Chapter IV (1)

LEVELS--METHODS OF ASCERTAINING--LEVEL TUBES--MANUFACTURE--CURVATURE--
SENSITIVENESS-TESTING--READING--CIRCULAR LEVELS--SURVEYORS' LEVELS--
Y-LEVEL--PARALLEL PLATES--ADJUSTMENTS OF Y-LEVELS--SUGGESTED
IMPROVEMENTS--DUMPY LEVEL--TRIPOD STANDS--ADJUSTMENT OF DUMPY--
COLLIMATOR--IMPROVEMENTS IN DUMPY LEVEL--TRIBRACH HEAD--DIAPHRAGMS--
CUSHING'S LEVEL--COOKE'S LEVEL--CHEAP FORMS OF LEVEL--HAND LEVELS--
TELESCOPIC LEVEL--REFLECTING LEVELS--WATER LEVELS.

166.--=A Level Plane= is understood technically to be a plane truly tangential to the theoretical spheroidal surface of the earth, as represented by any spot upon the mean surface of the ocean or of still water free from local attraction. The importance of having the means of constructing efficient instruments that can be conveniently employed to obtain the correct relative altitudes of points or stations upon the earth's surface, in relation to such a plane or _datum_, can scarcely be overrated. Such instruments are not only used for topographical surveys of countries, but also in designing and carrying out public works adapted to the local conditions of natural inclination of the land surface, for railways, drainage, irrigation, canals, water-works, and other constructions.

167.--The force constantly at our command to enable us to ascertain relative altitudes and to form mentally or graphically local level lines on the earth, is that of _gravity_; and it is only a question in any case how the action of this force shall be employed. There are four principles which we may accept as data for employing gravity, each depending upon a natural phenomenon:--(1) The open upper surface of a liquid unaffected by currents of air, or the influence of solid objects in close proximity causing capillary action, or local attraction of solid masses, represents a level plane. (2) The line of a plummet unaffected by currents or lateral attractions forms a vertical line to which the level plane is everywhere at right angles. (3) The atmospheric pressure, from the approximated equality of its density due to its weight in proportion to its height over limited areas, gives pressure according to its gravity--therefore altitude or difference of level relatively to lesser pressure compared with a lower datum. This pressure is measurable with a barometer or other form of pressure gauge. (4) The resistance to ebullition in a liquid is inversely proportional to the weight or pressure of the aërial fluid resting upon its surface. This is measurable by the temperature at which liquids boil under varying atmospheric pressures. Various instrumental refinements have been discovered to render these natural phenomena available in practical use for ascertaining difference of height. The first and most exact method employed for this purpose, by means of the liquid plane, will be considered in this chapter. The other methods will be deferred to later pages.

168.--In taking the level of a liquid surface contained in a vessel, we have, as just stated, to keep this surface free from the disturbing influence of air currents, and to surround the surface with equal conditions of capillary attraction, or to make these conditions equal in the direction in which we desire to ascertain our level. This is found practically to be best performed by means of a sealed glass tube, in which the liquid will by gravitation naturally occupy the lower place, and any air or lighter fluid contained therein the space above this.

169.--=Level Tubes=, _or Bubble Tubes_, as they are technically termed, are used as a part of nearly all important surveying instruments. One of these is represented Fig. 47. The glass for the construction of these tubes is drawn at the glass-houses in lengths of about 6 feet, and may be ordered of any desired size and substance. The tubes are drawn of as nearly straight and equal bore as possible. They are, nevertheless, found to be, when examined after annealing, curved more or less in various directions at different parts of their lengths. They are found also generally to be slightly tapering from end to end and of slightly unequal substance. In the manufacture of level tubes parts of the tube are selected with approximately regular longitudinal curvature, and these parts are cut off into the required lengths by a triangular file dipped in spirits of turpentine, to be ready for the future operations of grinding, sealing, and dividing. After the tube is cut off and carefully examined to get its most concave internal surface upwards, this is then marked by a _test mark_, with the flat of a file, near one end for future work and reference. The grinding of the inside of the glass tube to true curvature is performed by passing it over a brass mandrel or _core_, which is employed to grind the glass by means of fine emery. The _core_ is turned slightly barrel-form to the longitudinal curvature intended for the upper surface of the finished tube. It is made of full three-quarters the diameter of the interior of the tube, and a little longer than the entire tube. This core is attached by its ends to two stiff but flexible wires of brass, about 8 B.W.G. for a tube of ·7 inch diameter, and these wires are held firmly by their ends in two vices, so that the core is slung, as it were, to permit a certain amount of flexibility under the pressure of the hand used in grinding. Some good makers do not use a mandrel core, but only a strip of brass on the mandrel, extending about 60° of the circumference. In this case the strip has to be corrected for curvature during the grinding, which plan is sometimes preferred for certainty. The grinding of a tube cannot be commenced with coarse emery, such as is used in the grinding of lenses, as the cut of a coarse emery will quickly split the tube. After the glaze is removed there is not so much risk, so that a little time may be saved by passing a current of hydrofluoric acid gas through the tube; but more careful testing is required afterwards, as the cut of the grinding tool is not so evident at sight when the glazed surface is removed.

170.--The operation of grinding is very much the same as that described for lenses, p. 17. The surface is required to be traversed in every direction longitudinally and transversely, which is effected as far as possible by a twist of the hand alternately to the right and left. The tube should also be frequently taken off and turned end for end. Slight variations of curvature are readily made by differences of pressure of the hand on parts of the tube; and a little _coaxing_ is allowed to get the centre of the tube _quick_ where the tube is to be used for levelling only, and not for measuring small angles, so that in this case the finished tube is slightly parabolical. The finishing touch is produced with wash-emery. The inside should be left smooth but not polished, as the slight roughness of a fine ground surface assists the capillary action by causing better adhesion of the spirit, and gives a quicker run to the bubble. Where the tubes are required of a given radius they are tested frequently, during the grinding, upon the _bubble trier_, by placing two corks in the ends of the tube, which is nearly filled first with water for rough trial, and then with spirit for final correction.

171.--=The Bubble Trier= is a bar or bed 12 to 20 inches long, with two extended feet ending in points at one end, and a micrometer screw at the other, the point of which is a resting foot, thereby forming a tripod. This stands on a cast-iron or slate surface plate. The micrometer screw has a fine thread, and a large head with divisions upon it to read seconds of arc. The tube is supported on the bar by two Y's, which are adjustable for distance apart, according to the length of the tubes to be tried.

172.--_The Sensitiveness of a Level Tube_, the upper curvature and ground surface being equal, depends very much upon the capillary action due to its internal diameter, the larger tube, from the freedom of restraint by capillarity, being the more active. As regards the ultimate settling to gravitation equilibrium, perhaps there is no difference, but small tubes are sluggish and take time to work. The following are about the usual dimensions of the interior of sensitive tubes--8 inches × 1 inch diameter, 7 inches × ·9, 6 inches × ·8, 5 inches × ·7, 4 inches × ·6, 3 inches × ·5, 2½ inches × ·45, 2 inches × ·4, 1½ inches × ·35, 1 inch × ·3. The larger the volume the greater the expansion of liquid with heat; the longer the tube the less torsion it is liable to suffer from sealing, so that if possible, as expansion is a serious defect, it would be better to have short tubes, if these could be sealed without disturbance of curvature. Much shorter tubes are used in America than in Great Britain.

173.--_The Curvature of a Level Tube_ is worked to radius according to the delicacy of the work to be performed with it afterwards. The radii of curvature of different level tubes used for scientific purposes vary from about 30 feet to 1000 feet or more. The radius of any curve may be conveniently measured by the relation of its versed sine to its chord of arc, the chord being the length of the tube. If this is first calculated out, a piece of shellac may be attached by melting it down upon the centre of the edge of a parallel glass straight-edge, to represent by its thickness the versed sine. The spot of shellac may be brought to the exact height required from the straight-edge by filing and stoning, at the same time taking its protuberance by a calliper gauge provided with vernier or micrometer to read ·001 inch. The versed sine of a given radius is formed for a given chord--

_versed sine_ = _rad_ - √(_rad_^2 - (½ _cho_)^2).

174.--The general instruction, however, given to the maker is the distance of run of the bubble that is required to give seconds or minutes of arc; and perhaps this is after all the best test for accuracy of the tube which, like all other articles in glass submitted to the process of grinding, is subject to a certain amount of local error. By this method the local error is discovered by testing with the bubble trier. When the run is given, the radius of the curve of the tube may be found if desired by the use of a common multiplier, as follows, very approximately--

_Arc equal to radius expressed in minutes, 3437·74677._
_ " " " seconds, 206264·80625._

The run of a good sensitive tube is frequently made 1/30 inch to the second, here (omitting decimals)--

arc sec (206264·8) × 1/30 inch = 573 feet radius nearly.

For scientific purposes a millimetre run per second is commonly used, then--

arc sec (206264·8) × ·001 metre = 206·264 metres radius
or 680 feet nearly.

For an ordinary 12-inch dumpy level the tube is divided into minutes at about 1/10 inch apart, radius 28 to 30 feet; for a sensitive 14-inch Y-level of good construction the same divisions may represent five seconds, radius of bubble tube about 170 feet.

175.--_The Divisions upon Ordinary Level Tubes_ are made after the tube is finished, but with the highly sensitive ones the divisions are made first. The run is taken from ten to thirty divisions on each side of the centre of the tube, where it is lightly marked with a marking diamond. These spaces are then equally subdivided and etched in with hydrofluoric acid or marked with a hard steel edge dipped in turps. If further refinement be required, the errors of run in relation to the divisions are tabulated from the testing of the tube with the bubble trier. A less careful method is employed by some makers of leaving the level tube undivided and fixing an independent metal or ivory scale over it.

176.--Level tubes are generally filled with pure alcohol for ordinary purposes; for trade purposes with methylic alcohol, which is much cheaper. For very delicate tubes sulphuric ether or chloroform is used. The sensitiveness of the bubble depends very greatly upon the mobility of the liquid with which it is filled, and to the quality of adhesion of the liquid to the glass. The relative mobility of the above-mentioned liquids is found by delicate tests with the bubble trier for small distances under the microscope at a temperature of 60° Fahr. Taking water as 100:--we find commercial methylic alcohol 22, absolute alcohol 13, sulphuric ether 5, chloroform 3,--that is, for equal small runs taken in 15 seconds of time. All bubbles appear to be more or less affected by temperature, particularly where the spirit is not nearly absolute. In the higher temperatures the bubbles are more active. The objection to chloroform, where it is likely to be subject to great changes of temperature, and where there is no provision made for regulating the size of the bubble--the means of doing which will be presently discussed--is that its expansion from heat is so great that it is very liable to burst its tube. It can therefore only be used with ordinary sealed tubes where these are small and strong. Sulphuric ether has the same fault, but in a lesser degree.

177.--The sealing of ground tubes requires the skill of a very experienced glass-blower, and is a technical matter on which no written instructions would be of value under any conditions. A little strain is unavoidably put upon the tube in sealing with the blow-pipe, so that the curvature to which it is worked is more or less disturbed. For this reason level tubes which are required to be of the highest degree of accuracy are sometimes left as they are ground, and closed at the ends by small discs of glass grooved to the end surfaces. These are fixed on with glue, and when the glue is set are bound over with silk and finally varnished; but this plan is much too delicate for instruments for use in the field.

178.--=Colonel Strange's Level Tube.=--These tubes, Fig. 48, are blown with an outward bead at each end of the tube, two outwardly screwed collars, _F_, being first placed over the tube before the blowing. The tube is then ground to curvature. A plug, _S_, is formed for each end of the tube from a plano-convex lens, ground to a bevel on the plano side, and also ground into the end of the tube as a stopper. A cap, _C_, is screwed over the end upon the collar. The springiness of the cap keeps the stopper always tight. As there is no blow-pipe used after the grinding, the tube remains constant as it is ground, or it can be adjusted by grinding to any desired sensitiveness. This cap, for security, is better covered with silk tied over it, and afterwards well varnished. In this class of tube there is always a little risk of evaporation. The system is not adapted to instruments to be used in the open air.

179.--=Chambered Level Tubes.=--As the run of a bubble varies slightly with its size, for exact purposes and extreme climates it is very desirable to be able to adjust the size of the bubble to the surrounding temperature, so that it shall be kept at about equal dimensions for all measurements made with it. This becomes particularly important where chloroform is used, from the expansion being very great. A general way of doing this is to have a stopper ground into one end of the tube, which is itself a small bottle, on the under side of which a hole is ground, so that by turning the tube over and raising it more or less, any amount of the highly rarefied air it contains may be taken to form the bubble that may be desired. The stopper is fixed with thin glue. The general construction is shown below, Fig. 49. Of course where such a tube is used there must be means of tipping and turning the instrument in which it is fixed over, or the bubble itself must have separate fixings. The portability of a surveyor's level admits readily of the necessary tipping; with theodolite levels at right angles to each other upon the vernier plate it would be impossible.

180.--=Extra Strong Level Tubes.=--Colonel Scott's very ingenious device of enclosing a level tube within another tube of thoroughly annealed glass will be found valuable in all cases where the tube is much exposed, or where it is difficult afterwards to procure a new tube in the case of accident. These tubes are at present only made by the author for Scott's telescopic gun-sights, which are nearly like small theodolites. The level tube, Fig. 50, is made as stout as possible to be soundly sealed after filling. It is then enclosed in an annealed tube, _CC′_, of about ·08 to ·12 inch in thickness, the interspace between the two tubes being filled with Canada balsam. It is then plugged with elastic marine glue, _KK′_ and cemented over _PP′_. The annealed tube is of great strength, so that the complete naked tube thus formed will bear dropping on the ground, and also when attached to a large gun will bear the violent vibration of firing without injury.

181.--=The Level Tube may form a Complete Instrument in itself.=--In this case the lower surface is ground to a flat plane to rest on any plane surface. This level is generally contained in a small pocket case, and is most convenient for adjusting instruments to level. It is commonly used with the black glass artificial horizon, to be described.

182.--=Mounting Tubes.=--Level tubes when applied to instruments are generally mounted in brass covering tubes. Small level tubes under 2½ inches are conveniently mounted in such tubes with a fixing of slaked plaster of Paris inserted at each end of the brass tube. Larger level tubes should be bound round with thin paper pasted round the ends, which is allowed to get quite dry, to be afterwards fitted to the brass tube with a file. Fitted in this manner the tubes admit of adjustment to the difference of expansion of the metal and glass by change of temperature without distortion. There is no objection, however, to thoroughly fixing one end of the tube with plaster if the other be left free, and this is perhaps advisable for portable instruments.

It is convenient in mounting level tubes to place white glazed paper under the bubble to reflect the light that passes through it to ensure better observation.

183.--=In Fixing Undivided Level Tubes=, or replacing them in instruments, it is important to observe that the side with the _test mark_, which is a small ground facet, should be placed on the _top_.

184.--_In the Use of Level Tubes_ generally, it is not well to have them of greater sensitiveness than the general construction of the instrument upon which they are placed permits. Thus the centre of a surveyor's level that may be under constant strain from the unavoidable inequality of the pressure of parallel plate screws, will appear never to reverse properly if it has a very sensitive bubble, the cause of the irregularity being entirely due to the distortion from the strain on the vertical axis of the instrument. The same irregularity occurs in a lesser degree with the Y's of a theodolite, where these and the collars become corroded by exposure. The optician often gets an undue amount of credit for perfecting such instruments when he has merely replaced the sensitive bubble by a dull one--that is by doing what is really in this case the best for the instrument.

185.--When an instrument that depends entirely upon the level for its possible working is to be used abroad, an extra tube should be taken, as the level tube is very generally more exposed and is more delicate than any other part of the instrument. The tube may not only be accidentally fractured with a slight bow, but even the heat of the sun's rays will sometimes burst it.

186.--=Reading the Bubble.=--The exact position of the capillary concave surface of the spirit in the tube is liable to deceive the observer by the difference of refraction and reflection it gives, whether the light is towards the right or left hand. To avoid this cause of error it is better, in sunlight, to hold a piece of white paper at a short distance over the end of the bubble during the observation taken of its terminal reading into the divided scale on the tube. It is also important to note that the observer should stand at right angles to the tube to see the position exactly where the upper capillary line of the spirit cuts, as the tube itself refracts the light unequally. It is not at all difficult to read the bubble if the observer stand over it; but generally, as it is mounted upon an instrument, it is at the height of the eye. In this position the hollow surface round the bubble, caused by the adhesion of the liquid to the sides of the glass tube, reflects the light in a manner that the hollow may be taken for the end of the bubble, and a false reading made. It is better if possible to take the convenient side reading first, and afterwards get a glance at the upper surface reading for certainty. In some cases this may be much assisted by the employment of a small mirror of about the size of a spectacle eye, which is carried open in the pocket, or, as the author has made it, it may close in a horn case with a pocket lens, as in the Fig. 52 shown below. _C_ sheath, _M_ mirror, _L_ lens.

187.--=Circular Levels= have been made tentatively for a long period. They consist of a worked concave lens fitted into a brass cell with indiarubber seating, the glass being secured by burnishing over a bezel. This construction answers very well when new, but the spirit the level contains is certain to evaporate slowly under every possible care. Mr. J. J. Hicks has patented a hermetically sealed circular level, in which he has succeeded in working the upper surface of the glass to curvature. These levels, of course, are not subject to evaporation, and are very useful and portable for approximate levelling--as for plane tables, cameras, etc.

188.--=Surveyors' Levels=, of which there are many forms, consist essentially of a telescope with a diaphragm at the mutual foci of the objective and the eye-piece, the axis of the telescope being placed in a direction truly parallel with the crown of a sensitive level tube. The telescope with its level is mounted upon metal frame-work, carried up from a vertical axis upon which the telescope rests. The vertical axis is adjustable in relation to the axis of the telescope, so that they may be brought perfectly perpendicular, the one to the other. The whole instrument is also adjustable to a position of verticality of its central axis, and the horizontality of the telescope in relation to the surface of the earth in what is termed the _setting-up_ of the instrument; so that when it is set up in this position levels may be taken from it in any horizontal direction from one point of observation, by rotation of the telescope about the vertical axis. Having these essential objects in view in the construction of the level, the form of the instrument may be varied as to details according to the mechanical skill and taste of the maker and the special demands of the civil engineer.

189.--In the design of a surveyor's level very important considerations are:--That the metal should be so distributed that every part is as light as possible, consistently with sufficient solidity to take a moderate amount of accidental rough usage, and ensure freedom from vibration; that the whole structure should be in equilibrium about its vertical axis when the telescope is extended at mean range, that is, at about the focus of three chains--this is a quality often neglected; that there should be sufficient light in the telescope, and that it should possess a firm and durable stand. Every form of level should embrace these qualities.

190.--_The Oldest Form of Surveyor's Level_ is that termed the Y-level, so named from the telescope being supported in Y-formed bearings. This instrument was originally invented by Jonathan Sisson, a leading instrument maker of the 18th century. It was much improved and brought nearly to its present state of perfection by Ramsden, to whom practical opticians owe so much for many advancements of their science, and to his liberal publication thereof. This instrument is now very little used in Great Britain; but it still maintains its original position, to a certain extent, on the Continent and in America. In the eyes of the optician it is still the most perfect level, possessing all the instrumental refinements of adjustment he can desire. The reasons for its partial abandonment by the profession will be discussed further on.

191.--=The Y-Level= in a modern form is represented in the engraving below, Fig. 54. The Y's are shown at _YY″_ edgewise. They are supported by standards _SR_ upon the limb _L_. The telescope is surrounded by two collars which are soldered upon it at positions exactly corresponding with the Y's. The collars are turned perfectly cylindrical and parallel on the surface with the axis of the telescope, and ground in a gauge-plate to exact size so that the telescope may be turned end for end in the Y's without altering the linear direction of its axis in reversing it. The telescope is held from shifting longitudinally in its Y's by a pair of flanges placed on the inside of the collar pieces.

192.--The Y's are erected upon the limb, to which they are each fixed firmly by a clamping nut _R_ at one end, and a milled head clamp at _M_. The telescope is held down by strap pieces, each of which has a joint at one end and a loose pin at the other, _PP_. The pin is secured from dropping when out of use by a piece of cord attached to a part of the instrument and to a loop through its head. At the top of the inner side of the strap-piece under _YY″_ a piece of cork is inserted in a cave. The cork by its elasticity keeps an equal but light pressure upon the collar of the telescope. It will be seen that by the above plan of holding the telescope, it is so far free that it may be revolved on its axis, by which perfect adjustment of the diaphragm to the axis of the instrument may be made in any direction.

193.--=Parallel Plates= as a mode of adjustment of the vertical axis will be first described, as they present the oldest form of setting up adjustment. The vertical axis of the Y-level was formerly carried tapering downwards, and the upper parallel plate was placed at about the centre of the socket. Under this construction the socket was more liable to strain from the use of the parallel plate screws. It is more general now to construct the axis as represented in the illustration above, Fig. 55, for Y and other levels with parallel plates. This construction also renders the instrument more portable, as the parallel plates and axis may be detached and lie closer in the case; the plan is nevertheless open to many risks, which will be referred to in discussing a three-screw arrangement. The general construction is shown in the figure, of which the left-hand side is a half-section. _A_ is a screw by which the parallel plates are attached to the limb of the instrument; _M_ a large _milled head_, by means of which the screw can be brought up firmly to its collar; _SS′_ the _socket_ which is ground to fit the cone _C_; _C_ forms a part of the _upper parallel plate_ _UP_; _B_ a _ball pin_ which screws firmly into _C_; _LP_ _lower parallel plate_, part of which forms the ball socket, so that the whole instrument rocks about the ball _B_ as a centre, by the action of the parallel plate screws _PS_; _B′_ female screw for fixing this part, which is called altogether the _parallel plates_, to the tripod head. A clamping screw is sometimes placed upon the axis for slow motion. The parallel plate screws are _tapped_, that is, have female threads cut into the upper plate _UP_, and their points press the lower parallel plate _LP_ at certain points, there being a _stop-piece_ placed round the point of one screw to prevent rotation. The pressure upon the screws can be increased as desired by means of the milled heads, and the instrument made rigid in proportion; but it is very undesirable that the pressure should be greater than that just necessary to support the instrument firmly, as it is easy by the power of the screws to disturb the figure of the axis and thereby derange it.

The diaphragm of the telescope of the Y-level is generally webbed with plain cross webs. The diaphragm and webs were described arts. 99 to 106.

194.--_The Setting-up of the Y-Level_ is necessary to be understood before the instrument can be adjusted. The same description which answers for the setting up for adjustment will also answer for the setting-up of the instrument in the field for actual work. In this description it will be convenient, therefore, to consider the instrument as being in this case _in adjustment_ as it leaves the hand of the maker. The after adjustments will be presently taken as from the original state of the instrument, as the maker has to do them in the first instance. Practically, the civil engineer has only to make slight differential adjustments at any time, as an instrument, by the solidity of its construction, will retain the general adjustment nearly, upon which further adjustments take more the nature of final corrections, which become necessary only from accidental causes.

195.--_Setting-up of the Y or other Level with Parallel Plates._--The tripod stand is opened out so that the legs stand, if on level ground, inclined towards the centre of the instrument at an angle of about 70° to the horizon. The toes of the legs are each separately pressed into the ground sufficiently to make the instrument stand quite firmly. The instrument is then taken from its case and screwed down tightly upon the tripod head.

196.--_The Eye-piece is Adjusted_, art. 108, by sliding it gently in and out until the webs can be seen most distinctly. On a bright day a white pocket-handkerchief may with advantage be thrown singly over the object-glass to prevent any confusion from objects in the field of view during the focussing of the eye-piece. For the setting-up adjustment of the telescope, it is brought in position to lie directly over one pair of parallel plate screws, Fig. 55, _PS_, _SP_.

197.--The milled heads only of these screws are represented in plan in the diagram Fig. 56, _aa′_ being the opposite pair over which the telescope will be assumed to be at first placed. The level tube is now brought to adjustment by bringing the bubble to the centre of its run by means of the parallel plate screws _aa′_, by taking the milled heads of these screws, one between the ball of the thumb and forefinger of each hand, and rolling them simultaneously the one in one direction and the other in the reverse. This action tips the axis of the telescope in one direction or the other. Thus by the screws being rolled inwards, as shown by the direction of the arrows in the diagram, the left-hand side of the instrument would be raised. If turned the reverse way, the right hand end would be raised. The opposite end, from that to which the bubble runs, always requires to be raised. Where the ground is rather soft, adjustment when nearly correct may be made partially by pressing down one or other of the legs; in this case the telescope should be placed parallel with the toe of the leg which is pressed down and the axis of the instrument.

198.--When the level tube is adjusted over the screws _aa′_ it is then placed over _bb′_ and adjusted in a similar manner, returning again to the position _aa′_ for final adjustment. When the level is in perfect adjustment the bubble should stand in the centre of its run in making a complete circuit of the horizon by rotation of the instrument upon its vertical axis.

199.--In and during the setting-up adjustment it is most important that the screws should not be made tight enough to cause, by their pressure upon the parallel plates, distortion of the vertical axis. Should this occur, the instrument will not level in all positions by the same setting. The action of the screws also, from the great elasticity of the metal, should distribute the pressure about equally between the _opposite pairs aa′ and bb′_. The difficulty of accomplishing this with certainty makes another form of adjustment, with three screws only, preferable for setting-up, which will be considered further on. Where the instrument is set up for use, if the adjustment of the bubble be fairly correct to the centre of its run, the reading of the staff may be sighted and the telescope brought to true focus upon it by moving its milled head until the divisions of the staff are as sharp as possible, and then moving the eye upwards and downwards to be sure there is no error of parallax, art. 109. After this the final adjusting of the bubble should be made, noting particularly that there are the same number of divisions in its run on each side from the centre if it is a divided bubble.

200.--_Adjustment of the Axis of the Telescope_ in true parallel direction with the periphery of its supporting collars in its Y's. This is performed entirely with the four capstan-headed screws which adjust the diaphragm, one of which is shown, Fig. 54, _C_. Having the adjustment of the eye-piece in focus for the webs in the manner described, arts. 108, 109, the object-glass focussed upon a distant distinct small object or mark, and without parallax, the instrument which carries the telescope is then exactly adjusted to make the intersection of the webs cut the mark. The telescope is now turned half round on its axis, so that the lower part becomes the upper, and observation is again made of the distant small object or mark. If the same intersection of the webs falls on the same point of the object, the collimation adjustment is perfect. If it does not do so, the upper capstan-headed screw at _C_, or the under opposite one, is loosened by means of the small pin provided with the instrument, and the opposite screw tightened until the webs are brought over a point situated half-way between the points cut by the first and second observation. The telescope is again directed to the point first observed, and the adjustment checked to see if it has been done correctly, that is, if the level reverses, cutting the same point, or whether it requires further adjustment by the same process as before. The other web of the diaphragm, at right angles to the first, is adjusted in a similar manner, but with the other pair of capstan-headed screws.

201.--It is sometimes inconvenient to adjust out of doors: this may be performed very well indoors. By daylight a small cross may be made with ink on a sheet of white writing-paper for the sighting object, which should be placed at as great a distance as convenient, say 20 or 30 feet. By night a pin-hole may be made through a piece of paper and a candle or a lamp be placed behind it.

202.--_Adjustment of Vertical Axis._--For this the eye-piece is first brought to focus on the webs. The telescope is then placed directly over one pair of parallel plate screws opposite each other, and the instrument is levelled. The Y's are then opened out; and the telescope is directed so that the intersection of the webs cuts or covers any distinct small mark upon a distant object, or preferably upon the centre reading of a foot line upon a levelling staff. There is no objection to adjusting slightly to this by the parallel plate screws, as this adjustment is independent of the level of the instrument. The telescope is then taken out of its Y's and is turned end for end and replaced. The telescope is now turned half a revolution on its vertical axis, and the webs are again brought to read on the staff, if one is used. If they now fall upon the same spot or foot line, the vertical axis is perfectly perpendicular to the axis of the telescope in this direction. If the webs do not fall upon the first reading or point, the amount of difference of reading is recorded and this space is bisected; so that now, if the telescope be adjusted by the milled head _M_, at its bearings upon the limb upon which it is supported, for the webs to cut the bisection, the axis will be perfectly perpendicular in the direction of its bearing socket. The same process must now be repeated with the telescope placed at right angles to its first position, that is by bringing it over the other pair of parallel plate screws which were not used at first. There is at all times a certain amount of disturbance of the instrument due to handling it; it is therefore necessary to repeat the whole of the above process until the instrument reverses in any direction, but this final adjustment is better deferred until the adjustment of the level tube, to be next described, has been made.

203.--_Adjustment of the Level Tube._--The telescope is placed as before over an opposite pair of parallel plate screws, and these are adjusted until the bubble is in the centre of its run. The telescope is then turned half a revolution, so that it is placed over the same pair of screws in the reverse direction, and the displacement from the bubble from the centre is now noted. The capstan-headed bubble screws at the end of the level _B_ are then adjusted to one-fourth of the difference observed, and the parallel plate screws are adjusted for the other fourth, so that by these two adjustments the difference of the run in the two positions is bisected. The same process is repeated over the second opposite pair of parallel plate screws. If this be very carefully done with a correctly divided bubble, the Y's of the telescope may be opened out and the telescope be reversed end for end in its Y's, and the bubble remain true. But it is quite as well to go over all the adjustments a second time, as before recommended.

204.--If the level is to be adjusted by night, this can be done very correctly by a fine cross drawn on paper placed on a wall, with a candle or gas burner shining brightly on it at twenty feet or so distance from the instrument. For this adjustment by night the instrument must be well constructed, as the tubes require drawing out to their full extent for focussing near objects. If the tubes are not quite straight, the object-glass suffers considerable displacement in the drawing out, or technically _droops_, which is a very common fault in badly-made instruments.

205.--Where webs are used for the reading, they are liable to become baggy or dirty, art. 101, and very frequently to break; nothing can, therefore, be more useful than to be able to re-web a stop in the evening, with command of the easy and certain means of readjustment described, when far from the optician's aid.

206.--As the Y-level is so perfect in its arrangement for adjustments, and so nearly meets the optician's ideal, it will be well to inquire what are the objections made to its use by the majority of British surveyors. The first and most important is that it possesses so _many loose parts_, to which the practical man honestly objects. The author was, many years ago, when Y-levels were more popular, trying to persuade a cautious practical surveyor who appeared to be very anxious for the certainty of his work, and who was going abroad, to take a Y-level instead of a dumpy one he was selecting, when he had his arguments stopped by the following question:--"Suppose you were surveying in a tropical country, thousands of miles and an ocean voyage from civilisation, where your native porter objected to carry much weight, and your instrument case had to be left at a back station--when your umbrella was all the burden you felt you could support. In this case, suppose your porter, whom you had lost sight of for a short time, arrived with your level, minus the telescope--lost by becoming loose, perhaps from having been played with while he was resting--how would you praise the Y-level?" This gentleman assured me that _he_ did not, and that this was a true account of his experience with the last Y-level he possessed. Other objections, besides loose parts, are that Y's and collars do not remain as perfect as when they leave the optician--that they are liable to wear by friction of constant movement in being carried about upon the points in contact between them, and thereby form facets; that the collars become corroded by exposure, and that they have open spaces that collect sand from flying dust which fixes itself into the collars and Y's, so that this arrangement loses the perfection the optician claims for it. Further, that the cross bubble, which is uniformly placed on the dumpy level, effects a great saving of time over swinging the telescope backwards and forwards with every movement of the adjusting screws. Another feature is that in the dumpy level, to be described, the vertical and horizontal webs of the diaphragm cannot be disturbed from their position by rotation of the telescope after the level is once set up; and this verticality indicates conveniently at once whether the staff is held vertically, which is otherwise a great difficulty with the ordinary form of Y-level reading.

207.--=Improved Y-Level.=--The above-described defects the author has tried to remedy by a modification of the Y arrangement, by forming the Y's with much broader bearings, and instead of the old loose pins screw fastenings are fitted, which firmly lock the telescope in position with the webs vertical. This, so far, obviates the danger from loose parts, as by this arrangement the telescope also becomes practically firmly fixed. In adjustment the collars are opened out, and in closing press a stud into the telescope by which it takes a given position. This enables a cross bubble, shown on Fig. 57, to be also placed on the telescope for approximate adjustment, which saves the frequent disturbance of the telescope by making cross adjustments. The diaphragm of this Y-level is exactly the same as that of the dumpy, to be described art. 210. From the limb downwards the author uses the same construction as he now employs on his improved dumpy level. This will be described with that instrument further on, art 231, _seq._ Also the setting-up adjustment with it, which is different from that already described where parallel plates are employed.

208.--Perhaps, upon the whole, the conditions which formerly rendered the Y-level undoubtedly the best practical level have so much changed that the more solid construction of the dumpy may entirely supersede it, as it seems likely to do in modern practice, and the optician will lose his ideal. Some reasons for this may be stated, but whether sufficient is a question. The manufacture of object-glasses of good figure and proper centring was formerly understood by a few scientific opticians, who were principally engaged upon astronomical telescopes, so that, with the exception of those made by Troughton and Simms, no very good and accurately centred lenses were used in surveying instruments. With bad centring alone, in ordinary telescopes, the webs in collimating were drifted aside, and needed the Y system of adjustment to make the telescope workable for levelling. In the modern good object-glass, of which there are now several makers, the centring is so nearly perfect that the webs in adjustment fall in the centre of the diaphragm when it is placed true to the cylindrical axis of the telescope. If the webs are placed as suggested without further adjustment, no very serious interference is caused by want of collimation of the axis. With this fact in view, the instrument maker needs leave little space for adjustment of the webs for centre displacement to become a source of error to persons not used to adjustments.

209.--Further, with a well-centred object-glass, as it leaves the hands of the scientific optician, and a solidly constructed adjustment to collimation being provided for in the making of a level, true working may be done even if there is a small error in the collimation. The late William Gravatt, C.E., was of opinion that firm construction, compact form, and plenty of light in the telescope were more important than easy facilities of adjustment. There is no doubt he found the less open adjustments the better in the hands of the imperfectly trained assistants who were pressed into service during the railway mania of 1848. At any rate, at this period we have his invention of the "Gravatt," or, as it was afterwards termed, the "Dumpy" level, which has remained with us with slight modifications in its mechanical parts and with increasing popularity until the present time. The late Mr. Troughton, recognising the same facts, also made a level in which there was no adjustment to the supports of the telescope after it left the hands of the maker. In his level he also left no adjustment to the bubble tube, which no doubt would prevent tampering, but which could scarcely be called an improvement; as this tube is liable at all times to be broken, therefore to need replacing with another tube, which cannot be made quite similar, and therefore needs easy means of adjustment for a surveyor to replace it when abroad. This level has gone out of use, but it is mentioned here, as the old engraving of it remains in some of our _modern_ text-books.

210.--=The Dumpy Level.=--One of the most important structural improvements made by the late William Gravatt in his dumpy level, was the addition of a cross bubble, shown end-view in Fig. 59 at _CB_. This improvement over the old form of Y-level permitted the setting-up of the instrument to be completed approximately, without turning the level a quarter revolution backwards and forwards several times during the operation, as was necessary in the setting-up of the Y-level. The compact form, lightness, and large field of view in the telescope otherwise commended it to civil engineers, when Gravatt had pointed out the possibility of sufficient practical adjustment without resorting to the cumbrous proportions of the Y-level as it was then made. Modern experience has shown that the dumpy form of telescope could very well be applied to the Y construction, and this has been done, as shown in the preceding pages; but at the time the dumpy was invented by Gravatt, the Y-levels were very commonly made 20 inches or more in length of telescope, and were altogether very flimsy affairs. Gravatt's 12-inch level was found to be quite equal in power and of less than half the bulk and weight. A 12-inch dumpy should read the ·01 foot on a Sopwith staff, which is described in the next chapter, at 5 chains with a webbed or glass diaphragm, Fig. 61; with a more open reading than Sopwith's staff a greater distance than this. A 14-inch dumpy should read the ·01 foot at 10 chains.

211.--=The Dumpy Level= of modern form is represented in the engraving, Fig. 59. It consists of a telescope, fully described art. 94, which carries a ray shade _RS_ at the object-glass end, to work in the field to eastward or westward facing a low sun. The eye-piece _EP_ is adjustable to the webs in the telescope by pressure in or out. Two straps or bands are accurately fitted and soldered round the tube of the telescope; one of these carries a hinge joint, and the other a pair of locking nuts to support the level tube _GG_, and at the same time permit its adjustment. The level casing tube has two three-quarter bands, which slide upon it, pointed at one end _GG_: these adjust to the length of the bubble for changes by temperature. The lower part of each strap-piece is left a solid block of metal, to give very firm support to the telescope as it rests upon the limb _L_ beneath. The limb may be either a casting with a socket screw only in its centre, or a compass box may be formed in the centre and the socket screw be placed under this, as it is shown in the figure at _S_. The attachment of the telescope support to the limb is made by three screws, two of which draw the limb down, and one in the centre presses it upwards, as shown in the section Fig. 60--_CC′_ telescope, _TT′_ drawing screws, _P_ pressing screw.

212.--It will be seen that by this means firm adjustment may be made either by raising or lowering one end of the telescope, as also by a lateral rocking motion should the web or bubble not be quite to position. This plan is certainly moderately solid, and little fault can be found with it, except that a little torsion may be put on the telescope by unequal screwing, and that it appears slovenly in leaving an open gap between the limb and block; therefore the author prefers in his own form of level, which will be presently described, that the block be solidly fitted down upon the limb, as is shown in the section Fig. 60, and the telescope be placed permanently exactly parallel with it. If the vertical axis be once fixed truly perpendicular to the axis of the telescope as solidly as possible there is very little risk of a bell-metal centre of ¾ inch or so diameter being bent; therefore all parts may be closely fitted between the axis and the telescope. Some makers, instead of screwing down at both ends of the limb, make one end a rocking centre and adjust only by screw at the other end. This plan lacks a little of the stability looked for in the dumpy system. The general construction of the vertical axis is the same as that of the Y-level already described. The parallel plates, tripod head, and tripod are also the same, art. 193, Fig. 55.

213.--As the telescope of the dumpy level does not possess any simple means of determining the accuracy of the fitting of its sliding tube, it is a very important point in these levels that this fitting should be good, so that the object-glass does not droop when extended. For this reason the inner sliding tube of the telescope should be as long as possible, and its adjustment by the rack sufficient to bring an object in focus at 15 to 20 feet distance. This point is sometimes neglected. The author was once amused by a young surveyor bringing him an invention, which was to fix two points by the side of the telescope _to enable him to read at short distances_. It was seen on examination of his own level that his telescope, a badly-fitted one, would not read at half a chain, hence the ingenuity of his invention. In some cheaply made levels the solid ring fitting to the telescope, above described, which connects the limb firmly with the bubble tube, is replaced by blocks soldered on the telescope with soft solder: the method is very unsound from risk of imperfect soldering. The blocks are very liable to become loosened by a jar.

214.--The diaphragm of the dumpy level is generally webbed with two vertical webs and one horizontal. In use the image of the staff is brought between the vertical webs, which indicate whether it is held upright. The upper margin of the portion of the horizontal web between the two vertical ones is the index of level to which all readings are made, either for adjustment or for reading the levelling staff in the field. The somewhat loose and slovenly four-screw adjustment for a level diaphragm used in rough work with capstan-head screws, shown Fig. 23, p. 50, which is necessary for the adjustment of the telescope in Y's, has been abandoned for many years in the better-constructed dumpy levels by all good makers, and the more solid construction, shown below, Fig. 61, used in the place thereof. In this plan there is no lateral adjustment: the diaphragm is carried as a frame in a dovetail slide, and is adjustable by vertical screws only. The figure shows the face of diaphragm:--_BB′_ slide pieces, _A_ slide moved by capstan-head screws.