The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1914-12-01
BURNING CLASSES.
Powerful Lenses With a Few OF
Their Fiery FeatS.
PENN'S MARVELLOUS MACHINE.
The Heat Rays From This Mirror Lens
Wore So intense That They Melted
Garnets, Flint, Steel and Iron and
Did Other Wonderful Things.


Did Other Wonderful Things.
1t Is written that when the Roman |
ships besieged Syracuse Archimedes !
burned them to ashes by means of mir !
rors, and ProcIus is also said to have |
destroyed the navy of Vitaliun when
those galleys besieged Byzantium. BY
means of burning glasses. And there
Is the wonderful story of Ptolemy's
mirror. which. placed on the tower OF
the Pharos ut Alexandria. represented
accurately everything that transpired
In all Egypt, on both land and water
with which an enemy's feet could be
seen 100 leagues away.
Descartes branded the story of Archi
medes' mirrors as fabulous. But Kir
cher believed 1t to be true and made
many experiments to prove his con
tention He tried the effect of num-
ber of plane mirrors and with five OF
the same size, placed in frame. con
trived to throw the rays reflected from
them to the same spot at distance OF
more than 100 feet and the degree OF
heat obtained led him to conclude that
by increasing the number of mirrors he
could increase the heat to any desired
degree. He made voyage to Syra.
cuse to inform himself exactly of local
conditions From his observat tons he
was convinced that the Roman galleys
could not have been more than thirty
PAGES, or less than 100 feet. from the
place where Archimedes mounted his
unique engine of destruction.
Button constructed machine con
sisting of number Of mirrors. and
In his first experiment, using twenty
four mirrors. he set fire to pitch aud
tow at distance Of seventy feet
Then. with kind Of polyhedron. con
sisting of l6S pieces Of plain looking
glass. each piece six inches square.
boards of beechwood were set on fire
at distance of 165 feet Next there
were employed 800 plain mirrors, each
eight inches long and six broad. and
with all the mirrors in use wood
could be ignited at distance of 225
feet. The last machine Of this nature
constructed by Button contained 400
mirrors, each six inches square, and
with the rays from this he could melt
lead and tin at distance Of 150 feet
| The most powerful burning mirror of
modern times was constructed by one
Penn. an English artisan. He succeeded
In producing burning lens no less
than three feet in diameter and this
cost the man who was financing the
experiment upward of S3,500. Its pow
er was astonishing. and the hardest
and most solid substances, such as
iron. flint and steel, melted like wax
when exposed to its immense focus,
only few seconds being required. A
diamond weighing ten grains was ex-
posed to the rays for thirty minutes
and was reduced to six grains by the
process During the operation the
stone opened and folated like the
leaves of flower and emitted whitish
fumes; but when it had closed again
1t still bore polish and was identical
I'm shape though four grains lighter
and proportionntely smaller, Ten cut
garnets melted and rnn together III
few seconds. In tact nothing was
found that could resist the terrible
heat generated This remarkable ma
chine was ufterward taken to China
by an officer connected with the Brit
ish embassy and finally lost sight OF.
with these modern experiments tt
consider. the tale OF the burning O
Marcellus' ships seems more probable
La Brocquiere, traveller of the fif
teenth century. says that at Damascus
they nude mirrors OF steel that mag
nifled objects like burning glasses.
The telescope was not Invented til
early in the seventeenth century.
This would seem corroborative owl
dence concerning Ptolemy Euergetes
! mirror, which La BrOcquiere does no
mention and or which he perhaps new
! er heard. Abulfeda. In his description
+ Of Egypt, says that the wonderful mil
. ror was made of Chinese iron and tina
/ soon after Mohammedanism prevaile
5 the Christians destroyed It by strats
gem.
. In a work published at Marseilles |
, 1868 Father Abbat argues ingeniousl
e In favor of the probable existence 9
I | tut tUlTEOIs Out NohtShoo that 80 PN'
er was far less than recorded In tn
! legend.
|. "If this mirror existed" he says, :"
A is probable that 1t was the only one
[ It's kind and that no other means ha
a then been found Of viewing distaI
n objects distinctly II must therefor
have been considered as a great VOL
der In those times and must have fille
4 with astonishment all who saw It's e
!, fects Even though its effects had nj
!. been greater than those of a small te
. escope II Il natural to thir
= that those effects were exaggerated b
: yond all probability and even possibi
), ty. as commonly happens to rare al
- admirable machines and inventions
y y Emmett Campbell Hall In Clevelar
= Leader.