The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-05-02
NOTES ON SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

Scientific Press, San Francisco. will 20 through Z
sandbar at q speed OF from nve TO ten feet q min
ute. cutting its way through o solid bank and leav
ing hshind II q channel forty feet wido and twenty
feet deep. or course. IL could not do It's work at
such an amazing rate as this II it wero not for the
water which it has TO work ~with-this. In fact. II
tho secret of tho whole performance. In front Of
thia machine nro SIX intake pipes, turned down
ward. and surrounding each OF these 10 q cylinder
lifted with knives and kept In revolution all the
time, 90 that the knives cut and chew UP the sand
and mix IL with the water. In this way the pro-
cess goes all around the intake pipes, and in the
lattor the suction of great stenm.drivon centrifugal
pumps IL pulling away ut tho looscnod mass OF
sand ana water. immense solid streams OF dobria
flowing In the pipcs at q rapie rate. II Is assumed
that this method Of maintaining low water naviga.
ton Is practicable in ali ailuvial streams-applica
bic. in fact. TO tho Missouri, to tho Illinois. to the
Sacramento. the voiRa. the Danube, the Hoorly.
&c.. engineering skiii being able 20 calculate to tho
fraction OF q foot what speed the current requires
through tho pipes 20 carry tho sand In solution.
A unique BIT of mechanism 10 noted in the Provi.
dence Journal as ha7iug been introduced recently
In Brown q Shapes mandatory, namely. a lathe
test indi employcd for setting centrally any
point or hole In q piece OF work TO be operated on
in n lathe or on q face plato, the device being also
adapted for testing lathe centres ~shafting. the in.
side and outside of pulieys and cylinders. and work
held between centres. The tool is OF steel and OF o
size conveniently held In the tool post of aiathe; the
bar 10 nfteen.sixteenths of an inoh wido and three.
oighths OF an inch thick. Is drop .forgod and formed
at the end TO receive Q universal Joint for support
ing the finger holder, there 10 O clamp nut for
clamping the Joint when II 10 desired to leave only
q vertical movement 70 tho finger, aa in testing the
inside or outside OF puIleys or pieces held between
centres. The bushinR holding the finger 10 split to
allow the finger to bo auJusted to the lengths re.
quir 4 and clamped in positions; ono finger 10
ground to an anglo OF sixty degrees and the other 10
bent for inside and outside testing. and q spiral
spring holds the ringer with even pressure.
The system of woodworking known as tho 'buiit.
up method. and now coming more and moro into
vogue, 10 snid to DO employed advantageously in
the manufacture OF doors, tho claim being that.
by thus cementing together thin boards or We.
neers Of different woods trausvcrsely with the
grain, greater strength, hexibility. and durability
ore obtained than cxists in an eQuai-sized piece
Of any OF the woods individually. Doors made in
this manner cannot twist or warp under any con.
ditions. are much stronger than ordinary mortise
and tenon or doweIied doors made OF one kind OF
wood; and q nrm In Huralo Is now making sue.
~cessfuily doors OF bunt.up woods. leaving the
frames hollow, which Is O saving OF material and
produces q lighter and stronger door. In Canada
built.up boards are employed for packing cases.
trunks. 40, for whi,h purpose the workman cuts
sheets OF veneer from the log. which 10 made TO
rotate against Q knife. and the veneers are then
glued up with the grain crossed. the result being
o strong board. OF considerably greater strength
than much thicker wood OF any other kind.
A series of experiments with calcium carbide as
o metaIlurgical reducing agent are reported by Il.
II. Warren In the Chemical Netrs. A summary OF
these experiments shows that alloys thus formed
are moro or loss brittle and TO q certain extent
sonorous when struck, their melting point rank.
Ing below that OF pure lead. and arc slowly but
completely decomposed in contact with aqueous
vapor. the reaction being much less energetic than
that afforded by lead alloys with the alkaline met.
ais. Thus stannlc oxide. cupric oxide. aud also
ferric oxide. at corresponding higher tempera.
tures. wcre readily reduced. yielding results OF no
practical value: IN the case OF the cupric alloys.
those samples containing under l per cent. of cal.
cium being rendered cold.short ana breaking un.
der very small strain. while. on tn" other hand.
iron containing calcium approaches in appearance
that or ferro. manganese, being even more brittle
and yer? oxidizable in contact with water. In
some further operations oxides OF manganese.
nickel, cobalt, and oven chromium. molybdenum,
and tungsten were readily reduced. yielding cal.
cium alloys.
II is not tnfrequently q matter OF wonder with
those not versed in all tho phenomena Of astron.
omy that the solar parallax can be got from Mars
and Venus. but not from Mercury or the sun itself.
Astronomers explain this on very simple grounds,
namely. that the nearest approach OF these bodies
to the earth is for Mars SO. 900 miles. for
Venus 23.eb4. 900 miles. for Mercury Al. 93o. 900
miles. aud for the sun 81. ESQ. 900 miles, conse.
Quently. for US. Mars and Venus have very much
larger parnllaxes than Mercury or the sun, and, OF
course. the larger the parallax the easier It Is to
measure. But. further. even the largest Of these
paraliaxes must b, determined within for less
than one. tenth OF a second OF the truth. and while
that degree OF accuracy is possible In measuring
short arcs. It is quite unattainabIe In LONG ones;
hence. one OF the most essential conditions for the
successful measurement OF parallaxes Is the abil.
ity TO compare the place of the near body with
that Of q moro distant one Situated In the same re.
gion OF the sky.
4 new and simple source OF power 10 proposed for
engines and is declared to be not only practicable.
but advantageous in respect TO the latter. &c
being claimed that the material producing the
20 wer can DO used continu ously without the no.
cessity of renewal. According to this idea. orig.
mating with Hermann Poppe OF Hamburg. Ger.
many. o mixture.s employed. OF ammonia vapor
anu oarbonic acid gas, eventually under access Of
steam, which. however,. is not essential. and thus,
by the expansion of the gas mixture entering under
pressure. q cooling OF the vapors In the cylinder of
tho engine 10 produced. In this way u salt of ammo.
MIA Is formed by O smaller or larger part OF the gas
MIXTURE tHib bhit, . proFiucu u II SUBSEQUENT
operation. is returned to o dislntegrating appa-
ratus. working under pressure. In order to be disin-
tegrated by heat into is volatile components.
which latter are again utilized for power purposes.
Though the greatest and most rernarkabl, phenom.
enon pertaining to the surface OF the sea Is the tidal
wave. scientific authorities acknowledge that II still
presents some uncxplainable anomalies: II is demon.
strated. however. that the movement is made up OF
many waves dependent upon different functions OF
the moon and sun. some being semi.diurnal. some d.
urnal. Tho time OF transit over the meridian. the de.
cliuation Of both bodies, create great variations The
changing distance and position OF the moon and the po-
sition OF her node also have immense effect, while
the ever varying direction aud fore, OF the winds and
the differing pressure OF the atmosphere play their
part. An interesting fact in th!1 relation Is that observa.
tions all over the world show no place whore the tidal
movement Is 30 regular and simple as around the
British isiands-a fact moro remarkable when It Is
known that the tides on the other side OF the Atlantic,
as. for instance, at Nova Scotia, are very complicated;
tho unexplainable case here being that the minor
tides. which in most parts Of the world. when com.
bined in one direction. amount TO a very considerable