The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-03-24

ness. The downward impulse acquired from the act of pouring it in caused little oscillation of level for moment or two. Then, after a short interval, large globules of it's lighter fluid would show a disposition to dive to greater depth, but always returning to the surface again. The dancing of these spheres, seen from the side, was fascinating spectacle. The air remained distinct from the water, and did not mix as one might expect. So nearly the same was the specific gravity of the two that only the most trlfling change was necessary to alter the balance. And every now and then the plunges of the upper ele- ment would go deeper than before, un- til finally, for @ second, the bottom of the vessel was touched. The little mass es of liquid air looked like glass alleys or Jaikson balls, nearly an inch in di- ameter. but colorless. They glittered like jewels. The increasing density of the air, in consequence of partial evap- oratlon as shown by this experiment, was attributed by ohe of the bystand- CTS to the carbonic acid gas in the at- mosphere.
 canopy tube having a thickness of nearly a quarter of an inch, a diameter of an inch and a half or two inches, and a length of ten inches, and open only at one end was fastened upright in a wise. A tablespoonful of the liquid air was poured in, a wooden plug was quickly driven into the mouth with a hammer, and then the company was warned to step off to a safe distance. A moment later there was an explosion like that of a small cannon, and the plug smote the ceiling violently. The warmth of the metal had vaporized the liquid, and a great pressure was thus developed.
 Mercury poured into a mould was frozen into solid block three inches long, an inch or more thick and an inch wide. The threaded ends of two screw eyes were laid in place at the outset so that a casting was made around them. One screw eye was then caught over a stout nail and a weight of one hundred pounds or so was suspended from the other. The mercury did not yield enough to let the weight fall for fifteen minutes, and it did not all return to liquid form again for more than half an hour.
 Tin dipped into a basin of boiling liquid air and thus reduced to a tenn perature of 300 below zero became as brittle as glass. Rubber treated in the same way was much hardened, but also crumbled like stone under hammer. Copper, leather and aluminium, how ever, retain their f1exibility in spite of the extreme cold here utilized. The method employed by MT. Tripler to reduce air to a liquid form is original with him in some respects. Although Linde Gin Germany and others have also adopted it, MT Tripler says that he was the first to do so. Various sci
 entific men have supposed that there was theoretical absurdity in the ex- planation given by the New York ex- perimenter, but, as MT. Tripler believes he not only produces liquid air in larger quantities but much more cheaply than foreign chemists, he laughs atthe scep- tics. He says that he produces about ten or fifteen gallons of the fluid with an expenditure of about half a ton of coal.
 One of the practical uses to which this wonderful stuff can be put is re- frigerating. It is asserted that a cold storage system using liquid air would be much cheaper than if operated by ammonia. In time, engines may be run with it. perhaps. It can be exploded like gun cotton, and used in cautery. When once the various other practical applications of Mir Triplers product are recognized it is possible that he may figure as a benefactor of mankind l From the New York Tribune