The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-07-24
VOTES on SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

NVAho Wv SNAbNN" A"N ANDCoA"As
A illustrating the tiumphs of modern science in
the construction Of instruments Of preoiaion. the
Scientific american instances n chronograph for ro-
oording inhnitesimal intervals of time. such a. q mil.
honth OF a second or less, which ia stated TO have
been used to record geographically the compression
by . blow Of a cylindrical piece of copper. In ono
case q thirty-three pound weight fell fifteen inches
and produced q permanent compression OF o.1059
inch in o copper cylinder, the time consumed In pro-
ducing this compression being o.oo3o31T Of q sec-
ond. The machine produces by means of photog.
raphy . curve allowing the precise progress Of this
compensation. The chronograph which reaches such
remarkable results consists Of . rotating cylinder,
with . surface velocity OF 100 feet q second, on which
II photographed q pencil OF light, which is passed
through aholo in the end Of q rapidly vibrating tun-
ing fork. The delicacy OF this instrument 10 far
greater than that Of tho ordinary tuning fork chrome
graph recording on . surface blackened by smoke.
There seems to be no doubt that tho tunnellinR Of
the simplon Pass. over the Alps into Italy. by the
Swiss Government, will be the next great engineering
project to be accomplished In Europe. The new tun-
mel will be longer by nearly four miles than the
Mont Cents and 81. Gothard. though in tho opinion
OF engineers the building OF IL will DO less costly
and not 30 difficult, and the work IL likely TO con-
sumo only ak or seven years. Already . railway has
been carried TO BHeg, at the foot Of the Simplon
Pass. and thence, according to the plan as laid out,
ne tunnel Will tOliOW M WluuluGb u Lno prohenL
road. ending near the italian border. but still on
Swiss territory. There the work OF construction. IL
IN e1pectedSwin be most diflcult, taxing largely the
resources OF engineering skill. now. Of course. much
greater and moro varied than when the existing tun-
nels were built. In the case of former tunnels. az IN
we'll known, compressed air was freely used for
driving power, and now electricity is to be added
electricity generated on the spot by the abundant
Swiss WATERFALL.
An interesting method Of applying the electro
nickel process to wood is described In lie Gsnic Civil
I'll necessary to coat 1t previously with \ thin layer
of metal. and the following three solutions arc TO
BIO prepared, namely: In ten grams Of carbon sui
phide, ono and q half grams OF caoutchouo is dis
solved. adding four grains of melted wax, and in
another flask is contained . mixture of i've grams Of
phosphorus. sixty of carbon ~Bulphide. Eve Of oil
of turpentine, with four Of asphalt powder, this
solution being added to the FIRST ono while STIR
ring; there is also to be prepared a mixture of two
grams OF silver nitrate In six hundred grams OF water.
likewise ono OF 10 grams of gold chloride In 600 of
water. The material to be ~nickelled, to which
the conducting wires have been attached. is now in.
troduced into the hrst solution and the whole dried
on taking out. The second solution 10 next poured
over it until the surface has assumed q dark metallic
appearance, afterward being rinSed OF with water
and treated in tho same manner with the third solu.
ton. Through this preliminary treatment the wood
Attains q yellowish color and is ready for nickelling.
The bath consists Of 900 grams Of nickel ammonium
sulphRte, 90 of ammonium ~sulphate. and 10 litres Of
water-the liquid 70 be neutral, which Ia to be at
tanned. II necessary, by adding ammonium chloride
until ntmus paper Is very slightly Redeemed.
From measurements of the mean p~arallAxea Of tho
stars Beta, Gamma. Epsilon. and Zeta. In the Great
BeAr-nve of tho seven starr which form thu Great
Dipper-astronomers now obtain values DO small as
to indicate that the system formed by these starr In
separated from the earth by such o distance that It IL
no random assertion TO say that 200 years must DO
required for the light 70 reach us. The distance of
Beta and Zeta is found to be at least four million times
greater than that which separates the earth from the
sun. and from calculations made by N. Hofher the
star Epsilon Of this group 10 calculated to be forty
times brighter than Sirius. A few yeAra ago Prof.
Pickering of the Harvard College observatory de-
duced from spectroscopic observations Of the star
Eta UrsB Majoris-Mizar. the middle star in the
handle Of the Di~pper-that Its distance IL about 100
light years, an estimate with which these later de.
examinations Of the distances OF the other DippeE
stars accord fairly we'll.
Bone worry attractive prizes are offered by the Ger
man Railroad Union, published in the RdiIt0dv Ga.
Eae. for important inventions and improvements in
railroad construction. machinery and management
The range Of matters indicated by the union includes
improvements in the construction Of boil
ers. especially such A.. without increasing weight ma.
terially. secure the most complete OF
Smoke possible. economy in fuel. the prevention
of sparks. and the reduction of the cost of main,
tenAnce; an arrangement by which tho coupling
OF cars with automatic American oouplers and
those with the standard couplers Of the times may
be made without danger: Weighing apparatus by
which separate cars while moving. or loosely coupled
cars Of q whole train, may be weighed with ~sufAcien,
accuracy; also some means Of protecting . train tina,
. has como 70 q stop. or is threatened with delays in
bad weather and at night, which will work bettel
than the track torpedoes and the hand signals OF
track and train men. The time Limit for the prizes IA
the middle OF July, 1899, and an important condition
in all cases is that the invention. or method. must be
introduced on some railroad in the Railroad Union
before application is made to compete. and its appli
cation must be supported by the railroad trying it.
Referring to tho many ingenious and interesting
theories which have been advanced regarding the
generation and origin of natural gAs-accounting
too. for the great pressures under which It Ia stored
q writer in Cdsrf1TS Ad0dSiHs argues that the dis
tribution and intimate relation OF the carbon com
pounds all favor the theory OF their generation by
the decomposition OF vegetable and mineral organic
mattel under widely different variations and sur
roundings Of temperature. pressure. and other forcel
and chemical influences, from the oarlies
developments of organic life to tho presenr
time; the gas is. according TO such condi
tons. the product probably Of slow primary decom
position. at low temperatures. of animal and vege
table substances contained in natural sediments. a
may DO seen. for example. in the shallow. undis
turbed portions Of fresh-water lakes; further, tn,
deposits OF oil and gas In the peculiar geological
formations from which they arc being drawn TO
commercial uses are due to the accidental DISPOSE
ton of the anticlinAls and synclinalS which act a
reservoirs. and do not necessarily indicate the re
s~triction OF their generation to any particular geo
logical periods. The richly productive gas pool IL
domo or inverted trough OF porous or coArse-graine'
sand or limestone Reologically called an anticline
l coyerad Inv imDarvIOua ahala or aimilAr formation