Bearing this in mind, let us now suppose that while using the polarizing eyepiece on the part of the spot distinguished by the little circle, we have one of those rare opportunities when we can, by the temporary steadiness of our tremulous atmosphere, use the higher powers of the telescope and magnify the little circle till it appears as in Fig. 12. We have now nearly the same view as if we were brought close to the surface of the sun, and suspended over this part of the spot. All the faint outer shade, seen in the smaller views (the penumbra) is seen to be made up of long white filaments, twisted into curious ropelike forms, while the central part is like a great flame, ending in fiery spires. Over these hang what look like clouds, such as we sometimes see in our highest sky, but more transparent than the finest lace vail would be, and having not the "fleecy" look of our clouds, but the appearance of being filled with almost infinitely delicate threads of light. Perhaps the best idea of what is so hard to describe, because so unlike anything on earth, is got by supposing ourselves to look through successive vails of white lace, filled with flower-like patterns, at some great body of white flame beyond, while between the spires of the flame and separating it from the border are depths of shade passing into blackness. With all this, there is something crystalline about the appearance, which it is hard to render an idea of—frost-figures on a window pane may help us as an image, though imperfect. In fact the intense whiteness of everything is oddly suggestive of something very cold, rather than very hot, as we know it really. I have had much the same impression when looking into the open mouth of a puddling furnace at the lumps of pure white iron, swimming half-melted in the grayer fluid about them. Here, however, the temperature leaves nothing solid, nothing liquid even; the iron and other metals of which we know these spot-forms do in part at least consist are turned into vapor by the inconceivable heat, and everything we are looking at consists probably of clouds of such vapor; for it is fluctuating and changing from one form into another while we look on. Forms as evanescent almost as those of sunset clouds, and far more beautiful in everything but color, are shifting before us, and here and there we see, or think we see, in the sweep of their curves beyond, evidences of mighty whirlwinds (greater by far than the largest terrestrial cyclone) at work. While we are looking, and trying to make the most of every moment, our atmosphere grows tremulous again, the shapes get confused, there is nothing left distinct but such coarser features as our engraving shows, and the wonderful sight is over. When we consider that this little portion of the spot we have been looking at is larger than the North and South American continents together, and that we could yet see its parts change from minute to minute, it must be evident that the actual motion must have been rapid almost beyond conception—a speed of from 20 to 50 miles a second being commonly observed and sometimes exceeded. (A cannon ball moves less than ¼ of a mile per second.) I have seen a portion of the photosphere, or bright general surface of the sun, drawn into a spot, much as any floating thing would be drawn into a whirlpool, and then, though it occupied by measurement over 3,000,000 miles in area, completely break up and change so as to be unrecognizable in less than twenty minutes.
When we come to discuss the subject of the sun's heat, we shall find that the temperature of a blast furnace or of the oxyhydrogen blowpipe is low compared with that which obtains all over such a vast region, and remembering this, it is evident that its disappearance is a cataclysm of which the most tremendous volcanic outburst here gives no conception. We cannot, by any terrestrial comparison, describe it, for we have no comparison for it in human experience. If we try to picture such an effect on the earth, we may say in another's words that these solar whirlwinds are such as, "coming down upon us from the north, would in thirty seconds after they had crossed the St. Lawrence be in the Gulf of Mexico, carrying with them the whole surface of the continent in a mass, not simply of ruin, but of glowing vapor, in which the vapors arising from the dissolution of the materials composing the cities of Boston, New York, and Chicago would be mixed in a single indistinguishable cloud."
These vast cavities then in the sun we call spots are not solid things, and not properly to be compared even to masses of slag or scoria swimming on a molten surface. They are rather rents in that bright cloud surface of the sun which we call the photosphere, and through which we look down to lower regions. Their shape may be very rudely likened to a funnel with sides at first slowly sloping (the penumbra), and then suddenly going down into the central darkness (the umbra). This central darkness has itself gradations of shade, and cloud forms may be seen there obscurely glowing with a reddish tinge far down its depths, but we never see to any solid bottom, and the hypothesis of a habitable sun far within the hot surface, suggested by Sir William Herschel, is now utterly abandoned. We are able now to explain in part that mysterious feature in the sun's rotation before insisted on, for if the sun be not a solid or a liquid, but a mass of glowing vapor, it is evidently possible that one part of it may turn faster than another. Why it so turns, we repeat, no one knows, but the fact that it does is now seen to bear the strongest testimony to the probable gaseous form of the sun throughout its mass—at any rate, to the gaseous or vaporous nature of everything we see. We must not forget, however, that under such enormous temperature and pressure as prevail there the conditions may be—in fact, must be—very different from any familiar to us here, so that when we speak of "clouds," and use like expressions, we are to be understood as implying rather an analogy than an exact resemblance.
We must expect, with the great advances photography has lately made, to know more of this part of our subject (which we may call solar meteorology) at the next spot maximum than ever before, and by that time it may be hoped that some of the wonderful forms described above so imperfectly will have been caught for us by the camera.
In the notice in our issue for July 27 of a new screw cutting lathe made by Messrs. Goodnow & Wightman, the address should have been 176 Washington street instead of 128, and the diameter of the tail spindle, which was given as 5/16, should have been 15/16 inch.
The Olympia (Wyoming Territory) Standard announces that a company has been formed there to bring ice from a glacier. The deposit covers a number of acres, is seventy or eighty feet deep, and is supposed to contain a hundred thousand or more tons, some of which may have been there as many years. The ice can be cut and sold at one and one half cents a pound, and by the ship load at five dollars a ton.
The accompanying engravings, which we take from Iron, give plan and section of the puddling apparatus invented by Mr. Oestlund, as used at the Finspong Ironworks. The gas generator, A, is of the common Swedish type, as used for charcoal. The tube, k, conducts the gases into the refining pot, a. This pot has a lining of refinery slag, which is melted, as the apparatus revolves, to get it to adhere to the sides. The revolution of the pot, a, on its axis, d, is effected by the action of the beveled wheels, b and b', and the pulley, c, which takes from an iron chain the power given off by a turbine. The spindle, d, is supported in the bearings, e and e', c carrying a pair of trunnions which form the axis of oscillation, and allow the apparatus to rise or fall, the whole of this mechanism being supported on the plummer blocks, f f. One of the trunnions, e'', is prolonged so as to form the axis of the beveled wheel, b, and the pulley, c, the latter sliding along the trunnion so as to put b in or out of gear. The bush, e is tied by means of the stay, g' to the upper end of the toothed segment, g, the lower extremity of which is connected with the second bush at the end of the spindle. By means of the pinion, h, revolving on standards, i i, and the segmental rack, g, the pot can be raised or lowered without interfering with the action of the beveled wheels.
The gas from the generator is brought to the mouth of the pot by the tubes, k and m. The air necessary for the combustion of the gas is brought in by a tube, l, branching from the air main, l''. The air tube, l, passes into the gas tube and is continued concentrically within the latter. The gas and air tubes both have joints at m' and m''. By means of the bar, n, which has a counterpoise to keep the moving parts in position, the tubes can be brought from or toward the mouth of the pot, so as to make it free of access to the workman. With a key fitting on the stem, n', the tubes can be turned in m', so as to give the currents of gas and air a more or less oblique direction. To screen the workmen from the heat of the pot a disk of iron, o, lined with fire clay on the side next the pot, is fitted to the end of the tubes.
Before running the metal into the pot, the latter must be heated, to such a degree that the slag lining is pasty or semi-fluid at its surface. Generally an hour and a half will be spent in heating with gas to this point. There should be sufficient live coal in the pot when the gas is first let in to keep up its combustion; should it be extinguished by excess of air or gas, it must be relit. As soon as the pot begins to get red hot the full heat can be put on.
The gas generator is tended in the usual way with the ordinary precautions. To keep ashes and dust out of the gas tube, lumps of charcoal are heaped up to the height of the top of the flue. The wind pressure for the generator was 33 to 41 millimeters of mercury, that of the wind for the combustion of the gas (at Finspong the blast is not heated) being only 16½ millimeters. The pressure of the gas in the tube near the pot was 6.2 millimeters of mercury. The method of working, viewed chemically, does not sensibly differ from puddling; although giving as good, perhaps better, results at a much less cost. There are three principal periods in the operation: 1. The period before boiling. 2. The boiling itself. 3. The end of the boiling, and the formation of balls. When cast metal is poured into the pot a shovelful or two of refinery slag is added. The temperature of the bath is thus brought down; it thickens and boils, the pot revolving at the rate of 30 or 40 revolutions a minute. The metal is worked with a rabble, either to cool it or to get the slag to incorporate with it, as is done in puddling. Note must be taken of the temperature of the melted metal and that of the pot, at the moment of charging, the heat during working being regulated accordingly by increasing or diminishing the inflow of air and gas. When circumstances are favorable, boiling begins five minutes after the metal is run into the pot, and it lasts about ten minutes.
Boiling having begun, the batch swells, the iron forms, granulates, and seems to cling to the rabble and the sides of the pot. The rotation of the pot is continued, as well as the working, to separate out parts which are not yet refined; but no more cold cinder is put in. While boiling goes on the temperature is regulated so that the pig does not cling to the side of the pot during a complete revolution, but so that the particles next the side fall back into the bath when the side comes uppermost in the revolution. The heat is raised a little when the iron can be felt by the rabble to be completely refined, when shining lumps make their appearance in the bath, and the iron begins to cling to the walls. At the moment, therefore, that the temperature is brought to its highest point, and the iron begins to agglutinate, the rotation of the pot should be stopped, and either immediately, or after the delay of a couple of minutes, it is removed. If the iron does not ball well, it is not completely refined, and the pot may be started again. If the iron is firm enough already, the isolated particles are exposed to the hottest flame possible, the blast being carried to its maximum. The refining is thus completely finished, and all the particles are agglomerated. The mobility of the gas tube at m'' is of advantage in this operation. It is sometimes useful to start the pot again to round up the puddled ball, but it is best if this has been formed with the rabble.
The iron from a charge of 75 kilos. of pig may be divided with advantage into a couple of balls; a third may be made of the iron separated from the walls of the pot. To get out the balls the pot is lowered, and the workmen use tongs, pointed rabble, and hooked bar. If things have gone well the balls ought to come out soft at a welding heat, filled with cinder like puddled balls, but a little more resisting and solid under the hammer. They are forged into bars, and these are at once passed to the rolls. If nothing hinders the balling and shingling, these operations will not consume more than fifteen minutes.
Scamoni's process is as follows: The original drawings are carefully touched up, so that the whites are as pure and the blacks as intense as possible, and then the negative is taken in the ordinary way, the plate being backed in the camera with damp red blotting paper, to prevent reflection from the camera or back of the plate. The negative is developed in the ordinary manner, intensified by mercuric chloride, and varnished. A positive picture is taken in the camera, the negative being carefully screened from any light coming between it and the lens. This is intensified by pyrogallic acid, and afterward washed with a pure water to which a little ammonia has been added. It is then immersed in mercuric chloride for half an hour, and again intensified with pyrogallic acid. This is repeated several times. When the intensity of the lines is considerable, the plate is well washed, treated with potassium iodide, and finally with ammonia, the image successively appearing yellow, green, brown, and then violet brown. The plate is then thoroughly drained, and the image is treated successively with a solution of platinic chloride, auric chloride, ferrous sulphate, and finally by pyrogallic acid, which has the property of solidifying the metallic deposits. The metallic relief thus obtained is dried over a spirit lamp, and covered with an excessively thin varnish. This varnish, which is evidently a special preparation, retains sufficient tackiness to hold powdered graphite on its surface (the bronze powder now used may be employed instead), which is dusted on in the usual manner. After giving the plate a border of wax, it is placed in an electrotyping bath, and a perfect facsimile in intaglio is obtained, from which prints may be taken in a printing press.
Perhaps some of our readers may have seen a description of a form of thermometer devised by MM. Negretti and Zambra for the purpose of ascertaining the temperature of the ocean at great depths. This consisted of a tube bent into the shape of a siphon, which when it had reached the desired depth was made, by means of an ingenious arrangement, to pour all the mercury found above a certain point near the reservoir into the second arm of the siphon. This second arm, which, like the other, was a capillary tube, carried a scale of divisions on which might be read the temperature of the depths to which the instrument had been lowered. This thermometer gave all the results that might have been expected. The ship Challenger during its polar expedition had on board a certain number of these instruments. The report of Capt. G. S. Nares made to the English Admiralty describes all the benefits that we may hope to reap from a serious study of the temperature of the ocean at different depths, and not the least of these are those that pertain to the fishery interest. Notwithstanding the good results given by this instrument, its inventors have endeavored to render it still more practical and more within the reach of all by diminishing the cost of construction, and increasing its compactness.
Fig. 1 represents the thermometer isolated from its case. It is an ordinary thermometer furnished at A with a little device that M. Negretti has already made use of in the construction of his larger instrument, and which allows the liquid to run from the reservoir into the capillary tube when the temperature rises, without letting it flow back when it lowers, if moreover the precaution has been taken to incline the tube slightly, reservoir upward. At B there is a bulge in the tube in which a certain quantity of mercury may lodge; this bulge is placed in such a way that the mercury resulting from the dilatation of the reservoir may come to it and continue its ascension in the capillary tube when the reservoir is down (the thermometer being vertical), but cannot get out when the reservoir is upward.
We should add that these thermometers are constructed so as to give the variations of temperature within determined limits.
The small reservoir, B, is indispensable to the well working of the apparatus; for in seeking the temperature at a certain depth the instrument may, on being drawn up, pass through warmer strata, and it is necessary, therefore, to provide the reservoir with a means of diffusing the small quantity of mercury resulting from this excess of temperature. The tube has also a small bulge at its upper extremity at C.
The thermometer is placed in a small wooden case having a double bottom throughout its length. In this double bottom are placed a certain number of lead balls that can run from one end of the case to the other, and of sufficient weight to render the instrument buoyant in sea water. To use the apparatus, one end of a cord is passed through a hole in the case under the reservoir of the thermometer, and the other end is tied to the sounding line at a certain distance from the lead (Fig. 2). While the line is descending the thermometer will remain reservoir downward (Fig. 2); but when it is again drawn up the thermometer case will take the position indicated in Fig. 3, and the column of mercury breaking at A will fall into the capillary tube, the divisions of which, as will be seen at Fig. 1, are reversed.
As to the thermometer itself, it is important to protect it against the pressure which becomes so considerable at great depths; to do this the reservoir is surrounded by an envelope of thick glass about three quarters full of mercury. The mercury serves to transmit the temperature to the reservoir, and should the exterior envelope yield to the effects of pressure, the reservoir proper would not be affected, the mercury not exactly filling the annular part which surrounds it.
George E. Palmer, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has patented an improved Ironing Board, on which the garments may be held in stretched state while being smoothed with the irons, and readily adjusted thereon to any required degree of tension by a simple attachment.
William B. Rutherford and Joel T. Hawkins, of Rockdale, Texas, have patented an improved Bale Tie, which is formed of the plate provided with a longitudinal groove and cross ribs or loops, and having projections or keys to adapt it to receive and hold the notched ends of the bale band.
An improvement in Composition Pavements has been patented by John C. Russell, of Kensington, Eng. This invention relates to the treatment of peat and spent tan for the manufacture of an improved product or material suitable for paving roads and other places and for roofing, etc. The most important steps in making the composition consist in drying bruised or finely ground peat or spent tan, heating the same in vacuo to degree of 150° Fah., and adding sulphur and gas tar, gas pitch, and stearine pitch in the proportions specified, then kneading the mixture while heated and adding carbonate of lime and furnace slag.
Louis Blanck, of New York city, has patented an improved Safety Brake or attachment for locomotives and railroad cars, by which the entire train, either by a collision with another train or by contact with any obstruction, is first raised from the rails, and then moved in backward direction for the distance of a few feet, so that all danger of accident is avoided, and no other sensation than that of a slight rocking motion exerted. The attachment is constructed so as to admit of being worked by the engineer from the cab or the locomotive, or, if desired, from any car of the train.
An improved Evaporating Pan had been patented by Andrew D. Martin, of Abbeville, La. This invention consists in a tapering sheet metal tank having transverse partitions and longitudinal tapering flues that extend through all of the partitions and terminate at the ends of the tank.
Lloyd Arnold, of Galveston, Texas, has patented an improved Bale Tie, which is formed of a block of iron, with a space or opening running longitudinally through its breadth from one end nearly to the other, and having the alternate edges of the two plates thus formed notched, the notch of the lower plate being square and of a width equal to or a little greater than the bale band, and the notch of the upper plate being narrower at its bottom than the bale band, and with its sides inclined and beveled to an edge, to adapt it to receive and hold the bale band.
An improved Tie for Letter Packages has been patented by John Mersellis, of Knowersville, N. Y. The object of this invention is to provide a tie by means of which letter packages may be quickly and securely fastened or tied. It consists in a plate apertured to receive one end of the string and also to receive the hook upon which the tie is hung when not in use, and having a button and clasp spring for engaging the string in the process of tying.
Fred P. Hammond, of Aurora, Ill., has patented an improved Inking Pad, which consists in a novel arrangement of layers of cloth or felt, chamois skin, oiled silk, and printing roller composition, which enables a clean impression of the stamp to be made. The pad retains the desired rounded surface and proper degree of softness, and is easily manipulated when necessary to replenish the supply of ink.
William J. Clark and Thomas W. Roberts, of Coffeeville, Miss., have patented an improved Trap for Catching Fish in streams, which will allow the fish to be conveniently taken out without taking up the trap.
John W. Cooper, of Salem, Ind., is the inventor of an improved Alcohol Lamp for soldering and similar purposes; and it consists in a reservoir pivoted in a supporting frame, and provided with two wick tubes, and an extinguisher secured to a spring support, and capable of closing the larger wick tube when it is in a vertical position. It has an independent extinguisher for the smaller wick tube, and is provided with a novel device for projecting the wick from the larger tube as it is moved out of a vertical position.
Benjamin Slater, of Attica, N. Y., has invented a simple and effective device for Renovating Feathers by the combined action of steam and hot air. It consists of a cylindrical receptacle, partly surrounded by a steam jacket, and having a hot air box, a perforated bottom, a cover or damper for the same, and an aperture in the top, to which is fitted a perforated cover and a close cover.
An improved Blind Fastening has been patented by George Runton and John Runton, of Hoboken, N. J. This fastening is so constructed as to fasten the blind or shutter automatically when swung open, and in such a way as to prevent all rattling or shaking of the blind or shutter from the action of the wind.
David R. Nichols, of Alexandria Bay, N. Y., has patented an improved Animal Trap, which is so constructed as to set itself after each animal has been caught, and leave no trace of the trapped animal to frighten away those that may come afterward.
William A. Doherty, of Fall River, Mass., has patented an improved Loom Shuttle Attachment, by which the weaving of bad cloth is prevented, and in case any false shed is made by any irregularities in the warp, and that part of the shed carried lower than usual, the attachment is released and thrown over the spindle point, so as to render it impossible to draw out the filling from the shuttle, and thus break it and stop the loom.
Jonas Bowman, of Somerset, O., has patented an improved Vehicle Spring, which permits of dispensing with side bars, thus taking less space to turn on, and by which the tilting and pitching motion usual with springs as heretofore constructed is avoided.
Hiram Unger, of Germantown, O., is the inventor of an improved Gate Latch, which is so constructed that the gate cannot be opened accidentally by being lifted or by rebounding of the catch or latch.
Madison Calhoun, of Ocate, Ter. of New Mex., has patented an improved Hame Fastening, which is not liable to become accidentally unfastened, and is easily and quickly fastened and unfastened, even with cold or gloved hands.
The Downer well at Corry, Pa., is now down over 1,300 feet, and an oil bearing sand has been struck of about five feet thickness.
To the Editor of the Scientific American:
While I cannot handle this subject with any master talent, nor afford to devote the time which should be given to so important a subject before expressing an opinion, yet I can less afford to keep quiet and allow shrewd avarice to manipulate or titled ignorance to legislate my property out of existence. "Property! There is no property in patents," I often hear said. And how about the invention covered by a patent? Is that property? A large majority of people may say no, and deny the justice of a patent law. On the contrary, I, as an inventor, think an invention is genuine property, and as such should be under the same protection in common law as all other property, instead of requiring a special law by which the people magnanimously grant me the privilege for a short time of using what was never theirs, what they never knew of until I brought it into existence.
But what is real property, and by what title is it held? Mother earth, from which we sprung, by which we exist, and to which we return, is, without question, real estate. How is it obtained; how held? History answers, By conquest, by subjugation. But these words, conquest and subjugation, have a more significant meaning than the spoiling of one people by another; they are the actual price of possession. He who, toiling, subjugates the soil, is undoubted owner of its production, by virtue of the highest blessing on record—"By the sweat of thy brow shalt thou obtain bread." And this principle is so far acknowledged that the laborer holds a lien on the product of his labor, even though the property belongs to another.
Mr. A has an unpromising piece of land on which he would like to raise corn. He analyzes the soil, experiments upon it chemically, reads up on the properties and components of corn, the effects of fertilizers and acids upon the soil, and makes himself a fool and laughing-stock generally among his neighbors because he steps out of the beaten track by which they have succeeded in making the ground barren. He does not have much success the first year, and is sympathizingly consoled with "I told you so." But he perseveres and wins the reputation of being "visionary" and "as stubborn as a mule." In the meantime he becomes more familiar with his subject, sees more clearly the requirements of the case, finds he must post himself more thoroughly in certain branches of science in order to conduct his experiments, wrestles with this obstacle and that, and finally discovers a fertilizer based on some natural law of rotation, and produces a crop of corn never before equaled. Now his neighbors come out with this very intelligent question, "How did you happen to think of it?" And they further very condescendingly remark, "That is a rousing crop; I guess I'll try the same thing myself. How did you say you mixed the stuff?" This man is the true conqueror. He has endured privation and scorn, fought obstacles, and in subduing them has eliminated a new principle in agriculture that is an engine of power to all generations. Shall his crops be his only reward? Shall they who laughed him to scorn step into his reward without sharing the labor that produced it?
This is a simile for thousands of inventions, only that the inventor is seldom situated to plant the corn on his own land and reap the harvest. Then which of you will say that he has not a just lien on every man's crop raised by his process for a per cent of the gains thereby? There is a bill before Congress favoring a periodical taxation of patents under the pretext of removing useless patents from the path of later inventors. Let me show you how one inventor looks at that. My neighbor has a vacant lot on which he is unable to build; but joined to mine it would increase the value of my property vastly. Now can't you legislate that old heap of rubbish into my possession somehow? Of course he is waiting for the rise of property around him to sell his lot well; but can't you make that appear unnatural, and that he is a dog in the manger? It is also said that sharpers get control of old patents and lay an embargo on legitimate business. I reply, first, no one could be damaged by the owner of a patent unless he infringed that owner's right; second, if he does infringe, it shows that said patent is valuable, otherwise he need not infringe; and if valuable why should not he pay for it? Mr. B, in the employ of Mr. C, watches the machine he uses, and spends his leisure hours in working out an improvement, which he patents and offers to C for sale; but as the invention is useless except as attached to C's machine, he thinks B can't help himself, and adopts the improvement without paying for it. When a few years have built up a great industry, and C is rich from his spoils, B steps in with a few friends at his back, incorporated especially to make C shell out.
Of course this is bad and ought to be legislated against. If it were not valuable C need not use it. It is not becoming to the Congress of a great nation to spend its time in legislating worthless patents out of existence. All such will die a natural death. And if there is sufficient worth in any patent to claim your consideration, the inventor is entitled to its price, whether he waits four years or fifteen for his pay.
I speak of myself, not as an individual, but as representing in this letter a class, without whose achievements America, in her proud length and breadth, could not to-day have been. For the last half of my past life, over twenty years, I have been an inventor. Schooled in adversity, accustomed to disappointment, sometimes successful, enjoying no luxuries but the conquest of obstacles, and often forced to simple pursuits to keep the pot boiling, yet I expect to spend the rest of my life inventing, feeling strong in the school of experience, and hoping for such prosperity as will enable me to work out some of the larger problems in view.
If those in power would really aid the inventor, let them increase his facilities for information. Circulate the Patent Office Gazette at one dollar a year, a nominal subscription to insure bona fide readers, and pay the balance out of the Patent Office surplus now accumulated. This both to educate and to save inventors from going over old ground, bringing more talent up to the standard of to-day. Lessen rather than increase Patent Office fees. Enable the Commissioner to give the strictest possible examination on every application for a patent, that when issued it shall bear a bona fide value, by retaining the most competent examiners at a salary adequate to keep them. Reduce the cumbrous machinery of patent litigation to about this text, in two headings: First, Is plaintiff the first inventor? Allow one month to find that out. If not disproved in that time, allow it. Second, Does defendant infringe? Allow one month to decide that. If not proven, discharge the case, with cost to plaintiff. If proved, cost and damage to be settled by defendant in thirty days.
The ability of wealthy corporations to absorb with impunity the product of all talent within their reach, and put off the day of reckoning until plaintiff is swallowed in cost, is the greatest present discouragement to inventors. Our patent law is now better than any amendment yet proposed will leave it. If you must tinker over it, remember all laws are for protection of the weak. The bulldog does not need law to take the bone from the spaniel. Just in proportion as you damage the patent law, you destroy the accomplishments and purpose of my life. Therefore I have spoken; so could a thousand more.
W. X. STEVENS.
East Brookfield, Mass.
To the Editor of the Scientific American:
Mr. Edison finds a resemblance between his carbon telephone and my microphone.
I can find none whatever; the microphone in its numerous forms that I have already made, and varied by many others since, is simply the embodiment of a discovery I have made, in which I consider the microphone as the first step to new and perhaps more wonderful applications.
I have proved that all bodies, solid, liquid, and gaseous, are in a state of molecular agitation when under the influence of sonorous vibrations; no matter if it is a piece of board, walls of a house, street, fields or woods, sea or air, all are in this constant state of vibration, which simply becomes more evident as the sonorous vibrations are more powerful. This I have proved by the discovery that when two or more electrical conducting bodies are placed in contact under very slight constant pressure, resting on any body whatever, they will of themselves transform a constant electrical current into an undulatory current, representing in its exact form the vibrations of the matter on which it reposes; it requires no complicated arrangement and no special material, and to most experimenters the three simple iron nails that I have described form the best and most sensitive microphone. But these contact points would soon oxidize, so naturally I prefer some conducting material which will not oxidize.
Mr. Edison's carbon telephone represents the principle of the varying pressure of a diaphragm or its equivalent on a button of carbon varying the amount of electricity in accordance with this change of pressure; it represents no field of discovery, and its uses are restricted to telephony.
The three nails I have spoken of will not only do all, and that far better than Edison's carbon telephone in telephony, but has the power of taking up sounds inaudible to human ears, and rendering them audible, in fact a true microphone; besides it has the merit of demonstrating the molecular action which is constantly occurring in all matter under the influence of sonorous vibrations.
Here we have certainly no resemblance in form, materials, or principles to Mr. Edison's telephone. The carbon telephone represents a special material in a special way to a special purpose.
The microphone demonstrates and represents the whole field of nature; the whole world of matter is suitable to act upon, and the whole of the electrical conducting materials are suitable to its demonstrations.
The one represents a patentable improvement; the other a discovery too great and of too wide bearing for any one to be justified in holding it by patent, and claiming as his own that which belongs to the world's domain.
London, July 2, 1878. D. E. HUGHES.
The increasing wealth of a nation, as well as the profitable and steady employment of its capital and people, depends upon a continual increase of the producing power. Whenever there are latent resources undeveloped or opportunities for establishing the first foundation of an industry, leading as it will to the originating of hundreds of auxiliary ones, an unusual effort should be made to bring it into existence. If in the power of individuals to accomplish, so much the better; if needing an association with State or national influence, then this association should be formed. It is incumbent upon individuals that they possess a sufficient pride in the prosperity of the country to give every possible attention and assistance to a careful practical demonstration of the feasibility of all the new industrial enterprises which may be presented with reasonable assurance of final success.
Not in a great expenditure of money: influence is better than money, and a potential interest in a new enterprise is often better than capital. The industrial resources of the United States are by no means worked to their full capacity. The people by no means make all they consume. The finer articles of use, and requiring much labor and often the highest skill, are imported from foreign nations. A premium of $10,000 offered for an improved method in any known present process of production or manufacture would be almost sure to be called for.
While America exports $175,000,000 worth of raw cotton annually to be worked up by other people, is it not possible to so increase the manufacture in America as to keep the greater part of that raw material and to export the cloth instead? Is it not practicable to establish great numbers more of sugar estates in the same tropical climate? Is it not practicable to lay the foundation of half a dozen beet sugar mills in the country? To begin the weaving of linen goods, and to teach our farmers that they may produce all the flax fiber as fast as required? To start a ramie industry in a small way and teach the process to those who will engage in it?
Will not our silk men put a velvet industry into operation as a germ from which a future industry may grow? And we might name a hundred other lesser enterprises which have hardly name in this country, but every one of which is needed and will add to the wealth of the people.
Dr. G. R. Thomas, of Detroit, in the current number of the Dental Cosmos, states that this operation of "replanting" has become so common with him, and the results so uniformly satisfactory, that he does not hesitate to perform it on any tooth in the mouth, if the case demands it; and he finds the cases that demand it, and the number that he operates upon, continually multiplying.
He makes it a point to examine the end of the roots of nearly all his cases of abscessed teeth; and a record of more than 150 cases, with but one loss (and that in the mouth of a man so timid that he utterly refused to bear the pain which nearly always follows for a few minutes, therefore necessitating re-extraction), convinces him that the operation is not only practical, but decidedly beneficial to both patient and operator. For one sitting is all that he has ever really found necessary to the full and complete restoration of the case.
In the present article, however, Dr. Thomas states that it is his object not so much to speak of replanting as of transplanting, which he has reason to believe is just as practical, so far as the mere re-attachment is concerned, as is replanting. He details, in illustration, a case in which he successfully performed the operation; inserting in the mouth of a gentleman, who had lost a right superior cuspidate, a solid and healthy tooth that he had removed from a lady's mouth four weeks previously. He opened into canal and pulp chamber of the tooth, from the apex of the root only; cut the end off one eighth of an inch (it being that much too long), reduced the size somewhat in the center of the root (it being a trifle larger than the root extracted), filled and placed it in position. He states that the occlusion, shape, and color were perfect, so much so that several dentists who saw the case were not able to distinguish the transplanted tooth from the others. The two features in the case that he calls particular attention to are: first, that although the tooth had been in his office four weeks, there is to-day no perceptible change in color; and second, that the re-attachment is as perfect as though it had been transplanted or replanted the same day of extraction. The operation was performed about three months ago. Dr. Thomas knows of but two obstacles in the way of the perfect practicability of "transplanting:" first, the difficulty of obtaining the proper teeth at the proper time; and second, the possibility of inoculation. The latter is the more formidable of the two, and, to escape the ills that might follow, the greatest caution is necessary. The first difficulty is more easily gotten over, for it is not necessary that the tooth transplanted should correspond exactly in shape and size to the one extracted; if it is too large, it may be carefully reduced; or if too small, new osseous deposit will supply the deficiency. Neither is it necessary, as we have seen, that the transplanted tooth should be a freshly extracted one.
As a demonstration of what modern dental surgery is capable of performing Dr. Thomas' statements are very interesting; it is doubtful, however, whether popular prejudice will allow this practice of "transplanting" to become of much use.
For forty-seven years the American Institute of New York has opened its doors and invited American inventors and manufacturers to exhibit their productions; and again this year it renews its invitation to all. To such as wish to reach the capitalist and consumer, they must admit that New York is the place. For details apply to the General Superintendent by mail or otherwise.
On the 22d of June, cloud bursts occurred in the mountains northeast of San Buenaventura, Cal., causing the Ventura river to pour down such a volume of muddy water that the ocean was discolored for a distance of six miles.
Bituminous coal, of which there are several varieties, is the best suited for the production of coal gas. The Newcastle coal is principally used in the manufacture of London gas. Scotch parrot coal produces a superior gas, but the coke produced is of inferior quality. Boghead coal is also used for gas making—in fact, every kind of coal, except anthracite, may be used for this purpose. The bituminous shale produces a very good gas, and it is used partly to supply the place of cannel or parrot coal. As carbon and hydrogen, principally with oxygen, are the elements from which gas is formed, most substances containing these elements can be partially converted into gas. And gas has been made from grease or kitchen waste, oil peat, rosin, and wood, besides coal. A ton of Newcastle or caking coal yields about 9,000 cubic feet of gas, Scotch coal about 11,000, English cannel about 10,000, and shale about 7,000, with illuminating powers in the ratio of about 13, 25, 22, and 36 respectively. The coal is put in retorts, r, commonly made of fire clay and often of cast iron. These retorts are from 6 feet to 9 feet long, and from 1 foot to 1 foot 8 inches in breadth. They are made like the letter D, elliptical, cylindrical, or bean shaped. They are built into an arched oven, and heated by furnaces, f, beneath. One, three, five, seven, or more are built in the same oven. The mouthpieces are of cast iron, and project outward from the oven, so as to allow ascension pipes, a p, to be fixed, to convey the gas generated from the coal to the hydraulic main, h m. After the coal has been introduced into the retorts, their mouths are closed with lids luted round the edges with clay, and kept tight by a screw. The retorts are kept at a bright red heat. If the temperature be too low, less gas and more tar are produced, less residue being left; while, should the temperature be too high, the product is more volatile, more residue remaining. And should the gas remain for any length of time in contact with the highly heated retort, it is partially decomposed, carbon being deposited, thereby lessening the illuminating power, and choking up the retort, and more carbon disulphide is produced at a high temperature. The object is to maintain a medium temperature, in order to obtain a better gas having the greatest illuminating power. In about four or five hours the coal in the retort will have given off all its gas. The mouth of the retort is opened, and the coke is raked out into large iron vessels, and extinguished by water. A fresh charge is immediately introduced by means of a long scoop in the cherry-red retort, and the door luted to. The ascension pipes, which convey the gas from the retorts, pass straight up for a few feet, then turn round, forming an arch, then pass downward into the hydraulic main, beneath the level of the liquid contained in it, and bubble up through the liquid into the upper portion of the main. On commencing the main is half filled with water, but after working some time, this water is displaced by the fluid products of distillation. In this way, the opening into each retort is closed, so that a charge can be withdrawn and replaced without interfering with the action of the other retorts and pipes. The liquid tar, ammoniacal water, and gas pass from the end, e, of the hydraulic main, down through the pipe, P, and the liquid falls down into the tar well, T W, while the crude gas goes on into the chest, C, partially filled with the liquid, so that the plates, p p, from the top dip into it to within a few inches of the bottom. These dip plates are placed in the chest, so as to separate the openings into each pair of condensing pipes, c c, so that the gas passing into the chest finds no exit except up c1, and down c2; and there being no dip plate between c2 and c3 it passes up c3, and down c4, and as there is no dip plate to prevent its progress, it passes up c5, and down c6, into the lime or iron purifiers, L I. The condensers are kept cool by exposure to the atmosphere, and are often cooled by a stream of water from a tank above. The gas cools quickly, and liquids passing along with the gas in a state of vapor are condensed and fall into the chest, and pass by an overflow pipe into the tar well. The purifier is a cast iron vessel, L I, containing a number of perforated shelves, s1 s1 s1, on which slaked lime, to the depth of about 4 inches, or much greater thickness of iron oxide and sawdust, is placed. The gas passes up through the shelves, s s s, and down through the shelves, s1 s1 s1, through the pipe, G, into the gas holder, and from thence through the pipe, M, to the main pipe. The lime abstracts carbonic anhydride, sulphureted hydrogen, cyanogen, naphthalin, and a portion of the ammonia, but not carbon disulphide, which latter may be absorbed by passing the gas through a solution of sodic hydrate and plumbic oxide, mixed with sawdust. Gas containing CS2, on burning, produces H2SO4, which injures books and furniture in rooms. However, the quantity of CS2 in gas is generally so minute as to be practically uninjurious. By a proper regulation of the temperature during distillation, the quantity produced is infinitesimal. When the lime is saturated it is removed, and fresh supplied; but the iron, after use, can be reconverted into oxide by exposure to the atmosphere, and used repeatedly. When iron is used a separate lime purifier is necessary to remove carbonic anhydride. The last traces of ammonia are removed before passing to the gas holder, by passing the gas through dilute sulphuric acid, or up through the interior of a tower having perforated shelves covered with coke in small pieces, through which a constant supply of fresh water percolates. This washing removes some of the more condensable hydrocarbons, and lessens the illuminating power of the gas. Before the gas passes from the condensers into the purifiers, it passes through a kind of pump, termed an exhauster, driven by steam power. This action relieves the retorts from the pressure of the gas passing through the hydraulic main, etc. It diminishes the deposit of graphite in the retorts, and lessens leakage in them, should there be any flaws. It also has the beneficial effect of producing a gas of a higher illuminating power, since the relief of pressure in the retorts produces a more favorable condition of combustion.