Volume 35 (1877) (426 pages)

September 29, 1877.] MINING AND SCIENTIFIC PRESS. 195 ta ‘fF ROGRESS. PL MecHanicat Testing the Strength of Metals. Acvording to the slmerican Manufacturer, we are to have something new in the way of a testing machine, We read that Mr. John 1, Gill, Jr., of Pittsburg, has been engaged for some months in the constriction of a new and powerful machine for testing metals, at his var-wheel works, Ifaving given great attentiou beth to the chemical analyses and mechauival tests of metalu for some years, he has qualitications and opportunities of kuowing just what is required in practice. The capacity of tho machine is 100,000 pounds. We give as follows his own reasons for building his machine, which will be appreciated hy all scientitic persons: ‘During the course of the experiments I met with an unéapected obstacle, [ fonnd the testing ma. chine conld not be imade to give the correct value of tho tensile strength, in consequence of its inahility to pull the specimen ina direct line of its axis. In testing cast-iron, the speciinens were subjected to a bending as well as tensile stress, which caused them to yiehl partly by tearing, thereby giving variahle and nurcliable results. [ have therefore been compelled to cousider all my past experiments ou tensile strength of east iron as worthless, On investi. gation, it appeared that the defect above mentioned was common, toa greater or less extent, to all testing machines in nse. To remedy the defect, I found it necessary to design and build anew testing machine, involving a principle never before tricd, which shonld insure that the line of stress should be an absolutely direct straight line, coincident with the axis of the specimen.” We hope to report more particularly upon the inachine at work in a few weeks. Perrecr ImiratioN of Guars or Woop, — There is a paper carpet made in England by Mr, Gloyn, which is designed to imitate parquet tlooring; the paper being printed in patterns to imitate different woods from photographs, so that the vraisemblance is absolutely perfect, The thooris prepared by being made perfectly level, and the crevices filled np with plaster of Paris. Over this hessian is stretehed, and on this first lining paper, and then the patterned paper is pasted, the whole being finished with a eoating of a peculiar varnish, wonderfully hard and wear-resisting. This carpeting, of course, ean he kept perfectly clean with the greatest case; and though the wear of paper carpet may be tbought prohlematieal, Mr. Gloyn testifies that he fas had rooms carpeted with it for 16 months withont showing appre. ciable sigus of wear. There is a wide field of utility open to tbe use of the photograpbie grained paper in miny ways, for it is the most remarkable imitation of ornamental woods ever produced. Dovnie Screw.—At 2 recent English exbibition, a uovel form of arrangement of the dual engine was shown by Mr. Somerset Mackenzie. Great increase of power is obtained in screwpropellers by using two screws rotating in opposite directions, one taking the water of the other. By the use of a hollow sbaft and double engines this can very easily be accomplished, but Mr, Mackenzie bas discovered how to do it with one cylinder—that is, he gets two reverse rotating motions from the action of one cylinder and piston, How this is managed it is not very easy to explain without the aid of diasams, but we may state that while one shaft is riven by an ordinary crank the other is driven by a kind of slotted crank, with its head passing round the other shaft as it rotates, This isthe arrangement in the vertieal engine; that of-the horizontal, which is about to be pnt ina hoat reeently constructed, is somewhat modified, bnt the same in principle. Locking Murvers’ Lamps.—A very simple and at the same time effective method of locking miners’ lamps has been adopted at the Atherton collieries, uear Mauchester, England. The ordinary locks and keys, which are so easily tampered witb, are entirely disearded, and a soft metal bolt supplies their place. Before the lamps are given out from the otlice each top is secured down by one of these bolts, which, after being pushed through a slot, is flat. tened and stamped at both ends by means of a machine constrnetcd for the purpose. Once fastened in this manuer the lamp cannot he opened witbout destroying the bolt, which is only extracted when the lamp is again brought up from tbo mine, and the impressed stamp at either end effectually preveuts any other than the 7 issued from the office being placed in its stead. Note ox PuospHor Bronze.—We read ina report of the Euglish Polytechnic Society's fair, that the Phosphor Brouze Company obtained a first silver medal for a large collection of exhihits illustrating the various uses to whieh this invaluable alloy can be and is put. Our readers are aware that phosphor bronze is a compound of tiu, copper and phosphorns in certain proportions, according to the special work required. Among the exhibits were several hear. ings that had been in constant use for long periods without appreciahle injury, and a plunger that had been in operation 572 days without giving any evidence that it had been in work at all, Few hetter illustrations of the wear-resisting properties of phosphor bronze could have been afforded. 4 der. Wasre aT Sayety VaLve axp Waster. A writer calls the attention of the Railroad Gavtte to the amount of stean1 which may be wasted at the safety valve and the whistle of a locomotive. If it requires from 100 to 120 pounds pressure to the inch to enable an engine to perform its daily task, aud the safety valve is set to blow off at 150 pounds, it would seen that this eught to give the engineer and _tiremau ample fetus to go enable them to adjust the asb-pan dampers and door of the furnace that steam would rarely escape at the safety valve, As to the whistle, a simple toot or two, in cases of emergency, te warn seme one from the track, or asa sigual for the brakes, weuld seem to be the only legitimate use of steam in the way of whistles. And yet of the 20or more trains whieh daily pass my residence, . notice that nearly half of them imnke a regular practice of blowing their whistles somo 20 rods at a time and sone half-dozen times within as many iniles, and their aafety valves also seem to be at work much of the time. It would be interest. ing to know exactly what per eent. of the fuel is wasted in this way. If the coal hunks upon their tenders were so made as to let a bushel of eoal drop upon the track every 10 miles of their progress, the waste would then become so manifest, nu doubt, that it wonkd be attended to at once. If one train can be run without the nse of the safety valve or whistle, another one can be so mn, with the exerciso of an cqual care and vigilance on the part of the engineer and fireman. ‘This matter of waste at the safety valve and whistle seems to rest entirely with tho men upon the foot-board of the eugine, and as they prize their good standing as engincers and firemen, they should attend to it. WakMING THE Piston. — The use of the steam-jacket in connection with the cylinders of stenm-cngines and the advantages attendant thereupon are well known, but the diagrams taken by the dynamometer show that a large amount of condensation still takes place; a portion of the condensed steam in the cylinder is evaporated anew durimy the expansion and another very important portion is also evaporated; but by taking the heat from the surrounding parts of the eugine, thus cansiug a rapid cooling of sueh parts, those parts which are immediately surrounded by the steam-jacket are instantly reheated; but those parts which are not so surrounded, such, for instance, as the piston and rod, are relatively cold on the arrival of the steam in the cylinder, and they therefore condense a large portion of it before they arrive at tho same temperature as the steam which Yows in. The object of the invention of Madam Venve Andre, of Thann, Alsatia, is to avoid this latter condensation, such object being attained by forming the piston and piston rod bollow, tbe spaces in the two parts heing made to communicate with each other. Steam is introduced into the piston and rod through a pipe which is attached to the piston and passes through a stulfing-box in the end of the cylinThis pipe slides in a steam-supply pipe, which is provided with a stufting-box, and has an inlet for the admission of steam and an outlet for the condensed steam. The outlet may communicate with a pump to draw off the condensed steam. Carbine Burrons,—Charles Kellogg, an‘ ingenious inechanie and inveutor of North Ainherst, bas for the last year been engaged in building a machine for fastening buttons ou to cards, a process heretofore doue by hand witb a needle and thread, a day’s work being abont 40 gross for a smart workman. The machine is calculated to fasten one gross per minute ou cards containing two dozen each, or 60 gross per hour. It is about two feet long and 15 inches wide, and as many bigh, and fastens the bnttons to cards with fine wire. Fonr buttons are fastened or wired at a time; the eard inoves along and four more are wired, and so on until the required number are on the card, when another card is pushed along from the top of a pile of 200 or more on the machine. One girl can attend to eacb machine. This machine, besides the model for the patent office, costs $1,600, though the duplicates can probably be made for $300, 7 Usr or tue TrLernony.—During a recent visit to Cleveland, says the American Manufacturer, we found the telephone in use in a uumber of offices, and conversation being carried on between them and their manufactories at distanees varying from one to seven miles, this, too, in au ordinary voice, with no particular effort except for distinct pronunciatiou. The Cleveland Paper Compauy has fairly domesticated this new discovery in their offices in connection with their different mills. It is also in nse by the Standard Oil Company, Union Iron Works, Cleveland Transfer Company, Cleveland Iron Company, Leader Printing Company, Rhodes & Co. and other firins, while orders are being filled as fast as it is found convenient to do the work, Saw-ser ror Rippon Saws.—The Chemnitz tool factory, Chemnitz, Saxony, makes a mechanical saw-setter which acts as follows: On levers, standing opposite each other and perpendieular to the saw, tbe stcel poiut of one lever taking a tooth on the right side of the saw and the point of the second lever a tooth immediately in advance of the other, to the left. These two levers being lifted off, a third, acting parallel to the length of the saw, takes it a couple of teetb furtheron. This action is repeated on each revolution of the wheel and results in a very uniform setting of the tceth of the saw. turning a hand-wheel motion is given to two . oo g ‘ p ScientiFic ‘PRocress. A Mountain Dismembered. Au interesting account of the recent falling of a mountain in Tarentaise, Savoy, eansing disaster to two flourishing villages, has been communicated to the Courrier des Alpes, by M, Berard, The phenomenon has been incorrectly reported as instantaneous and the destructive etlect complete; whereas the case is that of a mountaiu, which, for 20 days without eessatien, has been dismembering itself, and literally falling night and day into the valley below, filling it with piled-up blocks and stones, extingnishing all sounds by its incessant thunder, and covering the distant horizon with a thick cloud of yellowish dust. The entire mass comprised in the slope forms a mntilated cone 200 meters broad at the top, and 600 at the base (tho slope being about 50), This is composed of Ae of hard schist, lying cluso together, but no longer united; and it is united to the body of the mountain only by a vertical mass 40 to 50 meters thick, which already is fissured and shaken. Periods of repose oveur, lasting only a few seconds or a ininute ot most; then the movement reconunenees, and continues about 500 hours. Plocks of 40 cubic meters become displaced with no apparent cause, traverse the 1,800 meters of descent in 30 seconds, leaping 400 or 500 meters at a time, and linally get dashed to pieces in the bed of the torrent or lannoch their shattered fragments into the opposite forest, mowing down gigantic pines as if they were so mauy thistles. Oue such block was scen to strike a fiue fir tree before reacbing the bridge between the villages. The tree was not sinply broken or overthrown, but was crushed to dust (volatilixe), Trunk and brancbes disappeared in the air like a burning match. Rocks are hurled together and broken into fragments, that are thrown across the valley like swallows in a whirlwind. Then follow showers of smaller fragments, and one hears the whistling sound of thousands of pebbles as they pass. M. Berard reached the edge of tho rock (2,460 meters high) on one of the sides of the falling cone and ventured along it, obtaining a good view of tbe ‘ terrifying” spectacle. He reattirms his convietion that the pheuomenon is inexplicable by any of the usual reasons that account for Alpiue disturbances—such as penetration of water, or melting of snows, or inferior strata in motion; nor does the declivity of the slope explain it. [is hypothesis is that some geological force is at work, of which the complex resultant aets obliquely to the axis of the mountain, and almost parallel to its sides. Test for Flour Adulterations. From the Londou Corn Trade Journal we learn that Dr. Himly, professor of chemistry at the University of Kiel, has suggested a method by means of which any person of ordinary intelligenee may test the amount of adulteration of flonr. It is based upon the fact that chloroform is specifically lighter thau nearly all the snbstances usually employed for these adulterations, such as lime, chalk harytes, plaster, marble, bone-powder, ete., while the genuine flour is again lighter than chloroform, in which none of the above-named substances are soluble. The testing process is simple, and all the appa. ratus required is a small test tube about threeeighths of an inch in diameter and four or five inches long. A teaspoonful of the flour to be tested is placed in the test glass and ehloroform poured on to fill the vessel to ahout three-quarters of its length, when it is well shaken, and tben placed in an npright position, so as to remain undisturbed until the various substances mixed together have had time to find the level assigned them by their specific gravity, the flour swimming near the surface at the top of the vessel, while tbe mineral bodies will sink to the bottom. Jt should be observed that unadulterated flour ofteri shows a slight filmy deposit of a greyisb or brownisfi color, which it must be supposed is stone-dust produced in grinding. A white deposit, however, will invariahly indicate an adulteration witb one or anotber of the substances mentioned above. If the materials are weighed before and after separation, the amount or degree of adulteration may be pretty accurately ascertained, Mercury In JApAN.—According to Mr. Plunkett, cinnahar occurs in two localities in Japan, but neither of these deposits are now worked. One mine in tbe northern part of Nippon is‘said to be very promising, but the present proprietors are not now inclined to expend money for its development. The other mine is near Ainoura, ou the peninsula of Hirado, in Matsura kori of Nagasaki ken. Mr, Gower, who formerly superintended the working of: this deposit, reports it to be valuable, The mine was opened under his direction some years ago, and a retort furnace was erected for the distillation of the metal from the ore. The furnace was worked successfully, and merenry was prodneed in some quantity. During the absence of Mr. Gower, however, the workmen by careless firing, melted the iron retorts, and, discouraged by this accident, the owners decided. to abandon the undertaking. The cinnabar ocenrs here as a local impregnation in sandstones of the coal-measures, and filling small seams and fissures in the rock, Permeability of Walls. Experinents by Profs. Marker and Schultze show that under some circumstances the pass. age of air and gases through walis and brick work is by no meaus diffieult. All that is necessary to promote the passage is a difference of teinperature of 10° between the inside and outside air, The figures given are as follows, per hour, fer each sqnare yard of wall surface: Through sandstone, 3.7 ecubie feet; through quarried limestone, 6.5; tbrough brick, 7.9; throngh turfy limestone, 10.1. This fact of the penetration and flow ef gases through stone has one important bearing on tho construction of wholesome residences. Most people are under the impression that if a cellar is lined with Portland cement, the dampness and malaria of the earth beneath will be shut off. Uf not in some way prevented, earth vapors pass upward into the building, and that part of the process is usually hastened in the winter months by a furnace in tho cellar, Doubtless many malanal diseases, such as typhoid fever and diphtheria, may thus be propagated in cities, especially where the building sites are imperfeetly drained or are ‘made ground.” Tho experiments referred to are an additional proof that a Portland cement luiug will not cut off the malarious gases, as indeed might also he inferred from its porous character, The only effective barrier against foul air and dampness must be some snbstance which is not permeable. Probably this result might be attained by means of a layer of asphalt or bitumen, if it were evenly spread, and weighted so as to keep in place, Jn view of the estimate that half the diseases of mankind aro preventable, it is not too much to hope that modern sanitary improvements may largely reduce the death rate in cities; with imauy residences the improvement needs to begin at the bottom. Aw Ixsrircrion ProposEp.—The address of Prof. E. C. Pickering, as Vice-President of the American Association, was read hy proxy, as be did not attend the Nasbville meeting. The address, says the /ron Aye, was an argument in favor of tbe endowment of scientific research. Tts most interesting portion was tbe description of a suitable bnilding and arrangements for a physical laboratory, where experiments might be made to earry out scientific researehes, Prof. Pickering gave elaborate details of his project, and pointed out the numerous advantages tbat might be expected to result when these facilities were afforded to investigators. The plan includes the appointment of a presiding ofticer and a staff of assistauts. The ‘‘eastle in Spain” of Prof. Pickering is not a thing of beauty. He says: ‘The huildiug itself is large but low, and resembles one or more blocks of two-story dwelling houses. No more common mistake is made than in wasting the money which should be used for equipment on arcbitectural effect. It is nseless to hope for architectural heanty in this building.” Means or Preservinc Mitk.—At a recent meeting of the American Dairymen’s Association, Prof. Caldwell, of Cornell University, read a paper entitled ‘‘Boracic Acid and other Substances for Preserving Milk.” Prof. Caldwell spoke of various substances for this purpose. He bad tested varions antiseptics for the preservation of milk, and found that boracic acid was better than anything he bad tried. When milk soured in from 20 to 24 hours, at a temperature of 80° Fahr. and npward, one part of horacie acid added to 500 parts milk caused it to remain sweet for 50 hours. At a tempera. ture of from 72° to 79°, one part of boracic acid to 1,000 parts of milk, by weight, kept it sweet 50 hours. He applied it to milk wann from the cow, and thus preserved it twice as long as it would keep without it. No injury to tbe quality of the milk oceurs in using one part of boracic acid to 1,000 parts of milk. He stated that it was not a poisonous substance; he had taken the milk thus preserved into his own stomach and experienced no barm therefroin. One pound of boracic acid to 1,000 pounds of milk will keep it sweet twice as long as it wonld keep withont it. Meratturcican Revinw.—We have received the first issue of a new publication, the Afetallurgical Review, by David Williams, 83 Read street, New York. It is of fine appearance and well filled. The Review is intended to be a record of current progress, which shall comhine the enterprise of a newspaper with the convenience and permauent value of a book. It will contain original contributions froni writers of kuown ability and recognized scientific standing, American and foreign. Its field ineludes whatever is new and important relating to the metallurgy of the nseful metals, from the mining of ores to the final processes which make the metals available as materials in the arts, New Breo.—Prof. 0. C, Marsh announces a new genns and species of toothed hird, which he catls Baptornis advenus, He also deseribes anew fossil lizard, by far exceediug in magnitude any land animal hitherto discovered, which mnst have been fully 50 to 60 feet ae It was probably a herbivorons reptile. It comes from a bed ou the eastern flank of the Rocky mountains,

September 29, 1877.] MINING AND SCIENTIFIC PRESS. 195 ta ‘fF ROGRESS. PL MecHanicat Testing the Strength of Metals. Acvording to the slmerican Manufacturer, we are to have something new in the way of a testing machine, We read that Mr. John 1, Gill, Jr., of Pittsburg, has been engaged for some months in the constriction of a new and powerful machine for testing metals, at his var-wheel works, Ifaving given great attentiou beth to the chemical analyses and mechauival tests of metalu for some years, he has qualitications and opportunities of kuowing just what is required in practice. The capacity of tho machine is 100,000 pounds. We give as follows his own reasons for building his machine, which will be appreciated hy all scientitic persons: ‘During the course of the experiments I met with an unéapected obstacle, [ fonnd the testing ma. chine conld not be imade to give the correct value of tho tensile strength, in consequence of its inahility to pull the specimen ina direct line of its axis. In testing cast-iron, the speciinens were subjected to a bending as well as tensile stress, which caused them to yiehl partly by tearing, thereby giving variahle and nurcliable results. [ have therefore been compelled to cousider all my past experiments ou tensile strength of east iron as worthless, On investi. gation, it appeared that the defect above mentioned was common, toa greater or less extent, to all testing machines in nse. To remedy the defect, I found it necessary to design and build anew testing machine, involving a principle never before tricd, which shonld insure that the line of stress should be an absolutely direct straight line, coincident with the axis of the specimen.” We hope to report more particularly upon the inachine at work in a few weeks. Perrecr ImiratioN of Guars or Woop, — There is a paper carpet made in England by Mr, Gloyn, which is designed to imitate parquet tlooring; the paper being printed in patterns to imitate different woods from photographs, so that the vraisemblance is absolutely perfect, The thooris prepared by being made perfectly level, and the crevices filled np with plaster of Paris. Over this hessian is stretehed, and on this first lining paper, and then the patterned paper is pasted, the whole being finished with a eoating of a peculiar varnish, wonderfully hard and wear-resisting. This carpeting, of course, ean he kept perfectly clean with the greatest case; and though the wear of paper carpet may be tbought prohlematieal, Mr. Gloyn testifies that he fas had rooms carpeted with it for 16 months withont showing appre. ciable sigus of wear. There is a wide field of utility open to tbe use of the photograpbie grained paper in miny ways, for it is the most remarkable imitation of ornamental woods ever produced. Dovnie Screw.—At 2 recent English exbibition, a uovel form of arrangement of the dual engine was shown by Mr. Somerset Mackenzie. Great increase of power is obtained in screwpropellers by using two screws rotating in opposite directions, one taking the water of the other. By the use of a hollow sbaft and double engines this can very easily be accomplished, but Mr, Mackenzie bas discovered how to do it with one cylinder—that is, he gets two reverse rotating motions from the action of one cylinder and piston, How this is managed it is not very easy to explain without the aid of diasams, but we may state that while one shaft is riven by an ordinary crank the other is driven by a kind of slotted crank, with its head passing round the other shaft as it rotates, This isthe arrangement in the vertieal engine; that of-the horizontal, which is about to be pnt ina hoat reeently constructed, is somewhat modified, bnt the same in principle. Locking Murvers’ Lamps.—A very simple and at the same time effective method of locking miners’ lamps has been adopted at the Atherton collieries, uear Mauchester, England. The ordinary locks and keys, which are so easily tampered witb, are entirely disearded, and a soft metal bolt supplies their place. Before the lamps are given out from the otlice each top is secured down by one of these bolts, which, after being pushed through a slot, is flat. tened and stamped at both ends by means of a machine constrnetcd for the purpose. Once fastened in this manuer the lamp cannot he opened witbout destroying the bolt, which is only extracted when the lamp is again brought up from tbo mine, and the impressed stamp at either end effectually preveuts any other than the 7 issued from the office being placed in its stead. Note ox PuospHor Bronze.—We read ina report of the Euglish Polytechnic Society's fair, that the Phosphor Brouze Company obtained a first silver medal for a large collection of exhihits illustrating the various uses to whieh this invaluable alloy can be and is put. Our readers are aware that phosphor bronze is a compound of tiu, copper and phosphorns in certain proportions, according to the special work required. Among the exhibits were several hear. ings that had been in constant use for long periods without appreciahle injury, and a plunger that had been in operation 572 days without giving any evidence that it had been in work at all, Few hetter illustrations of the wear-resisting properties of phosphor bronze could have been afforded. 4 der. Wasre aT Sayety VaLve axp Waster. A writer calls the attention of the Railroad Gavtte to the amount of stean1 which may be wasted at the safety valve and the whistle of a locomotive. If it requires from 100 to 120 pounds pressure to the inch to enable an engine to perform its daily task, aud the safety valve is set to blow off at 150 pounds, it would seen that this eught to give the engineer and _tiremau ample fetus to go enable them to adjust the asb-pan dampers and door of the furnace that steam would rarely escape at the safety valve, As to the whistle, a simple toot or two, in cases of emergency, te warn seme one from the track, or asa sigual for the brakes, weuld seem to be the only legitimate use of steam in the way of whistles. And yet of the 20or more trains whieh daily pass my residence, . notice that nearly half of them imnke a regular practice of blowing their whistles somo 20 rods at a time and sone half-dozen times within as many iniles, and their aafety valves also seem to be at work much of the time. It would be interest. ing to know exactly what per eent. of the fuel is wasted in this way. If the coal hunks upon their tenders were so made as to let a bushel of eoal drop upon the track every 10 miles of their progress, the waste would then become so manifest, nu doubt, that it wonkd be attended to at once. If one train can be run without the nse of the safety valve or whistle, another one can be so mn, with the exerciso of an cqual care and vigilance on the part of the engineer and fireman. ‘This matter of waste at the safety valve and whistle seems to rest entirely with tho men upon the foot-board of the eugine, and as they prize their good standing as engincers and firemen, they should attend to it. WakMING THE Piston. — The use of the steam-jacket in connection with the cylinders of stenm-cngines and the advantages attendant thereupon are well known, but the diagrams taken by the dynamometer show that a large amount of condensation still takes place; a portion of the condensed steam in the cylinder is evaporated anew durimy the expansion and another very important portion is also evaporated; but by taking the heat from the surrounding parts of the eugine, thus cansiug a rapid cooling of sueh parts, those parts which are immediately surrounded by the steam-jacket are instantly reheated; but those parts which are not so surrounded, such, for instance, as the piston and rod, are relatively cold on the arrival of the steam in the cylinder, and they therefore condense a large portion of it before they arrive at tho same temperature as the steam which Yows in. The object of the invention of Madam Venve Andre, of Thann, Alsatia, is to avoid this latter condensation, such object being attained by forming the piston and piston rod bollow, tbe spaces in the two parts heing made to communicate with each other. Steam is introduced into the piston and rod through a pipe which is attached to the piston and passes through a stulfing-box in the end of the cylinThis pipe slides in a steam-supply pipe, which is provided with a stufting-box, and has an inlet for the admission of steam and an outlet for the condensed steam. The outlet may communicate with a pump to draw off the condensed steam. Carbine Burrons,—Charles Kellogg, an‘ ingenious inechanie and inveutor of North Ainherst, bas for the last year been engaged in building a machine for fastening buttons ou to cards, a process heretofore doue by hand witb a needle and thread, a day’s work being abont 40 gross for a smart workman. The machine is calculated to fasten one gross per minute ou cards containing two dozen each, or 60 gross per hour. It is about two feet long and 15 inches wide, and as many bigh, and fastens the bnttons to cards with fine wire. Fonr buttons are fastened or wired at a time; the eard inoves along and four more are wired, and so on until the required number are on the card, when another card is pushed along from the top of a pile of 200 or more on the machine. One girl can attend to eacb machine. This machine, besides the model for the patent office, costs $1,600, though the duplicates can probably be made for $300, 7 Usr or tue TrLernony.—During a recent visit to Cleveland, says the American Manufacturer, we found the telephone in use in a uumber of offices, and conversation being carried on between them and their manufactories at distanees varying from one to seven miles, this, too, in au ordinary voice, with no particular effort except for distinct pronunciatiou. The Cleveland Paper Compauy has fairly domesticated this new discovery in their offices in connection with their different mills. It is also in nse by the Standard Oil Company, Union Iron Works, Cleveland Transfer Company, Cleveland Iron Company, Leader Printing Company, Rhodes & Co. and other firins, while orders are being filled as fast as it is found convenient to do the work, Saw-ser ror Rippon Saws.—The Chemnitz tool factory, Chemnitz, Saxony, makes a mechanical saw-setter which acts as follows: On levers, standing opposite each other and perpendieular to the saw, tbe stcel poiut of one lever taking a tooth on the right side of the saw and the point of the second lever a tooth immediately in advance of the other, to the left. These two levers being lifted off, a third, acting parallel to the length of the saw, takes it a couple of teetb furtheron. This action is repeated on each revolution of the wheel and results in a very uniform setting of the tceth of the saw. turning a hand-wheel motion is given to two . oo g

‘ p ScientiFic ‘PRocress. A Mountain Dismembered. Au interesting account of the recent falling of a mountain in Tarentaise, Savoy, eansing disaster to two flourishing villages, has been communicated to the Courrier des Alpes, by M, Berard, The phenomenon has been incorrectly reported as instantaneous and the destructive etlect complete; whereas the case is that of a mountaiu, which, for 20 days without eessatien, has been dismembering itself, and literally falling night and day into the valley below, filling it with piled-up blocks and stones, extingnishing all sounds by its incessant thunder, and covering the distant horizon with a thick cloud of yellowish dust. The entire mass comprised in the slope forms a mntilated cone 200 meters broad at the top, and 600 at the base (tho slope being about 50), This is composed of Ae of hard schist, lying cluso together, but no longer united; and it is united to the body of the mountain only by a vertical mass 40 to 50 meters thick, which already is fissured and shaken. Periods of repose oveur, lasting only a few seconds or a ininute ot most; then the movement reconunenees, and continues about 500 hours. Plocks of 40 cubic meters become displaced with no apparent cause, traverse the 1,800 meters of descent in 30 seconds, leaping 400 or 500 meters at a time, and linally get dashed to pieces in the bed of the torrent or lannoch their shattered fragments into the opposite forest, mowing down gigantic pines as if they were so mauy thistles. Oue such block was scen to strike a fiue fir tree before reacbing the bridge between the villages. The tree was not sinply broken or overthrown, but was crushed to dust (volatilixe), Trunk and brancbes disappeared in the air like a burning match. Rocks are hurled together and broken into fragments, that are thrown across the valley like swallows in a whirlwind. Then follow showers of smaller fragments, and one hears the whistling sound of thousands of pebbles as they pass. M. Berard reached the edge of tho rock (2,460 meters high) on one of the sides of the falling cone and ventured along it, obtaining a good view of tbe ‘ terrifying” spectacle. He reattirms his convietion that the pheuomenon is inexplicable by any of the usual reasons that account for Alpiue disturbances—such as penetration of water, or melting of snows, or inferior strata in motion; nor does the declivity of the slope explain it. [is hypothesis is that some geological force is at work, of which the complex resultant aets obliquely to the axis of the mountain, and almost parallel to its sides. Test for Flour Adulterations. From the Londou Corn Trade Journal we learn that Dr. Himly, professor of chemistry at the University of Kiel, has suggested a method by means of which any person of ordinary intelligenee may test the amount of adulteration of flonr. It is based upon the fact that chloroform is specifically lighter thau nearly all the snbstances usually employed for these adulterations, such as lime, chalk harytes, plaster, marble, bone-powder, ete., while the genuine flour is again lighter than chloroform, in which none of the above-named substances are soluble. The testing process is simple, and all the appa. ratus required is a small test tube about threeeighths of an inch in diameter and four or five inches long. A teaspoonful of the flour to be tested is placed in the test glass and ehloroform poured on to fill the vessel to ahout three-quarters of its length, when it is well shaken, and tben placed in an npright position, so as to remain undisturbed until the various substances mixed together have had time to find the level assigned them by their specific gravity, the flour swimming near the surface at the top of the vessel, while tbe mineral bodies will sink to the bottom. Jt should be observed that unadulterated flour ofteri shows a slight filmy deposit of a greyisb or brownisfi color, which it must be supposed is stone-dust produced in grinding. A white deposit, however, will invariahly indicate an adulteration witb one or anotber of the substances mentioned above. If the materials are weighed before and after separation, the amount or degree of adulteration may be pretty accurately ascertained, Mercury In JApAN.—According to Mr. Plunkett, cinnahar occurs in two localities in Japan, but neither of these deposits are now worked. One mine in tbe northern part of Nippon is‘said to be very promising, but the present proprietors are not now inclined to expend money for its development. The other mine is near Ainoura, ou the peninsula of Hirado, in Matsura kori of Nagasaki ken. Mr, Gower, who formerly superintended the working of: this deposit, reports it to be valuable, The mine was opened under his direction some years ago, and a retort furnace was erected for the distillation of the metal from the ore. The furnace was worked successfully, and merenry was prodneed in some quantity. During the absence of Mr. Gower, however, the workmen by careless firing, melted the iron retorts, and, discouraged by this accident, the owners decided. to abandon the undertaking. The cinnabar ocenrs here as a local impregnation in sandstones of the coal-measures, and filling small seams and fissures in the rock, Permeability of Walls. Experinents by Profs. Marker and Schultze show that under some circumstances the pass. age of air and gases through walis and brick work is by no meaus diffieult. All that is necessary to promote the passage is a difference of teinperature of 10° between the inside and outside air, The figures given are as follows, per hour, fer each sqnare yard of wall surface: Through sandstone, 3.7 ecubie feet; through quarried limestone, 6.5; tbrough brick, 7.9; throngh turfy limestone, 10.1. This fact of the penetration and flow ef gases through stone has one important bearing on tho construction of wholesome residences. Most people are under the impression that if a cellar is lined with Portland cement, the dampness and malaria of the earth beneath will be shut off. Uf not in some way prevented, earth vapors pass upward into the building, and that part of the process is usually hastened in the winter months by a furnace in tho cellar, Doubtless many malanal diseases, such as typhoid fever and diphtheria, may thus be propagated in cities, especially where the building sites are imperfeetly drained or are ‘made ground.” Tho experiments referred to are an additional proof that a Portland cement luiug will not cut off the malarious gases, as indeed might also he inferred from its porous character, The only effective barrier against foul air and dampness must be some snbstance which is not permeable. Probably this result might be attained by means of a layer of asphalt or bitumen, if it were evenly spread, and weighted so as to keep in place, Jn view of the estimate that half the diseases of mankind aro preventable, it is not too much to hope that modern sanitary improvements may largely reduce the death rate in cities; with imauy residences the improvement needs to begin at the bottom. Aw Ixsrircrion ProposEp.—The address of Prof. E. C. Pickering, as Vice-President of the American Association, was read hy proxy, as be did not attend the Nasbville meeting. The address, says the /ron Aye, was an argument in favor of tbe endowment of scientific research. Tts most interesting portion was tbe description of a suitable bnilding and arrangements for a physical laboratory, where experiments might be made to earry out scientific researehes, Prof. Pickering gave elaborate details of his project, and pointed out the numerous advantages tbat might be expected to result when these facilities were afforded to investigators. The plan includes the appointment of a presiding ofticer and a staff of assistauts. The ‘‘eastle in Spain” of Prof. Pickering is not a thing of beauty. He says: ‘The huildiug itself is large but low, and resembles one or more blocks of two-story dwelling houses. No more common mistake is made than in wasting the money which should be used for equipment on arcbitectural effect. It is nseless to hope for architectural heanty in this building.” Means or Preservinc Mitk.—At a recent meeting of the American Dairymen’s Association, Prof. Caldwell, of Cornell University, read a paper entitled ‘‘Boracic Acid and other Substances for Preserving Milk.” Prof. Caldwell spoke of various substances for this purpose. He bad tested varions antiseptics for the preservation of milk, and found that boracic acid was better than anything he bad tried. When milk soured in from 20 to 24 hours, at a temperature of 80° Fahr. and npward, one part of horacie acid added to 500 parts milk caused it to remain sweet for 50 hours. At a tempera. ture of from 72° to 79°, one part of boracic acid to 1,000 parts of milk, by weight, kept it sweet 50 hours. He applied it to milk wann from the cow, and thus preserved it twice as long as it would keep without it. No injury to tbe quality of the milk oceurs in using one part of boracic acid to 1,000 parts of milk. He stated that it was not a poisonous substance; he had taken the milk thus preserved into his own stomach and experienced no barm therefroin. One pound of boracic acid to 1,000 pounds of milk will keep it sweet twice as long as it wonld keep withont it. Meratturcican Revinw.—We have received the first issue of a new publication, the Afetallurgical Review, by David Williams, 83 Read street, New York. It is of fine appearance and well filled. The Review is intended to be a record of current progress, which shall comhine the enterprise of a newspaper with the convenience and permauent value of a book. It will contain original contributions froni writers of kuown ability and recognized scientific standing, American and foreign. Its field ineludes whatever is new and important relating to the metallurgy of the nseful metals, from the mining of ores to the final processes which make the metals available as materials in the arts, New Breo.—Prof. 0. C, Marsh announces a new genns and species of toothed hird, which he catls Baptornis advenus, He also deseribes anew fossil lizard, by far exceediug in magnitude any land animal hitherto discovered, which mnst have been fully 50 to 60 feet ae It was probably a herbivorons reptile. It comes from a bed ou the eastern flank of the Rocky mountains,