Chapter XIV: TECHNOLOGY.--Employment of Acetic or Formic Acid in (1)

Bleaching.--Ingenious use of a small quantity of organic
acids to decompose indefinite amounts of bleaching
powder.--The invention of Dr. Lunge, of Zurich 9290

Sulphurous Acid in the Chemical Industries.--Its use in
the phosphate and tartaric acid industries 9294

Tea Withering Apparatus.--A portable blowing apparatus for
drying tea.--Use of chloride of calcium to absorb moisture
therein.--1 illustration 9291

NEW AMENDMENT OF THE DESIGN PATENT LAW.

An amendment of the patent law relating to design patents has lately passed both houses of Congress and received the approval of the President. The object of the amendment is to correct a defect in the law, which prevented the patentee from collecting damages in cases of infringement.

Under the old law, the Supreme Court held that in the case, for example, of a carpet manufacturer who complained of an infringement of his design or pattern of carpet, the complainant must clearly prove what portion of the damage, or what portion of the profit made by the infringer, was due to the use of the patented design. It was practically impossible to make this showing. Hence the infringer could imitate the patented design without liability, and the law was a nullity.

Under the provisions of the new law, the infringer is obliged to pay the sum of $250 in any event; and if his profits are more than that sum, he is compelled, in addition, to pay all excess of profits above $250 to the patentee. It is believed that the penalty of $250, irrespective of profits, will put a stop to the wholesale system of infringement heretofore carried on by unscrupulous persons.

The following is the text of the new law:

An act to amend the law relating to patents, trade marks, and copyright.

_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled_, That hereafter, during the term of letters patent for a design, it shall be unlawful for any person other than the owner of said letters patent, without the license of such owner, to apply the design secured by such letters patent, or any colorable imitation thereof, to any article of manufacture for the purpose of sale, or to sell or expose for sale any article of manufacture to which such design or colorable imitation shall, without the license of the owner, have been applied, knowing that the same has been so applied. Any person violating the provisions, or either of them, of this section shall be liable in the amount of two hundred and fifty dollars; and in case the total profit made by him from the manufacture or sale, as aforesaid, of the article or articles to which the design, or colorable imitation thereof, has been applied, exceeds the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars, he shall be further liable for the excess of such profit over and above the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars; and the full amount of such liability may be recovered by the owner of the letters patent, to his own use, in any circuit court of the United States having jurisdiction of the parties, either by action at law or upon a bill in equity for an injunction to restrain such infringement.

SEC. 2. That nothing in this act contained shall prevent, lessen, impeach, or avoid any remedy at law or in equity which any owner of letters patent for a design, aggrieved by the infringement of the same, might have had if this act had not been passed; but such owner shall not twice recover the profit made from the infringement.

Approved, February 4, 1887.

ARE STEEL GUNS REALLY SUPERIOR?

Admiral Porter said recently that there was little hope of building fast war ships as long as the Bureau of Steam Engineering designed the engines, for that, such was the influence of interested persons, it was not free to choose the best devices. Whoever is familiar with the workings of the Ordnance Bureau will admit that this, too, is similarly controlled. Long ago it pronounced in favor of steel guns, and like a judge who records his decision and then asks to hear the evidence, this bureau has been listening unmoved to the most convincing testimony regarding the relative efficiency of cast iron guns.

The importance of this question of steel _vs_. cast iron guns will be appreciated when it is explained that it would take at least five years after the passage of an appropriation before the first steel gun could be turned out, while only a twelvemonth would be required to establish a cast iron gun plant.

It has never been the custom among American mechanicians to blindly follow the lead of others, but rather to work untrammeled by traditions; to carefully note what has already been done, and to strike out anew in whatever direction gives the most promise. Experienced gun makers and artillerists have recently admitted that the steel rifle has not fulfilled the promises made for it. The Krupp guns, of which we hear so much, have never yet been subjected to such high pressures as have been applied to cast iron guns, and experience has shown it would not be safe to put them through such tests. Indeed, the cast-iron smooth bore guns which have been converted into rifles by the insertion of wrought iron rifled cylinders have been fired under a pressure fully three times as great as it has been thought advisable to subject steel guns of the same caliber to. An authority says: "Cast iron guns have often been fired hundreds of rounds under pressure of nearly seventeen tons to the square inch of bore, yet there has never been a failure, nor a sign of one. The United States has now a 12½ in. cast iron rifle constructed on the same plan as the 8 in. converted rifle. This gun was made ten years ago, as an experiment. It has been fired with charges as high as two hundred pounds of hexagonal or quick powder (as compared with powder now considered suitable), and is still serviceable. The United States has another experimental 12 in. rifle, entirely of cast iron. It has been fired more than a hundred rounds with high power charges (265 pounds powder, 800 pound shot), and is still serviceable."

Curiously enough, the experiments with these guns ceased at the very time when there was the most reason for continuing them, to wit, while they were giving evidence of their ability to stand a long series of continuous rounds. The mode of testing a high pressure gun, upon which all authorities agree, is to fire it, round after round, until it bursts or shows weakness. There is authority for the statement that there is not a 12 inch steel gun in Europe which has been fired two hundred rounds, and yet, just as soon as these cast iron guns gave promise of withstanding successfully such a test, a peremptory order came from the Ordnance Bureau to cease firing and stop further experiment.

The failure of steel guns in Europe is frequent, though there is good reason for the belief that we only hear of a tithe of them, the balance being kept secret. Only the other day a big steel gun exploded at the muzzle, on the French trial grounds, and news comes that both in the war ships Collingwood and Ajax a number of steel guns have been condemned.

Because of these facts it is not at all surprising that the majority in the House of Representatives, though willing to appropriate money for guns, are averse to having the outlay controlled by the Ordnance Bureau, which is wedded to the steel gun theory and others not much better sustained.

THE COCAINE HABIT.

A number of cases of confirmed cocaine habit have recently been reported. While some of them lack confirmation, it is certain that several physical and mental wrecks have been caused by the excessive use of this alkaloid. The South American Indians, long famous as coca eaters, seem as a rule not to succumb to its effects. They use the dried leaf, which they chew, previously introducing a small amount of alkali, to set the cocaine free. In civilized countries the alkaloid as a chloride is usually employed, and is administered by hypodermic injection.

The practice of using it habitually in excess is hitherto reported as almost confined to physicians. Its effects upon its victims are very sad. The brain becomes permanently or for a period affected, a species of lunacy being produced. Just as in the case of opium eaters, the moral nature is undermined. One doctor was reported, so recently as to be within the memory of our readers, as having turned on the gas in a drug store where the alkaloid was refused him, with the design of asphyxiating the clerk, in which attempt he nearly succeeded. Another doctor, within a space of some sixteen months, has gone insane from the cocaine habit and has been removed to an asylum, leaving his wife also ill from the effects of the same drug, with which he had experimented on her.

If the cases continue to multiply, there may be room for questioning the utility to man of the discovery of this anæsthetic. It is doubtful if all the services in local anæsthesia rendered by it can compensate for the ill it has already done.

Pyrofuxin--a New Tanning Substance from Coal.

A new extract of coal is being introduced in Germany for industrial purposes, especially for tanning leather and disinfection generally, to which the name "pyrofuxin" is given by the discoverer, Professor Paulus Reinsch, of Erlangen, Bavaria. Unlike the generality of such compounds, this new material is not a derivative of coal tar, or of any of the distillates of coal, but is obtained directly from coal itself. Pit or bituminous coal contains most of it, and is prepared for treatment by being broken into nuts. The crude pyrofuxin is extracted by repeated boilings in a solution of caustic soda. The pyrofuxin enters into solution, and is allowed to stand for a time. It is then poured off, and a carbonic acid gas is passed through it. The resultant liquor has a specific gravity of 1.025 to 1.030, and holds from 10 to 15 grammes of pyrofuxin to the liter. In its purified form the compound is a fine, non-triturable substance, without taste or smell, non-poisonous, and in appearance like catechu. Some Russian coals contain 18 per cent of pyrofuxin. After the extraction of this material the coal remains combustible. It is described as being one of the most powerful and effective antiseptics known to science. On this account it is expected to be most valuable for tanning, as being twenty-eight times quicker in action than bark, and producing a better result at decreased cost.

It will be soon enough to give credence to this alleged leather tanning agent when specimens of good leather are produced.

Weight and Power of Modern Guns.--Table of Armstrong Guns.

--------+----------+---------+-------------------+--------------------+
| | | Total | |
Gun. | Caliber. | Weight. | Length of | Length of Bore. |
| | | Gun. | |
| | | | |
--------+----------+---------+-----------+-------+-----------+--------+
in. | in. | tons. | calibers. | in. | calibers. | in. |
4.724 | 4.724 | 2.5 | 24 | 112.7 | 22 | 104.0 |
4.724 | 4.724 | 2.2 | 35 | 165.3 | 33 | 156.6 |
6.0 | 6.0 | 4.0 | 28 | 166.4 | 26 | 156.2 |
6.0 | 6.0 | 4.5 | 32 | 192.0 | 30 | 180.0 |
6.0 | 6.0 | 5.5 | 37 | 222.0 | 35 | 210.0 |
7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 28 | 196.0 | 26 | 182.0 |
7.0 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 32 | 224.0 | 30 | 210.0 |
7.0 | 7.0 | 9.0 | 37 | 259.0 | 35 | 245.0 |
8.0 | 8.0 | 11.5 | 28 | 222.5 | 26 | 208.0 |
8.0 | 8.0 | 12.5 | 32 | 256.0 | 30 | 240.0 |
8.0 | 8.0 | 14.0 | 37 | 296.0 | 35 | 280.0 |
9.2 | 9.2 | 19.0 | 28 | 257.6 | 26 | 238.7 |
9.2 | 9.2 | 21.5 | 32 | 287.3 | 30 | 267.8 |
9.2 | 9.2 | 24.0 | 37 | 340.4 | 35 | 322.0 |
10.0 | 10.0 | 25.0 | 28 | 274.0 | 26 | 254.5 |
10.0 | 10.0 | 27.0 | 32 | 320.0 | 30 | 300.0 |
10.0 | 10.0 | 30.0 | 37 | 370.0 | 35 | 350.0 |
12.0 | 12.0 | 43.0 | 28 | 331.0 | 26 | 307.5 |
12.0 | 12.0 | 46.0 | 32 | 384.0 | 30 | 360.0 |
12.0 | 12.0 | 51.0 | 37 | 444.0 | 35 | 420.0 |
16.25 | 16.25 | 93.0 | 28 | 455.0 | 26 | 422.5 |
16.25 | 16.25 | 110.0 | 32 | 520.0 | 30 | 487.5 |
16.25 | 16.25 | 127.0 | 37 | 601.3 | 35 | 568.75 |
17.0 | 17.0 | 100.0 | 28 | 468.0 | 26 | 442.0 |
17.0 | 17.0 | 116.0 | 32 | 544.0 | 30 | 510.0 |
17.0 | 17.0 | 137.0 | 37 | 629.0 | 35 | 595.0 |
--------+----------+---------+-----------+-------+-----------+--------+

-------------------+------------+---------+---------+--------------+--------------+
Weight. | | | | | Thickness of |
| | | Energy | Energy | Wrought Iron |
-------+-----------+ Muzzle | Total | per Ton | per Inch |Plate the Shot|
| | Velocity. | Energy. | Weight | of Shot's | is Capable of|
Charge.|Projectile.| | | of Gun. |Circumference.| Perforating. |
-------+-----------+------------+---------+---------+--------------+--------------+
lb. | lb. |ft. per sec.|ft. tons.|ft. tons.| ft. tons. | in. |
12 | 40 | 1,680 | 783 | 522.0 | 53.1 | 7.0 |
16 | 40 | 2,078 | 1,198 | 532.4 | 81.3 | 9.1 |
42 | 80 | 2,060 | 2,354 | 588.5 | 125.7 | 11.6 |
45 | 100 | 1,940 | 2,610 | 580.0 | 139.4 | 12.2 |
60 | 100 | 2,146 | 3,193 | 580.5 | 170.5 | 13.5 |
60 | 120 | 2,050 | 3,497 | 466.3 | 160.2 | 13.0 |
75 | 145 | 2,020 | 4,075 | 479.4 | 186.6 | 14.1 |
80 | 145 | 2,140 | 4,604 | 511.5 | 210.9 | 14.9 |
120 | 180 | 2,177 | 5,915 | 514.3 | 236.9 | 15.8 |
120 | 200 | 2,157 | 6,452 | 537.6 | 258.4 | 16.5 |
130 | 210 | 2,236 | 7,280 | 520.0 | 291.5 | 17.5 |
175 | 320 | 2,060 | 9,412 | 495.3 | 327.5 | 18.5 |
200 | 380 | 2,035 | 10,923 | 508.0 | 380.1 | 20.0 |
230 | 380 | 2,375 | 14,800 | 616.6 | 515.0 | 23.2 |
200 | 450 | 1,910 | 11,383 | 455.3 | 364.2 | 19.5 |
270 | 470 | 2,185 | 15,560 | 576.3 | 497.9 | 22.8 |
270 | 500 | 2,213 | 16,979 | 566.0 | 543.3 | 23.8 |
330 | 700 | 2,087 | 21,141 | 491.6 | 563.1 | 24.2 |
400 | 800 | 2,117 | 24,861 | 540.4 | 662.2 | 26.2 |
450 | 850 | 2,205 | 28,665 | 562.0 | 763.6 | 28.1 |
850 | 1,800 | 2,106 | 55,377 | 595.4 | 1,088.7 | 33.5 |
900 | 1,800 | 2,216 | 61,200 | 556.4 | 1,203.2 | 35.2 |
900 | 1,800 | 2,295 | 65,745 | 517.6 | 1,292.6 | 36.5 |
827 | 2,000 | 1,932 | 51,790 | 517.9 | 973.1 | 31.7 |
1,000 | 2,000 | 2,190 | 66,512 | 573.3 | 1,249.7 | 35.8 |
1,000 | 2,000 | 2,255 | 70,520 | 514.7 | 1,325.0 | 37.0 |
-------+-----------+------------+---------+---------+--------------+--------------+

Castner's New Method for Producing Sodium.

This new method, heretofore mentioned by us, is now being successfully worked in London, and is thus described in _Engineering_:

Up to the present this novel method of manufacture has been kept rather secret, but now, owing to the success achieved by a plant erected and worked on a commercial scale, we are enabled, through the courtesy of Mr. H. Y. Castner, to lay before our readers an outline sketch of the method of operation which is followed, and which we have seen carried out with success at his works, 65 Belvidere Road, Lambeth. Few persons outside of the chemical profession are aware of the commercial existence of the metal sodium or of its uses, and even among those following that profession but little is known, except that it is used in the manufacture of aluminum, and is very expensive. Much has lately been published in various scientific journals throughout the world upon the subject of alleged new processes, whereby that highly interesting metal--aluminum--might be cheaply produced without sodium, and thus be made to take in the commercial world a place to which its varied valuable properties entitle it. So far nothing has resulted from these numerous so-called discoveries, and at the present time the only process in use whereby aluminum can be produced is that devised by and due to Deville's ingenuity.[1] This process has been called the sodium process, apparently to distinguish it from others, but seeing that it is the only process which has ever proved practical, it is somewhat of a mystery why it needed to be so distinguished.

[1] The Cowles electric smelting process, heretofore described by us, has only produced aluminum alloys as yet, and it is doubtful whether it can be made to do more than this.

The late Dr. Walter Weldon, in a paper read before the Society of Chemical Industry a few years ago, clearly resolved the great question of cheaply producing aluminum, and showed by argument that this end was only to be gained in either of the two following directions, namely, first, by the production of cheap sodium and the employment of Deville's process, and second, by the discovery of a substitute for sodium, which has hitherto given to aluminum its excessive cost in production. After twenty-five years of research by some of the best scientists of the present age, no substance has been found that will replace sodium, and although every known substance has, at various times, been proposed, none has been successful. So discouraging has been the research, that those familiar with the subject have almost abandoned hope of ever seeing aluminum cheaply manufactured by chemical processes, believing also that Weldon's first proposition was an impossibility.

It is not the purpose of this article to enter into a lengthy discussion of Mr. Castner' process of producing sodium, as Mr. James Mactear, F.C.S., is about to prepare a scientific paper on the subject, to be read on March 7 before the Society of Chemical Industry. We shall content ourselves by presenting to our readers a short practical description of the process and its results.

Before doing so it will, however, be advantageous to give a short account of the method by which sodium has hitherto been separated from its compounds, in order that a clearer conception of the features in which the new process differs from the old one may be obtained. At high temperatures carbon has the property of separating sodium from its oxygen compounds, carbon uniting with the oxygen to form carbonic oxide, the sodium being thereby liberated. In the usual process this reaction is brought about by mixing carbonate of soda, lime, and carbon in small wrought iron cylinders, and exposing them to an intense heat, when a part of the sodium comes off as vapor. The lime is added to prevent fusion, for were the mass to melt, the carbon would float on the top, and could no longer attack the soda. The new process differs from the old principally in working with a fused mass of soda compound, this operation having been rendered feasible by the most ingenious device of weighting every particle of carbon with iron, so that the two chemicals--soda and carbon--are kept in perfect admixture, and are continually presenting fresh surfaces to each other as the liquid circulates in the crucible under the action of the heat. By this simple but beautiful plan of weighting the carbon, it is rendered possible to employ a soda compound which is decomposed at a much lower temperature than that hitherto used, and to carry on the process in large and durable vessels, instead of in small cylinders, which have a very short life. Having thus given a short account of the chemical process, we will describe the commercial method of manufacture.

The operations are carried on in large cast steel crucibles, and the charges consist of caustic soda and a finely ground artificial compound of carbon and iron, which is the reducing agent. This compound is made by coking a mixture of fine iron and pitch. The crucibles containing these materials are first heated in a small furnace at a low temperature, the object being to expel the hydrogen from the caustic alkali and bring about quiet fusion. The crucibles are then removed from this furnace, by means of a little truck, and placed upon a movable platform, which is operated by hydraulic power. They are then by this means raised into the large furnace, where the crucible covers are fixed stationary. The edges of the crucible and cover coming together form a tight joint, and from this cover projects a small tube to the outside of the furnace into a narrow rectangular box, known as the condenser. The reduction of the sodium commences soon after the crucible containing the charge is in its place, the vapors and gases passing from the fused mixture through the exit pipe from the cover into the condenser, where the metallic vapors are condensed to metal, while the uncondensed gases escape by a small outlet tube. After the charge is exhausted, the crucible is lowered, and one containing a fresh charge raised in its place; in this manner the process might almost be called continuous.

The actual temperature used in this process to bring about reduction, as measured by experts, has been found to be 850° Cent. By the older method the temperature necessary is about 1,400° Cent. This is practically the great point of economy in this process, as the high price of sodium has hitherto been owing to the excessive heat used in the older process and the consequent destruction of the wrought iron vessels. Sodium at present costs about four shillings per pound to produce, while the materials necessary for this quantity, were nothing wasted, would hardly cost four pence. The difference between these two figures represents the wear and tear to the furnace, the destruction of the wrought iron cylinders, the loss and waste of materials, the excessive labor and care necessary to employ in manufacturing, and fuel. Approximately, the cost of these items in producing one pound of sodium by the older process is as follows:

Two shillings is due to the destruction of wrought iron, etc.

One shilling is due to the loss and waste of materials, of which three times the theoretical quantity must be employed.

Eightpence is due to the labor.

Fourpence is due to the fuel.

Mr. Castner seems justified in his claim to produce sodium at a shilling per pound in large quantities. The steel crucibles which have now been in use some time show but little wear, and indicate indefinite use in future, thus reducing the first item of cost in the older process to a fraction. There is hardly any appreciable loss or waste of materials, and from four pennyworth of caustic soda is ultimately obtained one pound of sodium. The labor is a very small item of expense, and the fuel consumed is less than one-third that used in the older process.

Seventy-five tons of fuel are required by the older method in producing one ton of sodium. From actual results a like amount of fuel will produce over three tons of sodium by Mr. Castner's process. The results from this new process are not obtained by calculations on paper, as the inventor has shown from actual working that his claims are well founded. The process is no longer an experimental one, the furnace now erected having a capacity of 120 pounds of sodium per day, which is probably more than is produced at any works now in existence. The production of sodium at one shilling a pound by this process may be considered an accomplished fact, which ultimately means cheapened aluminum and a solution of the problem that has so long engaged the attention of chemists and metallurgists.

Preventive Medicine.

Dr. C. R. Illingworth thus writes in the _Med. Press:_

One of our great aims as physicians is to prevent disease; another is to cut short its course when developed. Our power in these directions finds full scope among that class of disorders now generally recognized as depending upon the reception, growth, and development in the tissues of micro-organic life in one shape or another. By the continual suppression of the growth and development of these forms of cell life, we may, indeed, hope at length to erase the names of the diseases they cause from the category of those "ills that flesh is heir to." The diseases I refer to are scarlet fever, diphtheria, measles, whooping cough, rheumatic fever, chicken-pox, small-pox, syphilis, hydrophobia, yellow fever, _et hoc genus omne._

The germicide remedy I have found to answer as a specific and prophylactic in such diseases is the biniodide of mercury given in solution of potassic iodide. In all cases of scarlatina or measles occurring in one member of a family, I put the rest upon preventive medicine. Thus, for children I prescribe as follows: Bichloride of mercury solution, ℥ iss; iodide of potassium, ʒ j; ammonio-citrate of iron, ʒ j; sirup, ℥ iss; water to eight ounces. One or two teaspoonfuls to be given three times a day.

The Peace Army of the United States.

The following figures are believed to be approximately accurate, and most interesting and instructive they are:

French army, peace footing. 523,283
German army, peace footing. 445,417
United States army of pensioners, peace footing. 400,000

One of the great evils of a huge standing army is the cost of its support--a constant drain upon the national resources.

It does not seem that in this respect we have so very much the advantage of France or Germany, loaded down as those nations are with military burdens.

The great difference is that, while all or nearly all of the French and German soldiers, supported at the national expense, are available in case of a national emergency, few or none of ours are.

Is this enormous burden a just debt?

The question is best answered by another question. Is it not fair to assume that in 1877, twelve years after the end of the civil war, about all the equitable claims for pensions on account of that war had been put in and allowed?

Yet since 1877, the number of pensioners on our rolls has almost doubled; and the annual cost of maintaining them has nearly trebled.--_N. Y. Sun._

A Solid Life Insurance Company.

The figures of the last annual report of the New York Life Insurance Company, just issued, present a record of almost unexampled success in the conduct of the business of that old and strong company for the past year. Its income for the year was $19,230,408, it paid policy holders $7,627,230, and it has cash assets amounting to $75,421,453. It goes without the saying that this great company does its insurance business on strictly business principles. It recognizes the policy holder's right to paid-up insurance in case of a discontinuance of payment of premiums, and its policies are notably free from restrictions as to occupation, residence, and travel. The company issues a great variety of policies, thus adapting its contracts to the wants of almost every one having present means from which a small percentage can be spared for the benefit of themselves or those dependent upon them at a future date.

DR. GILES DE LA TOURETTE has recently published a monograph upon normal locomotion and the variations in the gait caused by diseases of the nervous system. He found, from a comparison of a large number of cases, that the average length of pace is, for men, 25 inches; for women, 20 inches. The step with the right foot is somewhat longer than that with the left. The feet are separated laterally in walking about 4½ inches in men and about 5 inches in women.

EMERY WHEELS FOR GUMMING SAWS.

In the illustration herewith, the operation of gumming saws with an emery wheel is vividly represented, the frame affording sufficient support for the side of the saw where the teeth are being ground, and the arrangement being a simple one, readily made at any work bench or machine where a shaft is run upon which an emery wheel can be placed. The operation itself involves only the simplest mechanical knowledge and but a rudimentary experience in the handling of tools, yet the desirability of this method of sharpening saws is largely dependent upon the kind of emery wheel used and the rate of speed at which it is run.

The vulcanite emery wheels made by the New York Belting and Packing Company have especial advantages for this kind of work. They are strong and safe at the highest speed at which it is desirable to run them, the company recommending that they never be run at a less rate than 6,000 feet per minute circumferential speed, and from that up to 8,000 and 10,000 feet per minute, although the lowest named speed is rather above the ordinary limit of many other kinds of emery wheels, and attempts to run other wheels at or beyond this limit have frequently resulted in serious accidents, from the breaking of the wheels. The higher rate of speed, which not only cuts faster, but, in the case of the vulcanite emery wheel, prolongs the life of the wheel, is concededly safe with the vulcanite wheel. Thus run, it is not likely to wear out of true, the operator does not have to bear on so hard, and the wheel retains its shape much better than when run at a slow speed. The nature of the wear of the working surface in the vulcanite wheel is claimed to be essentially different from that in wheels where the emery is fixed in its place by other methods, the rubber affording an elastic foundation or cushion, from which the particles of emery slightly protrude. This not only insures more efficient work from the cutting edges of the emery, as they become changed by use, but allows of more access of air to the work, thus tending to prevent casehardening of the edges of the metal being ground.

In addition to wheels with bevel shaped grinding surfaces, as represented in the engraving, the company also make wheels with round grinding surfaces, and this kind is always considered best for large saws.

THE FRILLED SHARK--THE OLDEST LIVING TYPE OF VERTEBRATES.

In technical terms this is a living species of cladodont shark, named by Mr. Garman _Chlamydoselachus anguineus._

The specimen here figured was found in a miscellaneous collection of fishes, etc., in alcohol, furnished the Museum of Comparative Zoology by Professor H. A. Ward, who purchased them in Japan. It was soon recognized as not only belonging to a new family, but one closely allied to certain forms supposed to have become extinct in the Carboniferous time. This discovery displaces _Ceratodus_ from the position of the oldest living type of the vertebrata.

The term Chlamydoselachus is applied on account of the curious frill-like mantle that surmounts the first gill cover. The term is made up of two Greek words implying mantle and shark. Six gill openings, and certain structure of the brain, remove this form from the present known sharks. Its affinity to some of the earliest known sharks, those of the middle Devonian, render it of great interest and importance to science. The family characters which this form represents, under the term _Chlamydoselachidæ_, are: Body elongate, with a depressed head. The eyes are lateral, with no nictitating membrane. The nasal cavity is separate from that of the mouth. The mouth is situated anteriorly, like that of some fishes. The teeth have broad, backward extended bases and slender cusps. The spiracles are present. One dorsal fin, spineless, is present. There is also an anal fin, and a caudal with no pit at its root. The first gill cover is free across the isthmus. The intestine has a spiral valve.

The generic characters are: Six gill openings, opercular flap, first gill cover, broad. Teeth similar in both jaws; each with three slender, curved, subconical cusps, separated by a pair of rudimentary denticles or a broad base. There is no median upper series of teeth in front, but there is a series below, on the symphysis. The mouth is wide, and has no labial folds at the angles. The pupil is horizontally elongate; the fins are broad, the caudal without a notch.

The total length of this shark is nearly five feet. Its greatest width, across the ventrals, is seven inches. Its resemblance to a snake is very striking. Its elongated body, long, flattened head, anterior mouth, and sinister expression of the eyes are quite suggestive of the ophidians. There are fifty-one rows of teeth, and six teeth in each row; the whole number at one time in function is 306. The brain is very small.

The present state of icthyological science recognizes eliminations that have been made from its main body. Comprehensively, a fish is a cold-blooded vertebrate, adapted for life in the water, breathing by means of gills, having the limbs, if present, in the form of fins, the smaller members being represented by cartilaginous rays connected by membrane. One or more fins are developed on the median line of the body.

The lancelets, myzonts, myxinoids, hag fishes, lampreys, sharks, and rays are recognized as differing sufficiently from the true fishes to entitle them to places of class distinction.

The true fishes form one class; the elasmobranchs, sharks, and rays, another class; the marsipobranchs, myxinoid fishes, hag fishes, and lampreys, a class; and the lancelets and cirrostomes, a class. It will be seen, then, that technically there are four classes of fish-like vertebrates, where but one--fishes--has heretofore been recognized. The lancelets, as is well known, are the lowest in the scale, their structure being extremely simple. The skull in this class is undeveloped, the brain not distinctly differentiated, nor is there any heart.

The term Leptocardii, which designates this class, means thin heart, in reference to the simplicity of this portion of the arterial system.

At first sight of the mouth of the frilled shark, which is figured here, the teeth have a singular and wholly unnatural appearance, appearing like indented, leaf-like organs; but it is seen that there are three fangs, serpent-like, on a base, and several rows of them give the peculiar appearance, arranged as they are consecutively from before inward.

The Port Jackson sharks, of the family _Heterodontidæ_, have long been regarded as of great interest to paleontologists, from their being closely related to some extinct sharks. Under the term Cestracion (now _Gyropleurodus_), these sharks are known to naturalists. A species, _G. francisci_, is now found off the coast of California.

_Cestracion phillipi_ is found in the Australian seas. The term cestracion is from the Greek _kestra_, a weapon. Many of the extinct species are known by the preservation of this spine, which being of more durable structure is preserved after all other traces of the creature have passed away.

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The mouth of the frilled shark, as seen in our engraving, is peculiar appearing for a shark, as this important part is usually situated far beneath. In this respect, the anterior aspect of the mouth, there is resemblance to that of the great rhinodon, the largest living fish, measuring 70 feet in length. The general appearance of this shark is, however, extremely different from that of the frilled shark. The rhinodon is immensely bulky, the head being quite as deep and wide as any other portion. A very interesting structure, and one little known, belonging to the latter is a set of whalebone-like fringes along the gills, arranged comb-like. These frills have much the same functions of those in the whalebone or right whales. The food of the creature is mostly of sea jellies and other soft pelagic animals, which are strained into the throat by means of this adaptation. The great basking shark has this structure. This shark has been taken off Block Island measuring, according to authority, nearly seventy feet. It is the _Cetorhinus_, or bone shark, also so called. Large as these creatures are, they are harmless, most fortunately, their teeth being very small. Their food being of gelatinous animal matter, the masticating apparatus is not required to be of any considerable size or strength. The more harmful sharks are of moderate dimensions, in which the teeth are very large. In the largest species of "maneater" shark living, the teeth are about two inches in length. Some of the great carcharodon-like fossil sharks have teeth measuring five inches and a half in length. One in my possession has that measurement. Judging from the size of the shark, which has a tooth two inches in length, the extinct species here indicated must have been much over one hundred feet in length. Such enormous size can more readily be accommodated in the vast ocean than that of the great land beasts on their appropriate element. I am indebted to papers on this subject by Mr. Garman, of Cambridge, Mass., for material of this account. J. B. H.

IMMEDIATELY after eating, a person weighs more than before it.

COMBINED BENCH AND IRONING BOARD.

The bench is composed of side pieces, legs, end pieces, and a central cross brace. At one end it is provided with stationary top pieces having curved inner edges, as shown in the upper view, which are covered with a thin strip of angle iron extending up flush with the top and bent to conform with the curved edge. To the upper ends of the legs are hinged supports adapted to extend upward to form continuations of the legs, to engage with and hold an ironing board in a horizontal position. A tongue formed upon the free end of each support enters a socket box fitted in a recess formed in the board, so that the hinged lids of the boxes are flush with the bench surface of the board. When the board is in position to be ironed upon, the hinged lids rest against the sides of the supports, an opening in the lids receiving pins projecting from the sides of the supports. The lids are held in this position by suitably arranged buttons. By this means the ironing board is securely fixed in its elevated position. The rigidity of each support is promoted by another button attached to its inner side, and which enters a slot in the top edge of the side piece. To convert the ironing board into a bench, the board is lifted up and the supports closed down within the bench, as shown in the lower view. The wraps used upon the board are then placed neatly over the supports. The board itself is then turned over and its narrow end slid under the projection of the angle iron to a bearing upon the upper edges of the bench frame. The board now forms a smooth top for the bench. The under side of the ironing board, when forming a seat, is recessed near each side of its square end. Each recess is covered by a metal plate having a diamond-shaped opening to receive the elongated head of a bolt secured to the inner face of the bench side pieces. The square end of the board is thus held to the bench, the narrow end being held by the angle irons.

This invention has been patented by Mr. Daniel H. Weller, of Boyertown, Pa.

IMPROVED BLIND STOP.

By means of the simple attachment here shown, the blind may be securely held in any desired position. Secured to the lower cross bar is a metal plate, bent at right angles to form flanges, the projecting one of which is finely corrugated. The plate is held to the bar by screws passing through the other flange. Across the face of the outer flange is secured a spring retaining strip, which bears against the corrugated face and which carries a set screw. To the end of the slat bar is secured a corrugated strip, which is passed between the flange and its strip, the corrugated faces resting against each other, as shown in the right hand view.

This device will hold the slats in any required position, but when the slat bar is subjected to a positive pull, the strip will slip upon the face of the flange, against which it will be held by the action of the spring strip. By means of the set screw, the parts may be so locked together as to prevent the turning of the slats from the outside.

This invention has been patented by Mrs. Lizzie T. Gulick, of Corsicana, Texas.

The British Armament at Victoria.

Some mistake appears to have been made in the recent announcement that the British Government are sending out a number of eighty ton guns for the coast defense of Esquimault and Victoria. Twelve sixty-four pounders have been sent out from England, not for the armaments of the forts, but to be placed on board the British ships of war belonging to the Pacific squadron or to go into the naval reserves. Some time ago the British Minister of War made application to the Canadian Pacific Railway to know if they could transport one or more eighty ton guns over their road. An estimate of the cost was given, with the model of a car composed of three trucks, which it was proposed to use if the shipment was made. Since then nothing has been heard of the eighty ton guns. The officer in command of the British Columbia district does not speak very creditably of the condition of the armament at that point. The artillery armament is described as old, the carriages and limbers are reported rotten and are falling to pieces, while the guns are without sights. The batteries at Victoria and Esquimault, the officers say, are in a discreditable condition.--_N. Y. Evening Post_.

A SIMPLE DEVICE FOR CRIMPING BOOTS OR SHOES.

The crimper herewith illustrated has a yoke-shaped stationary portion, the jaws of which are formed with transverse corrugations. The top of this yoke has a longitudinal slot, in which are pivoted the upper reduced ends of movable inner jaws, whose operative faces have transverse corrugations, arranged to always meet and fit within the corresponding corrugations of the outer jaws. These inner jaws are normally held open by a spring. The operating or crimping screw slides freely through the slot in the yoke, extending between the inner jaws, and on its lower portion fits a wedge-shaped clamping block, which is drawn up between the inner jaws by turning the operating screw. The outer end of this screw being placed in an aperture in the heel of the last, or in other suitable position relative to a form over which the leather is to be crimped, and the edges of the leather placed between the jaws, the leather may be strained about its forming block as desired by simply rotating the screw.

This invention has been patented by Mr. Elery B. La Follette, of Flemington, West Va.

PLASTERER'S HAWK.

The object of this invention, which has been patented by Mr. Geo. W. Jaques, of Burton, O., is to provide a plasterer's hawk in which the board on which the mortar is received, and which is subjected to expansion and contraction due to alternate moistening and drying, may be rendered light and rigid and, at the same time, be free to expand and contract without warping or cracking. In the center of the board is secured a bolt, upon which is received a handle having a nut in its outer end fitting the end of the bolt. A circular concave plate is placed on the bolt, between the handle and board, with its concave side toward the board. Between the plate and board is held an elastic rubber washer, which is compressed by screwing the handle down.

The plate has a plane edge, which is secured to the board by screws, and in the edge are four notches for receiving the ends of wire frames that extend a short distance under the plate, by which they are clamped to the board. Each frame consists of a wire, bent to the shape shown in the upper view in the engraving. Through the end loops are passed screws, projecting from the board, and the center of each frame is secured to the board by a clip, the clips and bolt being arranged in a line parallel with the grain of the wood. The frames support the edges of the board, and the loops permit of the lateral movement of their screws and the portions of the board by which they are carried. This hawk weighs, even when thoroughly soaked, only one pound and a half, the old style weighing from three to five pounds.

ADJUSTABLE WOOD MEASURING RACK.

By means of this device wood may be measured by the cord or fractional parts of a cord, as occasion may require. The sill frame consists of two longitudinally ranging timbers connected by cross bars. Near one end of the timbers are fixed uprights, braced to each other and to the timbers. To the inner faces of the sills are screwed a series of headed pins, the first one being exactly one foot from the inner face of the end posts, and the others being spaced one foot apart. Two posts, braced together by rods, are adapted to stand on the sills, and to the inside face of each post is attached, by coach screws, a metal plate provided with a hook at its lower end, adapted to engage with the shank of one of the headed screw pins of the sills. Attached to each post is a brace with two arms, and formed at its lower end with a notch to engage the pins on the sills. The metal plates and braces are slotted for the passage of the screws, so that the movable frame may be quickly and easily set perfectly plumb, whichever opposite pair of the sill pins may be engaged by the hooked plates. The posts are exactly four feet high, and one is marked by cross lines one foot apart. It is apparent that, to measure a cord, the frame is moved to the eighth set of pins and the wood is piled to the tops of the posts. To measure half a cord, the hooks are engaged with the fourth pins. By adjusting the hooks to the first pair of pins, and filling the wood in between the end posts up to the first cross line on the post, a single foot of wood can be measured, or up to the second line for two feet, and so on. Thus a cord or any fractional part can be readily measured. To disengage the frame, it is only necessary to tilt it forward toward the fixed posts, when it may be shifted to any point along the sill frame.

This invention has been patented by Mr. Horace L. Broughton, whose address is P. O. box 320, Marblehead, Mass.

Steel Rail Capacity of the United States.

Name. Capacity
in Tons.
Springfield Iron Company 12,000
Indianapolis Rolling Mill Company 75,000
Joliet Steel Company 200,000
Lackawanna Coal and Iron Company 216,000
Troy Steel and Iron Company 120,000
Montour Iron and Steel Company 90,000
California Mills 50,000
Lochiel Iron and Steel Works 65,000
Cleveland Rolling Mill Company 200,000
Roane Iron Company 50,000
Union Steel Works, Chicago 168,000
Colorado Coal and Iron Company 125,000
Cambria Works 100,000
Western Steel Company 132,000
South Chicago Plant 250,000
Bay View Plant 50,000
North Chicago Plant 200,000
Carnegie, Phipps & Co. 125,000
Union Iron Mills, Pittsburg 50,000
Edgar Thomson Plant 450,000
Cranston Steel Company 175,000
Pennsylvania Steel Company 300,000
Bethlehem Iron Company 250,000
Worcester Steel Works 50,000
---------
Total apparent rail capacity 3,671,000

PENBERTHY INJECTOR.

At last a mechanical combination and device has been produced, and a man's labor and study crowned with success, in the production, for the convenience of engineers, of a simple and compact device known as the Penberthy injector or boiler feeder.

Its mechanical construction is very simple, but perfect. All its parts are movable and convenient of access (not being screwed in), its working so complete that an inexperienced person can operate it with success and perfectness. Its adaptability to all classes of boilers, such as stationary, portable, traction, marine, and locomotive, and its working on each, makes it very desirable, and recommends it to all classes of engineers. The automatic working of this injector is of very great advantage, as by this mechanical construction it works under all conditions of shakes, jars, and concussions. In case of a break, or the suction is to be removed and then returned, it picks up or begins working without any aid, assistance, or attention from the engineer, thereby relieving of much care and annoyance. Its convenience of access is of very great consideration and importance, owing to the advantage of cleaning and examining its interior parts.

The working parts of this injector are stationary in their work, thereby causing comparatively no wear in its mechanical parts. The inventor seems to have combined common sense with mechanical science, by leaving out all complications, and combining in the injector every convenience of operating, getting at, and putting it on the boiler.

The body is of a single cylinder or barrel, with two jets inside, "steam and combining," and governed by an automatic swinging overflow. The injector is operated by the opening or closing of the globe valves. It is connected to the boiler and pipes with uniform and interchangeable square centered unions, and can be put on or taken off very quickly without any annoyance or injury, and the only tool required being an ordinary wrench.

Another great point gained in this injector is its great range of working capacity. It will lift water twenty-five feet perpendicular, or take it a hydraulic pressure and force it into the boiler at a temperature of from 140° to 180° Fah. It will work under a steam pressure of from 20 to 140 lb. It will also lift and force water at a very warm temperature (say 120° Fah.) in tank or well, and under all circumstances and at all points it works automatically. The inventor and manufacturers of the Penberthy injector have great confidence in its working qualities, and to satisfy engineers of its merits and perfectness of work, solicit a trial. From observation, a brilliant future is in store for this little wonder of simplicity and compactness, which is a model of mechanism in appearance and finish.

For prices, etc., address Jenkins Bros., 71 John St., New York, 13 So. 4th St. Philadelphia, and 105 Milk St., Boston, agents for this injector.

PROTECTOR FOR LADIES' HATS.

This simple and readily adjustable protector may be quickly applied to and removed from a hat or bonnet, without injuring its delicate trimmings, and may be adjusted to fit large or small hats. The main portion of the protector, which alone will be used to cover hats of small or medium size, consists of a piece of some light waterproof fabric strengthened about the margin with an inside facing. At the inner face of the body are secured a couple of narrow strips of suitable fabric (Fig. 2), forming casings for drawing strings. At the opposite edges of the facing are attached small rings, through either series of which a drawing string may be passed.

The extension piece (Fig. 1) of the protector consists of an endless band of waterproof fabric, like that of the body, provided at its edges with bindings, to which rings for drawing strings are secured. The protector can readily be adjusted and held upon a small or medium sized hat by properly manipulating the drawing strings. To adapt the protector to a large hat, the extension piece is united to the main piece by a string passed through the inner series of rings on the facing and through one of the series of rings on the extension piece. A string is then passed through the other rings of the extension piece, when the protector can be held to the hat by adjusting the drawing strings. It is evident that this protector may be applied over a hat without danger of crushing the most delicate trimmings.

This invention has been patented by Mrs. W. H. Hopkirk, of Agency, Iowa.

IMPROVED STUMP PULLER.