The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-02-05

Mankind owes a great debt to the
men whose ingenuity has produced in-
struments which permit the scientist
TO 80 far beyond the ordinary range
Of his senses. Through the modern
telescope the scientist looks far into
space and beholds millions of suns
outshining our own, objects OF such
immensely that our minds cannot
grasp them, and of such distance that
the unaided eye cannot see them.
Through the microscope he discovers
billions of little creatures Of whose
existence he was unaware. With his
measuring instruments the scientist is
able to measure distance and quantity
q million times more accurately than
with, the eye; heat thousand times
more accurately than with the sense
of feeling. and time q thousand times
more accurately than with the unaid-
| cd mind.
The bolometer. devised by the late
! Professor Langley to measure the
heat OF the stars, Is q marvellous In
strument The heat of the average
star Is no greater to us than heat OF
a candle placed three miles away, yet
tits delicate Instrument will -fneasare
/ the varying degrees of heat given OFF
by different stars. A spiders web, a
tfffe4sa-ef-spttIf glass; the gatsse-e&a
| fy's wing and mirror as small as a
| pin head, are some of the things thai
enter into its construction. 1t is sc
| sensitive to heat that the Image of q
mans face thrown upon 1t at dis
! lance of half mile will be registered
| sharply.
Dividing Engine Complex.
The dividing engine. used by scien-
\ he . t..e
for analyxing rays of light, Is perhap.
the next most delicate machine mar
has contrived. The Rowland dividing
engine will rule 10000 parallel linei
ON single inch of surface. Another
/ will draw fourteen lines on the edge
/ OF the finest tissue paper. 1t was al
most an insuperable task to get tn,
/ wheels perfect enough to do the work
| but little eiectroplating brush Of TIL.
most ingenious construction ANAL,
served the purpose. When the ma
chine is in operation 1t must be lie
alone. as even the proximity OF a hu
man being will interfere with thu
| trueness OF it's lines. 1t goes on in
cessantly drawing Its diamond potn
across the hardened steel, and whel
the grating is finished it sells for q.
much as $50 per square inch.
Another very perfect machine ts tn
Whiteworth measuring machine
which will determine thickness dow
to the millienth part Of an inch. Whel
one desires such a degree Of accurac.
1t is an easy matter to set the ma
chine q shade too tight. 70 overcom
this the inventor placed a pair o
'sfeelers'' on IL, enabling the operate
10 tell when 1t L. exactly right TIL
machine IL SO accurate that II
man places his finger nall against
bar of iron thfrty-six inches long
will register the expansion caused b
the communicated heat
seems Almost Impossible.
The Shaw measuring machine wi
kdetersnine length down to the hun
dred- milIionth part OF an inch. A
. the series OF wheels ON watch multi
, ply the motion of a single turn Q
: the mainsprfng into thousands of rev
; buttons by the balance wheel. q
there Ia a series OF little levers In tn
I | shaw 7mashsna which reduce tn
: movement of an inch on the lever or
Grated by the hand to the hundredth
. n1iilionth part of an inch on the on
{ at the other end OF the series. On
well may wonder how such an instr,
: ment can be turned TO human us
| vet tt was this machine which disco,
cred that the vibration Of the dis
! phragm in a telephone receiver.
| registering the faintest audible SCUM
: | moves through the one-fifty miIliont
I part OF an inch. This machine 10 I
! dedicate that unatded human perceI
ton cannot interpret its registration
: therefore small microphonic tel.
: phone has been attached TO 1t for tn
) purpose. These measuring machine
were used to determine the length {
> the tuberculosis germ.