 likely to be slightly rounded. yet II the
action OF the acid IL not prolonged unnecessarily.
NOT only does no serious injury result. but a nnsly
polished surface is produced over every exposed
part of the marble. such IS 10 i'm practicable TO
equal by any mechanical method now in vogue.
A noteworthy trial was made lately on tho
Eastern Railway OF France in the value
of a~cetyleno for lighting one of the nrst-class
coaches OF a Paris. Metz express. The compression
OF the acetylene was accomplished in q reservoir
OF construction similar TO that Of the gas talks
used regularly on this line. 1t was burned In q
small special Manchester burner. with an OK
tremely small slit, in order to obtain the most per-
feet combustion. The results OF these tests. as
given in tho Stciss Builders Gazette. were as fol.
lows: Twelve litres of ~acetylene gas were con-
sumed to produce Q lighting effect OF two carceis.
or 1874 normal candles. per hour: thus. valuing a
ton OF caicic CARBIDE at Sl07.l5 and calculating
the average yield OF one kilogram at 500 litres OF
acetylene gas. tbs cost of liz hrnE would amount 10
exactly Two confines. or two.nfths OF a cent per
burner, or one centime per carUel hour.
Prof. Ewing, in lecturing before the London So
ciety Of Arts on the requirements Of refriger ting
machinery. says Engineering. showed plainly how
far the performance OF even the best OF modern re-
frIgeratinE plants falls below that due to an ideal
machine. In fact. the practicable figure is moi ap-
preached by even tine best ammonia or carbolic
acid gas machines. while with cold air machines
tie performance reckoned in terms OF the indt.
Gated work OF the engine has never exceeded unity.
and is usually not more than one.half to three.
fourths OF this. The most rapidly working machines,
Prof. Ewing declares. are absorption machines. in
which Satcr is caused to evaporate under n very
low pressure. the aqueous vapor being absorbed by
suip" uric acid. With a machine OF this class by
Tindhausen, ak blocks IT ice. weighing 100
pounds each, were produced In sixty minutes
after starting, while with q small Garre machine.
as modified by Fleuss. ice was produced In q carafe
after about nvc minutes working. Such machines,
however. on . la-Re scale. are objected to on ae-
count OF their great bulk and mechanical FRICTION.
Tho largest water. storag. reservoir In tho world
Is now in process OF construction by the city OF
Boston. It's Intended capacity reaching the enormous
ngure Of sixty Ave billions OF gallons. or enough 20