The times., 1898-11-06
The Palais Royal, a l'ssER 6 and llth SIS:

shown there was destined to be put tC
use and to become one of the most valua-
BILE and adaptable of the natural forces.
OF course, this was not much more than
tentative expression, but / think that
all of the party were convinced that
Prof. Tripler had discovered a process
which has brought us at least very much
nearer than we ever have been before to
the practical use of liquefied air
Prof Tripler's apparatus. as has been
said. is comparatively simple. and the
process, does not one the face of II, seem
20 be expensive. He uses a i0-horse-pow-
er engine. which is directly connected
with his air pump. That is. the piston
rod of the pump is connected directly
with the connecting rod of the engine
The pump Is. of course, of the positive
kind-not an exhaust pump-and the air
is forced into and through a series of
cylinders under pressure of 1000 pounds
to the square inch. When under this
great pressure the air Is brought into con-
tact with a temperature equivalent TO 200
degrees below zero Of Centigrade. Under
these conditions the air Is passed through
coiled pipe. which is controlled by
valve Of peculiar structure. This valve
in fact. is more important than any other
part of the apparatus. 1t was designed
by Prof. Tripler. and he alone under
stands its operation and effects. At all
events. with his engine at work, Prof
Tripler can turn this valve and draw out
iquefied air just as water is drawn out
of a faucet.
No one has yet pretended to determine
just low the force which iquehed air
throws off may be utilized. nor even TO
decide upon more than few of the uses
and ways in which the powerful c@emical
properties of the liquid may be taken ad-
vantage of. That the effervescing of the
liquid may be used to produce all kinds
of cooling or freezing effects is. of course,
at once apparent. and it is not wildly
improbable that the vapor may one day
be used to keep houses at any desired de-
gree of coolness even in the hottest
weather. This of course at once suggests
the perfection of all forms of cold stor-
age. The chemical action of the fluid
upon solids and liquids of every compo-
sition also opens up a practically unlim-
tied field for the operation of the liquid
astonishing power.
Prof. Fay during his experiment treat
ed alcohol, glycerine. turpentine, mer-
curry and other fluids. supposed to be to
all intents and purposes non-freezab!e.
with the liquid, by simply pouring it ov- r
the fluids. and the result was the same
in every instance-the liquids were liter
ally reduced to ice crystals
A quantity of common quicksilver was
poured into a small pasteboard box, and
after receiving a few applications Of the
fluid was frozen hard; so hard. in fact.
that the stick which had been used in
stirring the liquid while the experiment
was being performed was fastened firmly
in the hardened mass, and Prof. Fay drove
a nail into board with his extemporized
cold storage hammer. the head of which
was no more affected by the contact with
the steel than so much lead would have
been.
Alcohol Ice crystals are not the common
est things in the world by any means, but
Prof. Fay produced them in a few min
utes and In fact every chemical that was
brought into contact with the fluid was
promptly and effectually frozen. a piece
of thin steel soaked for few minutes in
the fluid was made so brittle that it could
be easily broken with the fingers, and a
bit of beefsteak was reduced to a state
of complete solidness that would have
caused certain type of boarding-house
keepers to weep for joy please pass the
steak remarked one of the students, and
just at that moment the steak fell TO the
floor with thump that could not have
been more emphatic il 1t had been so much
lead Two or three crabapples got such a
severe frost as the result of their intro
duction to the fluid that when they were
struck with a hammer they promptly
broke into small pieces as though they
had been bits of ice. An egg suffered
the same indignity; it couldn't have been
harder If it had been laid by the Sphinx
The fragments of all these substances,