Scientific American 1922-07: Vol 127 Iss 1

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SCIENTIFIC AMERIC | ISRAgy The dcatbly. Journal of Practical Information rap See JULY 1922 A MG A AM LL ee We = — CI estes Gi in

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Pathway ~~ A new kind of pioneering goes for- ward daily in our cities, our smaller towns, and through the open country. Spreading in every direction, reach- ing always toward new points of service, the copper pathways of elec- tric power make new roads for human progress. This is the kind of thing men do as much for the hope that is in them as for the promise of gain. Searching for new applications, finding new and better methods, developing a con- stantly improving usefulness at a contin- ually lessening cost; these are the: daily of Power— WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC - Are the Highways of Progress objectives to whose attainment Electric Service is devoted, and for which Westing- house engineering ever seeks new and greater contributions. Witness the newly operative enterprise that markets in West Coast cities the power derived from mountain waters over four hundred miles away! Witness the great inland plants that now produce a kilowatt of electrical energy from two pounds of coal, where but a few years ago twelve pounds per kilowatt stood for great effi- ciency ! Surely there is no need to argue at length the truth of our headline—the pathways of power are the highways of progress! WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING COMPANY Offices in all Principal Cities Representatives Everywhere juLy, 1 a ITE vol ScIENTIFI publicatic had two \ twenty-fir seven isst present 0 umes per ume, JU ScIENTIFI yolumes ture to § searce, @ twenty, t are relat! our life-le their cop! Not so sioned by assemble AMERICAN siderable until we | ume, Th search, W the first cost of § However, rooms a ¢ which are © 1922 W. E. & M. Co Westinghouse N keep | mainta tude in ¢ jects whe which is take up ir of psychic fraud in | all agree ; nine-tenth: erude cha part of ou! necessarily fakes and cently invi Principal Society fo for us reg chie frau sion—and in quest 0 —we final manuscrip investigate chie Detec this issue, ruming d festations. that anoth for us a cated acce photograp! psychic graphs by and he eve psychic or their meth the simple REQUI a read ticle, dese interesting tion of th manufactu opportunity regard to accused of text colum cumstances of the ma We do not of the inv fair and — tinge; but —

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jury, 1922 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

— tS ith the Editors

ITH this issue we start a new W yolume, No. 127, of the unbroken SclENTIFIC AMERICAN lineage. Asa weekly publication, appearing every Saturday, we had two volumes per year, eac h containing twenty-five, twenty-six, and even twenty- seven issues, aS the case might be. In our present monthly form we have two vol- umes per year, with six issues to the vol- ume. Just how ScrenTIFIC AMERICAN volumes are in existence, Such of unbound ven- very many complete sets bound and we cannot must be sets dating back ten, and even fifty years many of preserve through. ture to guess. sets scarce, although twenty, thirty, forty are relatively numerous, since our life-long habitually their copies after reading them Not so long ago we were commis- sioned by a well-known New Yorker to assemble a of ScreNnTIFIC AMERICAN This involved con- siderable rummaging, inside and outside, yotil we finally had all but the first vol- ume, Then, through further unrelenting search, we succeeded in obtaining one of the first volumes in fair condition, at a readers complete set volumes. cost of $100, thus completing the set. have here in our editorial However, we roms a complete set of bound volumes, which are always at your disposal. N keeping with our policy of always | maintaining a fair and impartial atti- tude in dealing with controversial sub- jects where it is difficult to determine which is right and which is wrong, we take up in this issue the fraudulent side of psychical research. That there is much fraud in psychic manifestations, we will all agree ; indeed, assume that nine-tenths of these manifestations are erude charlatanism. Therefore, a goodly part of our discussion on the psychic must necessarily revolve about the psychic fakes and fakers. To this end we re- cently invited Dr. Walter Franklin Prince, Principal Research Officer, American Society for Psychical Research, to write for us regarding his work in baring psy- chie frauds. After considerable persua- sion—and we know how to persuade when in quest of authorities such as Dr. Prince —we finally obtained a most interesting manuscript from this well-known psychic investigator. Under the title of “The Psy- chie Detective,’ Dr. Prince tells you, in this issue, of his varied experiences in running down fraudulent psychic mani- festations. Incidentally, we might add that another investigator is now preparing for us a startling yet strictly authenti- it is safe to cated account of the making of spirit photographs. He will tell how certain Psychic workers make these photo- staphs by simple photographic tricks; and he even goes so far as to challenge all Psychic or spirit photographers to prove their methods to be beyond the reach of the simple tricks which he discloses. REQUENTLY we receive a letter from 4 reader, stating that a certain ar- ticle, describing a new device, is quite interesting but we overlooked the men- lion of the name and address of the manufacturer. We therefore take this portunity of telling you our views in regard to such matters. Lest we be accused of publishing “write-ups” in our text columns, we cannot under any cir- cumstances mention the name and address of the manufacturer of a given device. We do hot hesitate to mention the name of the inventor. for that is nothing but fair and does not carry a commercial tinge; but the manufacturer’s name and CONTENTS

JuLy, 1922

LEADING ARTICLES “Majestic”’—The Latest and Largest of Ships.......... -By the “ay 5, aes 6-7 The Psychic Detective............ By Walter Franklin Prince, Ph.D The Business of Broadcasting....... --...-By Austin My Lescarboura 8-9 Pullman and Caboose Radio.............+.seeee0: . G. Roberts 12-13 Our Point of View. bbb Sind 40:0 0p o GUC Editorial Comment 14-15 San Francisco’s Water Supply Project......By M. M. O’Shaughnessy 18-19 Radio Rules in the Making.................000 .By George H. Dacy 20 2 NE GE SDS 6 6:80.59: <0s + durin datendegedenesuanae 21 An Antediluvian Monster..................000- By Leonard Matters 21 When the Hand on the Throttle Fails......... -By Robert G. Skerrett 22 Fulfilling the Treaty........ RPO ES Eee .By H. A..MacMullan 24 BIL. 5.6 dik dicedRsh aes 046 Ores cunwekannas By the Staff 26 The Ice-Cream Factory or ee re “B y William A. McGarry 28-29 Investigating Unknown Forces........--+- By Dr. Alfred Gradenwitz 30 When Steel Beams Stretch. .............cccc0e0 .By P. J. Risdon 32 Te Ceres: FOORIONE 5. 4.0.06. co cisdkoncs +6535 Fda ee 34 The Terminal Elevator for State Barge Canal........... By the Staff 36-37 ee PC ee Pp rert peee eee ‘ er Apr 38 How Airship Accidents Lead to Airship Pro; gress. ‘ ‘B y C. A. Oldroyd 40-41 Wee Dares OE TOE TEMG: eons ic ccccccescceces By A. A. Hopkins 42 SHORTER ARTICLES Penetration of Wood Preservatives... . 11 Pneumatic Pit-Jack............0006: 31 Department of Commerce Radio Peri- Catching the Cinders..........sssse0. 33 CHE Lids Gcxie wotnnstbesscmheeddesss 13 Measuring the Heat from the Stars... 33 Gyro-Stabilizers as Cure for Seasickness 16 The Airman’s Weather Finder........ 35 Hottest Place in the World........... 16 Coloring Matter of Red Roses......... 35 Psychology of Stuttering............. 16 Nutrient Requirements of Growing Unsinkable Power-Driven L ifeboat.... 16 GREED naales cance Pon dkiasdeavos weie 37 Significance of Calcium for Plants.... 19 Grapefruit Ripening and Storage..... 38 Wireless from Trains in Germany.... 23 Clock That Runs Without Winding... . 39 Something New in Movie Scenery... 23 Ventilating Manholes with a Portable Taking the Tricks Out of Piano- OU. onstdethestasncnseusstadaes 39 DU a sams w6euiesad beled bo ¥d5 68m 23 Optimum Temperatures for Flower- Aviation in the Far East............. 23 Seed Germination.,...:........ 39 What the Treaty Left Us............ 24 Painting the Inside of a Big Dome. 39 Whittling Iron and What It Is....... 25 Conductivity and Permeability in Liv- Drouth Periods and Sunspots......... 25 ee OL hn 5 dnb abine aids h6-04o eb OS 41 Belgium's Giant Radio Station. 27 Direct Prints Without a Camera...... 41 Reactions Obtained by Ultra-Violet Proteins Differ in Their Nutritive Value 42 BD. sa cneusadins bh ekd res netentes 27 Aluminum Films............. 43 Dr. Nimfuhr’s Soaring Airplane...... 29 Magnet as Back-Stop for Portable Drill 43 Sandy Ice Cream...............+. 29 Car Dumper That Weighs as It Works 43 Earthquake Detection Near the White Machine for Counting Bees........... 43 ET uwd0n0 6600000605 dnaendsdaneas 31 Spark Arrester Proves Its Worth..... 43 Some Physical Characteristics of the Utah’s Poisoned Duck Marshes....... 44 bers ckevisanne rans abeseewintes 31 Science and Bee Culture.............. 44 DEPARTMENTS Inventions New + ony Interesting...... 45-48 Mechanical Engineering Notes........ 60 The Service of the Chemist. aeclnde 49 EE re Pee 61 The Heavens in July............. 50 Miscellaneous Notes................+. 62 The Motor-Driven Commercial Vehicle 51 The Naturalist’s Corner.............. 63 Correspondence Page...............+. 52 I sn os ap nceeudeveded 64 Recently Patented Inventions......... 53-56 Aeronautical Notes. ........scccescecs 65 SE I «atin kag echinacea aieieaed 57 een oe 66-67 DU cctdéecicsccdsbansdtoees 58 OK Ey re 68-69 Civil Engineering Notes.............. 59

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address must be omitted. In our files we have further information concerning the inventions and devices and machinery and materials described in our columns, It is at your disposal at all times; if you are interested in any particular item that appears in any one of our issues, just drop us a line and we will send you the name and address of the manufacturer, ge you heard our rad‘o-phone broadcasting talks? We have been speaking once a week at the WJZ radio- phone station, located at Newark, N. J., with a range of several hundred miles. The same talks are being broadcasted by WWJ in Detroit, Mich., and several other stations, a list of which will be included in our next issue, after we have con- cluded our arrangements. Several weeks ago our broadcasted talk from WJZ was intercepted by a Lackawanna train leav- ing the Hoboken terminal, and, by means of a loud-speaker, was heard throughout the railroad coach. By chance we have an article in this issue on the interesting experiments of the Lackawanna Railroad with radio telephony aboard trains. Back in 1913, when the same road was experi- menting with radio telegraphy and tele- phony, the Screntiric AMERICAN carried several accounts of those pioneer efforts. It makes interesting reading to go back those 1913 experiments and note how crude the radio telephone was at that time, and then to turn to the account of today’s success and tomorrow's promise. bee map 43 per cent of the United States, the topographic engineers are estimated to have tramped an aggregate of approximately 9,000,000 miles; for the average amount of walking varies from 5 miles for every square mile surveyed in ordinary country, to 10 or more miles in rough country. So writes Guy Elliott Mitchell of the U. S. Geological Survey, in his article, “The Strenuous U. 8S. Geo- logical Survey,” which tells of the fun and the hardships of mapping this great country of ours, together with real scientific points which we have always wanted to know regarding the making of His is a story that cOmbines en- tertaining reading with sound facts, thrilling experiences with the routine work of the map table, the shooting of black bears in Alaska with the humdrum over maps. mapping of city streets. The article is accompanied by numerous interesting photographs. The first instalment—for the article is too long for publication in a single issue and certainly too interesting to be cut by a single line—will appear in an early issue. promises to be a with plenty of several radio UR August issue most interesting one, ranging from dealing with radio legislature and special equipment for use in the summer camp and in the home, to the fakes of the psychic; from garbage dis- posal of the latest kind to the proposed 1100-mile system of train ferriage on the Mississippi; from an account of the de- velopment of accurate ammunition, by Captain Edward ©. Crossman who has written so many illuminating and highly entertaining articles on rifles and am- munition in past issues of the ScrenTrric AMERICAN, to a description of the fire detection system for the ocean grey- hounds. And having made this statement and written this last piece of “copy” for the July we must turn our efforts to its successor. variety, articles issue,

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“What Have You Read?” When that big question is put to you, you will be glad you learned the secret of 15 minutes a day. Send for the book that gives it will be a dozen your big HERE competitors for opportunity when it What questions will be asked by the man who is to make the Comes. decision among them / This question, almost certainly: “What have you read?” Busi- ness leaders are asking it more and more. “In every department of prac- tical life,” said ex-President Hadley of Yale, “men in com- merce, men in transportation and in manufactdres, have told me that what they really wanted from our colleges was men who have this selective power of using books efficiently.” Not book-worms; not men who have read all kinds of miscella- neous Not men who have wasted their whole leisure time with the daily papers. But those who have read and mastered the few great books that make men think clearly and talk well. What are those few How shall a busy man The free answers be " ks. great books ? find them? offered below be M rik those Send for this FREE booklet that gives Dr. Eliot’s own plan of reading N ime.. Address SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN JULY, 19 questions: it describes the plan and purpose of DR. ELIOT’S FIVE-FOOT SHELF OF BOOKS The books that make men think straight and talk well well-informed man and woman Every should at least know something about this famous library The free book tells about it—how Dr Eliot has put into his Five-Foot Shelf “the essentials of a liberal education,” how he has so arranged it that even “fifteen minutes a day” are enough, how in pleasant moments ef spare time, by using the reading courses Dr Eliot has provided for you, you can get the knowl edge of literature and life, the culture, the broad viewpoint that every university strives to give “For me,” wrote one man who had sent in the coupon, “your littl free hook meant a big step forward, and it showed me besides the way to a vast new world of pleasure.” Every reader of Screntiric AMERICAN is invited to have a copy of this handsome and entertaining little book. It is free, v sent by mail, and involves no Merely clip the it will obligation of anv sort. coupon and mail it today P.F. COLLIER & SON CO. 416 West Thirteenth Street, New York By mail, free, send me the little guide book to the books in the world, describing Dr Eliot's Five-Foot Shelf of Books and con taining the plan of reading recom mended by Dr. Eliot of Harvard most famous 329-HCK L History Is Being Made Every Day HE world is passing through a momentous period of transition. The political, economic and social structure of every nation is being transformed. dogmas are yielding to new ideas. For the busy man who wishes to keep posted on the vital facts in this seething period of change, the service of CURRENT HISTORY MAGAZINE is indispensable. CURRENT HISTORY MAG- AZINE enjoys the facilities of the news-gathering agencies of The New York Times in all cap- itals of the world. It is an accu rate and fascinating summary of world affairs, derived from au- thentic sources. Each month, CURRENT HISTORY gives you the salient facts of history as-it-is-made: texts of important documents; significant happen ings; authentic utterances of statesmen and contributions by eminent publicists of America, Europe and Asia. Le Century-old It is a generous monthly mag- azine of 192 pages that every man and woman will want whe is alive to the new international position of our country. It is edited especially for people too busy to sift each day from a mags of newspaper dispatches _ the - really significant happenings in the world. THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT officially en dorsed Current History by taking thousands of annual subscriptions for military posts; the magazine is installed at libraries, The leading schools and colleges in all parts of America are using the magazine in class work. Its camp circulation is among thinking men and women who wish to keep informed. July issue contains a startling analysis by a leading German scholar of the archives of the German Foreign Office which discloses definitely by German documents that there was an agreement between Germany and Austria to precipitate the War regardless of Serbia’s course. Another article in July issue by an American Journalist presents for the first time an impressive statement of the horrible slaughter and massacres which have occurred it Asia Minor. This writer makes serious charges against the Armenians as Revolutionists. Forty Nations are treated in each issue. only; no editorial comments; strictly impartial. 25 cents a copy Cut this out and mail CURRENT HISTORY MAGAZINE Times Square, New York City I enclose $1.00 for 4 months’ subscription to Current History Magazine (or will remit on receipt of bill) [$1.35 if foreign]. $3.00 a vear cee a ee ee ee i om Facts Foreign $4.00 VUVALAVAALAALAL A >OSVLANALAAL

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nn SEVENT Y-EIGHTH YEAR MI iii iio i 0A ATT THE MONTHLY JOURNAL OF PRACTICAL INFORMATION NEW YORK, JULY, 1922 1.—The oak paneling and carving in the largest public room, the Lounge. It is considered a very fine example of woodwork. The panel- ing extends from the floor to the ceiling, which is 26 feet high. 2. The Reading and Writing Room, combining the quiet of a library with the elegance of a drawing room. The room is much favored by passengers seeking more seclusion than is found in the Lounge or Palm Court. 8.—The longest promenade deck in the world. Four times around it is a mile. The big ship has nine decks in all. This one is 50 feet above the water. 4.—Private sun veranda with broad plate-glass win- dows, window gardens, piazza furniture, and a general out-of-doors atmosphere. (See page 10 for full account of the ‘Majestic.”’) Unusual features of the world’s largest ship, the “Majestic” GLIMPSES ABOARD THE “MAJESTIC”—LATEST AND LARGEST OF SHIPS

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SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN The Psychic Detective JULY, 1929 Some of the Pitfalls in the Path of the Psychic Investigator, and How He Avoids Them Principal 4 pen editor is responsible for the title, but it is fitting the the psychic in consists ‘n detecting enough is a part ot work of vestigautor necessarily fraudulent By Walter Franklin Prince, Ph.D. Research Officer, American Society sizes and at different distances showed that no matter how wide the crack, if the chalked circle could be seen at all so could the whole foot and part of the leg be seen and recognized. Again, when P. L. A. O. Keeler’s spirit control tore up a sealed envelope presented as a test, examination of the pieces showed appearances which the investigator regarded as Experiments in sealing and tearing up envelopes that appearances never did and never could arise from this simple treat- ment alone. But when sealed envelopes were worked open at the flap, with more or less splitting and skin- ning of the paper, and when these were resealed with a blob of paste and then torn into pieces, these char- acteristic ap- suspicious. showed these and otherwise spurious manifestations. The illustra- tions of such work which I shall give will be from my own experience It might be more modest to retell the old stories of how Samuel Johnson exposed the Cock Lane Ghost, how the Seybert Commission caught Dr. Slade, et« but these hackneyed accounts would not interest the reader so much as instances comparatively fresh. I will, however, ask permission to tell them in the third person Certain principles underlie the detection of spurious psychic phenomena. One of these is accurate observa- tion. This is not so easy an art as most people think. To all that is visible and no more, no matter what others think they and what they say or feel, requires unusual im- munity suggestion and the power to keep insulated froin emotion A few months ago a see around no matter see from com- pany of about 15 gathered in the seance room of the “Rev. Dr.” Hugh Moore in New York City Nearly all saw “etherializations,” or thinly materialized spirits whom they recognized and whose voices were recalled. They readily accepted the explana- tion that, because it em- anated from his body as “ectoplasm,” the spirit had to have the medium near, dimly discernible in the semi- blackness. But there were two investigators there who afterward made independent reports, and saw no spirits whatever, nor heard pro- these any voices seeming to pearances crop- ped up regu- larly. The rea- son for the “capricious” spirit’s tearing of the envelope was then plain —it was guilty consciousness of a job poorly done, and the for Psychical Research if the result is similar. Thus a flash-light photograph was shown the investigator, picturing a medium Sitting between two other men, their backs to the wall ang on the wall itself a little higher than his head some writing in chalk, which was supposed to have been made by a spirit. The investigator noticed that the writing began about two inches to the medium’s ow right of his head but extended two feet or more to his left. Therefore the investigator sat down with his bag to the wall and a piece of chalk in his left hand, ang in that position wrote from the farthest right to the farthest left possible, behind and over his head, The result was a replica in this particular of the photograph, It was fair to infer that as the limitations of the Spirit were those of the medium, the spirit was the medium, Another maxim of detection when a particular pers is suspected is to consider what under the circumstanes a person of that psychological make-up would have been likely to do and to compare with the marks actually in the studied. In the case of Mary Ellen of the Antigonish fires, when the investigator suspected her he began to consider how a childish intellect eager tp make sensations and not to be found out would ae The girl, who was in and out of the house during stormy weather, would hardly stand on the bed that filled the end of the room; so any fires she set in the wall paper above it would not be higher than gh case types of tions remarked, phenomena from ceed from the objects mis- taken for spirits. They saw only phosphorescent thin cloth draped over the medium’s left arm and fist. This cloth Moore agitated by the move- ments of his own body to give the appearance of floating and hovering, or by placing his visible hand and sleeve (presumably with his arm in it) back of the cloth and waggling it And when a “child,” which resembled a large luminous dish-cloth, said “Come to Heaven mamma”—to them it was a very crude ventriloquial performance So too, when the investigator went to a trumpet formance of Mrs. Cecil Cook (noted from her advertis- ing), though he was not able to anything for the Egyptian darkness, it was perfectly evident that every wt was within the power of the medium, and per- see physical 3 that the spirits had the verbal mannerisms of Mrs Cook herself. A woman wrote that telekinetic phenomena had broken out In connection with her small daughter. One of the curious things was that the daughter, sitting on a stool, would be tipped back against the door and the mother could not pull the on to its four The investigator went up, and saw it all by not For instance, he saw the child holding stool back legs seeming to see fast to the door knob -while the mother, with her eyes fixed upon the stool, was vainly trying to force it to the floor. Another principle of the detection in certain cases is to test whether the effect actually achieved can be achieved under the circumstances claimed. In the New York Slave Conspiracy trials of 1741 the girl Mary Burton testified that she looked through the crack under Iked circle on the floor. About this what looked like rats; she could a door and saw a ch circle she said she saw not tell what they really were. The implication was that they were the heels and toes of negroes being sworn into a conspiracy It we d have been possible within one hour of the giving of this testimony to prove that the girl lied; but not until 160 years after her victims were executed did an investigator actually do ti Experiment with chalk circles of different of psychic investigation. **ghost.”” idle moment, of a Pigs-in-Clover puzzle. achievements. this article.—THE EpiTor. NE of the editors, in writing two months we have a phenomenon lending itself readily to deception, and nothing is gained by ignoring this. is gained, either, vious fact that in many cases the per- formance is carried on without the volition of the medium.” aration of the grain of true psychic trickery and misunderstanding is, in some ways, the most fascinating angle The present author, whose portrait adjoins these remarks, tells us some of the things which the psychic detective does, and some of the ways in which he does them. With apologies to Dr. Prince, we remind our readers that he is the man who spent a few jolly evenings on the trail of the Antigonish The apologies are in order, for Dr. Prince feels about the Antigonish incident much as an eminent mathematician might feel if, after a lifetime of valuable research unknown to the public at large, he should suddenly become rich and famous through the invention, in an This particular investigation was a matter oj outline, of negligible scientific consequence—for it was almost a certainty that it would turn out as it did. Like the eminent mathematician, Dr. Prince would rather be known by some of his real It is, of course, because of these, and not at all because of his recent newspaper publicity, that we have asked him to contribute could reach kneeling. But elsewhere she would set some as high as she could reach standing. And it was even so—the various little fires set above the bed never were higher than the girl five feet tall could reach kneeling, but immediately to the right of the bed, where she could stand upright, was a mark of fire nearly as high as she could reach standing, So other particulars in the scheme of what a Mary EL len would do rang the bell when compared with what was actually done. ago of certain psychic manifesta- in effect: “Here But nothing by ignoring the ob- The sep- the chaff of fraud, But the great method of detection which combine with and completes every other is inspection of all the details, their analysis and classification and _ finally their synthesis —putting them together much as ome puts together the pieces of a dissected picture. The Sher- lock Holmes method is im- possible—outside of novels. With Holmes, a_ peculiar cigar-ash was a certain indi- cation of the burglar’s taste in cigars, whereas in life it might have been the first time that he ever happened to smoke that brand. With Holmes the pipe charred @ the left side made it certain that the possessor was a left- handed man, but in life # conceal the evidence of fraud. Again at the same gentleman's seance, another sealed envelope was torn up, and this was supposed by the sitter to be a queer spirit caprice. But the investigator, who thought there was method in the spirit’s madness, had prepared the envelope so that the right end-flap could be opened, but in opening would leave a certain betraying effect inside. When the fragments were brought to him to be pieced together, he predicted that would show the right but not the left end-flap to have been opened. It proved even so; and experiment small chance indeed that a_ perfectly envelope, torn up in the same way, will show the same desire to they showed sealed effects Where the claim is made that a certain strange thing mysteriously happens, and you suspect that a particular person brought it about, it is often a plan to reenact you think the person did and then to see peg | wd what particular right-handed mat might have the idiosyncrasy of lighting his pipe with that side presented to the gas-flame. Men in fact ar not automata and in fact similar effects may come from a dozen causes. But by the collection, analysis, class fication and final combination of details, so that eae finds its appropriate place, psychic fraud or delusid® can usually be brought to light and demonstrated. Take “The Great Amherst Mystery” case, for & ample, of 1878-1879, another Nova Scotia poltergeist case which received much newspaper mention at the time and was the subject of a book which up te 1916 had reached its tenth edition. The book maintains that without a doubt ghosts sent objects hurtling ‘th the rooms, overturned furniture, stuck pins into Esthet Cox, the central figure of the phenomena, engray threatening messages on the wall plaster, kindled fires and all the rest of it. The author of the book spent some time in the house and was so thoroughly con juLy, 1 that he i yet fort) gnaly zing ip the lig porma! Pp: was able proof col jeast, tha had deve company! state of state; an her in th in his somethin; the outb which U dual per: jous sym were b sequence shown, 4 of them enacted t was shov beginnins the room yeniently was in a tressing and they tirely cl manuscri based his gerations made un! Demon discussin: case of large ext mention | the livin, who has than fifty among h added to made, 1] than four by this n already « number ¢ a demon known I marked t ever dece dently s] having d sands we thousand England This ni sitter, pr graphs p man whe is represt —dancin; the piano the Yoser of a bis variety ¢ head, wh inch fro1 the two owned by ies only | be the re palpably such as b a portion son, Pr {spirit v useful ar is done ii of the bo 8 as to show a « and a ec where th: Some f these ph Spirit w: the life p not have ina dan after his George |

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Y, 1929 Otograph M Sitting wall and ad Some ive been that the m’s ow re to his his back ind, and t to the id. The tograph. he spirit medium, r person stances ive been ually in of the ted her ager to uld act, during ed that in the an she . But ld set » could it was + little | never ie girl reach tely to where it, was $ high nding. in the ry El e bell what od of ibines every ll the and nally ting ; one of a Sher- ; im- yvels, uliar indi- taste fe it first ened Vith 1 om tain left- le 2 man vith are ron the 916 hat igh ner ved amt

1922 JULY, it he in turn has convinced thousands. yet forty years later, by the process of naly zing the details and classifying them a the light of what is now known of ab- normal psy‘ hology, the “psychic detective” gs able to demonstrate with a wealth of proof convincing to any psychologist at ast, that Esther Cox was a hysteric. She had developed dual personality, with ac- forgetfulness in her normal abnorinal thé compan y ing state of what she did in her sate; and the tricks were really done by her in the latter condition. Fortunately, in his naive fashion the chronicler told gmething of Esther’s history previous to Consequently the shock development of var- the outbreak. which usually dual personality was accounted for; ious symptoms which mark the condition together; the speedy precedes were brought sequence of the peculiar happenings was shown, and also the way in which many of them reflected and dramatized and re- enacted the details of the shock itself. It was shown that no one actually saw the teginning of the flight of objects through the room and that Esther was always con- yniently near. They occurred when she was in a place to remind her of the dis- tressing facts connected with the shock, and they ceased when her environment en- Besides, the original which the writer and exag- were tirely changed manuscript diary upon based his book was discovered, grations and even contradictions made unmistakably clear. Demonstrations of the character we are are especially important in the case of impositions upon the public of large extent and of long duration. I may mention the case of the most noted of all the living so-called spirit who has been practising his art for than fifty years and has counted thousands being discussing photographers, more dupes, which are still spite of the full examined produced among his added to in made, The than four thousand photographs exposure investigator more by this man. He was able, by the process already outlined of dealing with a large number of details, to produce so palpable a demonstration of fraud that a_ well known English psychical researcher re- marked that it was a wonder the pictures ever deceived anybody, they were so evi- dently spurious. One had the feeling of having done his work too well, for thou- deceived by them, exactly as being deceived by frauds in sands were thousands are England today. This man, for the benefit of a wealthy sitter, produced many hundreds of photo- graphs purporting to be those of a clergy- man whe died some years ago. This spirit is represented as doing all sorts of things —dancing, walking, gesticulating, playing the piano or violin, viewing the wonders of Valley, parading in the robes ete., ete. Almost infinite except in relation to the varies an eighth of an those of the Yosemite of a bishop, variety occurs head, which never inch from two angles, the two photographs of the clergyman owned by the sitter. The head itself var- les only in particulars which could easily be the result of manipulation, and which palpably show the effects of manipulation, such as bleaching, retouching, paring away a portion of the hair on the forehead, and on. Probably from a reluctance to show aspirit wearing spectacles, generally these iseful articles are erased. Sometimes this precisely is done imperfectly so as to show portions of the bows: or if completely, necessarily as to destroy a portion of the eye and show a curious white line on the temple md a corresponding notch in the hair Where the bow had been. Some feeble attempt was made to defend these photographs on the claim that the Spirit was influenced by his memory of the life photographs, but he certainly could hot have remembered himself as indulging ina dance which was not invented until after his death, nor as occupying a suit of George Washington recognizable from a SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

le 41 A Agri a 4 4 ay ter’ Pt te 4 tra tvu pLt tut f Ti Let

“spirit messages’’ delivered at different times eleven years apart, These two pictures adorned The only thing that was the same was the medium— to different people, by different and the curious picture of the tall man and short man fighting Evidence that the communicant was really the medium “spirits.””

T.L.S. V.H. L.0.B. M.W.W. P.w. CHAS.W. w. RE.w. A-L-S. GEO.C. P.w. T.L.S. CALEBW. V.W. M.W.W. V.H. CHAS.W. R.H. GEO.C F.E.W. V.H. A.M. Ci ica ea M.w.w. T-L.S. V.W. ~~ v8 WA pw. CHAS.W. T.L.S. R-H. GEO.C. awe geoe M.WW.CALEBW. v.w. JA. T.W.S. V.H. A.B.W. eS Ee accel oy V4: ee oe

At the different letters and words in the medium’s own hand. right are numerous communications, through this from “spirits.” The investigator finds correspondences too numerous to list, but among those in the “th” of “the” and in the word “of” are especially marked Spiking the claim that spirit writings show the penmanship of the commu- nicant, and proving that they show that of the medium In the narrow panels at the left are excisions from medium, which famous painting, nor as having his head attached now to a short thick body and again to a long thin one. Of course these peculiar effects were the result of attach- ing the head to bodies with which it never belonged, and in some cases the line of junction was left apparent. In many of the photographs there was double or triple lighting, resulting from one or two figures being introduced into a scene without re- gard to consistency in this respect. There were photographs of the “temple” in which the clergyman is supposed now to be preaching in Paradise, and which cor- responded exactly with one of the build- ings of the Panama-Pacific Exposition— even to the Grecian frieze of nude figures. Another building, supposed to be asso- ciated with him in his present abode, also corresponds to one of the Exposition Buildings and the reflected lights in the street outside show that it was a rainy night in heaven when it was taken. An- other photograph representing presumably unknown spirits caused a chord of recol- lection to vibrate in the mind of the in- vestigator, and he succeeded in finding the original as the frontispiece in an old copy of the Cosmopolitan Magazine. Among the singular anomalies of the series were the heavenly scenes showing plainly in the original photographs the dots of the en- graver’s “screen.” Another mystic photo- graph contained oddly grouped faces which proved to have been cut out and rearranged from Hoffmann’s celebrated pic ture of Christ in the Temple. These are only a few of the niultiplied proofs that the most celebrated of the American spirit photographers does fraudulent work. But his work goes on. In connection with the same series an example may be given of what appeared on the face of it to be a convincing testi- mony, but which was riddled by analysis. A certain person sat to this photographer and afterwards received by mail a photo- graph which she pronounced to be her own and the eract replica of one that had been taken of her some years previously, but which had been unfortunately destroyed. Of course this misfortune made it impos- sible to make a direct comparison, but it that the lady’s accuracy For in a second letter she stated that another remarkable fact was that the later photograph showed her wearing the garb of a religious order which she had thought of joining, but which garb she had in fact.never worn. When the photograph examined it was found that the garb constituted the whole picture with the exception of a very small part of the features taken in profile. Her picture was actually taken by the spirit photographer; and the outline of her forehead, nose and mouth probably have not changed much in a few years. As nothing else in the later picture, by her is to be found in the still ehanced could be tested. was own second statement, earlier one, the marvel as announced in her first letter seems quite to have dis- appeared; there could have been no diffi- culty in cutting out a small portion of her profile portrait and introducing it into the hood of the vestment. If we had at hand the robes of the order which the lady once thought of joining we might not, judging by her already demonstrated inaccuracy, find quite so much resemblance as she de- clared. If there was not actually on her part a forgotten remark in reference to her “religieuse, former thought of becoming a the rest is coincidence, and in thousands of cases some coincidences must occur. Another fraudulent loomed largely in the brother of a spirit photographer. personage who has public eye happens to be the He is one of the most noted of American specisiizes professional mediums, and in producing what are supposed to be spirit writings which between closed slates. A few years ago a lawyer State of New experl- occur residing in a city of the York, and who had for (Continued on page 71) years

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SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN JULY, 1929 > > EE, i SP i es RRA, A -« * i a Copyright. Scientific American lub. Co Broadcasting studio of the WJZ radio-phone station at Newark, N. J. This same general arrangement is now being followed in several of our radio-phone stations for the comfort and convenience of the radio-phone entertainers The Business of Broadcasting A Survey of the Present Radio-Phone Broadcasting Situation and a Speculation as to Its Future T was one of those sweltering spring evenings, not so long ago, when the that it summer and we, with our heavy clothes, insisted that it was still early spring. We fairly melted away in the so-called radio-phone broadcasting studio, which had all the earmarks of a cloakroom, despite a lonesome oil painting, a few stray rugs tacked on the walls, and several yards of draperies thrown here and there but hardly in sufficient volume to hide the nakedness of the weather insisted was place. Now the door, leading to open in order to breath of air. death-like silence in the studio, save for the editor of a well-known weekly who, at that moment, was address- ing the radio audience. He sat with his back to us and to the door, with the microphone stand in front of him table at his left. We were listening attentively to his Chinese civil war and the exploits of General Suey and General Yaki Main, or whatever their names happen to be. Suddenly, without warning of any kind, there was a piercing, awe-inspiring shriek, issuing from the general locality of the fire-escape door. A hurried indicated that civil war had The vanquished cat, a fire-escape, had been left get a There was a and with a small talk on the ( ‘hop survey of the situation broken out between two tom cats. panic-stricken, jumped into the studio, raced towards the farthermost corner where the announcer, who had been sitting down, rose to catch the intruder. The cat turned around, jumped on the table, nearly knocked the microphone over, spat at the editor then trying to speak, and finally ran out of the studio. The cat, although unannounced on the evening’s pro gram, did broadcast after all. For the next few days numerous Inquiries were received at the broadcasting studio, asking what the awful shriek might be and whether it was a thrilling and very realistic obligato to the discourse on Chinese battle tactics. All of which is by way of pointing out the respon- sibility that rests on those who do the broadcasting, and broadcasting studios. Every sound, statement uttered in the studio, is The audience runs into hundreds of i highly critical audience too, even real every the need for every word public property thousands; and It Is : if it receives the entertainment gratis The story is also told here in order that you may better appreciate the remarkable changes just re- cently made in that very same studio during the past month. From the long narrow cloakroom which served as a broadcasting studio for the first six months of the new art, the studio has been moved into a large, com- fortable, beautifully decorated room in another part of the building, especially arranged for radio-phone broad- easting. When the visitor, who was familiar with the former studio, walks unexpectantly into the new studio and is positively amazed at the strides made in handling the programs and in catering to the convenience and By Austin C. Lescarboura comfort of the performers, he realizes once more that Rome will not be built in a day or a week or a month, even if no time is being lost in its development. It is a spacious, beautifully arranged room, this new broadcasting studio, located on the ground floor of the Westinghouse plant in Newark, N. J. After passing the bulky gendarmes who guard the entrance to the studio, the visitor passes through a pair of swinging glass doors into a vestibule, on the walls of which are a pair of @ights of different colors. These lights indicate whether the studio is “standing- by” but stil “in the air,” sending out its silent carrier wave; actually broadcasting; or shut down. Passing through another pair of glass doors the visitor enters the studio. A colored attendant comes up to take the visitor’s hat and coat, while a lady attendant takes care of the lady visitors. Comfortable and over-stuffed chairs, a fireplace, handsome rugs, attractive hangings, delightful color scheme—all these things give the studio the atmosphere of a living room rather than that of a The only visible trace of radio equipment is a small cylinder, dangling from an adjustable stand, which contains the microphone. The modulators or devices which amplify the voice or music before it is impressed on the radio emitted by the trans- mitter on the roof of the building, are contained in a cabinet which has the outward appearance of the usual high-grade phonograph. If anything, the atmosphere, comfortable and _ re- assuring as it is for the performer, is positively uncanny if one stops to think what it all means. Here, in this living room or drawing room, we have the means of en- tertaining hundreds of thousands of invisible listeners scattered over many hundred square miles. We have ready access to thousands of homes, clubs, schools and churches. Yet we do not have to raise our voice to do so, providing we are within a reasonable distance of the little microphone transmitter. The broadcasting studio is practically sound-proof, so there is no interference from outside noises. Theshrieking cat episode is now a remote possibility. Despite the sound-proof nature of the studio, the ventilation is per- fect. A series of openings along the top of one wall insures a plentiful supply of fresh air, while the vitiated air is drawn off as rapidly as it is formed. So much for the magnificent appointments of the WJZ broadcasting studio. The technical end has quite kept up with the studio end. The great problem of broadcasting has been the obtaining of proper modu- lation, or the molding of the radio waves, so to speak, in accordance with the sounds to be transmitted. Cer- tain instruments like the piano, the cornet and the saxaphone have proved extremely troublesome, causing “blasts” or blurs in the transmitted music. The voice, especially the soprano and the tenor variety, has been readily handled, but considerable difficulty arose in rigid inspection of tw: settees radio station. waves a coupling the voice with a musical accompaniment, Little by little, however, the broadeasting personnel have learned how to place their microphone or miero- phones with relation to various kinds of singers and different varieties of musical instruments. There was a time not long since when four or five instruments were about the limit for a radio-phone orchestra, and the addition of instruments simply meant an im possible muddle. With the present microphones it is now possible to handle the usual full orchestra with pretty fair rendition at the receiving end. Most broadcasting studios have various means of checking up on their transmission. To begin with, there is generally a receiving set in some other part of the building, where the studio personnel can “listen-in” to what is being transmitted. In the instance of WJZ, there is a separate room right off the studio, which enables the announcer to check up on the transmission, while the operators in the radio station on the roof also keep tabs on the modulation. Then there are the outside critics, who telephone in regarding the reception of selections at a distance. Often the microphone must be shifted during a talk or song or musical selection, in order to improve the modulation. And what has been going on at WJZ—that well known broadcasting station at Newark—is going on in other radio-phone broadcasting establishments. With the experimental work pretty much completed and with the art brought down to something like a routine basis, the various broadcasting organizations are now Te arranging their studios so that they are no longer mere improvisations. Not so long ago they were labera tories in fact, if not in name, but now they are studios in every sense. All this broadcasting work costs money—real money and plenty of it. Little wonder, therefore, that the question often comes up in and out of radio circles: “Who is going to do all the broadcasting once the market is flooded with radio equipment?” It is generally known that the organizations now ei gaged in radio broadcasting are for the most part large radio manufacturers who are doing a phenomenal business. Indeed, so great has been the volume of radio sales that the broadcasting expenses have been @ mere incidental, even though the better and larger type of broadcasting station is said to cost anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000 per month to operate. Meanwhile, the performers who entertain us nightly by radio are volut- teering their services for the present, not only for whatever publicity—that intangible yet fascinating something—which they may obtain from a radio-phone concert, but also through purely altruistic motives. In a previous issue the writer pointed out the unfair- ness of the present radio-phone broadcasting situation. To several large electrical and radio companies has been left the burden of broadcasting, while dozens out, £0 « them. T! jem, so fi probably Thus a jsno imn during tl be less t certainly Cold wea against r broadcast keep up t But th tion, and progressi Coprrigie, Sere

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joy, 1922 ald radio companies and thousands of newly organized companies have been reaping the harvest. Were the proadeasting stations to close down tomorrow, nine- tenths of the equipment now in existence would be ked; for, let us not forget, there are relatively few who are interested in radio for its own sake. Hence the present situation is not altogether a sound me. A time must come and come soon when talent gill not render its services free of charge. The cost of staining singers, lecturers, musicians and others will he considerable, and will have to be added to the present maintenance costs. As for the saturation of the radio market, a careful survey of the situation does not indicate any danger of a serious slackening up in the present brisk trade. There are at this writing perhaps 800,000 radio receiv- ing sets in actual use, and it is estimated that there is a potential market for at least two million sets within the next few Again, as in the auto- mobiles, the radio sets, while they do not exactly wear out, go out of their outgrow them. The second-hand equipment is not as yet a prob- jem, So far as the radio manufacturer is concerned, and probably will not be for a long time to come. Thus as far as the radio market is concerned, years. ease of style, or at least users there SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN taken up broadcasting and are operating on regular program basis. The newspapers are sending out the news of the day, stock quotations, market reports, weather forecasts, special talks, and timely sporting news. Some newspaper broadcasting stations have even gone in for complete musical programs. The Detroit Vews station, WWJ, represents perhaps the highest type of newspaper broadcasting service, with excellent pro- grams, remarkable modulation, and great range. Then there are the Government broadcasting activ- ities. As time goes on the Government is going to find more and more uses for broadcasting, and all kinds of invaluable information will be given out to the citi- zens of the nation in this manner. Even now, health talks and other helpful information are being broadcasted for the benefit of all those possessing receiving sets. Still another source of broadcasting service — the universities. Certain institutions, such as the Univer- sity of Wisconsin and the Union College of Schenectady, N. Y., have been doing their share of broadcasting. In the near future we can count upon the more progres- sive universities for speciai talks of a popular yet in- structional nature, and even courses of lectures for home study. However, the foregoing sources of broadcasting do not 9 cleverly interlarded among musical numbers, news, in- teresting talks, and so on. The plan was to have the broadcasting station operating during the entire day, with certain times set aside for advertising matter. This plan, however, is not practical, and it is almost certain that the radio laws soon to be passed will make it necessary for anyone to use special wave lengths and limited power for publicity talks of any kind. Now, if the expenses cannot be collected at the trans- mitting end, how about the receiving end? Unfortun- ately—or fortunately, perhaps—radio is a public thing. There is no simple way to erect a fence about a radio performance and to charge admission to those wishing to hear the performance. Still, the expenses must be paid for from some source. Radio men are fully cognizant of the foregoing facts. They admit that while newspapers, universities and other institutions may find it well worth their while to broadcast news and other matter, the musical programs may yet have to be abandoned in time, because of their cost. Several ways have been suggested for charging a fair price or subscription to all those wishing to receive high-grade radio-phone programs. One method is to use some form of wave-changing device at the trans- mitting end, which constantly alters the wave length for the audience to use a simi-

jsno immediate falling off to any great extent, although insure for us the best music and the leading artists, and makes it necessary during the present summer the sales must necessarily such as we enjoy today. Sooner or later we shall have’ lar wave-changing device to keep the receiving set in be less than during the past winter and spring and to pay for the high-grade entertainment such as we tune with the transmitter. Such a scheme calls for ertainly less than during the coming fall and winter have been getting free of charge during all these synchronized mechanisms, but with the excellent spring (Cold weather is conducive to radio; warm weather is months, although there will be plenty of gratuitous motors now available as the result of the phonograph against radio. Those concerns which are now doing the broadcasting so that the receiving set need never be industry, this is a small obstacle. Now then, with this broadcasting as a part of their radio work are likely to silent. The problem simmers down to how the broad- plan in operation, it would be possible for the special keep up their activities indefinitely. casting studio, employing the finest talent, can pay its broadeasting stations, operating at great expense, to tut there is another side to the broadcasting situa- expenses. have a regular subscription service. Anyone paying the tion, and t! is the newspaper side. Many of the more For a time it was generally believed that the broad- subscription price would receive a wave-changing progressive newspapers throughout the nation have casting expenses could be derived from publicity talks (Continued on page 70) vA 7 \ a \ + a 4 } K 1 \ | \ A fie \ fe ) feat \ vA ' “ 4 | aX we f yf / \ \ a var | \ f toh 4 ¥ vA _ pe 3 rN \ : j A \ e , f ‘ : X . * \ \ ’ “1 ; \ \ ; \ + \ N. 5 ti \ \ ‘ \ “ y, ~ — _ RAL Ac i \ 10-PHONE- * -_ haar Se A ~ 4 = 4 \ of D af, ee Pk é 4) nA, : a ‘\ 7 . ha . ; GUY 5 : Ee ( 3 = All é 3 IN ¢ SE 4 AA RADI TING ROOM ae < . be Oe ae 38 ‘ iti . J 3 = : rs ‘ | . , ‘y ; The real radio end of the WJZ ee x qe radio-phone station, at Newark, = , N. J. The studio, shown on the ey MOTOR- P i | facing page, is on the ground GENERA’ - || floor of the building, while the id radio station, as shown in this drawing, is on the roof. The operator can communicate with the announcer in the studio by ’ means of an intercommunicating ae iF telephone system. he various j , features of the radio-phone in- stallation are indicated aie 3 ¥

Corrente, Scie. American Pub. Co

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SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN Left: The main dining room seats 652 persons. 26 feet from floor to ceiling. Majestic’ N OT in this generation, if ever, is it likely that a | , . A larger ship than the ‘ Majestic will be built for commercial service We base this statement on solid grounds, In the first place, the depth of channels and the accommodation of piers in the harbors of the world and, in the tell put an embargo upon larger ships than this second piace, the practical shipping man that a 35,000-ton vessel is large enough for all practical and that anything than that brings increased risk and anxiety, without any compensation In the way of increased dividends—the protits, indeed, lie rather with the smaller ship The “Majestic” is the latest expression of that competition in luxurious accommoda tion, which was at when the World War broke In 1913 the speed record was held by the “Lusitania” the “Mauretania,” had the Atlantic crossing at speeds, respectively, of 25.5 and 26.01 knots. The for length held in 1913 by the “Imperator.” The “Aquitania” followed in 1914. Both of slightly 900 feet in length. The record for tonnage up to 1914 was held by the “Imperator,” with 52,000 tons; but in that year the distinction of being the longest and largest ship passed to the “Vaterland” (now the “Leviathan”), which made her first trip in the summer of that } 100 feet beam, and her She is now owned will you purposes larger with it an keen and height size, speed its loose made and which record was these vessels are over year. This vessel is 950 feet long by displacement is given as 54,000 tons by our Government, and is at present being re-condi tioned at a cost of $6,000,000 for the United States Shipping Board The “Imperator” was built at the Stettin works, Hamburg, and while she was under construction the keels were laid, on two adjoining building ways of the Biohm and Voss Company, Hamburg, of two sister ships—the “Vaterland” and “Bismarck.” The “Vater- land” was in New York when war was declared, and the “Bismarck” was only partially But little work was done upon the “Bismarck” during the war; but Britain, and completed by her builders. completed. subsequently she was assigned to Great It should be noted just here that at the commence- ment of her construction the “Bismarck,” now the “Majestic,” was lengthened by the introduction of two she might be the largest additional frames, so that ship in the world, her length being now 956 feet, or within 44 feet of the thousand-foot mark. There is something in mere size that appeals to man’s imagination, and a glance at the accompanying diagram shows how, In length and bulk, the trans-Atlantic liner has been growing during the past 50 years. The ships White Star Line, and each of star ship of the company in its day. In shown those of the these was the are IS72 we have the “Oceanic,” 420 feet in length, and 10 years later the “Germank 155 feet in length. This ship was notable for her greatly superior accommoda tions, and indeed she may be said to have introduced the age of comfort and luxuriance in trans-Atlantic travel. In 1892 the “Teutonic” star ship, with a length of 566 feet, a speed of over 20 knots, and a tonnage of nearly 10,000. The first trans-Atlantic ship the 700-foot mark the “Oceanic”: and was the to reach was ia It measures 98 feet by 117 feet, and 31 feet from floor to ceiling. This noble room is entirely free from interior supporting columns the “Celtic,” coming out a little later, was also a 700- foot ship; but with a greater beam and depth, she reached a tonnage of nearly 21,000. Ten years later came the “Olympic” of 46,439 tons, and only a few feet short of the 900-foot mark. ars of faithful service, during joyed great popularity, must now give way to a which exceeds her by 73% feet in length, and by 10,000 tons in displacement. It is probable that the “Majestic” be the ship afloat for at come, unless some rival company should consider that, it would be worth So far as the This majestic vessel, after 10 ye which she has en- vessel continue to generation to will largest least a for advertising build the first purposes, 1000-foot ship. merely while to Corner of the Palm Court economics of the thing go, it is generally agreed among shipping men that these great vessels, apart from their advertising effect, are not so profitable, and certainly not so convenient in operation, as ships of smaller size. The White Line consider that a ship of 35,000 tons, such as the “Homeric,” marks the limit of size, which it is not desirable to The monster always a source of anxiety to the dock su- perintendent. The bulk water renders the pull of the tides upon the hull a very serious matter, and in high winds the huge water results in an accumulated wind pressure that may be as dif- star beyond go. vessels are great below area above ficult to control as the thrust of the river current. The hull of the “Majestic” was designed by Dr. Ernst Foerster, Chief Naval Architect of the builders, the Blohm and Voss Company. The lines of her hull were the result of tests of several models, two different tanks, with the result that determined as earried on in The Latest and Largest of Ships The High-Water Mark in the Development of the Trans-Atlantic Passenger Steamer Right: The lounge, 54 feet by 76 feet and the last model showed a saving of 18,000 horsepower over the first model. This economy was due largely to giving the after part of the ship what is known ag a “cruiser” form. By this change, also, there is con- siderable increase in stability. The design of the ship called for the development of between 15,000 and 16,00 horsepower on each of four lines of shafting, and it was estimated that with 63,000 horsepower the ship would show a speed of about 2314 knots. We are informed that on trial, thanks to her oil-fired boilers, she de veloped about 2414 knots. The turbines are of the Par- sons type, and consist of one high-pressure, one inter- and two low-pressure turbines for driving ahead, and four astern turbines. Since the ship was designed some 10 years ago, and before the various reduction gears had thoroughly established themselves, the drive is direct; but it is believed that the present arrangement of three-fold expansion, high, intermediate and low, gives this installation the maximum of econ- omy possible with the direct drive. These turbines are necessarily very large, the low-pressure astern weigh- ing 375 tons. The blades in this turbine run to a length of two feet, and in all the turbines there are no less than 9000 blades. Steam is provided by 48 Yarrow water-tube boilers; with a total heating service of 220,000 square feet, and the working pressure is about 260 pounds to the square inch. The ship, although originally designed as a coal burner, has been equipped with the White, low-pressure, oil-burning system. It should be mentioned that the total weight of the engine and boiler plants is 8500 tons. Reckoning all the weights devoted to motive power, including hatches, bunkers, auxiliary machinery, engine and boiler crew, ete., the total weight may be | put down at 22,000 tons. : When the “Majestic” is fully loaded with fuel and} supplies, with a maximum complement of passengers her displacement is about 638,000 tons. During the passage her consumption will be about 5700 tons of oil, and this added to the fresh water and provisions for the passage makes a total of 8000 tons. From day @ day this weight is reduced by consumption, and i> order to compensate as far as is necessary for sta- bility, 3300 tons of water are admitted into the com partments. The heating of the passenger staterooms, assembly rooms, ete., is by steam, but all first-class staterooms ™ are also electrically heated. Matters are so arranged — that each passenger can regulate the heat according to — his own wishes. The electric-power installation will compare favorably with that of a small town, sine it consists of five turbo-dynamos, each developing 288 kilowatts at 115 volts, when running at 200 revolutions per minute. In addition to the main electric station — there is an independent Diesel emergency installatioa of 80 horsepower, which is located about 20 feet above © the bulkhead deck. This serves 800 emergency lamp distributed throughout the ship; it is also connected 0 thé boat hoisting and lowering machinery, the navigat — ing and signaling elements, and the emergency wireles® Before passing on to a description of the passenger accommodations, mention should be made of the fact mediate, Sei jay, 192 we 96 clea! pe, as aga had the sp would ad 178 coal ind that wi fajestic” V round trip. ross. the A The passe! oa superb pablie room: hip’s length Although — passengers, 1 dations the wager decks meet aga’ jassenger Sp wach deck, ¢ ad of the view, throug wsembly rox feet. A continu through all t! ad public hoard would ofnine miles sven and a of decks, an sager wishe custitutiona around the deck, he ca mile by mi drenit four t main dining swat 652 per fet wide b img, and 31 aad in case « ® more per: accommodate “Ala Carte” The lounge, ( ling, and its i the walls ing columns. id its glass ment. Anotl Rit Dining

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1922 ower rgely n as con- ship 6,000 was ould “med » de- Par- nter- ving was ‘ious lves, sent jiate con- are igh- igth less ers, and are -oal ure, the 500 tive ry, be SBeS5852 822 - : on F jay, 1922 jat in the boiler rooms one fireroom attendant has aarge of three boilers, or 15 out of the total of 240 mers; with three watches in 24 hours, 48 attendants ge suficient to man the fires. Also in the firerooms se 3 cleaners, making a total fireroom staff of 48 ye, a8 against 377 men, who would have been neces- gy had the ship burned coal. When burning coal the aip would have required 12 chief stokers, 197 firemen gf 178 coal passers. In a comparison of weights we gd that with an oil bunker capacity of 8200 tons, the fajestic” will carry nearly enough oil for the Atlantic nd trip. If she were burning Welsh coal, she would ye Up 1000 tons a day, or 6000 tons for one passage voss the Atlantic. The passenger accommodations of the “Majestic” are na superb scale in regard both to size and sumptu- gness. If the reader wonders how such vast assembly gd dining rooms can be housed in a ship, he is asked i remember that the ship has nine decks; that she is wfeet wide, 100 feet deep, and nigh upon 1000 feet ip length. Of the decks, five are in the lower g main part of the hull. They extend for its full ngth, are divided by many bulkheads, and are formed into a series of compartments connected by watertight joors, Which may be operated from the bridge. Above ie fifth deck are four additional decks for cabins and occupy the middle third of the steel wblic rooms. These ship's length. Although seven of the nine decks are given up to ssengers, to avoid interference with these accommo- dations the smokestacks are divided below the pas- wager decks, and are brought up the sides of the ship, » meet again above the upper rooms. Thus, a clear usenger space is attained throughout the center of ach deck, and it is possible, when standing at one ai of the main saloon, to obtain an unobstructed SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN 11 of our illustrations. No great modern ship is complete with- out its swimming pool, and one of the most striking fea- tures of the “Majestic” is the Pompeian bath. This has been carried out in very close conformity to the architecture and mural decorations of the buried Roman watering place. It is decorated with marbles and richly colored mosaics. Around it are grouped Turkish and electric-ray baths. The total capacity of the “Majestic,” for passengers, is 4100. To accommodate them there are 1245 staterooms, of which 472 are first-class. There are various suites of many rooms, the two largest having eight rooms each, the central apartment in each of these being a private sun ver- andah, with which the other rooms connect. Unusual attention has been given to the second and third cabin accommodations, the second cabin lounge, reading room, and smoking room, being of a size and furnisk- ing equal to that of first-class liners of the previous decade. The second cabin dining room, for instance, seats no less than 500, and there are the usual lounge, reading rooms, and smoking rooms. Particularly interesting is the fact third- that the This is the Pompeian bath and swimming pool. Finished in marble and rich mosaics should be made at once, because the oil spreads rapidly over the cut surface. In order to prevent infection, the hole in the treated piece should be tightly closed with a creosoted plug. As zine chloride is colorless, the depth of penetration of this preservative must be ascertained by chemical means. After cutting dew, through the great sembly rooms, of 250 feet. A continuous walk through all the corridors and public rooms on ard would mean a trip ofnine miles. There are sven and a half of decks, and if a sager wishes to take a mstitutional tramp acres pas- somd the promenade deck, he can cover a mile by making that druit four times. The min dining room will sit 652 persons, is 98 fet wide by 117 feet img, and 31 feet high, ad in case of overflow, the stick in two or get- ting a sample with the increment borer, the freshly-cut surface is dipped for not to exceed 10 seconds, in a 1 per cent solution of potas- sium ferrocyanide, and the excess solution is removed by blotting pa- per. The sample is then dipped into a 1 per cent solution of uranium ace- tate, and dried. The treated portions will be whiter than the natural wood, and those un- treated will have a dark red or a maroon color. This method does not give very sharp con- Mmore persons can be “commodated in the “Ala Carte” restaurant. Te lounge, or main saloon, is 54 feet wide by 76 feet lig, and its ceiling, 26 feet above the floor, is carried @the walls of the room, without any interior support- igcolumns. With its oak-paneled, hand-carved walls, Wits glass roof, this forms a truly magnificent apart- tat Another notable the Palm Court and shown in one room is Ritz Dining Hall, the effect of which is “Majestic,” the largest liner, is of 56,000 tons gross; 63,000 tons displacement, and over 24 knots speed class accommodation also has its lounge, its smoking room, its dining saloon, all tastefully finished, and that the sleeping accommodations include many well-lighted, two, three, and four-berth staterooms. Such is the latest of the great Twentieth-Century pas- senger liners. Whether she will mark the limit of size among steam-driven ships, the future alone can tell. Determining the Pene- OLymPiCc i9i2 CELTIC 1902 GERMANIC TE 1662 UTONIC 8 1892 1922 MAJESTIC tration of Wood Pre- servatives HE effectiveness of any wood preservation treat- ment is measured very largely by the depth to which the pre- servative penetrates. This can be determined by the follow- ing tests, which are used by the Forest Products Labora- tory: The presence of creosote oil is indicated by the dark dis- coloration, and the degree of penetration may readily be de- termined by taking a sample at a point free from checks and other imperfections and at a considerable distance from the end. This may be done either with an ordinary half-inch bit, or with an in- ecrement borer, which brings out a core of wood that shows 46,4395 "5600. in cross section the depth of the past half century This diagram shows the growth of the White Star liners during penetration and is easily ex- amined. The observation trasts on wood which is reddish in color, like red oak, but otherwise is very satisfactory and affords a permanent record. Another method (developed by Galen Wood) consists in spraying over the freshly-cut surface a mixture of equal parts of a 1 per cent potassium ferrocyanide solu- tion, a 1 per cent potassium iodide solution, and a 5 per cent solution of soluble starch. This colors the treated portion a very dark blue, but does not affect the untreated wood. Although the color fades in time, it may be brought back by spraying again. Sodium fluoride is colorless, and no satisfactory method of showing its presence in wood has been devised. Mercuric chloride is also colorless, but dipping the wood in a solution of hydrogen sulphide turns the treated area black. As individual pieces may show an abnormally high or low degree of penetration, a sufficient number of tests should be made to obtain a fair average. Samples should be taken at a considerable distance from the ends of the stick, in order that they will not be affected by the heavy longitudinal penetration from the ends. Platinum Discovered in Brazil HAT platinum has been discovered in the State of Parahyba do Norte, Brazil, is reported to the De- partment of Commerce by Consui Cameron at Pernam- buco. The deposit is on a mountain ridge three miles from the main automobile road leading from Campina Grande to Patos. Regular truck lines now operate over this route, and it is understood that a branch road from the main line to the deposit could be easily con- structed. For the present the owner proposes to establish an extracting plant at the deposit and bring the ore out by truck. His funds are limited, however, and he may require outside capital.

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12 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN Pullman and Caboose Radio The Pioneer Work of the Lackawanna Railroad In a Applying Radio to the Needs of Land Travel By S. G. Roberts - = that runs may read” is no longer a phrase to arouse astonishment Inasmuch as he that sits and rides may hear words and music from afar when speed ing along the tracks at a rate of half a hundred miles and more an hour. Such is one of the things made pos- sible by the evolution of the radio tele- train phone, and this achievement is the pres- ent climax of experiments begun by the Delaware and Lackawanna Railroad back in 1909. Sunday evening, April 30th just gone, two trains pulled out from the opposite terminals of the line, i.e., Buffalo, New ments were made in the transmitter ; step York, and Hoboken, New Jerse ind the were taken to protect the receiving ge buffet car of each of these trains was from the jarring action of the train; ay equipped with wireless apparatus for the an amplifier tube, which had a loose ge enn dng era ~ gale Penge : IGHT years—a short Span in point of lime but an age in radio served $0 put the aap eat high-powered stations situated within development have elapsed since this train, the Buffalo Limited, working condition. The transmitting transmitting distance f the route tr : left Hoboken, justly, proud of the fact that it was the first to be radiated .7 ampere into the antenna One ersed A result of the experienc: equippe d for the reception and transmission of radio t legraph and radio or two long signals on CW were given fol. gained then, it is the intention of this telephone messages. That was in 19/4, before the World War, and lowed by voice calls. enterprising railroud to install upon its before the meteoric development of radio from an uncertain thing to a When about 10 miles away from Serante, fast day trains de luxe, for the benefit practical means of communication on a small as well as large scale. Station SARI, using 197-meter wave, wy of passengers, radio apparatus capable Little of an every-day, practical nature was accomplished at that time, plainly heard calling by voice: “Hell, tga S Seong OS of Brose a for the technical side of radio was hardly toddling along with those who D.L.; hello, D.1.; hello, DL; i rhe latter feature w enable travelers to would pul il lo hard, every-day work. Y et, crude as il pas, il did prove anaes range Limited. T am recel ving talk from moving trains to subscribers of peer } " . ; ; j ‘| Jone 1 j your voice very clearly. Please come contiguous wire-telephone syste: the need for this meen of commun ation in modern ratlroac ing, and il and give me your location.” The trai This radical departure in public con remained for the radio men to develop radio unde the stress oj war loa was then descending the mountains ata venience and pleasure may very proper! point where the railroader would again take it up. This time radio is speed of 63 miles an hour, traveling be considered the immediate consequence here to stay. It is praciical. It is necessary. Mr. Roberts, in the through ravines, cuts, and tunnels. Ther of certain recent tests initiated by three accompanying article, tells us of the recent Lackawanna experiments, were hills on all sides, and condition youthful radio experts, Messrs. David W and, after a lapse of eight years, continues the story of the unrelenting were hardly such as would favor radi Richardson, G. Donald Murray and Ed efforts of this great Eastern road to apply radio to land travel. The work. However, communication was tha gar G. Sisson, Jr., of Princeton University, day of Pullman and caboose radio is coming.—THE EpiTor. established with SARI, and conversatia in which the Lackawanna Railroad and its was continued until the Limited arrive technicists collaborated generously It in Scranton. The signal strength of SARL may be recalled, however, that the Lacka while the train was in Scranton, wa wanna Ruilroad, early in 1913, erected such that people who gathered in th towers and established wireless telegraph stations at utilized in combination with a detector 2-step amplifier special car could hear everything that was said. During Scranton, P ind at Binghamton, N, ¥ and through and a regenerative set. ‘This car left Hoboken at this test only a one-car antenna was used. these agencies it was found practicable to maintain 10:20 A. M. on the date mentioned; and the perform- On leaving Scranton, bound back for New York, Mt. communication between those points by radio quite as ances of the radio apparatus are thus described author- Richardson reports: “A message was sent to th satisfactorily as by the long-instituted Morse circuits. itatively: Underneath the iron superstructure of the Scranton Times from Mr. L. B. Foley, Superintendent Later, the road created kindred N. J.; and the three stations, in combination with train up, and one or two radio phones were audible on the wanna Railroad, by way of Station SBUW. Wha apparatus, subsequently proved invaluable in dispatch- loud speaker in the buffet car. As soon as the terminal SBUW was repeating the message for verification i ing trains and in keeping up communication when was cleared there was a pronounced increase in signals, Limited was passing through a tunnel, and it was storms wrecked the pole lines in New York, New Jersey, and as the Bergen Tunnel in Jersey City was neared teresting to note that the effect of this was scarcely and Pennsylvania. The World War compelled a cessation many local amateur wireless telegraphers were “copied.” noticeable, although the tunnel was several hundred of the radio service of the Lackawanna Railroad, but Inside the Bergen Tunnel, which, by the way, is 4283 feet long. Steady two-way telephone conversation wi not before much had been learned by the engineers feet long and 90 feet under ground, one or two CW maintained until the train was about 12 miles distant concerned, (continuous-wave) stations and several ships were After an interval of more than seven years, to be heard distinctly. Upon emerging from the tunnel, the exact on March 22, 1922, experiments were resumed by strength of signals was augmented abruptly. the road with better and fuller equipment and utilizing recent developments in radio receiving apparatus, On the first run, a single cur was fitted with a temporary one-wire antenna, pretty much like the ar- rangement employed originally for the reception and transmission of wireless telegraph messages. The trip was only as far as Morristown, N. J., and the plant was made up of a regenerative re- ceiving set and a two-step amplifier. This outfit was sufticient to pick up the signals of amateur wireless telegraphers along the way: and the big broadcasting telephone station at Newark, N. J., WJZ, could be heard distinctly at a distance of about 25 miles, On the 24th of March, an antenna was placed on two 70-foot cars in the Hoboken yard. Then a 15-watt radio phone trunsmitter was tested, and with it it was feasible to broadcast from there for quite nine miles. Receiving proved to be astonishingly good, and many out- lying stations were audible. Still better result were obtained on March 26th, when a buffet car was fitted with a three-cage 6-wire antenna, using 4\%-inch copper wire rings for forming and spacing. These antenna units were located about 15 inches above the roof, as The radio station aboard the Cornell Special, showing some of the equipment follows: one on each side, and one in the employed in broadcasting and receiving radio telegraph and center. Again, the 15-watt phone set was radio telephone messages While going through Newark in the Orangy, various tests on the transmitting set were Carrie out, but no effort was made to receive, Upa reaching Stroudsburg, Pa., a telegram awaited th phone facilities at Hoboken, Hoboken terminal, a few local amateurs were picked of Telegraph, Telephone and Wireless of the Lack from Seranton, when, on swinging around a mountall SBUW was lost and was not picked up again until th Limited had climbed to a large lake. While skirting JULY, 19% containing the information that the rag messages dispatched from the train had beg picked up several times by people along th. route who were listening in. From Stroud burg, climbing up the Pocono Mountain the receiving set was tried out, and loca) amateurs, distant ships, and 600-mete Stations were heard. A little later, adjust. this lake, there was a pronounced inerea® in signals, and Stations SADQ, SBUW, and SACE were heard.” From the lake onward, the log of tH trip reads as follows: Time Station Remarks P. M. 5:15 2BRB Just readable 5:20 IRX QRK (I am receivitt well) f 5:25 2BK QSA (Your signal are strong). Had bet hearing him _ befor but did not get call 5:35 1RX (again) QSA We were now going about 60 miles a hour and were in the Poconos, some or 40 miles from Scranton 5:37 WJZ Faint 5 :35 1YZ (?) Very faint 5:45 1ARY Loudest station so # 5:46 3MT (7?) Very faint 5:47 2BM QRK 5:48 2BY (?) Not sure 6:00 1RX Very QSA Now passing over plain and signals much stronger 6:15 1CNI QRK 6:20 1BQL QREK 6:40 1GM Very QSA 6:50 2ACY QSA (Near Bisit town, N. J.) 7:06 2AHU QSA 7:10 1ADL (CW) Very QSA joy, 19 Telegrall groudsbur gon from g miles Ot cw positic jee recei\ was passil away. Jn summ gaking Tul the way 0 gost SUZEE pearing Up) dgals. - weed to t to do wit! rock, steel put little ¢ ie noted w seep cut, & ne was ‘ the train ti where the tance signa nearness 01 small, seen strength. ' lation to | reeeiving Vv ging arour me station would be | dbtained WV geross a ba than when Profiting quipped a fom Hobo hack the r Raster ho students. ° om the first disposal of vided with mm from It mitted 128 dations at The prin m the “Ra ar; and i vwhiele wel nitting uni of car-light emergency : operated on developed dements w shunted wi! The transm in the passe of the ordi special pus! a well as t of the apps telephone d trol condens were also ; modulating meter, The anter that previo: iMtenna wa teighboring this double Maximum } Por recei vir Sufficient, a of signals v ®e or bot! did not exc the antenn: Wave length Before tl While it wa With the le Satisfactory und was ; Was not up mechanical plates of th Seakers wi Met an imp Dlifier been This instru Amplification Tduee aud

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LY, 19% l Travel " Orangy, Te Carrie) ve. Up Waited the the radip L had beg > along th n Stroud. Lountaing and logy 600-mete Pr, adjust. Cer} Stepy “iving rain ; anj loose ¢e Pp Changs excelley itting se nna. On riven, fo} Scranta, “ave, Was “Hello, hello, receiving come ih he train ins ata traveling . Ther yn ditions or radio ras then ersation arrived of SARI, On, Was in th During ork, Mz. to th ten dent Lacks Wha ‘ion the was it scarcely 1undred jon was distant yuntail, ntil the skirting nereas® SBUY, of th cei VINE signals ad beet befor’ ot call e 30 so fat nals jury, 1922 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN 13 using the while only one stage of the mag- Telegraiis awaiting the srroudsburs stated that voice transmis- ut from tiie train had been heard for giles out from Scranton, and that the ow position report of the Limited had ion received Special at Scranton while the train ms passing Elmhurst Dam, 10 miles qway. or jn saummins 1] the results of this epoch- gaking run, ne of the experts says: “In the way of an experiment, perhaps the gest suggestive data gathered was that ering upon the eifect of location on the dgnals. Nearly all previous theories onfirmed, except that having gemed to be « i do with the mek, steel bridges, and bodies of earth. fut little difference In performance could immediate proximity of enoted when the railro id ran through a seep cut, 30 or 40 feet deep, or when the ne was on evel However when the train trave wooded area, rsed a thickly navox power amplification. When the Special stopped at stations, the music was of sufficient volume to be audible to people standing around within a consider- able radius. On the trip eastward from Ithaca, the distance of 272 miles was covered in seven hours, and high speeds had: to be main- tained when to offset the climbs over three mountain ranges, vary- ing in elevations from 900 to 2,000 feet. One can easily realize what must have been the thunderous rumblings of the train when hastening along at full tilt. However, by carefully adjusting the fila- ment rheostats so as to utilize both stages of power amplification, neither the roar of the train nor the conversation and chatter of scores of students in the packed car in any way drowned the music, vocal or in- strumental, arriving from distant broad- easting Indeed, the received entertainment was heard plainly in the practicable stations. ghere the trees were high, all long dis tance signals faded out completel) The yearness Of a body of water, even though 1 to greatly augment signal small, seemed ¢rength. The lation to the station from which we were or often, when position of the antenna in f f meiving Was un important factor wing around curve on a level stretch, the signals of ging gestation would be silenced and those of another group sould be brought in. The best signal strength wis stained when traveling upon a_ high embankment T ults then were even better across a bare I lain. rhe resu than when in the proximity of a lake.” Profiting by the foregoing experience, the Lackawanna quipped a “Radio Limited,” which was dispatched fom Hoboken on the evening of April 4th, to bring jack the next day from Ithaca, New York, for the faster holidays several hundred Cornell College gudents. To a point, history then repeated itself, for wm the first of April, 1914, this railroad placed at the disposal of the 550 Cornell students a special train pro- vided with wireless telegraph apparatus; and on that to Hoboken the wireless operator trans- nm from Ithaca rams from the train to the fixed mitted 128 radiog dations at Binghamton, Scranton, and Hoboken The principal elements of the telephone installation mthe “Radio Limited” were put aboard a steel buffet at; and in the small baggage compartment of this whicle were located the motor-generator and trans- nitting unit. As a precautionary measure, a spare set df ear-lighting batteries was carried on the floor for mergency service. The motor of the transmitting unit erated on 12 volts, direct current, and the generator developed from 300 to 350 volts. The modulating dements were composed of three 5-watt power tubes, sunted with an ordinary high-resistance transmitter. Te transmitter, mounted on a desk stand, was placed inthe passenger compartment of the buffet car. Instead ofthe ordinary switch hook there was substituted a getial push button, which controlled the motor circuit #®well as the antenna switch. The resulting operation athe apparatus was much like that of the ordinary tephone during conversation. The wave-length con- tl condensers were secured to a small panel, to which were also attached the usual voltmeter, Broadcasting radio telephone conversation from an experimental equipment recently tested on a train of the Lackawanna Railroad. The operators are Edgar G. Sisson, Jr., and G. Donald Murray improve the quality of arriving signals and the recep- tion of broadcasted entertainment. The train pulled out from Hoboken at 7:20 P. M., One of the cars of the Cornell Special with the three-cage antenna carried above the roof and while en route to Scranton, 140 miles away, all of the principal broadcasting stations east of Detroit were heard distinctly from end to end of the buffet car, adjoining dining car. On three occasions, telephone conversations were carried on with enthusiasts from 6 to 14 miles away from the speeding train. The students were not content merely to listen to the music emanating from outlying sources—they insisted upon returning the compliment. Mr. J. J. Graf, tele graph, telephone, and wireless engineer of the Lacka- wanna Railroad, tells this amusing story: “There were on bourd several members of the Cornell Jazz Orchestra, and they wanted to know if we could broadcast some of their popular selections. We thought we could. The horn of the magnavox was promptly converted into a collector, and a moment later the performance was on. The music was good and was heard distinctly by a number of persons who were listening in at Scranton, 40 miles away, while on reaching Stroudsburg we were told that this novel concert had afforded entertainment there during the whole time the train was descending the slope of the Pocono Mountains.” In conclusion, it may be of interest to mention that the Lackawanna Railroad intends, in the near future, to equip its freight trains with radio telephone service operable between locomotives and cabooses, and for this purpose the company will use a form of wired wireless employing “carrier currents.” One of the great elec- trical companies has developed apparatus for this work; and communication by “carrier current” has emerged from the laboratory stage. Indeed, one West- ern railroad has shown what can be done by this radio system on trains traveling 60 miles an hour. The exist- ing telegraph or telephone circuits along the roadway are made to direct and to radiate the wireless waves. Intercommunication telephonically by this means be- tween the head and the rear of a train, especially a freight train, may obviate difficulties, speed up service, and be of considerable value in divers ways.* Department of Commerce Radio Periodical HE Department of Commerce, through the Bureau of Navigation, has for a number of years issued a monthly periodical called the “Radio Service Bulletin.” This gives information regarding changes Medulating indicator, and antenna am- Meter. The antenna on the buffet car was like that previously described, and a similar Mena was stretched over the roof of a Mighboring dining car. The purpose of this double arrangement was to insure Mximum radiation while transmitting. Por receiving, however, one antenna was Sificient, and no difference in audibility Signals was noticed when receiving on Me or both of the antennz. Radiation did not exceed .7 of an ampere. When the antenn:e Wave length was 275 meters. Before the special left Hoboken, and While it was standing in the yard, tests With the loud speakers were far from Sitisfactory. Although the volume of ind Was ample the quality or definition "Snot up to the mark, owing mainly to Mehanical vibrations which affected the plates of the tubes. The use of the loud Speakers would have been abandoned had dot an improved type of magnavox am- Dlifier been procured at the last moment. were coupled, the natural in the radio laws and regulations, addi- tions, or changes in the list of licensed radio stations, and other traffic informa- tion, and also contains. brief news items regarding new developments in radio com- munication, particularly in government radio work. Information is given regard- ing stations which broadcast weather and market reports, music, and other kinds of news and entertainment. The Bureau of Standards contributes to the Radio Service Bulletin regularly items concerning its radio work and new publi- eations in this field are promptly noted. A subscription to the Radio Service Bulle- tin, therefore, forms a convenient means of keeping in touch with the radio work of the Bureau of Standards as well as other government departments. In this connec- tion, it may be borne in mind that because of the great number of demands upon it, the Bureau of Standards cannot under- take to send individual notices. Subscriptions to the above-mentioned tuiletin should be sent to the Superin- tendent of Documents, Government Print- ing Office, Washington, D. C. The price This instrument has two stages of power ‘mplification, which makes it feasible to Tduee audio implification and thus to casting music from the speeding special A return of the courtesies. Members of the Cornell Jazz Orchestra broad- 2hc for subscriptions in the per year is 2h« United States, Canada, Cuba, and Mexico,

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14 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN JULY, 1% Our Point of V The Great Reservoirs of the United States N no field of engineer worked on a breadth of vision than in the planning and erection The great size activity has the American grander scale or with a greater of hydraulic works of the first magnitude of these works wus not in the least determined by any vulgar striving after magnitude for its own sake. Con- siderations of and the pressing public need were the impelling motives which led, for instance, to the erection in the Catskill Mountains of the Ashokan for the 132 pure water, and the construction of to lead this water into New York. utility urge of Loam, storage of billion gallons of 125 miles of aqueduct It was the demand for greatly enlarged supply that determined the size of the 63-billion-gallon Wachusett Reservoir for the supply of Boston; and, as is shown elsewhere in this issue, the engineers of the city of San Francisco, fore- seeing its future growth, are storing 113 billion gallons of water in the Yosemite region and building the aque- the rate ducts and pipe lines to convey this water, at of 400,000,000 gallons per day, to that city and the surrounding district. As a rule the municipal authorities of our largest cities have shown commendable foresight in the matter of water-supply planning, and have maintained the supply well ahead (as it always should be) of the im- mediate demand. In this respect water supply has fared far better than rapid transit; and the reason is not far to seek. Strap-hanging is more irritating than harmful. It is conceivable indeed that a subway patron of a philosophical frame of mind and extreme placidity of soul might persuade himself that the gentle art of strap-hanging, as a form of gymnastics, was con- ducive to physical well-being. In more senses than one the citizen facilities is told to go hang; but when it comes to the who complains of inadequate transit question of pure water supply our city politicians know matter of life and that the citizens are face to face with a death. When they ask for water, they get it, abundance. and get it in Second in urgency to city water supply, but exceed the magnitude of its hydraulic works, is the for the reclamation of arid lands, whose suc testimonial to ing it in movement stands and will forever stand, as a COSS the forethought and energy of Theodore Roosevelt. Great as are the reservoirs built for city water supply, when compared with the the head of they are modest in capacity projects of the Reclamation Service At the list is Elephant Butte, New Mexico, with a storage eapacity of 863 billion gallons Roosevelt can store 425 billions: Pathfinder, 327 billions, and Jackson Lake, 9°74 billions. There are, altogether, a dozen reservoirs with a capacity exceeding 100 billions. Vast as these dams are they will be dwarfed when some of the pro- posed works for the regulation of the Colorado River have been constructed. Do Tall Buildings Sway? HERE buildings That there is some movement is unquestionable, is a popular impression that tall office sway considerably in a gale of wind. would be more correct to say All natural growths, but it is very slight. It that they bend rather than sway. from the blade of grass to the giant fir tree, bend under the pressure of the wind, for they are flexible or elastic, and under any side pressure due to the wind, they give way proportionately The tall office building is flexible, being built of steel that has high elasticity, and heavy the total pressure may of tons, the framework If the wind velocity never also in a wind, where side amount up to hundreds will bend over before it. varied, if there were no gusts and the pressure for a given period of time never changed, the building would to a certain extent, and remain station- steel bend to leeward ary in that position so mained constant. Wind comes in gusts, and the building will as the wind is not be bent long pressure re- constant but over in pressure proportion to the strength of these gusts, moving to and 1eWw Occasionally this sway- rule, in the fro, in accordance therewith. ing is perceptible to the senses; but as a most modern buildings, the movement is so very slight as to be imperceptible, except by instrumental measure- ment. Formerly, it was customary to allow for a uniform foot over the whole sur- face from street level to cornice—30 pounds per square Today it is recognized that pressure per square foot being the usual unit. the unit pressure increases with the height and calcu- lations are made accordingly. The Mississippi River Problem NCE more the turbulent Mississippi has broken through the artificial barriers which have been so laboriously raised in the endeavor to keep the river within its banks in times of flood. Although the floods are deplorable we must not fall into the error, people are sure to do, of pronouncing the present flood control to be a failure, and calling for an entirely different treatment The problem is one of vast dimensions, covering a great extent of territory, and the wise man is he who looks as many scheme of method of at it in a big, broad way, and avoids the error of con- demning the whole scheme because of certain local disasters. How big a problem this is may be judged from the fact that the drainage basin, that is to say, the lands, however remote, which contribute their quota to the waters find their way into the Gulf of 1,240,050 New York contributes its quota of flood waters; down Butte, and from Canada, where the catchment basin which must ultimately Mexico, covers an area of square miles, they come from as far west as beyond Montana ; lies some 70 miles north of the boundary. The Mississippi River Commission, which was formed in 1879, was called upon by the United States to for- mulate plans to deepen the river channel and protect its banks; to improve its navigation; and to put an end to destructive floods; and since that date the Commis- sion has been steadily at work upon the problem, and has achieved results which are too little understood, and forgotten when, as in the high spring floods cause the The plan the river in any case are too readily present year, excessively river in some places to get beyond control. adopted is that of building keep within its banks, and to make free use of dredges in the levees to removal of sand bars and other obstructions. It must not be supposed that the levee construction from the formation of the Mississippi River Commission, Mr. J. A. Ockerson, Consulting Engineer of the Commission, that construction of levees was begun at New Orleans as far back as 1717, and that by 1860 all the great delta had flood in de- tached lengths of that date they averaged about 4 feet in the height is about 18 feet. A decided in 1850, when the Federal Government granted to the States along the Mississippi, all the unsold swamp and overflooded lands below the Ohio—this for the purpose of providing a fund for inundated land. Nevertheless, whenever the river has broken loose con- troversy has arisen as to the best method of control, and, in general, it that three different solutions of the problem have been proposed. Some be- dates only On the contrary, we are informed by basins some measure of protection levee. At height; today average impetus was given to levee construction reclaiming may be said lieve that large reservoirs should be formed, tempor- arily to hold back the flood waters; others believe that artificial outlets should be made to by-pass the waters, and prevent them attaining a dangerous flood stage; and, lastly, there are those who believe that two cen- turies of experience with levees, and particularly the work of the Mississippi River Commission, have shown that complete protection will be attained when the levee system has been completed. We given considerable thought to this great question during the years that are past, and it has formed a subject of frequent discussion in our columns. have ————___ The Screntiric AMERICAN is fully convinced that th only hope of controlling the Mississippi lies in following out the plans of the Commission with as much Speed 4 the Federal Resources will permit. Opponents of levee construction have claimed thar as the height of the levees is raised the bed of the rive automatically raises with them, leaving the problem j as bad shape as before; but careful surveys DY the engineers have proved that there has been no Progns. sive elevation of the bed of the river due to the levers, Indeed, we are told that a comparison of present Chis sections, compared with those of an earlier day, proys that there is a well defined tendency to an enlargene, of the cross section, and a lowering of the bed of ty river. The standard levees are built up to a height of 8 fe above the highest flood stage, and after completion the are sodded with grass as a protection against erosia by rain. Where they are exposed to wave action, a layer of concrete protection is used. Bank erosion is pp vented by the use of revetment, which consists eith of willow mattresses, or some form of concrete mat The experience of the past 200 years, and especially tlk expert investigations and work of the engineers of th Commission, have solved the various problems of trol, and the ultimate mastery of the great river, » we have said, is merely a question of provision by th Federal Government of the necessary funds. Wrecking the United States Army N our last we showed how the House ¢ Representatives was, in effect, wrecking th United States Navy. Not content with that, iti now attempting to wreck the United States Army, Ty been the action of th public, which, as soon as the facts were made publi¢ called a halt upon the House proceedings That the action of the House would wret the Army will be evident, if we give a brief resume @ the action of Congress in this matter during the pat In the first place, let it be clearly unde stood that the War Department is not in favor of: large regular army, believing that such an army is i agreeable to our history or to our national temperamett This attitude was proved when a bill was introduced ft the creation of an army of 500,000 men: for the measur was strongly opposed by Col. John M. Palmer who, his testimony before the Senate Committee, made sid a profound impression that they appointed him as thet official adviser. As the result of his advice the law@ June 4, 1920, was passed, calling for a regular army@ 280,000 men, including 17,000 officers, a large porti@ were to be used in training the Nation Guard and the Reserve, or Citizen Army. The ami plan embodies the experience gained in the World Wat and it aims to preserve everything that can be savé out of that great effort. Instead of maintaining? large regular army of half a million men, the Geneml Staff believes— First, that far better results, at a less cost, can ® obtained by maintaining a smaller regular army- it condition of perfect preparedness, which would act ® the first line of defense in case of an invasion. Second, that the officers of the regular army shoul be used to train the National Guard, maintaining i closest cooperation with that body. Thirdly, that back of the first line of the regulit army, and the second line of the National Guard, thet should be an army of reserves, the officers of whic should receive fifteen days training every year, ¥ officers delegated for that purpose from the reguli! army. The plan contemplates the division of the United States geographically into nine Corps Areas, if eat of which there should be maintained a regular aml division of 19,000 men, complete in every respect, its supplies of war material located ready to hand. In each area there would have been two Na issue Navy has saved by resolute present two years, of whom JULY, —_—__— guard r men, an¢ assemble In eac’ reserve every ye fifteen d serve th would hi in the re confusio! Such 1 of the ar of June 280,000 1 granted that it d number. so rapid 143,000. The folle ther cut number it would for a fir: respecti and the here tha other R that 150. could be the War Nevert sentative 11,000 of to train this is s officers 1 army sc gress it That t destruct spread e the orga Army. Now \ taining » Corps A and the | it would only a re Guard a It would sufficient training of this s every née basis. From the How ninimun deed, th nothing back up has foun and very Potenti Tw ber art various ¢ and the | table fo United 25,000,00 from 5,0

Page 15

LY, 19 —__ 1 that th) following h speed & med tha the ripe oblem jy yS by th 9 Progr he leves SeNt crop LY, Drove largeniey ed of th of 3 fee tion the it erosig D, & layer nb is pm its either ate mats “Lally the rs of th 3 of cm. river, n by th y louse of ing th at, it is ny. Th of th » public 1 wree sume of the pas ” under or of 3 y is mot ramen. uced for neasur who, 2 de suc is their law of irmy o portia ationa > army d War . gavel ning é ; ener. ran be yr. in’ uct ® shoul! ng the egulat there which ir, uty, 1922 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN 15 — Our Point of View — guard regiments, recruited to the full quota of 320,000 men, and at stated intervals the National Guard would assemble for special training and maneuvers. In each Corps Area, also, there would have been three reserve regiments, constituting the Citizen Army, and every year the Reserve officers were to be called up for fifteen days of training. With the officers of the Re- grve thus held together and efficiently instructed, it would have been possible to assemble the Citizen Army in the respective Corps Area in which they live, without confusion and with a minimum loss of time. Such was the plan worked out by the General Staff of the army, and embodied in the National Defense Act of June 4, 1920, which, as we have noted, called for 990,000 regulars and 17,000 officers. Congress, however, granted money sufficient for only 170,000 men, alleging that it did not believe it was possible to recruit a larger number. As a matter of fact, voluntary recruiting was so rapid that, early in the day, the army had secured 148.000. Nevertheless, the cut to 170,000 was made. The following year Congress, in June 1921, made a fur- ther cut to 150,000 men, with 13,000 officers. This number represented the absolute minimum with which it would be possible to carry out the excellent scheme for a first, second, and third line of defence, consisting respectively of the regular army, the National Guard, and the Reserve or Citizen Army. It should be noted here that two secretaries of war—one Democratic, the other Republican—had affirmed with great emphasis that 150,000 men was the minimum to which the army could be cut, without absolutely wrecking the plans of the War Department. Nevertheless, in the present year the House of Repre- sentatives has made a further cut to 115,000 men and only 11,000 officers, and it has appropriated moneys sufficient to train only 1000 Reserve officers. The absurdity of this is shown in the fact that there are 60,000 Reserve officers who have offered their services under the new army scheme, and that at the rate laid down by Con- gress it would take 60 years to train this number. That the country is.entirely out of sympathy with the destructive policy of the House is shown by the wide- spread enthusiasm with which the National Guard and the organized Reserve have responded to the call of the Army. Now with the minimum of 150,000 in place of main- taining a division of 19,000 men in each of the nine Corps Areas, with eighteen National Guard Divisions, and the nucleus of twenty-seven Citizen Army Divisions, it would have been possible to maintain in each area oly a re-inforced brigade of regulars, with the National Guard and Reserve quotas cut down proportionately. It would be difficult to provide from this reduced army sufficient officers for National Guard and Reserve Army training purposes; but if Congress will grant an army of this strength, the General Staff is prepared to strain every nerve to secure all-round efficiency, on such a basis. From the above it will be evident that the action of the House in cutting the Army below the absolute minimum of 150,000 will be absolutely destructive. In- deed, the General Staff affirms that there will be nothing for it but to forego the whole scheme and fall back upon the old system, which in all previous wars has found the United States in a condition of complete and very costly unpreparedness. Potential Military Man Power of the British Empire T will be remembered that in our issue of Decem- ber, 1921, we published an article on the leading armies of the world, showing the strength of the Various active armies, their strength in trained reserves, and the total available man-power of military age. The table for available military man-power credited the United States with 15,700,000, Great Britain with 35,000,000, and France, Italy, Germany and Japan with from 5,000,000 to 6,500,000 men. Since the publication of that article we have been in receipt of correspon- dence calling in question the large figure of 25,000,000 military man-power credited to Great Britain, and in response to our application for the figures as estimated by competent authorities of the British War Office, we have received the data given below. The total male, white, population of the British Em- pire is estimated at 30,000,000, and of these we are in- formed that 30 per cent, or about 9,000,000, are males of military age, fit for military duty. It will be evident to anyone who read our article, that the high figure of 25,000,000 was due chiefly to a liberal estimate of the military man-power which would be derived from the teeming millions of India, and in the table which we gave it is stated in a footnote that in the estimate 5 per cent of the total population of India was estimated as being available. The War Office advises us, however, that as regards colored man- power, it considers that reliance cannot be placed on a larger figure than 3,000,000, as representing the number of colored males fit for use as fighting troops. The numbers who might be regarded as man-power from the point of view of labor, or ancillary services, depend upon the exigencies of the moment. If the figure of 1,000,000 be taken as being the maximum require- ment relative to the 9,000,000 white and 3,000,000 colored males, as mentioned above, this would give the grand total of man-power available as 13,000,000. It must be remembered, moreover, that although the men of some of the tribes in India are noted for their stamina, courage, and amenability to discipline, and have proved their worth in various branches of the military service, the great mass of the Indian popula- tion has neither the physique nor other qualities that are necessary to the makeup of a soldier. The Cluttered Dashboard NE of our British contemporaries is responsible for the suggestion that the ex-aviator is re- sponsible for the extraordinary multiplication of instruments which is to be seen on comparison of the dash of a current automobile with a car of five or six years ago. We think the idea is a sound one, both as regards the origin of the practice and in its impli- cation of the utter folly thereof. Instruments on the dash Nobody wants to drive without a speedometer, an am- But why a clock? Why an make the inner eleva- are, of course, inevitable. meter, and an oil gage. assorted collection of dials that tion of one’s petroleum-buggy resemble the control board of a central power station, or an overcrowded pawn- shop window? Why the present mad race for a mul- tiplicity of nickelled protuberances in the cockpit of the road cruiser? Perhaps the answer is to be found in a recent adver- tisement which considerably tickled our risibilities. The better part of an expensive page was devoted to picturing the supreme delight with which an owner might look upon the automatic cigar-lighter that ex- clusively features the advertiser's. machine—how from nis proud station in this car he might look down with amused contempt upon the unfortunate driver whose machine him at the merey of the match-box when he wants a smoke. Now all sorts of reasons dictate the choice of a car. We know a man whose wife was of such extraordinary bulk that only one American car possessed a door that would admit her; but we have not seen the size of that door advertised on behalf of that car. We have no doubt that somewhere there exists a man who would buy the X Y Z ear to get the cigar-lighter. But are there enough of him to advertise to? We have no doubt that some folk will prefer the car with fifteen knobs and dials to the one with only fourteen. But is not the general catering to this idea the result of a misdirected enterprise? Wouldn't our cars be more comfortable if they did not look quite so much like an instrument-maker’s laboratory? leaves - sales Close Relation Between Airbrake and Automatic Stop T needs no implication of words to prove that there is a most intimate relation between the airbrake and the automatic stop. For the one is a con- comitant of the other. If there were no airbrakes, or if those carried on a train are inefficient, the automatic stop, and indeed the whole box system, might as well be regulated to the scrap heap. The determination of the length of the blocks and the spacing of the signals is based chiefly upon the weight and speed of trains, and upon the distances within which the brakes can stop a train of given weight, and running at a given speed. That the Interstate Commerce Commission is fully alive to these facts is shown by its determination to ascertain, first, whether, and to what extent, the power- brakes and appliances now generally in use upon the locomotives and cars of railroads, that are subject to the Interstate Commerce Act, are adequate and in ac- cordance with the requirements of safety ; second, what improved appliances and devices are available for use; and further to determine what improvements in power brakes and appliances should be made, to the end that increased safety in train operation may be obtained. Hearings upon this matter have been had by the Com- mission, and it is the intention to carry through the investigation with great care and thoroughness. The railroads were ordered to furnish the Commission with certain specified information, and a perusal of the docu- ments sent out to the railroads proves how searching this investigation will be. In the first place, each railroad must furnish copies of its rules pertaining to the operation, inspection, testing, and maintenance of its brake equipment; and must show where facilities are provided for this, and give a list of locations where tests of pressure-retaining valves are made, together with a description of such tests. A statement is called for, also, showing the location, length, and gradient, of all grades more than one mile in length, and having a maximum gradient of one per cent or more; the method of manipulating brake equip- ment on such grades must be described; the types of equipment and brake pipe and the main reservoir pres- sures; the limit and number of cars allawed on these grades, and the specified speed limits. There must be furnished also a list of accidents on these grades, which occurred between 1919 and 1921, in- clusive, where such accidents resulted from failure properly to control the speed of trains on these grades, together with full particulars of the losses of life, and the injuries to persons and property, A statement is also called for, in detail, as to what extent hand-brakes are used for controlling the speed of trains, and showing also what power-brake equip- ment other than the airbrake is used, and to what ex- tent. The next requirement should yield a large amount of important and greatly needed data, for the railroads are required to give the number of accidents which occurred during 1921, and resulted in personal injury or loss of life from burst or parted air-hose ; emergency application of airbrakes; undesired quick action of brakes; parting of the train; faulty manipulation of the brakes; and, lastly, accidental interference with proper operation. In our opinion this is one of the most important in. vestigations that has ever been carried out by the Interstate Commerce Commission; for it is certain that although the development of the airbrake has been one of the outstanding achievements in American railroad operation, there is yet some distance to travel before the ideal conditions have been reached. We repeat that a perfect airbrake is essential if we are to realize the full benefits of a perfect traffic-block signal system, equipped with the automatic stop.

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16 Gyro-Stabilizer as Cure for Seasickness [' only some means can be devised to prevent, or, at least, mitigate the horrors of seasickness leep sen travel, for the majority if people be robbed of a positive terrot ind thousan if people who never cross the seul for ! kme A be« ‘ frequent if not en ue Never will it be possible t ead p to the point i wi ! ill y en ‘ ] re n will he eliminated but har 1 I ner ind technical ski ! I ln e pl IK y tod p i hat ab @ sick ‘ kit n knewn as rolling ! ind ) man peaple the f lille ‘ seusicknes Many have been the ce es wit vl he inventor has tried to prevent 1 ms Thornveroft thought he could do it with a he pend ! vel ( | tried to do the same tf ne th wil he called n rolling tanks large water containet ne on ¢ l ! of the ship joined by a pipe or cond the flow of water from side to side being controlled by valves And we must not forget Bessimer, who, half a century vo built i large saloon containing ing ind lining quarters, which he suspended wiihin the hull of his vessel upon trunions, whose axes ran fore and af By means of hydraulic controls he sought to inticipate the rolling, and maintain his suspended saloon upon All of these were failures, although some slight SUCCESS wis ittained Then came Elmer Sperry had already an even keel with the rolling tanks with his Gyroscope. Mr. Sperry SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN housed in a casing C seen to the left of the gyro. These gears mesh with a large circular gudgeon D which is attached to the gyro casing / A complete gyro-stabilizer equipment calls for the following elements First there is a steam turbine, Vhich drives both an alternating and direct current enerator The A, ¢ s led to motor which drives the vertic shaft of the big gvro-wheel This wheel is run SOO revolutions per minute in vacue, The D.C. is 1 to diminutive control-cvro, which in turn serves ‘ e precession motor for tipping or precessing ‘ I n xvi The contre evro s so sensitive that ndicate the ship's roll fraction of a second fte ‘ mences. This indication is transmitted el itrol pume " operate the pre ‘ nt rhe motor through a series of reut erves to t the n ngevro in a plane pal illel th the keel « the ship, thereby setting up a strong res tin | t ! irtshly Which opposes the thrust the vw ‘ tending to start the ship rolling The re is full stabilizatior rees are at work about seconds after the ship he ns to roll. and in the e of tl President Wilson he rolling will be re- strained to a maximum of from two to three degrees n each side of the vertical Compare this with a roll of from 25 to 45 degrees, which obtains under unfavorable conditions on certain tvpes of ship If the reader of this should begin to wonder how a ship of 20,000 tons, tending to roll 20 to 30 degrees, can JULY, 1929 the hot spells of summer. summer heat most trying; even the Indians go UD to the Panamint Range during July and August. The weather station maintained at Greenland Ranch in ¢o. operation with the borax company is unique in many White people find the mid. Wwiys. The Psychology of Stuttering adopt with which we include stammering, J is the most serious of the group of funetiong) speech disorders It is present in about 1 per cent of population. This disorder should be con- The underlying trouble I be neurotie psi choneurotic, or some as yet obscure trouble in the control or coordination of the elaborate he school “l as syinptomatie only. mechanism of speech, We feel that there is some lack of balance in the metor control of all these cases, but the most important thing is the temperamental lack of ability to make the necessary emotional adjustments to life and the ge of speech as a symbol of all the human relationships, In other the fear from which the stutterer gyf fers is not a fear of speech, but a fear of meeting and speech is the accepted field for such a symbolization because poor speech closes the necessary avenue of approach to life and offers an ex cuse for failure that would otherwise be lacking, It is maintained by some workers in the field that the mental condition and the emotional conditions am the result of, and not the cause of, stuttering, It would be true, of course, words, situations in lift gyroed pretty well every- thing on earth that called for controlled movement and after giving to the world, through his compass, a steering an true means of absolutely course, he conceived the idea of using his gyro to pre vent the rolling of ships and succeeded Our illustration shows the latest and largest gyro stabilizer, built by the Westinghouse people for Mr. Sperry installed it on one of who has the Shipping Board ves- sels, formerly known as the “Hawk Eye State,” and now renamed the “President Wilson.” The “President Wilson” is to be placed in the trans Atlantic service, and, if that the difficulty would carry with it a large amount of unpleasant emotional tone, but it ig a significant fact that the families of these people show the same temperaments, the same disabilities, to a somewhat greater extent than do the families of non - handicapped ehi- dren. Teachers who do the speech - corrective work should have, besides a knowledge of the physi- ology of the organs of speech, a knowledge of speech drill and a thorough training in be havioristie psychology and the psychology of the emotions. They should know the part speech plays in the de velopment of the emo social she performs as she is expected to do, she will achieve an instant popu larity with the part of the seagoing public that is sickness, which hy the way means a large The steadying action of the gyro is due to the fact that a balanced spinning at high velocity, strongly resists any force which change the plane of its rotation. A peculiar fact re garding the gyro, which puzzled the early investigators showed the subject more or less to majority wheel, outside tends to mathematicians and physicists thereof, is this—that if you it resists strongly which the dis until the meaning tending to tip a rotating gyroscope, angles to that in apply a force in a tributing force wheel is spinning in applied tending to tip it In a in an east and west direction plane at right is applied; that is to say, if the gyro a horizontal plane, and a force is north and seuth direction it will resist strongly With this fact in stendies a ship against rolling On t mind let us see how the gyro he bottom of the n journals ship. near its center, the gyro is carried longitudinal axis of free to rock or whose axis is transverse to the the ship, the whole mechanism being tip in a fore and aft direction. Our illustration shows the evro for the “President Wilson” erected in the shops and under test What we see is the outer frame and within this casing is the weighs 100 tons or casing gyroscopic wheel, which in this case The wheel being exhausted from the The speed of rotation runs in vacur thre air chamber in which it is enclosed is 800 revolutions per minute Now, if through gyro is tipped out of the vertical suitable mechanism the spinning there is set up a strong being at force is ap resistance to this movement, the resistance ingles to the direction in which the right the tipping is done by means of the plied electric motor A seen in drive-shaft B In this case front of the gyro, and to the set of gears right whose operates The complete gyroscopic stabilizer constructed for the steamer “President Wilson,” and the rotating member of the stabilizer before the assembly be straightened out by a gyro outfit, which weighs only one per cent of the ship’s weight, and how this can be done without producing severe local strains in the hull of the ship, it must be remembered that ship rolling is a progressive action. The first wave throws the ship little, the next ‘a little more, the action being cumulative, until the full angle of roll for those par- ticular conditions is reached. Now the gyro-stabilizer very outset, and resists the over a resists this tendency at the thrust of the waves. It does this so effectively icts on the ship, initial that each impulse Is damped out as it ind there is no cumulative action Mention should be made of the interesting fact that s the energy of the 100-ton spinning wheel, so st) large perfect are its bearings, and so complete is the vacuum in which it rotates, that after the power has been shut off the wheel will run for four hours before coming to a stop The Hottest Place in the World at the United States Bureau's substation Ranch, indicate that this is the hottest oo vears of record obtained Weather n Death Valley, Calif region in the United at Greenland States, and, so far as extreme maximum concerned the hottest known region on earth. The temperature of 134° F., femperatures are I meteorologists recorded in July 10, to be the highest natural air tem 1913, is believed by erature ever recorded standard thermometer exposed in the ipproved conditions High temperatures throughout the yvear, but the highest occur during midsummer. light, the normal annual precipitation being less than 2 inches. with a tested shade under are common Precipitation is extremely Evaporation is excessive, as the relative humidity is extremely low most of the time, and especially during tions, and how poorly controlled emotions may develop wrong types of speech. Moreover, they must be trained to understand some of the mental mechanisms that control behavior, such as feelings of inferiority and its compensations in over-boldness and over-talkativeness, and be able to analyze and treat these conditions. Teachers # trained can do mental-hygiene work of the highest type for they deal with children who have great possibilities An Unsinkable Power-Driven Lifeboat Toma may safely lay claim to being the largest lifeboat in the world, measuring 60 feet long and having a displacement of 40 tons, is now beim built by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution of Great Britain, at a cost of about $85,000. This boat is to be stationed at New Brighton, near Liverpool, and will be quite capable of offering help to vessels far beyond the reach of existing boats, since her radius of action will be 100 miles at 10 knots. On this Tomg journey this huge lifeboat will accommodate 50 out of her 150 passengers in the two cabins, where they al find warmth and shelter and cooking facilities. The novelties of this lifeboat, which is shown in @& tail in the accompanying full page illustration, include a net, 11 feet square, amidships, into which the will jump if the doomed vessel stands high out of the line-throwing gun; an electric searchlight} winch and capstan driven by compressed air; three isolated engine rooms, two for the 75-horsepower motors driving the twin screws and one for the auxiF iary engine driving the dynamo, pump and air Com pressor. This huge life boat has eleven traverse water tight compartments, and 100 buoyancy air boxes sembling in miniature the water tight compartments of a battle cruiser. These make her practically unsink- She will lie at moorings, and not housed ashore water; a able. JULY,

Page 17

» 1922 he Inid O Up to t. The h in C0- N Many mering, 1ctional cent of © COn- trouble /bseure iborate in the vortant ke the le use Ships, Tr suf. eeting ld for *S the in ex. 1 that iS are It Use, vould large “sant it ig that these same same Juty, 1922 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN # = 7 52 (See facing page for details) ‘ _ ek / 4 4 ee \ ‘ Lae 5 2 Yn \ (ite See Me _ Laos : + Me 7 —F = ae" r =f Y J - % A a 4 7 As . ~ » - ~ A gSCUES F: JT AT SEA IN GREAT BRITAIN FOR RESCUES FAR OL

Page 18

18 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

Left: The Lake Eleanor Dam, which measures 1260 feet in length and is 70 feet high. Right: Dam construction under way, showing San Francisco’s Water Supply Project the extensive use of timber Bringing 400,000,000 Gallons Daily by Tunnels and Pipe Lines from Yosemite to San Francisco ‘AN FRANCISCO is engaged in the construction of that the Hetch Hetchy system should supply only will be in regular operation. Ss a municipal water supply system, known as the San Francisco: but the ultimate capacity fixed for the Hetchy project Hetch Hetchy Water Supply project, of greater mag Hetch Hetchy works, 400,000,000 gallons daily, takes and power increase. nitude than any similar system in the United States, into reckoning the requirements of the locality west, those « with the It will make exception of available to Sar By M. M. O'Shaughnessy, Member A. S. C. E., City Engineer of San Francisco throughout treated this units of Francisco Bay, ineers have district, all south of San century. The eng metropolitan water Boston. eust and adja the present f New York and 1 Francisco and the will be filled, Hetchy dam to

The high mountain watershed area of 652 from which the City’s proposed impounding reservoirs ranges in elevation from 3500 feet 13,090 feet at Other units of the Hetch will be built as the demands for water square miles, at Hetch Mount Lyell. Within cent metropolitan area 400,000,000 gallons daily of pure region as a mountain water, and this same water, passing through which have a common interest in obtaining additional Yosemite National Park lie the Hetch Hetchy and Lake huge water wheels installed in electric power plants water Eleanor watersheds, 459 and 79 square miles respective- will generate 200,000 horsepower of hydro-electricity for To take care of the immediate future a 23 mile sec- ly. By means of a diversion tunnel and canal, Cherry general use in Central California. Power and water tion of the aqueduct is to be built near San Francisco, Creek is to be made tributary to Lake Eleanor. Its are two great essentials in the development of the between Alameda Creek and the Crystal Springs reser- watershed lies in the Stanislaus National Forest, and industrial and agricultural regions tributary to San voir of the Spring Valley system, to make available the covers 114 square miles. Francisco, water to be obtained from the final development of Now the Hetch Hetchy reservoir will have a total The Tuolumne River and some of its tributaries in the local sources. Later on, it will carry Hetch Hetchy capacity, with a 300 foot depth at the dam, of 113,500, the Sierra Nevada, over 150 miles from San Francisco, water. 000,000 gallons, or 348,000 acre feet. But in the initial are the sources of the city’s future water supply. The In the Sierra Nevada Mountains, between Early In- development the depth the dam will be only 220 project takes its name from the principal reservoir take and Moccasin Creek, 134 miles from San Francisco, feet, storing 67,000,000,000 gallons, or 206,000 acre feet.. site, Hetch Hetchy Valley. The Spring Valley Water the Hetch Hetchy aqueduct is being completed. The The elevation of this reservoir at the original stream Company has been supplying water to San Francisco building of the remaining portions of the aqueduct is level is 3500 feet. At Lake Eleanor the ultimate capac- since 1860, from local sources owned or controlled by to follow in time to have Hetch Hetchy water ready for ity has been tentatively fixed at 54,000,000,000 gallons, this corporation, tut this supply is fast becoming delivery when the community has absorbed the addi- or 166,000 acre feet. A storage of 27,000 acre feet, at inadequate for the rapid growth of San Francisco. tional water supplied from the Spring Valley sources. elevation 4600 feet, has already been developed in con- Long ago it was foreseen that the city must at some The Hetch Hetchy dam is being constructed now to nection with the construction power plant to be men- time bring in a supply of water from some source about three-fourths of its ultimate height. This will tioned later. more distant and more productive, though acquiring develop about 60 per cent of the final reservoir capac- The water released from Hetch Hetchy reservoir is and retaining the local works of the Spring Valley ity. The Moceasin Creek power plant is to be built. to flow 12 miles down the Tuolumne River to Early Water Company, which would gradually assume the It is estimated that by the end of 1923 this power plant Intake, where there will be a diversion dam to turn position of an auxiliary the water into the section Most of the main streams of z of the aqueduct now under northern and central Cali- |... | _rewnevran jon ceossme sy consy manee OviSiON de— SAN YORGUIN O1VISION ——ape “SOTISS 4 $ fp MOURT ANN fe Sano An ane sxsanen construction. Later, by fornia have at various times f ' i on eee means of a tunnel aqueduct — in the granite canyon wall possible additional been studied as sources of the supply. In 1908 a permit granted by Secretary of the Interior Garfield, for the use of storage reservoir sites located on public lands within the boundaries of the Yosemite National Park, and applying to lands and waters tributary to the. Tuolumne River in the northern part of the park, 20 miles distant from the Yosemite Valley, vhich is drained by. the Mer- ced River and is in no way affected by the city’s plans. The people of San Francisco straightway set the seal of their approval upon the pro ject by voting, almost unani was mously, a $600,000 bond issue for the purchase of privately owned lands and water rights, and later, in 1910, an issue ef $45,000,000 bonds to finance construction It was at first intended ETCH HETCHY = = LOWER CHERRY AQvVEDUCT

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on the south side of the Tuolumne River, the fall of 1200 feet in this twelve miles of the river will be made use of for power development, creating about 42,000 kilo- watts. To utilize the Lake Eleanor water, an §8-mile aqueduct of 200 second-feet capacity is to be built, lead- ing from Lake Eleanor to a power drop at which a head of 2100 feet will be available. The water will be discharged into the Tuolumne River above the Early Intake diver- sion. This power unit will be capable of generating al- other unit of about 25,000 kilowatts. The beginning of the aque duct now under construction is at Early Intake, from which point 18.3 miles of tunnel operating under light pressure, will conduct the water to the Priest regulat- ing forebay reservoir. The

JULY, water reservé 400,000 per ser foot he the fh Moccas be fort 145 fee The ci two da let tun from t the hea each 4, 70,000) on Moc The be conn Hetchy running Crystal tail rac elevatio plant v regulate the aqu about 1 of the mention daily. From tral San pipes e3 of these metropo gallons | will req diamete! These p) i40 feet lines of municip: West | trate th Irvingto! cisco Be which tl serve th Metropol branch v cisco pel horthwes and the A few m at the « waters oO of the S; into the An ulti lons dail: San Fr; westerly pipe line adjacent high grov Bay. Th carry th Spring V have a ca The head to 365 f Where it the Bay, pipe with doubt be Which co land. U require th Six feet it the divisic Wood City Near Ri made fro Springs 1 System, si be stored Which is 2 Wood Por: San Fran: aqueduct | broken at tWo miles, San Fran have a ca 8s. Fro

Page 19

22 \e- on m of ht it- he Jury, 1922 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN 19 water will be received by the Priest reservoir at the constant rate of flow of 400,000,000 gallons daily (620 cubic feet per second), and discharged under 1300 foot head at the varying rates required by the fluctuating load conditions at the Moccasin Creek power plant. It will he formed by an earth and rock fill dam 145 feet in height, with concrete core wall. The capacity will be 2500 acre feet, or two days’ flow of the aqueduct. An out- let tunnel 1.3 miles in length will lead from this reservoir through a ridge to the head of the steel pressure pipe lines, each 4,700 feet long, that will supply the 70,000 hydro-electric plant on Moccasin Creek. The present Spring Valley supply will horsepow er plant. Construction of the 68 mile Standard gage Hetch Hetchy Railroad and purchase of rolling stock. Con- struction of the Lower Cherry power system, including 314 mile aqueduct, 3000 Kva. power plant and 33% miles of transmission lines. Ten miles of main aqueduct tunnels have been excavated; the Hetch Hetchy dam is two-thirds com- pleted. There are 1700 men employed on the construction work of the entire project, and expenditures to the present time total about $18,000,000. The Significance of Calcium for Higher Green Plants * a Vice-Presidential address delivered at Toronto in December, 1921, Dr. he connected with water from the Hetch Hetchy system by means of an aqueduct runing west from Moccasin Creek to (rystal Springs. Its start will be at the tail race reservoir from Moccasin Creek power plant at eevation 900 feet. The discharged water from the plant will be received by the reservoir, and its flow gulated to a constant rate for transmission through the aqueduct. Here tunneling is resumed, extending about 17 miles to Oakdale Portal, in the foothills east of the San Joaquin Valley. The tunnels heretofore mentioned are designed for a flow of 400,000,000 gallons daily. From Oakdale Portal to Tesla Portal, the great cen- tral San Joaquin Valley will be traversed by large steel pipes extending 45.2 miles. The capacity of the first of these lines is dependent upon the development of the metropolitan district plan—not less than 60,000,000 gallons daily, in all probability. Ultimately the project will require three lines, each one nearly seven feet in diameter, and each carrying 133,000,000 gallons daily. These pipes will be subjected to heads of from 450 to i40 feet for 70 per cent of their total length. Such long lines of pipe under high heads are unprecedented in municipal water projects. West from Tesla Portal tunneling is resumed to pene- trate the Coast Range, a distance of 31 miles, to the Irvington Gate House, a few miles east of San Fran- dsco Bay. This will be the distribution point from which the water will be apportioned to The Hetch Hetchy Railroad, 68 miles long and costing $2,000,000, built for construction purposes, will be maintained permanently. is 220 feet the supply can be distributed without pumping. De- livery by gravity at a higher elevation would unduly increase the cost of the aqueduct and would prevent using the Crystal Springs reservoir in connection with the Hetch Hetchy supply. The plans provide for connections to unite the Hetch Hetchy and the Spring Valley systems, as it is the settled policy of the City Government to acquire all the properties of the Spring Valley Water Company which are of permanent value for water supply pur- poses, The combination of the two systems will afford a large capacity for storing both the mountain water and the lecal water in nearby reservoirs. All of the Hetch Hetchy Water Supply work is under jurisdiction of the Department of Public Works of San Francisco, and the City Engineer is Chief Engineer of the project. At the town of Groveland, 27 miles on the city’s railroad from Hetch Hetchy Junction and 41 miles from Heteh Hetchy Valley, the general headquarters of the construction work in the mountains are located. The principal achievements on the project thus far include: Purchase of reservoir lands, water rights, rights of way for the Hetch Hetchy Railroad and for the main aqueduct in the Sierra Nevada, and lands for the Groveland headquarters and Moccasin Creek power Rodney H. True of the University of Pennsylvania, discussed most interestingly Span of above bridge the significance of calcium for higher green plants. Cell wall and the plasmal membranes that secrete it, Dr. True said, stand in the closest relation. Cell walls, except in specialized loca- tions, are seldom decisive in determining what ions pass through them, through the chemical changes which take place in the walls themselves and thus far may be regarded as having a certain quasi-deter- mining influence. Beyond that, after chemical de- mands in the walls have been satisfied, more deeply lying equilibria are concerned. As an ion-containing structure, the cell wall maintains ion-equilibria subject to the laws of equilibria in colloids, with the living membranes with which it stands in most intimate chem- ical and biological contact. When ion equilibria in the wall are disturbed, this disturbance is transmitted to the equilibria of the protoplast that lays it down, modi- fies it and remains in closest relation to it. Hence it is not surprising that a drastic change in the very chemical composition of parts of the wall itself if con- tinued should work through and perhaps profoundly affect the equilibria of the protoplasm. In conclusion, the author refers to the more prac- tical results that seem to flow from the considerations thus indicated. It appears that a certain quantity of Ca ions must be present in the medium for the maintenance of the chemical and functional integrity of the serve the three main divisions of the Metropolitan District. The principal branch will go westerly to the San Fran- cisco peninsula; the second will extend horthwesterly to the East Bay cities; and the third, southwesterly to San Jose. A few miles east of Irvington Gate House, at the crossing of Alameda Creek, the waters of the nearby Calaveras reservoir of the Spring Valley system will be taken into the Hetch Hetchy aqueduct. An ultimate capacity of 200,000,000 gal- lons daily is to be provided to supply the San Francisco peninsula. Proceeding westerly from Irvington, over 19 miles of pipe line is needed to cross the low land adjacent to San Francisco Bay and regain high ground on the peninsula west of the Bay. The initial line will first be used to carry the additional supply from the Spring Valley sources, and will probably have a capacity of 45,000,000 gallons daily. The head on the pipe will range from 300 to 365 feet for 17 miles of its length. Where it crosses the navigable channel of the Bay, in the initial stage, submerged pipe with ball and socket joints will no doubt be used—the same type as the line Which connects Brooklyn and Staten Is- land. Ultimately this connection will require three parallel pipe lines, each over six feet in diameter. The termination of the division is at a tunnel portal near Red- Wood City. Near Redwood City, a connection will be made from the tunnel to the Crystal Springs reservoir of the Spring Valley ‘ystem, so that Hetch Hetchy water can be stored in that reservoir, the capacity of Which is 22,000,000,000 gallons. From Red- Wood Portal to the receiving reservoir in San Francisco, a distance of 22 miles, the ‘queduct is planned as a ten foot tunnel, broken at two places by siphons totaling Wo miles. The aqueduct will terminate in — - P at 4 MERRIOE Bias! G e+: LS OS BS cell wall, as well as the chemical and functional integrity of the deeper lying living parts of the cells of absorbing roots or higher green plants. When this is so maintained, absorption takes place in the manner we are accustomed to call nor- mal. When this minimal supply of Ca ions in the medium is lack- ing, be it in soil solution, water culture, or sand culture, the function of absorption is upset and a more or less marked leach- ing of ions from the plan’ follows.- In the absence of this necessary minimum of Ca ions, the soil solution or culture solution may be rich in all other required ions, but these are useless to the plant. They are unabsorbable. This brings us face to face with a condition of affairs in plant nutrition that has not been recog- nized and therefore has not been char- acterized. We may fairly say that Ca ions make physiologically available other equally indispensable nutrient ions. The practical consequences that follow from this way of looking at the fertilizer problem have not thus far been realized. We learn why from earliest times civili- zations have grown up on soils rich in limestone débris. We learn why azri- culture has readily succeeded in seme regions, not in others. We understand why, by the use of lime, lands have been rendered capable of supporting largely increased populations. We are now able to correlate these broad facts with those of cell physiology and to suggest how higher green plants find calcium necessary. necessary Demountable Rim Installation HEN installing a demountable rim on a wheel, be sure that the bead of the rim is just flush with the edge of the felloe all the way around. If the bead and felloe are not even the wheel will have the appearance of wabbling. The lugs should , Francisco at a reservoir which is to have a capacity of about 300,000,000 gal- 8 From this elevation about half of shows the downstream face. View of the Hetch Hetchy dam, looking up stream, taken Nov. 20, 1921. This Depth of water in reservoir at dam, 300 feet; capacity 113,500,000,000 gallons always be drawn up evenly by giving each nut a few turns at a time. Do not tighten one lug before drawing up on the other.

Page 20

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN JULY, 1929 Radio Rules in the Making Congress Considering the Recommendations of the Radio Conference and in Modified Form Will Mold Them Into a New Law R ADIO fans, the country over, who for many weeks © have been scanning the newspapers looking for information about the new laws of the ether and radio urt, may think that the national radio experts of our Federal legislators are taking their own sweet time in the consideration and passage of the ne radio rules The old saw about “Rome not being built in a day,” pretty well applies to the consideration and formulation of the twentieth century radio legislation rhe mem- bers of the radio conference, the most famous meeting of its kind in the history of radio, have made haste slowly in their surveys and studies of the needs of industry. They have carefully considered and weighed in the balance each detail and each issue. The best bruins and knowledge of the radio art have been occupied for several months now in investigating the fundamental needs of legal changes in the Federal laws which pertain to Wireless telephony and telegraphy Now all this minute consideration and detailed dis cussion by the experts will result in the consummation of a radio law which will be letterperfect and still flexible enough to dovetail with the rapid potential development of the industry. As has been previously noted at length in the Muay and June issues of Screntivic AMERICAN the American Radio Conference initially met at Washington under the chairmanship of Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover February 27 to March 2 At the end of this session, a tentative report was prepared and sent to all persons who requested it and to the representatives of the various during the period from interests By George H. Dacy radio rules during their sojurn chaperon to our new in Congressional circles, The proposed radio legislation is emergent in char- acter. The bill as it will be introduced will not be a It will alter the former radio where it is comprehensive radio law. uct’ passed in 1912 only in now obsolete as a result of the expansion and develop- Only the essentially vital will be those respects ment of the radio industry. points which must necessarily be altered changed. At this time, it is not considered advisable by the radio experts to cover the entire field of the would involve too great delay. The urgent is the satisfactory and permanent elimination as far as possible of interfer- ence in the ether, and it is thought that this can be accomplished so far as legal requirements are concerned industry as this factor that is most by a comparatively simple bill. The substantial and outstanding features of the pro- posed bill will consist of a re-drafting of sections 1, 2 and 3 of the present law which was ratified a decade o. It is anticipated that these alterations will clarify enlarging the essen- ag and reinforce the existing law by tial regulatory powers to the extent deemed necessary. In its present tentative forms, the bill provides that radio apparatus shall not be used as a means of inter- foreign na- transmission of signals, the effects of State in which the signals license granted by will be course between the several States or with tions or for the extend beyond the under a Commerce which are made, special the Secretary of except This applies, it granting very general regulatory powers to the Seere tary of Commerce. In this way the rules can be made as flexible as the art itself. Changes can be made ag frequently as the vital occasion for such alterations arises. The opinion prevails that such authority wij) fortify and equip the Secretary of Commerce so that he can put into effect the detailed recommendations of the first national Radio Conference. The proposed radio law will make certain and definite what is now doubtful—that it is not mandatory upon the Secretary of Commerce to issue a license to any applicant, but that this granting of licenses will rest solely in his sound discretion. Under the existing lay, there is a doubt as to the life of a license. The new bill will definitely fix the limit of time that a license will last and also will make certain that the Secretary of Commerce is authorized with complete powers of revocation of license. The revised rules will emphasize the fact that although a certain wave length may be assigned to such and such a_ licensee, this gives him no vested property right to any particular part of the ether. The bill will also contain certain care fully prepared provisions which will assure that licenses will be granted only to Americans and that their rights shall not be subsequently assignable except with the con- sent of the Secretary of Commerce. The status of the amateur fixed very definitely by the radio act of 1912 will be respected religiously, His rights will be somewhat enlarged in the way of wave lengths to which he will be entitled. An assign- ment of wave lengths to amateurs up to 275 meters probably will be made. Under which in the Judgment of the Department of Commerce were interested. Subsequent lv, a large number of comments and sug gestions were received from all parts of the country On April 17, 18, and 19, the Rudio Conference as a whole held addi tional meetings, the special technical com mittee having held daily interim. At these meetings in the sessions of the Confer April ence all the comments and suggestions were considered, the general effect of these criticisms being to ap with a few trifling exceptions the of the preliminary’ report the report was finally amended to preparing a Confer- approbations or prove substance Thereupon and adopted. In addition matters, the report on technical recommendations as to essen- ence made the broadcasting art? sion taken place under a mass of legal verbiage, and been overlooked by radio and other periodicals? Typical questions, these, at a time when everyone is interested in knowing what is to become of radio-phone broadcasting in the first place, and radio communication in general. Rest assured, however, that we have not lost sight of radio legislative measures. We have commissioned Mr. George H. Dacy of Washington, D. C., to follow the developments most carefully, and this he has done and continues to do. His present report is the third of a series that will be continued until the final regulations become law and they have been satisfactorily interpreted for our full understanding—THE EDpiTor. HAT has happened to the new and revised radio laws that were to follow the Radio Conference and the numerous discussions in nal and out of radio regarding the present and future regulation of Or has the revi- Has the matter been dropped ? the present law, the amateur has wave lengths up to 200 meters. Under the re vised rules, the amateurs, however, will have exclusive use of the ether be tween 200 and 275 meters. A schedule of fees for licenses also probably will be in- cluded in the radio bill which is in the making. The service now costs the Goy- ernment in the neighborhood of $250,000 a year and there is no reason why those for whom the regulations are made and the service maintained should not ¢on- tribute in a small way to the support of the service. The fees will range from a nominal charge of 50 cents per annum to a maximum of $50. The larger tax willbe against the large trans-oceani¢ stations. The amateurs, for the most part, assessed will have to pay only the minimum fee, tial points required in legislation to give the Secretary of Commerce = authority necessary to accomplish the ends recommended through make and enforce regulations. In the main, recommendations were presented in the June issue of Screntivic AMERICAN Additional ments were reached which provided that the operation radio stations be conducted in such the power to these gree. of the Government a manner as not to interfere with the commercial traffic broadcasting, and that whenever Government- are used for the and owned mercial the regulations transmission of com thev shall conform to Secretary of Com- stations traffic and established by the merce, It to add appointment by the President of an Advisory Committee to consist of not more shall be selected broadcasting, was also agreed a provision for the to the Secretary of Commerce, that twelve half of whom from the Government service and agencies and the other half outside the Government service At the time when this article was written, the recom- mendations of the Radio Conference had not been pre pared into bill form and introduced into the House of It so happens Jr., of Maine, members, from commercial circles Representatives as pending legislation. that Representative Wallace HI. White, one of the prominent members of the Radio Conference and selected by that body to draft the recommendations into bill ferm and introduce them into Congress, has meetings and hearings on appropriation that up the radio rules been so busy with committee the Merchant Marine he has been unable as yet to draw and launch the proposed legislation into Congress for discussion and ratification or rejection. Recently, the writer talked at length with Mr. White about the make- up of the new bill which will be in the hands of Con- the latest by the third May. The in- and data which directly from White, who father and legislation gress at week in formation follow come will act as Congressman precise regulations were established at observed, only to transmitting stations and in no wise effects receiving stations. By authority of the proposed legislation, the Secre- tary of Commerce is empowered to classify radio sta- tions and the operators thereof; to prescribe the nature of the class of service to be rendered by each type of station; to assign bands of wave lengths; to make regu- lations concerning the class of service to be rendered by each class of station; to be the court of last appeal regarding the location of each station; to dictate the wave lengths and the kind of instruments to be used with regard to the external effect produced by them— the power, parity and sharpness of the waves, the times and methods of operating the stations. Briefly, the Secretary of Commerce is given blanket authority to establish such emergency regulations as—from time to time—are needed and, at all times, to act as he con- siders advisable for the protection and best interests of the industry. The opinions of Representative White and the radio experts were that right now the industry is in a state of flux. They think it would be unwise under such eonditions to write into the law hard and fast rules anf other detailed provisions which are liable to re- quire revision only a few days or weeks after enact- ment as measured by the present rapid development of the radio art. It is a hard enough matter to guide i¢gislation successfully through Congress, but it is a still’slower and fiore laborious task to alter and amend the laws once they are passed. If very stringent and this time, it might be that 24 hours after the new rules were ratified Some untoward wondition might develop which would render them a handicap rather than a help. The con- sensus of opinion of the Radio Conference that such conditions could only be met satisfactorily by was Report of the Fourteenth Annual Conference on Weights and Measures HERE was held last May at the National Bureat of Standards the Fourteenth Annual Conference @ Weights and Measures, attended by officials from all sections of the country. These conferences have become one of the most important of the numerous meetings that take place each year at the bureau, and as @ result of the papers presented and the discussions whieh take place, greater uniformity is being secured in the important matter of the weights and measures now it use in our various states and cities, and the regulations in force governing these. It should be remembered that the National Govert ment does not regulate these matters in this country. The enforcement of proper laws governing the use of weighing and measuring appliances is left entirely @ the states and cities, a procedure which undoubtedly has some advantages and some disadvantages, among which is the lack of uniformity in regulations in different parts of the United States. The weights and measures conferences, however, have done a great deal toward unifying and simplifying the various faws. At the last conference important work was done ii framing a model law for the sale of bread by weight and in further improving the specifications for liquid measuring appliances. A circular describing fully the results of the confer ence has recently been issued, known as Miscellaneous Publication No. 48 of the Bureau of Standards. It may be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., at 20¢ per copy. The circular should prove of greatest interest to all those engaged in the construction, use or inspee tion of weighing and measuring appliances. also JULY, HE | tions on at SO total nt amounts ance fo! are of from on ing data dred mi Such believe swered ditions | statemel! sparsely why the searce 0 the aver of the ¢ tions ha the east assemble demands this cha! tity, but to inter) difficult | In ord sary, fir: included they are in a regi: numerou: at more readings of the w little reff from a sé averages, Suppos of maxin W~ remains | of a livia supposed has excite seoffed at Director there is family wi Dr. One the fact 1 an Ameri: the existe to palent« to modern been pros titory of he knows Wrote to some enor growth wi the tracks living thit count, Mr. lake an a: ind the n beast to | Dr. On given, for of the ple lived cou extinct du ory. Moi ilar story (feature, | tmdoubted beasts, ar ha Widely en

Page 21

Law Secre. made de as itions y will . that itions finite upon ) any | Test ’ law, } hew cense etary rs of asize iy be gives part care- enses ights > con- y by usly, \y of sign- Ip to nder wave e re will be le of e in- the Gov- 1,000 hose and con- t of m a n to Il he anic art, e. nce eau » on all ings sa rich * im ons ts, jury, 1922 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN The Statistics of Climate 21 A Vast but Strikingly Inadequate Body of Scientific Data HE making and recording of meteorological observa- tions, day in and day out, is a process that goes on at some 35,000 places scattered over the globe. The total number of such observations taken every year amounts to at least fifteen million. Making due allow- ance for the fact that a majority of weather stations are of comparatively recent origin, while a few are from one to two centuries old, it appears that the exist- ing data of climate are the final product of several hun- jred million observations of the weather. Such being the case, it will perhaps be difficult to ielieve that practical questions which cannot be an- ewered arise every day concerning the climatic con- ditions prevailing in various parts of the world. This statement does not apply merely to uncivilized or sparsely settled regions. There are obvious reasons why the climatic statistics for such regions should be saree or non-existent; but it will doubtless surprise the average reader to learn that even for those parts of the globe where elaborate meteorological organiza- tions have long flourished, including western Europe and the eastern United States, the climatic data hitherto assembled are still very far from sufficient to meet the demands constantly made for statistical information of this character. Not only are they insufficient in quan- tity, but they are, too often, inferior in quality, hard to interpret, strikingly heterogeneous, and extremely dificult of access. In order to explain this curious situation, it is neces- sary, first of all, to consider what sort. of data are included under the head of climatic statistics and why they are so included. The kinds of data comprised ina register of meteorological observations are not very numerous, even at fully equipped observatories, while at more modest stations they may be reduced to the readings of thermometers and rain-gages, and records of the wind and the state of the sky. Nevertheless, a little reflection will show that it is possible to deduce from a series of such figures an endless variety of sums, averages, groups, combinations, and what-not. Supposing, for example, we have only the daily records of maximum and minimum temperature for a number of years at a particular place. From these we can obtain “normals” of the daily, monthly and yearly tem- perature (to say nothing of similar values for five-day and ten-day periods, weeks, seasons, and other intervals of time) ; mean daily, monthly and yearly “departures” from the normal; mean values of the interdiurnal variability of temperature; mean number of days hav- ing mean temperatures above or below certain limits; mean maximum, minimum and range for each day, each month and the year; averages of the absolute ex- tremes and ranges for each month and the year, and absolute values for the entire period of observation. Such are only a part of the climatic data yielded by a simple pair of maximum and minimum thermometers. Side by side with average values the climatologist ocea- sionally works up “frequency” values, and these are more useful for certain purposes than means. A mean is not, as a rule, the value that most frequently occurs. The fact that the mean temperature on January 1 at Blankville during the past 50 years has been 25 degrees is not inconsistent with the fact that the most frequent daily temperature for that date and place has been 29 degrees. If we add to the various data just men- tioned the equally elaborate statistics obtainable from records of humidity, rainfall, snowfall, evaporation, barometric pressure, direction and force of the wind, kinds and amounts of clouds, duration of sunshine, ete., we shall eventually have enough statistical ma- terial concerning the climate of a single place to fill a ponderous volume, while the climatic statistics of a country would fill a big library. As a matter of fact there exist monographs on the climates of individual places that comprise hundreds of pages. The criterion in the selection of the data to be included in such an array of climatic statistics is utility. It is because of the extremely varied applica- tions of these statistics that there is need for such elaborate monographs. But this need has hitherto been met in only the most sporadic way, and it offers un- bounded opportunities for fruitful labor on the part of climatologists. What are climatic statistics good for? To this query An Antediluvian Monster one is tempted to retort: What are they not good for? Let us set down a few typical cases in which such data are desired. A merchant plans to undertake the sale of rubber coats in foreign markets. Hence he wishes to know all about the distribution of rainfall, both geograph- ically and as to season. Which are the rainy regions of the globe? When do the heaviest rains occur in each of these regions? Where do the prevailing tem- peratures indicate the need of heavy coats, and where light? An invalid contemplates visiting a certain health resort. What mean temperatures occur there at the season of the proposed visit? What ranges of temper- ature between day and night? How much does the tem- perature vary from day to day? How much sunshine may be expected? Is the atmosphere moist or dry? What of the winds? Such are some of the questions he is likely to ask. A horticulturist proposes to introduce a foreign plant in this country. Where will he find the most favorable climate for it? In order to settle this question he first tries to secure certain information about the climate of the plant’s original habitat—the march of temperature through the season of growth, average dates of first and last frost, normal fluctuations of rain- fall, humidity, sunshine, etc. In many cases such an inquiry would be fruitless, Perhaps the alien plant hails from a region that is climatically unexplored, or the available climatic data may not be of the right sort to fit this particular problem, or, finally, such data us there are may be impossible to locate in the enor- mous ill-digested literature of climatography. If the desired information is obtained, the next step is to ascertain where (if anywhere) similar climatic condi- tions prevail in the United States, and this is generally an easy task. An engineer is planning a sewer system. He needs data of excessive rainfall for the locality under con- sideration. so that he may estimate the maximum umount of storm-water the sewers will ever need to (Continued on page 70) Is the Argentine Plesiosaurus a Fake or a Scientific Marvel ? W HATEVER may be the opinion in scientific circles —and it is one of scornful skepticism—the fact fmains that the report of the existence in Argentina fa living specimen of a race of mammoth reptiles, supposed to have been extinct for millions of years, has excited intense interest. Every scientist of note has seoffed at the idea, but, headed by Dr. Clement Onelli, Director of the Zoological Gardens at Buenos Aires, thre is a large body of Argentine public opinion strongly of opinion that a member of the plesiosaurus family will be discovered, alive or dead. Dr. Onelli has disclosed to the press in Buenos Aires the fact that some time ago he received a letter from a American mining man down in Patagonia, reporting the existence of some monster, of a type well known to palentologists through fossil remains, but unknown fe modern zoology. The American, a Mr. Sheffield, has heen prospecting for gold along the Andes in the Ter- titory of Chubut for many years, and Dr. Onelli says he knows him to be perfectly reliable. Mr. Sheffield Wrote to the doctor stating that he had come across some enormous tracks near a lake. Bushes and under- stowth were trodden into the ground, and so deep were the tracks that they could only have been made by some living thing of ponderous weight. Continuing his ac- count, Mr. Sheffield said: “I saw in the middle of the lake an animal with a huge neck like that of a swan, imd the movement in the water made me suppose the least to have a body like that of a crocodile.” Dr. Onelli has pointed out that Mr. Sheffield has given, for a layman, a remarkably accurate outline of the plesiosaurus, one of the mammoth reptiles that lived countiess years before the ice-age, and became ‘tinct during that geological epoch in the world’s his- tory. Moreover, the report recalls more than one sim- ilar Story of the existence in Patagonia of some strange feature, never yet clearly identified. Patagonia was iMdoubtedly at some time the habitat of mammoth beasts, and prehistoric man. Extensive fossil beds have been located, and scientific knowledge has been Widely enriched by the discovery of many kinds of By Leonard Matters extinct mammals and reptiles. Professor Frederic B. Loomis conducted an expedition through the Territory of Chubut in 1911, on behalf of Amherst College, and was successful in unearthing a petrified forest and, among other interesting fossils, the skull of a pyro- therium, an extinct elephantine creature. There has long existed a romantic sort of idea that in the comparatively uninhabited parts of Patagonia, where certain forms of vertebrates are believed to have originated, a discovery would yet be made, of a nature that would stagger science—the finding of-the “missing link,” for instance, or more probably the capture of an actual living specimen of some supposedly extinct creature of antediluvian antiquity. Palentologists and scientists in general have never been associated with such a belief, but nevertheless it has been a popular fancy, and has not lacked some degree of support among men whose opinion carries weight. In announc- ing the latest report to the public Dr. Onelli has recalled this interesting speculation. He was personally first attracted by the idea 25 years ago when he was down in Patagonia. On the shores of White Lake there then lived a Chilean farmer who declared that often at night a strange noise could be heard, as though a eart were being dragged over the pebbly shore. It was asserted that on moonlight nights a huge beast could be seen in the lake. It had a long reptilian neck which rose high above the water, but when disturbed it would at once dive and disappear in the depths. Ten years after hearing of the apparition in White Lake, Dr. Onelli heard of the discovery made by a Norwegian engineer named Vaag, who was a member of the commission of demarcation of the boundary be- tween Argentina and Chile. Mr. Vaag gave the name of River Tamango to a waterway flowing from the Andes, on whose banks he found the remains of some great beast, and the tracks of a creature that probably resembled the plesiosaurus. Later on, in a cavern, fur- ther south at Ultima Esperanza (Last Hope) there were found the remains of a hide and many bones of a great quadruped. The condition of the hide and the fact that the bones were conserved in a gelatinous con- dition, gave rise to the belief that it might be possible to find a similar beast alive. These interesting dis- coveries led to a number of expeditions, to which popu- lar imagination at least attracted the objective of look- ing for a surviving specimen of the mammoth age, even if the scientists themselves had no such belief in the idea. These expeditions worked in different parts of Patagonia, and made interesting discoveries, though credence in the they found nothing to warrant any popular theory supposing the existence of zoological phenomena. This, in brief, is the history behind the most recent report made on the authority of Dr. Onelli. Science in general utterly discredits the suggestion that a plesic- saurus, or anything like the extinct reptile, is still alive, and the many scornful comments on Dr. Onelli’s report leaves it doubtful whether scientists admit even the possibility of there being in Patagonia some unknown animal of large proportions. It has been hinted that the creature with the long swan-like neck is in the sume class as the sea-serpent, and is really born in a bottle. However, the refusal of scientists to take Mr. Sheffield’s story and Dr. Onelli’s theory as credible, has not prevented the doctor and the Argentine peopie getting deeply interested in a proposal to fit out an ex- pedition for the capture of the creature, alive or dead. So seriously has the idea been taken up that a rather amusing development has followed. Dr. Albarrin, President of the Society for the Protection of Animals, has demanded that the Minister for the Interior shall stop the expedition, under Law No. 2,786, which pro- hibits the hunting and destruction of rare animals. Dr. Albarrin urges that if there should still exist a plesio- saurus, then Argentina possesses a scientific marvel of immense value, and it should neither be killed nor cap- tured, but should be allowed to enjoy to the full the liberty it has had over millions of years. The worthy doctor claims that it would be more humane and creditable to Argentine culture to leave the creature where it is and let it reproduce its species.

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"o —— SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN JULY, 1992 When the Hand on the Throttle Fails The Construction and Operation of the Webb Automatic Train-Stop System TEXTE greatest development in the art of automatic | train stopping has been in connection with inter mittent electrical contact ipparatus All of these depend upon road-side auxiliary, called a ramp, to operate or to bring into an operative state the mechan ism, carried by the locomotive, which actually applies the brakes or reduces the speed of the train The purpose of these equipments is primarily to halt or to slow up a train which is being run in violation of the warning of signal immediately ahead; and this end is realized by a partial or a full application of the brakes. To those who may not be familiar with the working of railway air brakes, let it be said that the brakes are held away from the wheels by the maintenance of a prescribed pressure in what is termed the train pipe system When, for any reason, this pressure drops, air, stored in auxiliary tanks under every car, is automatically released and led into the evylinders which cause the brakes to engage the wheels. Automatic train control, therefore, involves the use of some facilities which may, in effect, move the brake control lever in the locomotive cab if the engineer be unmindful of the position of the cautioning semaphore, beginning or of the color of the guiding lamp at the of the next block interval Because of its simplicity and its positive mechanical functioning, the Webb train-stop device is chosen for treatment in basic principles em automatic the present article to illustrate the ployed in this class of railway safety appliances The Webb System performs a double service it brings a train to a standstill when danger threatens, whether the train be going ahead or backing, and at the same time it sounds a warning which either the driver or the fireman should hear in time to put him on the alert. If, however, the object is to reduce the speed and not to: halt the train, the engineman can check the exhaust of the air in the train-pipe so as to prevent a severe application of the brakes and to re cover control over the movement of his train, provided he does not exceed the prescribed speed limit within the biock he is entering a speed-checking governor intervenes Should he be disposed to risk a prohibitive speed Broadly stated, the Webb apparatus is made up of two essential features—i. e., a road element and a loco motive element—which are so brought together that they induce the regulation of a train’s movement. The functioning of the locomotive element is effected through its contacts with the various ramps located along the roadway, and these contacts are made through the agency of a vertical plunger, which is a part of the loco- motive equipment. The ramp feature of the system is a rail 34 feet long, which is set parallel with and fixed 17 inches outside the running rail at a distance of about 1600 feet before each block signal. To lessen the shock of impact and to graduate the up-and-down movement of the plunger, the ramp both ends, and operative contact takes place throughout 22 feet of the face of the ramp. This rail is in the electric circuit of the block signal, and energizing current from the same stationary source—. e., the local battery. A strong spring holds the vertical plunger at its lower and normal position, and the same helix assures firm contact during travel upon the ramp. The nether end of the plunger carries a corrugated cast-iron shoe so designed that it will scrape away snow, ice, and frost, and thus insure intimate association between the ramp and the shoe in all sorts of weather. The plunger is supported by a sturdy cylinder, and when pushed upward half an inch, on meeting the ranryp, the motion so imparted through interposed elements, to rotate a cam sufficiently to open the air valve of the engineer's brake control. At the time, the air, which is thus allowed to escape from the train-pipe, reaches the atmosphere through a whistle in the cab, and the driver or his assistant is warned. Depending upon the nature of the control exercised by the ramp, the whistle blast Is a long or a short one. If the semaphore signals “proceed,” current is fed to the ramp, and as the the ramp the air valve on the locomotive is opened, only to be closed again as soon as the ramp is passed. This takes place so quickly that the brakes are not brought into play. The reason for this is that the current from the ramp passes upward through the and the plunger to a magnet ; and the magnet, so energized, is instrumental s sloped at receives its serves, same shoe meets shoe in causing the projection of a bolt which, when the plunger descends on leaving the ramp, engages a lug or shoulder on the cam and closes the air valve. Dur- By Robert G. Skerrett

Erie locomotive equipped with the Webb automatic stop, which appears at the extreme left, as indicated by the arrow ing this interval the cab whistle sounds a short blast. Should the block signal be at the “stop” position, at which time the ramp is not energized, then the magnet of the train-control mechanism remains inert; the bolt referred to will not be projected; and the plunger will net reverse the cam shaft and shut off the brake-control air valve. As a result, the pressure in the train-pipe will fall so that the air system under the several cars will react and produce an emergency application of the brakes. When operating in this manner, the apparatus

1. The plunger head which rises and engages lug 2 on the air- valve cam 3. The magnet 4, the when energized, projects bolt 5 to engage lug 6 on air-valve cam when the plunger descends. This action closes the air-valve, which has been opened by lug 2. If the magnet is not energized, lug 6 does not act, and the brakes are automatically applied in an emergency stop How the Webb control apparatus works will give a long blast on the cab whistle. Similarly, should the current fail to reach the ramp, owing to un electrical breakdown, the train will be halted, This automatic train stop is the invention of Jean RP Webb, Jr., and was given its first service tests during 1915. Since then, the device has been improved in some particulars while still retaining its basic simplicity, Today the shoe and some other elements of the equip- ment are hollowed out and connected with the brake uir-line. Therefore, should the shoe or the associate features referred to be fractured by an unexpected blow, the air will escape from the train-pipe and the truin will come to a halt. It takes only a few minute to replace a broken shoe. In its present form, the locomotive element is provided with a_ pilot plunger whose sole purpose is to make more certain the remoyal of snow, ice, frost, or frozen mud so that the electrieg| contact of the following operating shoe will be a perfect one. It is said that the apparatus has never failed to function because of faulty electrical contact. The system inclides a governor which prevents the engine driver from releasing his brakes, should a stop be called for, except when the speed of his train is kept below 20 miles an hour. That is to say, should the brakes be automatically applied, and the engineer the decide to go on, the governor checks him and imposes a speed which will make it possible to halt the train quickly if need be. Full control of the train is restored to the man in the cab at the next ramp, if the way is clear. This governor, however, is not necessarily an integral part of the train-stop apparatus. From what has been described of the Webb system, it should be plain that it is designed to arrest a train whenever there is danger ahead or whenever the operating mech- unisms are broken or disarranged in any essential re spect: and if the engineer be unmindful of the signal he is approaching, then the cab whistle will invariably of his neglect. remind him Last September, a demonstrating installation was made on the Erie Railroad at a point between Ridge field and Morsemere, New Jersey. <A single contact ramp was placed on the eastbound track 1606 feet west of one of the block signals on that division of the line. An engine was equipped for the trials, and this locomotive was coupled to a train made up of eight coaches. A program was carried out which cov all conditions that might be met with and the apparatus performed sue steel ered practically in regular cessively in every case. Probably one of the most interesting of the tests was that which called for the block signal at the “stop” position, and for the train to be run over the ramp at full speed. The engineer, as an “alive and alert driver” would do on seeing the semaphore set at “stop,” was required to make an “emergency” application with his own brake valve when the audible cab signal should indicate the stopping action of the automatic device. This is what happened: As the train, at a velocity of 40 miles an hour, reached the “third rail,” both contact shoes were broken off by the impact, evidently caused by imperfections in the castings, and while no audible signal was given in the cab the train was automatically brought to a standstill at a point 632 feet short of the signal tower. Again, with the automatic signal at “clear,” the bat tery was disconnected so that the ramp could. not be energized—the object being to simulate an electrical breakdown, and the train was rushed at the ramp ata speed of 45 miles an hour. The apparatus worked perfectly, and the train was halted automatically withi a distance of 1158 feet. All told, nine different test were made; and the performances were entirely satit factory to the railroad officials. The equipment, as tried out, was purely an automatic train-stop mechanism, and did not include the automatic speed-control feature It is recognized that the addition of such a featur entails the employment of more or less delicate at juncts, and, even if they worked as designed, would undoubtedly impose higher maintenance costs. A care ful engineer would not resume high speed unless he ascertained the cause for the automatic application of the brakes and was assured that he could safely go @ The concluding paragraph of the railroad’s repott upon the foregoing tests of the Webb system has this to say: “The device tested is built along the lines of simplicity, is very ruggedly constructed, and unque tionably possesses many features which the Interstate Commerce Commission specifications will insist upon.” service ;

JuLy, V OM) C is practice a good!) we shal as form journey paper-ar however as the The inst Hambur derstan< nent fe: o this ephemer antenna apparat' mann 0 on the ' ness tri burg, ci put the ready— S A NE bee revolutic The di possible 15 x 20- tions. " largemer graphs are desi, painted movies. Heret« of enla been lim fact that came “f of focus very gre: ent proc making « productic sharp an respect. As th photogra being uti of operat going o1 graphing seenery, location ments is It is ther desired, i picture. From graphic | ordinary It can process 0 motion-pi to the st facilities, scenery i bilities, Created a ordinary cial savir balance. A pict tographic ata stu success j Senes ar appears Tadical limited. Airp HE a yet on to a recet Mahin, o1 sidies are The Ne 870,000 fl

Page 23

, 1922 iilarly, ing to ted. ean F, during 1 Some icity, equip- brake sOciate pected 1d the inutes n, the lunger moval ‘trical erfect led to ts the 1 Stop s kept d the * then | poses train stored ‘ay is ly an what ld be hever mech al re- ‘ignal ‘iably was ‘idge- ntact feet n of and pight cov- with suc tests stop” ip at ver” was | his ould vice. y of tact used lible “ally the uld Juty, 1922 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN 23 Wireless from Trains in Germany OMMUNICATION from moving trains C is already a possibility, and already practiced, in emergency. But we are still a goodly distance from the epoch at which we shail upon such communication as forming just as integral a part of the berth-light or the news- Germany, look journey 4s the paper-and magazine vendor. however, is moving in the right direction, as the accompanying photographs show. The installation pictured is on the Berlin- Hamburg line, and we are given to un- derstand that it is intended as a perma- trains sense as an nent feature of all the high-class route, and in no ephemeral “stunt.” Each car has its own antennae and, inside, its own telephone apparatus. Thus Herr Hans mann or the worthy Fritz Hohenflieger, on the way home to Berlin from a _ busi- o this Geschiifts- Taking the Tricks Out of Piano- Playing ROM Vevey, in Switzerland, comes the latest version of the simplified piano. And this invention of Emmanuel Moor is free from the objection which has damned most of its predecessors—one can play it just like a regular piano if he prefers, taking just as much and just as little advantage of the novel features as his pleasure dictates. The new piano has two keyboards, of which the lower is the familiar one of all instruments. Each key on the upper board sounds the octave of the corresponding key below; and by an octave-coupler at- tachment octaves can be played, as on the organ, as single notes, while tenths are immediately reduced to thirds with an im- mense gain in facility. All the stunts re- quiring extreme manual dexterity, which make difficult pieces difficult, are simpli- ness trip or a sporting outing in Ham- burg, can now phone his good Frau to put the dinner on and have the meal reaady—or, in the event of a train delay, the reverse, Something New in Movie Scenery NEW invention, experiments with which have just {i been completed with complete success, bids fair to revolutionize the making of motion-picture scenery. The discovery in question is a process by which it is enlarge ordinary photographic plates to reproduc- possible to 15 x 20- foot German train with radiophone equipment, and a close-up of the showing the six-wire antenna change rate) as a subsidy, for the year 1922, for the service between Amsterdam and London, which is op- erated by a Dutch company. England plans to subsi- dize the English air service from London to Paris, Belgium and Amsterdam, which mean that a British company will compete with the Dutch be- tween Amsterdam and London. France and Belgium grant varying sums toward payment of pilots, cost of seems to fied to the obvious extent of bringing car top eight keys nearer together the notes that have to be struck simultaneously or in succession. Big spreading chords lie right under the hand; big jumps are cut to short ones, or become no more jumps at all; and cross-hand passages cease to exist. An interesting detail of the new construction is that the white keys of the lower board, for an inch or so at their extreme base, are elevated to the same level as the black notes. This level at the same time is that of the upper board. By making the stroke at tions. These huge en- largements, real photo- graphs that they are, are designed to replace painted scenery in the movies. Heretofore, the of enlargements been limited, due to the fact that the picture be- cme “fuzzy” and out of focus when enlarged very greatly. The pres- at process enables the making of 15x20-foot re- productions that are sharp and clear in every respect. As the first of the size has the junction point of the two keyboards a great many double effects are reduced to single ones. The octave-coupler, in- cidentally, is not re- versible. One presses a pedal, and instantane- ously the upper board is coupled to the lower, so that pressing any of the lower keys strikes the octave. But the upper board is still free to re- spond to the finger with- out involving the lower, for the coupling is strictly a one-way prop- osition ; so one may play photographic scenery is being utilized, the mode Left: A real door in a wall that exists only as a photograph. success, there will be much less skirmishing about our big cities in search of suitable “‘locations,’ Motion picture scenery that is itself merely photographic, seen from the rear and front of operation consists of going out and _ photo- graphing a house, bit of seenery, or other desired location in the ordinary way. One of the big enlarge- ments is then made and mounted on heavy framework. It is then ready for use. In case doors that open are desired, it is a simple matter to insert them in the big picture. From this point on, the employment of the photo- graphic scenery is exactly the same as that of the ordinary kind. It can be readily understood that a Right: benzine, etc. Germany gives a premium on the number of kilometers flown. In spite of subsidies, however, it was decided to dis- continue the air service between Amsterdam and Ger- man cities from October 1 until next spring. The service between Amsterdam and London, and Amster- dam and Paris will, however, be continued without interruption during the winter. If the producer can use photographic backgrounds like this with ’ and less octaves with one hand on the lower board with the coupler depressed, “shooting” in the public streets and at the same time strike single notes, chords, ete., with the other hand on the upper board. Distinguished critics have pronounced the new device . to be an epoch-making invention in music. Aviation in the Far East HE first Japanese overseas long-distance aerial flight was held between November 10 and 20 under the auspices of the Imperial Aeronautical Association, Tokio, according to the Far Hastern Re- process of this sort, which will enable a mhotion-picture company so easily to bring to the studio, with its perfect production facilities, the desired bits of exterior scenery in this way, has unending possi- bilities. The artistic opportunities thus created are a vast improvement over the ordinary ones, while the very real finan- cial saving must also be figured into the balance. A picture using several pieces of pho- tographic scenery was recently completed at a studio in Los Angeles and was a Siecess in every way. More elaborate Seenes are now being constructed and it appears as though the possibilities of the radical departure in movie sets are un- limited. Airplane Service in Europe HE airplane service in Europe is not yet on a remunerative basis, according © a recent report from Consul Frank W. Mahin, of Amsterdam. Government sub- sidies are needed to keep it alive. The Netherlands Government estimates The distance covered was 1300 kil- ometers (S07 miles), for which the time required was set at eight hours. Twenty- five large army airplanes, capable of car- rying 15 men and flying uninterruptedly for 16 hours, which were ordered from France, arrived. These airplanes are for the purpose of dropping bombs and car- rying war supplies, The Chinese air service, Peking-Kansu, began in November. The station at Lan- chow and Ping-liang, Kansu Province, has a length of 300 feet and a width of 100 feet. Aviators jn Szechuan have put up a capital of $600,000 for the establishment of an aerial transportation center. They plan to purchase four large seaplanes, each having a capacity of carrying 30 passengers, and several smaller ones and a number of motor boats. The company, under the name of the Chuan-Kiang Aerial Company, which name, however, has been ordered to be changed by the Government, has applied for registration. A French merchant preparing to start a commercial service between Szechuan and the Yangtze view, 870,000 florins ($148,740 at the normal ex- The inventor of the duplex piano giving a recital to a London audience has been refused government permission,

Page 24

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN Fulfilling the ‘Treaty JULY, 1922 Turning Battleships Into Merchantable Scrap at Philadelphia By H. A. MacMullan rye tonnage f rious nit af the United States N rangcine from our first little submarine “A-l and the monitor built In ISS7, to Plunger,” “Monterey the predre adnought type bat tleship “Maine,” at Philadel phia, is not only the begin ing of a bnew industry in this country, but it marks the de struction of a naval tonnage greater than that of Italy at the beginning of the World Wuar Although they are engaged in destroying a large section of the world’s second most powerful naval force, the powerful acetylene torches that cut through the 11-inch ' One of the most valuable by-products is the composi. tion navy metal, which js made up of 88 per cent cop- per, 10 per cent tin and 2 per cent zine and has a tensile strength of 40,000 pounds to the square inch. Other precious “junk” is the ¢op. per, gun metal, manganese bronze, lead, zine and navy brass, all of which are sorted into their different grades, melted up in smelters into ingot form and sold to many. facturers in practically every branch of the metal trade, Total annihilation is not to be the fate of all the former fighting craft. The hulls of some, as in the case of the “Truxton,” “Worden” nickel-steel armor of the now obsolete battleships and , muzzle. through the extremely light shell of the old submarine. cannot efface from the record of the Navy the part which these condemned craft played in its upbuilding The monitor “Monterey with her sister ships “Ozark” and “Tonopah,” were, in the nineties, power ful craft for their day. Modernized editions of Ericsson's Civil War “Monitor,” which believed that the defense of the they represented the ideas of that school of design, country could be assured by low-freeboard, non-seagoing vessels armed with powerful rifled guns, They embodied the ultimate development of the Ericsson monitor The destrover “Stewart which is being converted into a ecoastwise banana boat for the Caribbean Sea wus commissioned 20 years ago; nevertheless, she sunk German submarine which was attacking its convoy off Brest, April 23, 1918, and was awarded the metal star given vessels that had sunk an enemy undersea bout, The littl “A-1 Plunger torpedo tube and crew of eight, was the grand- with its gasoline engine, single father of the modern submarine cruiser of today. Built by J. P. Holland, the early trials of the “A-1" met with almost as much ridicule as those of Fulton on the Ifudson River Yet the basic principles are the same as those developed into the “S {1° nearly 25 years later. The Limitation of Armament Wash- ington, by restricting the completed and under-construc tion naval program of the United States from approxi 525,000 tons is responsible for Conference at mately 1,370,000 tons to this new in The after turret of the “Missouri.” cultural English troopships, H. M.S. “Malabar” and “Hotspur,” which now lie in the berths where the international cup defender “Columbia” and Admiral Franklin's old flagship the “Franklin” were previously wrecked by the Hitners. Special equipment and the most powerful oxy- acetylene and electric torches have been developed for the scrapping of these ships. Take the 13,500-ton method followed in units of the Atlantic “Maine” as an example of the breaking up these once powerful Fleet. The first plate in sections weighing dismantlement is to remove the from 25 to 40 tons, in the yard, 11-inch size which may step in armot! These are swung to a horizontal position torches cut through the where oxy-acetylene into pieces measuring 2’ x5’, a fed into the charging boxes of open-hearth The valuable alloy content of nickel-steel in desirable by- armor be readily furnaces. this makes it one of the products finds its principal automobile industry. The nerve centers of most market in the “scrap”: which attacked ammuni- the ship are then the machinery which operated gun turrets, tion hoists, refrigerating systems and all other intricate mechanism are broken into small pieces readily handled by a single workman part turned treatment in combination This small scrap is for the most iron foundries and, after with low-grade iron ore, re- over to gray harvesting and other agri- and low tensile frames of engine appears in the machinery, strength iron products bases Note the two holes in the 12-inch guns, a few feet from the They were burned through with the torch, to prevent subsequent use. and “Whipple,” will be con- verted into fruit boats. Re engined with kerosene oi] burners, the clean lines of these former destroyers are favorable to speed with comparatively low-powered equipment. This makes the expensive refrigerating machinery, essential to slow boats, unnecessary in their case. They are also money-savers in lighterage costs, us their draft is so small they are able to go up shallow rivers on high tide and lay off plantations for loading, When not so converted, the 50-odd destroyers pur chased by the Hitner firm are being ripped apart by powerful chisels operated with compressed air devices, Ten-ton crocodile bite through the destroyer plating as though it were cheese, and these pieces are re-melted into ingots and rolled into various shapes for structural steel, rails, sheet plate and other indus trial uses. The old English troop ships are particularly vale able from the standpoint of “junk.” They are econ structed of purest wrought i almost equal in shears iron, strength to the composition navy metal; and after being treated through several this iron finds its Way to stay-bolts and requiring a rust resisting metal. What The Treaty Left Us bps foregoing article has given a rather dramatic evidence of the inroads which the Limitation of Armaments Treaty made on our fleet: but we must remember that the knife cut just as deeply into the fleets of Great Britain and Japan, the two countries whieh met us in amicable discussion of this great problem Assistant Secretary of the pre WPSSES, other forms the creation of dustry of ship scrapping, by throwing upon the market for sale 845,000 tons of ships that were built or under con struction. Ameng the units already taken over for dismantling and now lying at anchor slong the 1000-foot river waterfront of the Hitner yard are the “Wisconsin,” und “Maine”; “Columbia,” “Detroit” ; company’s battleships “Missouri,” eruisers “Raleigh,” and destroyers “Rainbridge,” “Paul “Lawrence,” and and the “Stew- art,” “Perry,” “Barry,” “Dale,” “Hull,” “Smith,” Tones,” ‘Preble,’ “Decatur.” The monitors “Tonopah,” “Monterey,” “Ozark,” “Canonicus,” “Man “Mahopac,” Cats “Jason “2 38x." “Miantanomah” include the hattan,” kill,” “Nahant,” and “Puritan.” Then there are Eagle Navy Roosevelt recently told us that the United States moves up to the position of equality with Great Britain, and superiority to the navies of the other powers, at a greatly decreased cost com pared to what it would cost us to reach this position had naval competition proceeded. He tells us that if the builé ing programs had been car ried out, the heavy fighting strength of our navy, com pared with that of others, would have stood: United States 100, Great Britain 106, and Japan 8% whereas, by the Treaty thet ratio has been fixed @# United States 100, Great Britain 100, and Japan @ Furthermore, we have a tained this position with @ enormous decrease in boththe cost and maintenance of ou navy. Mr. Roosevelt tells ® that to have completed the 1916 building program have cost approximately submarine chasers, and well as boats, mine sweepers subma two old rines, as All photos, on this and facing page, Copyright, Henry A. Hitner’s Sons Co Group of old battleships, lying at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, which are now being scrapped in accordance with the recent Treaty $200,000,000 a year, and the cost of supporting our navy JULY, would The an act origin, keep al two ot by the patriot States, mistake shown. srructiy Not made st battles! and th materi: equal t naval ¢ three 3 armed V to show designs mission present ships of from 31 guns, ar classes, armed show te tons, ez four shi tons, ar leading broadsic whereas vania” 1 side ene’ foot-ton: It is and twel class, di jectiles inch gur would, \ cent mo! Whit JERY tling actually But it s of such scientist: ing acco In 154 Spithead Wrought years i air the pieces. 1872 in t

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1922 tluable TA posi lich is ht cop. 1 2 per tensile nds to ither e Cop anese- | navy sorted Trades, 'S into manu- every ade, is not ll the The e case den” eP con. . Re ie oil 'S are wered rating their costs, allow iding, pur- rt by vices, royer S are hapes ndus- valu- con- il in being s its rust- natic n of must Heets rhieh ylem. the told tates nm of tain, ivies at a com- cost had 92929 JuLy, 1922 yould also have been increased by a like amount. The people of the United States are well aware that an active propaganda, largely religio-political in its origin, has been carried on to disparage the Treaty, and keep alive a spirit of distrust and hostility against the two other Naval powers who were principally affected py the Treaty. If the agitation were prompted by patriotic consideration of the interest of the United States, it would be understandable, even though it is mistaken as to the actual facts, as Mr. Roosevelt has shown. As it is, such criticism is unpatriotic, de- sructive, and highly reprehensible. Not only has our position in the front wade secure by a solemn Treaty, but an analysis of the pattleship strength of the two leading navies—our own of Great Britain—shows that so far as concerned our first fighting line is fully sritain’s, and would seem to the stronger. Against our “Maryland” class, each rank been and that material is equal to that of Great paval expert to be essentially three 32,600-ton ships of the armed with eight 16-inch guns, Great Britain has nothing to show except two 16-inch gun, 35,000 ton ships, whose designs are not even yet completed, and missioning is not likely present date. Against these three ships and our seven whose com- before three years from the ships of the from 31,400 to 32,300 tons, all armed with twelve 14-inch guns, and our four ships of the “Oklahoma” and “Texas” classes, Of 27,500 and 27,000 tons. each “California” and “Pennsylvania” classes, of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN were rescued from the After 133 years’ sub- mergence, cannon and shot were brought up from the “Edgar” also. It is recorded that the cast iron from the latter two ves- guns wreck. some sels was generally soft, so that it could be cut with a knife, resembling plumbago. Wrought iron on these ships was not so seriously injured. While in this soft state some of the old cannon were taken carefully to the Tower of Lon- don. In the minutes of the Proceedings of the (British) Institution of Civil Engineers, about eight years ago, Major TD cee ES General. Palsey records that after a time these cannon re- sumed their original hardness. The same authority declares that iron parts of pumps immersed in mineralized waters were similarly affected. Another authority states that the old guns mentioned were again fired. Cast-iron piles along the English coast likewise deteriorated. In the Transactions of the American Society of Civil Twenty-four-ton strip of belt armor being cut into 5-foot, open-hearth furnace billets with the oxy-aceteline torch the action uniform. A more thorough investigation than has ever been undertaken is demanded. Engineer- ing Foundation is endeavoring to organize a research that will get valuable results. Information concerning the trouble must be countered by scientific knowledge of causes and means for avoidance or re- armed with ten 14-inch guns she can show ten ships of from 28,925 and 26,600 tons, each carrying eight 15-inch suns, and four ships of the “Benbow” class, of 25,850 tons, armed with ten 13.5-inch guns. The leading Lritish battleships can deliver a broadside of 658,400 foot-tons energy, whereas our “California” and “Pennsyl- vania” vessels have, respectively, a broad- side energy of 914,160 foot-tons, and 787,272 foot-tons. It is the and twelve 14-inch guns of the dass, delivering 50 per cent jectiles in a given time than the eight 15- inch guns of the “Royal Sovereign” class, would, with equal gunnery, secure 50 per which count,” “California” pro- “shots that hit more cent more hits. Whittling Iron and What It Is TERY few heard of “whit- tlng iren,” or iron that could actually be whittled or cut with a knife. But it seems that of such a nature v ich sientists and others ine most have ever there have been cases puzzled interest- have sistance. Manifestly, it is undesirable to have iron in pipes or structures become soft enough to be whittled with a jackknife, and in extreme cases as soft as putty. Drouth Periods and Sun Spots A CRITICAL examination of the d records for six important periods show three consecutive years of drouth in the period of 1915-1919, three in 1892-1896, four in 1869-1873 and three in 1858-1862. Of the others, 1881-1885 contained three years of moderate drouth intensity and 1905-1909 a single vear. In seeking a pos- sible relation between this and the sun- spot numbers, it was found that the four periods of critical drouth entered on maxi- ma of 85 or more spots, while the maxima of the other two periods were 64 and 62, respectively. The greatest number of spots recorded for any maximum is 154 for the maximum of 1778. Hence the maxima which correspond to periods of intense drouth are characterized by spot numbers in excess of half of the greatest number known for any year’s sun-spot maximum, while those of the periods of 1905-1909 ing account of this is the following: In 1545 the “Mary Rose” capsized off Spithead, England. She carried some Wrought-iron guns and cast-iron shot. After 292 years in the sea, on being brought into’ the air the gradually became red hot, then fell to pieces. A similar fate overtook the “Royal George” in 1872 in the same locality, and 62 years later some iron shot Fore deck of partially dismantled monitor “Puritan,” with the Navy’s first nq submarine “A-1 Plunger,” being scrapped upon her deck Engineers for 1915 Marshall R. Pugh narrates that “the cast-iron guns from ancient pirate ship were brought up from the ocean depths off Holyhead in 1882, after the lapse of a century. They were quite soft, but hardened so much on exposure to the air that they some ae Mr? / Oto were used to fire salutes to King George IV when he passed through Holyhead on his way to Dublin. These old guns were said to have given louder than any others.” Old sea tales might be mul- tiplied. Modern shipbuilders, too, state that in repair work cast-iron parts exposed to sea water are frequently found in the condition described, at least in spots. Iron pipes along the seaboard are so deteriorated by salt water as to need replacement, in some places, within a few years, while in other places a generation, or even two, may This deterioration ap- pears to be more rapid in tidal marsh land than in. seaways. It has been learned also that coal ashes and certain indus- trial wastes deposited on the land, through leaching, cause the same unfortunate results. Likewise pipes and other iron objects in alkaline, acid or saline soils in many localities reports pass. Close-up view of battleship “Maine,” showing the gap left by the removal of her 11-inch belt armor suffer deterioration. All kinds of iron are not affected, nor is 1881-1885 are below the half of this number. The crest of the curve for these two periods is also very flat. In consequence, it may be that a critical drouth period has occurred in the West since 1858, and ferhaps since 1835, at each sun-spot maximum for which the spot number known said number was greater than half the for the year maximum. This dees not mean that drouth years have not occurred at other times, but a preliminary examination of the records for the years centering about the sun-spot minima shows no general and critical drouth thtoughout the West at such times. The periods of the minimum are now being analyzed with reference to this point, as also to the relation of the sun-spot minimum to increased or excessive rain fall. In addition, all station records of 20 years or longer are being charted as columnar graphs for the purpose of throwing light on the 2-3-year cycle and on the question of its relationship to the sun-spot cycle. In both cases it is hoped that a clew may be found to the operation of the excess-deficit balance, and its effect in modifying conditions at the sun-spot maximum or minimum. This relation is suggested by the fact that each drouth period in the table is either ushered in or closed by a year of excessive rainfall. The importance to agriculture, grazing and forestry of being able to anticipate periods of serious drouth is evident. ‘The periods of critical drouth have had disastrous effects upon the settlement and development of the, West, and similar consequences must be expected until the recurrence of drouth is accepted as inevitabie, and proper preeautions taken against it. The extent to which the sun-spot cycle can be utilized in predict ing periods of«drouth or wetness can be determined only by actual trial. The success attending the first attempt to do this may have been purely accidental However, the present study seems to indicate clearly the basic importance of the sun-spot cycle for long- range forecasting.—F. F. Clements, Carnegie Instiiu- tion, in Ecology for July, 1921.

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Tamed Dr. Steinmetz’ Small-Scale Y means of a special apparatus which reproduces B actual lightning and is known as a “lightning gen- erator,” the laboratory of Dr. Charles P. Steinmetz, chief consulting engineer of the General Electric Company, is making the lightning arresters that have ever been conducted. The artificial dightning which Dr. Steinmetz and Hayden and succeeded in producing for one five-hundredth of the horsepower the lighting flash of na- ture. It has only one five-hundredth as much voltage. But except in the matter of magnitude it is exactly the same sort of energy, stored up and discharged in the way, as is the gigantic lightning bolt of an electrical storm in the heavens Any object that is placed in the path of the artificial stroke is torn truly as it would be if it were in the path of natural lightning. The laboratory bolt has shattered blocks of wood and small tree branches, scattering them in all directions. The obitect is exposed to the lightning by being physi eally connected to the wiring which is directive path of the man-made lightning. A nail is driven into each end of the wood, and the wires are wound around the nails, so that the block hangs suspended in the circuit through which the lightning will travel. When lightning arresters are tested by this imita- tion thunder-storm machine, they are connected up in the same manner, so that the lightning will affect them in the same that natural lightning would. They are also connected to the lighting circuit of the build- most successful tests of his laboratory coworkers, J. L. R. N. A. these Lougee, have purposes, has about possessed by same lightning to pieces just as used as the way ing, so that they are in effect protecting the lighting circuit against a bolt of laboratory lightning, just as in actual service they would be called upon to guard lightning. this means service, be- natural been made by arresters in against have a transmission line Valuable discoveries in the behavior of lightning cause by meuns of the lightning generator, lightning can be duplicated on a small seale at will, and also can be controlled and experimented with. Unusually severe service conditions can be produced, and the action of the lightning arresters can be observed with accuracy. It has been found that the causes for the oc- casional failure of lightning arresters to function in ac- tual different from what heretofore been imagined. Dr. Steinmetz has always been a student of lightning. But the possibilities of actually reproducing lightning in his laboratory were first suggested to him about two years ago when his summer camp on the Mohawk River, near Schenectady, N. Y., was struck by lightning. This was an isolated case, which gave him exactly the opportunity he needed to study the phenomenon. He reached the camp within 24 hours, took photographs of the damage and gathered useful data. He found the lightning had struck a tree, jumped to the camp and divided, one use are far has SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN Dr. Steinmetz examining the fragments of a tree struck by lightning the thunder-cloud in the sky does during an electrical storm. It slowly generates electrical energy, storing it up gradually, until an overchargec condition is reached. Then, in a flash, the stored energy is dis- charged, and anything that is in its path is “struck by lightning.” In the artificial lightning stroke. a voltage of 120,000 The voltage of volts was chosen as most convenient. the lightning flash of a thunder-storm has been esti- mated by Dr. Steinmetz at fifty million volts. The artificial lightning represents, while it lasts, The estimated horse- flash is given as 500 more than a million horsepower. power of g natural lightning million horsepower. The million horsepower of the man-made lightning, like the 500 million horsepower in nature’s lightning, would not be very useful for practical purposes, because it lasts such a brief instant. It lasts about a hundred thousandth of a second. ‘It is true, the natural lightning flash has about 500 times as much The difference in energy therefore appears But the difference in the nature of its action and effects is practically zero. Only, horsepower. colossal. while Nature's lightning shatters and tears a whole tree, the man-made lightning does the same with a piece of a smaller tree. JULY, 1929 Lightning Duplication of Nature’s Discharge And yet, according to the laboratory specialists, it js theoretically possible to construct an apparatus whieh would reproduce Nature’s lightning in all its magnitude It would not be practical to do this, for it would meap apparatus of stupendous size and complexity; and it would not be desirable, as it would not be safe to approach near enough to watch it. But the same ap plied principle would operate as in the case of the lightning generator now in successful use. This generator consists essentially of a high Voltage condenser of large capacity in the form of 200 large glass plates. These are arranged in groups of fifty and in two banks, or rows. The rectified direct current jg stored up in these condensers, which are connected up so as to be capable of holding 120,000 volts. One end of the double row of condensers corresponds to the thunder-cloud in the sky, ta which an electric charge is gradually stored up and increased by the conglomeration of the rain drops, as Dr. Steinmetz has shown. The other end of the condenser plates corres ponds to the earth. When the tension of the scored-up electric energy becomes greater than the lightning generator will hold —and the tension which it will hold is 120,000 volts— or, in the case of narural lightning, becomes greater than the thunder-cloud wil! hold, whatever the amount of tension may be, the discharge takes place. The lightning flash is seen, the thunder rolls—represented, in the cave of the lij;htning generator, by a loud snap ping sounl—and the bolt strikes. “biicher voltages, than we use in this generator have been produced,” said Dr. Steinmetz, “and have been talked abont as ‘lightning.’ But mere high voltage is not lightning and has no similarity to lightning in its action and effects. The characteristic of lightning is high voltage backed by large power, lasting for a very short time and so giving explosive effects. “In the high frequency experiments of Prof. Thom son, Telsa and others, the voltage was very high, bat with little power back of it; and even with a million volts, at Pittsfield, the current was a fraction of a ampere. Thus the explosive effects characteristic of lightning was-entirely absent. “In our lightning generator, we get a discharge of ten thousand amperes, at over a hundred thousand volts, that is, a power of over a million horsepower lasting for a hundred thousandth of a second. This gives us the explosive, tearing and shattering effects of real lightning, so that, for instance, a piece of a small tree, exposed to the discharge, is torn to pieces, A piece of wire struck by it vanishes in dust. “The difference is similar to that between a pound of dynamite and a pint of gasoline; the pint of gasoline contains more energy and can do more work; but the pint of gasoline gives off its energy only slowly, ata moderate rate of power, while the pound of dynamite gives off its energy explosively, all at once, at a enormous rate of power.” The surprising advance of fork passing to the ground through a post «ad the other shattering a window, setting up an oscillation in the camp's local lighting circuit and then following several paths, It shattered or splin tered supporting posts in various locations, a bed and a The glass was several screen door, a looking-glass. shattered into many pieces, and the fragments were thrown across the room. A careful study of what this bolt of lightning had done was in itself illuminat- ing to the men of science. Now, however, Dr. Steinmetz and his assistants, Mr. Hay- den and Mr. Lougee, have duplicated in miniature the energy and behavior of lightning. Differing only in magni- tude, their lightning is just like nature’s article. Like nature’s, it can also splinter objects and throw the frag electrical science which these things indicate was pointed out by Dr. Steinmetz. “When Edison ran his first circuits for electric lighting, in New York City, he used 220 volts. Today we afr sending electric power across the country at 220,000 volts Thus, in 40 years since Edison's first installation, we have increased the voltage in our electric circuits 4 thousand-fold; we have pm duced and played with ove a million volts, and the volt age of the thunder-cloud & only 50 times higher tha what man has produced. 5 you see, the step from the highest voltage now used ®@ that of lightning is less tha’ was the step which m@ electrical industry has take® in 40 years.” All of which would ® rather fascinating news @ sagacious Ben Franklin, first man to seek a_ speakilé ments across a room. Their lightning generator does ingeniously just what The lightning generator, showing the vivid white flash of the artificial lightning at the moment of the discharge acquaintance with a flash of lightning. JULY, HE stati the Fle years 0 commun as well perhaps The a meters 1000-kil« erators an are § will be Latour : The s minute, second | to reduc cooled b, wave in weters ; transmis will be e The b same Be gian sta Africa. been try! receiving radio me of phot ings, afte by the Carbonne hopes th the giant Ruyssele operate | fore neve work. The a ing gives with its | inally sme mo design ar are gener frequency likewise ; Reactio1 Ultra D.: a -LO communic set forth concernin; ultra-viole devoted h mbject f years pas The eff physico-ch generally sow. He effects wh for a lon; salts in t fact the | Noticed t stronger | higher, ar a great in cmvenien: M. Berthe atts towa tential, Which is It is in fa chanical « pends not Qality of high te Tesults, es; lemperatu: reactions tinder the ‘sive re: Sofa of light o has a stril fires, and Plays the l It is fou into

Page 27

1929 | jury, 1922 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN 27 Belgium’s Giant Radio Station spectrum extends for about two octaves, commencing at’ is a decomposition, and the carbonic acid now forms HE Belgian State has just started a great radio a wave length of 0.4 » (75 trillion vibrations per second) carbon monoxide and oxygen, But the carbon monoxide station at Ruysselede, near Bruges, in the center of and corresponding to the last of the visible radiations, is an incomplete compound which always has a ten- the Flemish country that was the center of the four and ending at about 0.1 ~ (300 trillion vibrations per dency to become saturated; it combines under the years of trench warfare. This plant is intended to second ). But the rays of the last half octave, from influence of these rays with the hydrogen which is also communicate with the Belgian colony in Central Africa, 0.15 to 0.10 “4, are almost useless for chemical resarches, in the nascent state, and thus gives rise to the simplest , it is gs well as with North and South America. It will “S they are absorbed by nearly all known bodies, and of the hydrates of carbon, or formic aldehyde, which which perhaps be the most powerful plant in the world. even by layers of air of a few millimeters thickness. condenses and then polymerizes, producing the vege- itude, The aerial is to be supported by eight towers of 275 For this reason M. Berthelot proposes to divide the table sugars. It will thus be remarked in what a simple mean meters height. The power plant will consist of one available spectrum into three zones sufficiently well way sugar which is the type of energetic aliments is and it 1000-kilowatt generator, with two high-frequency gen- distinguished by their properties. As the entire avail- produced at the expense of the carbonic acid and water fe ty erators of corresponding power. One of these will be able spectrum has 1% octaves, this makes one-half vapor of the air. These experiments give a new aspect ne ap an arc generator, weighing 8000 kilograms; the second octave for each zone. The first half-octave, ranging to the influence of luminous energy on the chemical f the will be a high frequency alternator of the Bethenod- between 0.4 and 0.3, (solar or initial ultra-violet biology of living beings. An obscure point still remains Latour system. rays) includes the rays emitted by the sun which pass’ to be cleared up in this connection, for the reactions of oltage The second of these will work at 2500 turns per through the atmosphere and arrive at the surface of synthesis which we just mentioned do not take place large minute, giving a peripheral speed of 170 meters per the earth. They have the same chemical and physiologic under the influence of ordinary light, but can only be Y and geond for the rotor. It works in a partial vacuum action as the blue or violet rays, this being a tonic but produced by the ultra-violet rays. No doubt in nature ent is to reduce the resistance. Rotor and stator are to be not harmful on living beings, who are acclimated to and under ordinary light we must take account of the ed up oled by oil circulating under pressure. The length of these rays. Solar ultra-violet light can pass without special reagents contained in animals and plants, such wave in both instances will be from 20,000 to 25,000 difficulty through 1 or 2 millimeters of ordinary glass. as the soluble ferments or diastases secreted by the ponds weters; current on the aerial, 850 amperes. Automatic The second octave lies between 0.3 and 0.24 (mean living cell. ectrie transmission at a speed of 100-120 words per minute Ultra-violet zone). These rays are injurious to life Other reactions of a very interesting nature can be y the will be employed. and have a sterilizing effect; they will pass through produced by the rays, for instance the synthesis of z has The building of the plant has been intrusted to the water, and produce numerous chemical reactions. Such quaternary compounds. using as a basis the inorganic orves same Belgian concern that is now engaged on the Bel- rays have a catalytic action, and are agents of degra- gases of the simplest character and which are found gan stations in Central most abundantly, for in- nergy Africa. This concern has stance carbonic acid gas and | hold been trying out a process of ammonia. Under the action olts— receiving and transmitting of the rays, a mixture of reater radio messages in the form these two gases gives rise to nount of photographs and draw- the simplest of the quater- The ings, after a scheme invented nary compounds, or formile onted, by the Belgian engineer amide, which represents the snap Carbonnelle. There are starting point of the albu- hopes that by this process minoid or proteic substances, have the giant Belgian station at these being the basis of liv- been Ruysselede will be able to ing matter. The ultra-violet ze is operate at a speed hereto- rays have a great power of in its fore never attained in radio polymerization, and a high ng is work. degree of concentration is at very The accompanying draw- once reached. Thus when ing gives a view of the plant the rays act upon acetylene ‘hom with its huge aerial as orig- they do not produce benzine , but inally designed, although but a solid polymeric com- illion sme modifications of this pound. In like manner, ethy- of an design are under way. The lene gives a waxy liquid ie of are generator and the high- which boils somewhat below frequency alternator are 100 deg. C. and resembles ze of likewise shown. caprylene. Gaseous cyano- isand a ‘ gen furnishes almost imme- ower | Reactions Obtained by diately solid paracyanogen. This Ultra-Violet Light By these reactions the power- ts of DANIEL BERTHE- ful effect of the rays is small 7%. LOT recently made a clearly evinced. On the other 2 & eommunication in which he hand, the rays give rise to st forth the leading points the reactions of oxydation nd of encerning his researches on with a very intense effect, oline ltra-violet light, he having causing for instance com- t the devoted his attention to this bustion in the celd of hydro- ata mbject for a number of gen, ammonia and cyanogen. imite years past. " In the presence of oxygen or t a The effect of light upon - simply of air, they produce wer,” physico-chemical reactions is This view is from a distance of 600 meters (somewhat over 600 yards) from the center tower, and at an.altitude of 125 meters nitrification in the cold of ce of generally weak as well as above the station level. Some modifications are to be made in the details shown by this drawing nitrogenous compounds, these slow. However, one of the General view of the Belgian radio station at Ruysselede Among other effects it inted fects which has been known may be remarked that the fora long time is that which is exerted upon metallic dation of energy analogous to the ferments. The third ultra-violet rays cause decomposition of most of the : first silts in the presence of organic matter, this being in half-octave lies between 6.20 and 0.15 », this being the organic compounds, In the way of decomposition phe- iting, fact the basis of photography. More recently, it was extreme zone to be studied as yet. Like the preceding, nomena, analogous to electrolysis we now have photo- used Noticed that the chemical effects of light became they are injurious to life, but will not pass through lysis; but while electrolysis is limited to certain classes are stronger as the vibration frequency of the rays is water, while still traversing quartz. These rays prod- of bodies and these under determined conditions such cross higher, and for this reason the ultra-violet rays have uce various chemical reactions, and are classified as as in solution or in the melted state, the action of volts. igreat interest. These can now be produced in a very restorers of chemical energy. photolysis has a wide range. Concerning these latter nee mvenient manner by the quartz mercury-vapor lamp. The author established the following method for’ effects, it is to be noted that bodies when exposed to n, we M. Berthelot points out that the vibration frequency separating certain sets of the rays in turn, in order to the action of the rays will give off gases in a manner Itage ats toward radiant energy to bring in the factor of observe the action of each. A large tank in quartz with resembling what occurs in fermentation. To sum up, ts a tential, or the intensity factor, analogous to the part parallel sides containing one centimeter thickness of from the foregoing it will be seen that the ultra-violet pro Which is played by temperature for calorific energy. distilled water, serves to suppress the extreme ultra- rays afford a powerful source of energy, which at the over Itis in fact known by Carnot’s principle that the me- violet rays. If the water is replaced by solutions of same time can be easily handled and varied according volt- thanical efficiency, or available value of energy, de- chlorides in various proportions, this gives successive to circumstances, and by its use we will be able to id is fends not only upon the quantity but also upon the suppressions of the parts of the mean ultra-violet zone. produce phenomena of a most interesting nature, some thad quality of the energy. For this reason the chemistry Like separations can be obtained by using sereens of of which could not hitherto be produced outside of , %, “f high temperatures has given new and unexpected very thin ordinary glass (0.14 mm.), mica, or the special living beings. | the tesults, especially in the way of decompositions at high “uviol” glass. A glass screen of 2mm. thickness will . ay . od to fmperatures. But what is interesting is that these allow only the initial ultra-violet rays to pass through ; Bicycle Tail-Lights in Great Britain thad factions can be produced at ordinary temperatures these are the rays mentioned above which lie next the HE British automobile journals are giving much the tinder the influence of the ultra-violet rays. The ex- visible spectrum. However the mercury lamp is not space to a violent controversy regarding rear lights akel (sive researches made by the author constitute the needed here, for ordinary daylight will answer. for bicycles. The present law does not require these. basis of a new branch of scientific work, that of effects The most striking application made by M. Berthelot Automobilists insist that all road users should be sub- 1 be of light or photo-chemistry at high frequency, which (together with M. Gaudechon) of the powerful effect ject to the same requirement in this respect. The s has a striking analogy to the chemistry of high temper- of the ultra-violet rays consists in reproducing the cyclists are violent in support of the thesis that the first and in which the quartz mercury-vapor lamp fundamental mechanism of the restoration of chemical «automobilist should light his own road for a distance king Dlays the part of the electric furnace. energy which we find in nature, i.e., the mechanism of within which he can stop, ignoring the obvious fact that sh of It is found that the ultra-violet spectrum can be di- chlorophyllian assimilation. When a mixture of water «4 man on a bicycle reflects practically no light and ts Wded into three regions. As known at present, the and carbonic acid is exposed to the rays, the first effect well nigh invisible in any headlight.

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IR SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN The lee Cream Factory How This Industry Has Been Taken Out of the “Domestic” By William A. McGarry JULY, 1929 Category mixture into a machine known as a homogenizer, Jp this it under light pressure, through a series of dises that rub together with a circular motion similar to the rubbing of the palms The is to break up all the minute glob ules of butter fat in the milk and cream and to insure velvety texture to So thoroughly machine do its work that these fatty par. essential to the food value of the ice cream, are completely distributed throughout the mass and never reunite. passes, purpose of this smooth, the ice cream, does the ticles, so of tl h ¢ lu I rt d oon + t ‘ e itive idle ne n ! ery nd confeet ner res or n = it nts ith littl echun lé¢ e! ind rresponding limited « tp I cre i vu nsidered i sensonal dain profitable on I varm eather Bt | this has been disproved in Phila detptl which is just as fa- mous for its ice cream as for its serapple and cinnamon bun In that city today there is i two-and-a-half-million-dol lar, six-story steel and con crete plant built solely for the purpose of manufactur- ing ice cream, Its present capacity, which is being en larged, is 150,000 quarts a day, or enough ice cream to furnish a standard six-to-a-quart plate to nine hundred Ultimately the company operating able to advertise “a million plates a thousand this plant day" and perhaps more Ice cream making as still carried on in the home for persons, will be in the small freezers sold by many and simple family consumption manufacturers for that It consists of little more than mixing cream with fruit and sugar, plac- purpose, is a swift operation, und milk, ing the milk in the hardens, or condensed milk, freezer and turning the crank until But the work is not as easily done plant. Contrary to the the stufl in a modern ice cream popular supposition that ice cream is “perishable,” the actually “aged” for great ingredients are Condensers located on the roof of the plant cool conditions of temperature, which insures the ideal for ice-cream-freezing purposes of five degrees below in the hottest kind of weather. Experi- that ice cream subjected to the more temperature ence has shown nearly as palatable as intense degrees of cold is not that frozen in from zero to five degrees below. In this plant the practice is to use forty per cent cream, to which is added first the milk and sugar. dairies in four states in When the two- Milk supply comes from many danger of a milk reaches the plant it is pumped inch glass-lined pipe to the top floor, where the mixing shortage. through a order to eliminate process of milk, cream and sugar is performed in glass- From that point the mixture from the into the lined pasteurizing tanks, iltogether by gravity until it moves passes final mixing large cans in which it The first drop from the pasteurizing tank lets the machines or ice cream freezers is delivered to the dealer. From the homogenizers the mix is dropped again, this time to the glass-lined holding tanks, which are kept at cold storage temperatures. Here occurs the aging process. At the end of that period another valve jg turned and the stuff drops again. There are fourteen SO-quart and six 160-quart freezers, large tanks con taining paddles. The two-inch glass-lined pipe lines are equipped with feeders to supply these freezers. The fruit or flavoring is added at this point. When the mass begins to thicken slightly a door is opened in the front of the freezer and the thoroughly mixed ice cream slides slowly into the delivery cans. Each of the mixing machines completes its work ona single batch in a little less than fifteen minutes, produe- ing nine batches every two hours. The cooling medium is circulating calcium chloride, instead of brine because it will not damage any metal parts with which it comes in contact. Each freezer is equipped with a double jacketed cylinder for the circulation of this cook ing material. The cans are capped at the used fact is that the twenty-four to forty-eight hours before being frozen, und after that, with proper icing, the stuff will keep indefinitely without turning : sour. A sour taste in the ) cream indicates either that the mix became sour Hefore freezing through careless- that the ice cream bre one soft rhe sN or Wis allowed to bae and warm enough for terial action to begin, This particular plant is protected against both pos sibilities. Its freezing rooms re equipped to reach a tem perature of twenty degrees : aya below zero under normally +S ~ ee a es 2 sen freezer and moved by trucks to the hardening rooms. Ex treme precautions have been taken to permanent low temperatures at any time of vear in these rooms. The insulation is eight-inch cork blocks and the cooling is by what is known as the indirect system of refrigera- tion, supplied by the latest type of high-speed compound direct - connected refrigerat ing machines. The cans also are provided with cork-lined 2. sf: assure 1. Where the factory makes its own ice. 2. Some of the machinery of the ice cream factory A group of refrigerator units. 3. Pasteurizing tank at the right, coolers in the center (the flat tanks), and homogenizer at left background JULY, tubs in plied to Despi of two-i nothing the milk in whic rooms f conditior used for purpose an outpt ducer in in icing | Operat chines h: eration. will not at the c glass-line apart, W tion. The ers, paste ing tanks Ice cre New Jers distant f: there are eity limit dal depa' used for wood and Left: Isolz within the ing custom delivery of When pr into the pl: ite cream. With as mn eam, and Wed to ho crushed To | Machines 1 Mere or les fer, it is n The househ ® large lm Protest if velvety. The ice « hold on the i$ consuniy Mepertion t less due in the field as standard of Eve! i the hot coming into civen to atl it me: Ors frequer ivalids. W value, and “Mm hardly |

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1922 hine r. In light ies of with ar to alms, is to glob- milk ire a e to ighly » its par- the ‘eam, uted and 'S the this kept iging ve is teen con- lines The the 1 the ‘eam on a due- lium rine hich tha cool- - the ucks Ex- heen nent any pms. inch ling the era- test vind rat: also ined jury, 1922 tubs in which they are iced for delivery. Cabinets sup- plied to the dealers are likewise cork lined. Despite the fact that there is a very great length of two-inch pipe to keep at low temperatures, to say nothing of the freezers, the cold storage rooms in which the milk is stored to await pumping, the holding tanks in which the first mix is aged, and the cold storage noms for the preservation of the fresh fruit in prime endition, the bulk of the refrigeration in the plant is gsed for the icing of the cans for delivery. For this purpose the plant is equipped to manufacture ice. With gn output of 400 tons a day it is the largest single pro- ducer in the city, and fully 300 tons of this is used up in icing cans of ice cream. Operating at full speed, the big chines have a capacity of twelve hundred tons of refrig- eration. But cold alone, even at the lower temperatures, will not make sanitation sure. Therefore in this plant, at the conclusion of a day’s run, every piece of the gass-lined pipe through which the mix passes is taken apart, washed and left overnight in a cleansing solu- tion. The same solution is used for washing the freez- refrigerating ma- ers, pasteurizers and homogenizers, as well as the cool- ing tanks. Ice cream from this plant is sent to virtually all the New Jersey coast resorts and to many other points far distant from the city of its manufacture. In addition there are sixty-six delivery routes within the greater city limits. Cork-insulated bodies are made in a spe- dal department of the plant for the automobile trucks ysed for delivery. These bodies are water tight. All wood and metal signs, cabinets and tubs also are made SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN Dr. Nimfiihr’s Soaring Airplane R. RAIMUND NIMFUHR, the Austrian scientist and inventor of the new type of airplane bearing his name, has recently published a number of articles on the subject of motorless flight. Dr. Nimfiihr calls attention to the difference between soaring, gliding and flapping flight, and shows that it is impossible to learn to “soar” by starting with a motorless glider. In flap- ping flight, the bird moves its wings up and down some- what in the manner of an oar (like a pigeon or a crow), and when the motion of its wings ceases, we have glid- ing flight. When, however, a bird soars it holds its wings stretched out motionless, like a sail—hence the expression “sailing” or soaring flight. All the large sea- birds and birds of prey, like the albatross, seagull, eagle and vulture, cover considerable distances in soaring flight; and in the middle of last century even scientists thought that the frigate bird spent most of its time in soaring flight, only settling for the purposes of breed- ing, while even today the coast dwellers of Borneo believe that the frigate bird lives on air. Audubon, together with other observers, claims the frigate bird to be the fastest flyer over the sea. The three necessary conditions for mechanical automatic soaring are safety from nose-diving capsizing; that is to say, the airplane should not its equilibrium even when it is practically motionless in the horizontal direction, or when the rudder becomes useless in an air pocket. (2) The “lift” or buoyancy of the machine must be unimpaired even when it is traveling at reduced speed or when it gets into a down- Bt and and lose - 99 forming a sort of permanent air cushion on which the airplane riles. It is thereby possible for the machine to keep its altitude even in still air or in the descend. ing branch of an air wave. Dr. Nimfiihr’s airplane, which may be truly described as the most perfect tran- sition between the airplane and the ornithopter (a machine exactly imitating the flight of the bird); further, it combines all the advantages of the airplane and the helicopter (the airplane which can ascend vertically and remain suspended by virtue of its ver- tical suspensory screws). This new system of soaring flight opens up immense prospects of cheap and safe transport, as there are recognized routes where the winds are highly favorable to it. Moreover, the engine power required is but a fraction of that necessary in ordinary airplane flight. Sandy Ice Cream YANDINESS—crystalline texture and the presence of J large, hard, fine gritty crystals like starch—has long been objectionable in commercial ice creams, but has never been explained previous to the conclusion of re- cent investigations conducted by H, F. Zoller and O. E. Williams, government scientists. These experts have isolated and identified the cause of sandiness as lactose and have carefully studied the growth of the sand crystals under the microscope. They have proved that the form of lactose appearing in ice cream is the nor- mal “a” erystal—familiar to sugar manufacturers and chemists—which crystallizes from water solutions in tomahawk-shaped prisms and from protein solutions in more rugged or maize-shaped crystals. a a Left: Isolated “sand” crystals from ice cream that exhibited this defect. Pure recrystallized lactose hydrate the two others, 90 diameters Center: magnified five diameters ; from condensed whey. Right A single crystal of pure sucroge. This is Photomicrographic studies of the crystals in ice cream, which show the origin of “sandiness” Within the plant so that there may be no danger of los- ig customers in a busy season through delay in the delivery of this kind of equipment. When production is at its height tons of fruit pass into the plant every day, and out again in the form of ie cream. The handling of this must be surrounded With as much caution as that given to the milk and @eam, and here again glass-lined, air-tight tanks are ted to hold the fruit after it has been cleaned and Mushed to the proper consistency for mixing. Crushing Machines used are of types already familiar and in fore or less common use. In making ice cream, how- ver, it is necessary to have the mix absolutely smooth. The householder making it for himself will not object ® large lumps of uncrushed fruit, but he is quick to Motest if the commercial article is not smooth and velvety. The ice cream habit apparently has taken a great hold on the American people, as the records show that i$ consumption is increasing year by year far out of Mepertion to the increase in population. This is doubt- eS due in part to the entrance of such companies into the field as that described here, in which a uniform Miidard of quality is reached and maintained at all tifies. Even in the winter ice cream is widely used in il the hotels and restaurants, and apparently it is Ging into greater use every year in the home. It is fiven to athletes who have gone stale, as one of the Witkest means of getting them back on edge; and doc- WS frequently prescribe or permit it to be given to valids. When it is pure it is a food product of great Yilie, and when it is made as we have described it “1 hardly help being pure. ward air current. (3) A soaring airplane must be fitted with wings of variable size and variable angle of set, that is to say, the load on the planes or wings must adapt itself to the variations in the altitude of flight which take place periodically when soaring. Dr. Nimfiihr’s machine fulfils all the above require- ments. To make it secure from nose dives and cap- sizing it is fitted with a number of “pressure-feelers” at different points. These pressure-feelers are nothing more than very sensitive aneroids or pressure gages which, instead of actuating a pointer, close an electric contact and set into motion servo-motors which in their turn automatically shift the wings slightly backward or forward as required, so as to reestablish the stability which may have been displaced by sudden sharp gusts or some other disturbing force. The unique feature of the new airplane, is the pneumatic pulsating wings, which imitate to a certain extent, and mechanically, the swirling flight of certain birds such as the colibri (hummingbird), swallow, ete. In the case of the colibri, the number of wing-impulses are so great that the wings become prac- tically indistinguishable. It was found impossible, however, to give this rapid pulsating motion to the entire wing of a mechanical flyer, so Dr. Nimfiihr con- ceived the idea of making the under wing surface pneu- matic and pulsating. In the hollow space between the upper and lower wing surface are fitted airtight pockets, which are rapidly inflated and deflated by compressed air or the cooled exhaust gases of the engine, and so cause the wing to pulsate. These pulsations cause the under side of the wing to exert a compression impulse the air strata immediately underneath, thus however, against Ordinary mixes of commercial ice cream were made and placed in hardening boxes, the ice cream being re packed each day. On the fourth day, the fine, sandy crystals began to develop and subsequently were stud- ied carefully day by day under the microscope. The general form of the crystals remained the same through- out the 20 days that the observations were conduvted, although they increased greatly in size during this in terval. Microscopic study was facilitated in each case by placing a drop of ice cream upon a glass slide and then viewing it through the microscope in polarized light. Subsequently, the sandy crystals were rated out by allowing some of the ice cream to melt at a temperature of 25 degrees Centigrade. It was then poured into large centrifugal tubes and centrifuged at 2000 revolutions per minute for 10 minutes. This re sulted in all sandiness properties being concentrated in the sediment which could be studied under the micro- scope and subjected to various lactose and sucrose iden- tification tests. Samples of pure lactose and sucrose made expressly for this purpose in the government laboratories were also used for comparative purposes, and ultimately the chemical and dairy specialists found out positively that the lactose crystals caused the sandiness in ice cream. These conclusions are complete upsets so far as the dairying manufacturing industry is concerned, as the accepted theory was that sucrose was responsible for unavoidable presence of these objectionable crystals. The next investigational activities of the dairy scien tists will be to ascertain satisfactory methods for the elimination of these sandy crystals from our popular frozen dainties. Sepa

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30 Investigating The Unique Psychic Laboratory witnessed in history, humanity Faustian craving for has been able to im YO an extent never ‘I is being pervaded by knowledge than modern science purt More had istry than they life yet it was higher ind chem- 1 of physics secret of vs ind thought to lie found wis that certain external phenomena in the world of organisms, they fail closed the first dis- the even to lead to the entrance door whence Is glance at the innermost being of orgunis XV Yo, those alter the which, behind the unceasing forces and decny ever crente anew Nature's forms nance of growth infinite variety of which those forces are at the bottom of our own corporeal and psychic life, «7 Though all nnot be considered to be purely physico-chemical. wortal creatures in their external behavior are bound to follow the physico-chemical laws con trolling matter, the life-giving, driving factors are not to be sought In the world of phenomena accessible to our senses There would never have been a chance of obtaining any knowledge of that hidden world, but for the ex istence, of human beings whose organk ind psychi life occasionally passes beyond the border of what is considered “normal “Witches and “wizards they would have been called in former times, when in honor of mistaken divinity, these exceptional beings were burnt at the stake; “media” they are termed b more charitable era which—as a rule—knows no other pun- Mediators be their their for them than public ridicule tween normal beings and a world inaccessible to five they often enough for extraordinary gifts by an inadequate mental equilib- all of which by no ishment have to pay SCTISES, hy steric caprices, rium and by means facilitate experimental work with them, Let us leave aside all intellectual manifestations and limit for the moment, to a consideration of external phenomena. The validity of certain physico ourselves, chemical laws is apparent in many cases; it will be interesting to see whether all these phenomena are controlled by them, just the same as outside manifes- tations of the normal world. ‘This, in fact, will be the first task incumbent on students desirous not only of acquainting themselves with the mechanism, but even of objectively proving the existence of these phenomena. The use of physical apparatus has therefore been frequently suggested for the investigation of “occult” (or “metapsychic”) phenomena. The famous English physicist William Crookes towards the close of last century was a pioneer in this field, while of recent workers on similar lines the late Dr. Crawford, as well as Dr. Baron von Schrenck-Notzing, of Munich, and Dr. G. Geley, director of the Paris Institut Méta- psychique International, should be mentioned. Excep- tionally experimental outfits have, however, been developed by Fritz Grunewald, of Charlottenburg, who for many years past hus been endeavoring to solve the modern ex- ellicient these problems with all resources of perimental physics. At the Psychic Research Congress recently held at The balance test, in which the medium deflects the balance by willing that it shall deflect SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN By Dr. Alfred Gradenwitz —— —s \ —_ \ AA \ - A Si ——— —~ LA k ciahal - — _ Ae . = —— . encased ted or mm causes a balance to deflect the records of the phe- nomena are exactly A curve that records mediumistic processes his will, to deviate The medium, by exerting and a magnetic needle two parallel where the American Society for Psychical represented by Dr. W. F. Prince, the Mr. Grunewald’s psychic labora- Copenhagen, Research was great sensation wis tory, all the vital parts of which, on an invitation by Danish scientists, had been bodily transferred to the The pioneers of psychic research, meet- agreed Danish capital, ing from practically all countries, were as to The medium’s seat in the cabinet is placed on a spring balance to ascertain any changes in his or her weight the enormous possibilities embodied by these ingenious experimental outfits, and many arrangements for future cooperation with Mr. Grunewald were made. Inasmuch as certain phenomena are sensitive to light, the laboratory at its two windows comprises light- tight curtains, enabling perfect darkness to be obtained The subject to be experi- is seated at a few moments’ notice. mented on (or “medium,” on a chair placed on a spring balance, the deflections of which are transmitted to and recorded by a mirror The medium’s chair stands in a cabinet. opposite wall we notice the experimenter’s a bracket over it; on the table is installed a for registering any deflection of The as she is termed) galvanometer. At the table with large recording outfit the mirror galvanometer carried by the bracket. JULY, 1929 Unknown Forces of Fritz Grunewald, at Charlottenburg lighting of the room (white and red lamps) is ep. trolled from a switchboard; between the two windows there is an electrically illuminated time-piece, the brightness of which is controlled at will. At the way opposite there is an instrument case; between the oyep and experimenter’s table there is a water supply and sink and at the side of it a water-jet pump. A chemi cal balance inclosed in a glass case is found on a bracket to the left of the table. The medium’s spring balance is intended to ascertain any change in weight she may have undergone during tests. In fact, the body of many media during sittings has been found to become heavier or lighter, the latter phenomenon (“levitation,” as it is termed) sometimes being intensified to such a degree that the medium js kept suspended in the air. The balance is of extreme sensitiveness and enables these phenomena to be studied carefully. Another balance of the same construction is installed outside of the cabinet and is intended for certain phenomena of materialization to develop and be weighed upon. The two mirror galvanometers com. municating with the balance will record their curves side by side on the same paper tape, thus enabling the connection between such phenomena and any change to be studied with the in the weight of the medium utmost care. A special arrangement even allows not only the weight of the medium, but the temperature of the cabinet, the degree of opening of its curtaing and the kind and intensity of illumination and other data, to be recorded continually throughout the sitting A small red lamp enables any the experimenter to be re on the same paper tape. personal observations by corded on the same tape. Grunewald has bestowed special interest on the in vestigation of some remarkable phenomena of materi alization, viz., fluctuating, luminous vapors issuing forth from the medium’s body and eventually condens ing into more substantial forms. These were studied, at first with the spectroscope as to their wave lengths (colors), and afterwards photometrically, that is, with regard to their luminous intensity. A chemical inves tigation, likewise contemplated in spite of enormous difficulties, is likely to bring out the presence of phos phorus, thus accounting for the characteristic phot phorus smell accompanying work of this kind. Tem perature readings were taken with a view to elucidating the well-known fact that at the end of psychic séances there is a striking coolness, as though there had bee a consumption of energy. Other remarkable results were obtained with a spe cially constructed balance on which the medium, merely by exerting his or her will-power, from a distance pro duces a repulsion or attraction. Most noteworthy observations were made on the faculty possessed by some media of deflecting the mag netic needle. The body of one medium studied with especial care behaves like a system of magnet poles performing, it would seem, organic functions. In fact a striking connection between this magnetism and physiological processes, such as breathing and digestion, been brought out. Moreover, while the fer (Continued on page 70) has A duplication of Crookes’ famous balance test, which proves the existence of a psychic force Measuring the electric conductivity of a luminous smoke issuing from the medium’s hands JULY, Tere y Earthq N orde are p Colum bi dents, n Georgeto mologica] Francis . $36 othe throughor earthqua! of each d tains a South An A pecu versity w apparatus and delic: m the gr high. On masonry | logical la’ gpecial ca main quac wide, 30 f is provide gas burne the labora sible and | % degrees The pre ismogray and verti feet above fave there photograp! very accur Mtions is Mtomatica faphs by airately re @rrected d fm Union Arlington | Professor i fewer e attendant | life as com ‘The year ®ismicity,” i convers Sismograp! neces i 20. The id eartha year. Within the | ® earthqu: aii, eac distu ie ori were » the others . Were of litt! t any

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1922 con- dows , the wall oven y and hemi- acket rtain uring {tings latter times 1m is treme udied iction dd for nd be con urves gZ the hange h the S hot ature "tains other itting S any e Te 1e in- ateri- suing dens idied, ngths with inves mous phos phos Tem- ating ances Juty, 1922 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN 31 — Two views of the three seismographs in regular use at Georgetown University Earthquake Detection Near The White House By George H. Dacy N order that all evidences of earthquake shocks which = perceptible in the vicinity of the District of Columbia, the private pasturing grounds of the presi- dents, may be registered, studied and interpreted, Georgetown University maintains and operates a seis- mological observatory under the direction of Professor Francis A. Tondorf. This station cooperates with the $36 other lookouts that are scattered throughout the world whose objects are to keep tab on earthquake shocks and to determine the actual centers Georgetown University also main- station at Guatemala, seismological of each disturbance tains a second seismological South America. A peculiar condition developed at Georgetown Uni- versity when the initial installation of seismological apparatus was made. It so happened that the sensitive and delicate quake-registering devices were first placed m the ground floor of South Tower which is 212 feet high, On account of the rocking of this stone and masonry tower during high wind storms, the seismo- bgical laboratory had to move to new quarters. A gecial cave was then censtructed directly under ‘the main quadrangle. This concrete cave is 12 feet 4 inches wide, 30 feet 10 inches in length and 11 feet high. It is provided with double concrete walls between which gas burners are constantly operated in order to make the laboratory as nearly damp and heat-proof as pos- sible and to maintain an equable temperature of about % degrees Fahrenheit. The present installation of three special sismographs, equipped, respectively, with horizontal iad vertical pendulums. In a concrete building 159 feet above sea level some distance from the seismograph tave there is another laboratory where the consists quakes took place last year as no abnormal tidal waves were observed by vessels which constantly ply the waters of the world.” By mid-summer, a new Galitzen seismograph will be installed at Georgetown University. It is now under construction in England having been invented and im- proved by a Russian scientist. It is a vertical seismo- graph which is provided with galvanometric registration which makes its records absolutely impervious to changes in the temperature. It will be the first seis- mograph of this type used in the United States. The fact that this new seismograph of this type is fortified to resist the effects of temperature changes on its registration is of great interest as, heretofore, tempera- ture changes have caused considerable trouble with the recording operations of the types of seismographs now in use, Some Physical Characteristics of the Ear Y means of the audion oscillator, a special telephone receiver tuned to a high natural period and placed against the ear and a suitable circuit, numerous tests at various frequencies have been made on the minimum audibility current for normal and abnormal ears. From these data important conclusions can be drawn regarding the physical and physiological structure of the ear and also concerning the functioning of the ear and the auditory nerves with their endings as organs of hearing. If we define sensitivity as the reciprocal of the minimum vibrational energy in ergs of the receiver diaphragm that the normal ear can detect, then curves can be plotted showing the sensitivity as a function of the frequency. This has been done for a number of normal ears. It is to be observed that up to about 6000 cycles three distinct maxima of sensitivity are present; one at 900 cycles, one 1800 and another one at 3900. It is also important to observe that the sensitivity is much greater throughout the region from 200 to 4500 cycles than outside this range. Within this region are included all the frequencies which are of most importance for both speech and music. The data also suggest the part played by the nerve endings, not as organs for changing mechanical energy into auditory nerve energy, but as organs which respond only to a very narrow range of frequencies where the pitch discrimination is good and which respond to wider ranges where the discrimination is not so good. Some curves were taken which showed that within a range of 100 cycles the hearing decreased suddenly so that the patients were unable to hear even though the vibrational energy of the receiver diaphragm was made 10,000 times as great as was necessary for them to hear at the lower frequency and perhaps 101° as large as was required for a normal ear to hear at the frequency in question. With this amount of energy the region of the internal ear corresponding to the lower frequency was certainly vibrating with an amplitude considerably in excess of that necessary for audibility. Yet no tone was heard. In other words, apparently it would be necessary to stimulate the nerve corresponding to the higher frequency if the tone of the higher pitch is to be heard. Apparently a nerve will respond only to one frequency or a very narrow band of frequencies, The actual pitch determination, then, resides in the nerve endings which appear to have this highly selective action. It seems probable, then, that this* work leads into fields which can be explored by precise physical measurements and which up to the present time have not been covered satisfactorily by other means of in- vestigation.— Abstract from article by J. P. Minton in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. photographic instrument which makes very accurate records of earthquake pul- fitions is kept. The time is registered iitomatically on the Georgetown seismo- ffaphs by five contact clocks which ac- firately record minutes and hours, being @rrected daily by signals from the West- f Union Telegraph Company and the Arlington Wireless Station. Professor Tondorf reports the occurrence {fewer earthquakes last year with an ittendant decreased loss of property and life as compared with the previous year. ‘The year 1921 stands out as one of low ®ismicity,” remarked Professor Tondorf & conversation with the writer. “Our Sismographs recorded 61 earthquake dis- fithances in 1921 as compared with 68 in 20. The latest records show that only W earthquakes occurred the world over Mt year. Of these, 77 were disturbances Mithin the United States as compared with Wearthquakes during 1920. Alaska and aii, each suffered one quake last year, these disturbances being severe and of Wlean ic origin. Two of the shocks felt in Utah were very strong disturbances while the others observed in the United States Were of little significance. It is improbable t any very pronounced submarine and raised without any load. eae The pneumatic pit jack in use (left) to remove a motor from a trolley car, The second view shows the holes in the plunger through which pins are passed for safety when the jack is under load Pneumatic Pit-Jack for Car-Repair Shops the car-repair shops of an electric railway in Texas an interesting pneu- matie pit-jack constructed in the company shops is used. The pits in the shop are of the open type and this jack is so con- structed that it rolls on the inside of the rails which carry the car being repaired. In using this jack the bottom half of the motor is lowered with the armature in It and is then pushed from under the car where the armature is then removed by swinging a jib crane over the track. By this method free access to the poles and field pieces is made possible. The jack frame is constructed of 3- inch channel iron with 3/16 inch corner gusset plates. The wheels are ball hear- ings having pitted balls for which no other use could be found in the shops. The eylinder has a side adjustment of 12 inches and the plunger or push rod has holes drilled 1 inch apart so as to allow a '4- inch pin to be inserted at any height as a safety feature. The top has a minimum height of 83 feet, 2 inches and a maximum lift of 5 feet, 7 inches.

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SCIENTIFIC AMEI When Steel Beams Stretch JULY, 1922 A New Instrument for Observing and Photographing Stresses in Iron and Steel Q*" of the (as yet) unsolved problems confronting the bridge engineer is to what extent his bridges re stressed by moving loads such as railway trains und road vehicles The strains produced by the dead weight of a bridge and the flooring and ballast can be calculated, but with moving loads the conditions are entirely different The speed of a moving train, the possible synchronization of forced vibrations produced by rolling loads with the natural period of vibrations of the structure, the unbalanced thrust on the driving wheels of a locomotive and the impact of heavily loaded wheels passing over rail jeints, et all combine to enhance the effect of the mere weight of a train upon By P. J. Risdon lower end of which is fitted with a third hard-steel point. These three steel points form » forced into the steel, so that or compression of the latter between the points length- of the vertical it is tapered so as to fit tightly in a tapered hole above the detachable cover is removed and a vertical geale substituted, across the divisions of which can be ob. served the bars of light. The reflected bars of light crossing this vertical slit result in two spots of light 1/150th inch by 1/150th inch passing through it. This latter fitting is graduated in 20 main divisions, each division representing a stress of one ton per square inch, thus giving a range of from 0 to 20 tons per square inch, or from —10 to +10 tons per square ineh, Thus with every horizontal movement of the vertieaj leg in the rear casing, the mirror attached to it is tilted and the spot or bar of reflected light moves respectively up and down the slit or scale indicating the stress, whilst the other spot re i bridge In other words, when a locomotive weighing, sah lim? tons CTOSSeS a bridge it may produce stresses in the latter equal t those tli would be pro luced | stationar load f 4h) tons more It is quite i proossi lle vith our present knowledge to calculate with any degree of i \ vVhat the lmpact effect f rapidl moving id mount ‘ r va ing lengths and weights ol span, and hithert vanet has been ade b the adop ion of a more r less bi ry rormuia ‘ el mur ignorance on the subje« mains stationary at the zero position. When the record ing spot moves upwards it indicates that the member being tested is under com. pression, if it moves down. wards below the zero o datum line it indicates ten sion. The instrument measures 20 inches in length between the steel peints, so that it ts obvious that a slight travel of the moving point is great- ly magnified by the move ment of the spot of light, the graduated scale being earefully proportioned to the length of the instrument and Cine fact. howeve!l is quite ertainly known and that is that steel of a known quality and strength stretches or compresses elastically to definite extent in pro portion to the stress to which it is subjected, regaining its normal length when the force producing it is d providing that the stress does not exceed the elastic I inch) Of course, the extent of the elastic distortion is very small At five tons per square inch of sectional area of the steel the stretch in a bar two feet long amounts only to about 1/115th of an inch. To deduce from such a small stretch what the stress amounts to requires either photomicrography or some method of agnification, and the inventor of the Fereday-Palmer stress recorder therefore set A general view of the Fereday-Palmer stress recorder is not in position limit of the steel (about 13 tons per square Within the tube a small mirror is attached for adjustment. this is another mirror fixed to the case. n electric torches, supplied from a four-cell por- the length of the leg. In a detachable box in front of the stress recorder is a pair of vertical spools, on one of which is wound a photographic film of a standard size, the end of which is secured to the other spool. Connected with the empty spool is a_ flexible shaft, the other end of which is coupled to a hand, or, if desired, a motor-driven winding gear. When phe tographic records are required, a stop-end is placed over the front casing, and whilst the spot of light moves up and down in response to stress fluctuations, the film is wound across it from one spool to the other. In order to make sure that the lamp is burning, an it spection window is provided, beneath which another mit ror, held normally in a horizontal position by a spring, may be lowered by pressing out to design on instrument whieh hy autor atically magnifying the amount of stretch or compression of the steelwork in a given length, would record the actual cor- responding stress per square inch This ingenious instrument, which has recently been put through extensive and satis- factory tests by the British Ministry of Transport and by the engineers of several of the big Indian railways, has thrown much light on the perplexing problem of the impact effect of moving vehicles on bridge structures, Although other types of stress recorders have been = a button, thus intercepting the bars of light and refleet- ing them up to an eye-piece Immediately before using the recorder, it is placed upon the calibrator. This consists essentially of a seale and a bar and spring sup ported ‘on a rigid frame ot base. One end of the baris secured to the end of the frame, and the other end a strong spiral spring. This spring is extended by means of a screw and hand lever at the other end of the bar until a pointer indicates. tons per square inch on the bar. At that point the stres recorder should indicate the same stress, the necessaly adjustment to the mirror @ in use, the records obtained by them have been open to doubt, in many cases, owing to the inertia of certain mul- tiplying levers and to the fact that the vibrations of the instrument itself become confused on the record with the vibrations of the structure under test In the Fereday-Palmer stress recorder these objections are ruled out. the elastic movements of the steel under rapidly fluctuating stresses being magnified by a beam of light and recorded by means that will be described. The instrument comprises a steel body-tube one- eighth inch thick, each end of which fits into a short easing, The front end casing is formed with a bracket below it, in which is set a pair of vertical screws ter minating in hard-steel points ¢ ipable of being pressed into any class of structural stee! In the rear casing is a vertical slot in which a specially shaped bar or this lamp, which may . . * . ° These two spots of light, one fixed form- zero line, and the other moving with the impinge against photographic film When, however, stresses are to be he instrument is being calibrated, This puzzling picture is taken looking up through the steel-work of a bridge, and shows the movable leg being made the stress recorder in position After use, the recorder & again checked with the cal brator to make sure it has not got out of adjustmeil The instrument may be clamped to a member of4 bridge girder or secured to it by drilling a small hol in the member and drawing the stress recorder tight up against it by means of a special nut, until the three hard-steel points are firmly embedded in the steelwork to a depth of about one-thirty-second of an inch. Another important application is in the measuremelt of stresses in the hull and framework of a ship in# heavy sea—stresses which it is absolutely impossible to caleulate. Readings may be made to within @ tenth of a ton per square inch, or, with care, to oe twentieth, as was done by the British Ministry Transport. JULY, 4 191 pani ing for time ac recei vec of the | ager of became velop s was eX] runner dried. it was I and the afine di here wa ders fro research with an was in found it tremely the acti heavier The i the inle' There r dust wh This pro ing out Which t! to blow a separ: dust to s bers. ‘T which tl removed or other to see tl channels little gui the air a It wa: be built requiring draft far average Separato of the si Temoves heavy, eC the nei! ous com] Two la in New Y These fa horsepow ffating a fach fan Which shi At highe: Was estin the boile a hour. The mi gible. TI ordinary ject to th

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, 1922 il Seale be ob. f light f light This S, each square ms per ‘e inch, rertical S tilted tively Stress, ot Tre he zero record. irds it nem ber r com down ro or es ten- asures et ween it it is travel gcreat- move- light being to the nt and Ox in spools | of a other lexible 1d, or, l pho- placed light itions other. an in- Tr mir pring essing epting eflect- -piece. using placed This 1 seale yr sup me or har is f the md te This neans lever e bar es. 10 n the stress e the ssary or @ nade. er is eali- ment. of a hole tight three work ment in a sible one one y af 1922 JuLy, SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN 33 Three views of the cinder-separating induced-draft fan, in its parts and assembled in its entirety Catching the Cinders N 1916 an engineer of one of the large power com- | panies in New York City issued specifications call- ing for an induced-draft fan which would at the same cinder No quotations were received in answer to this request, as there was nothing of the kind on the market; but Mr. H. F. Hagen, man- leading concern, started to de- time act as a separator, ager of the research department of a became interested in the and velop something which would serve the purpose. He was experimenting with a paddle-wheel fan, with the runner painted a bright red which was not completely dried. After the fan had been run for about two hours, it was noticed that the driving sides of the tees, rivets, and the inlet portions of the blades were coated with It immediately occurred to Mr. Hagen that problem a fine dust. here was an action sufficiently strong to separate cin ders from the flue gases. This fan had been run in a laboratory where the air was not polluted manufacturing process, and any dust which research with any was in suspension in the air would be similar to that found in separation of such ex- tremely certain that the action very much heavier cinders. The idea was then developed to provide buckets at the inlet edges of the blades of the paddle-wheel fan. There remained only the problem of disposing of the dust which was caught and separated by the wheei. This proved easy ; inclined channels were provided lead- ing out into the special dust chambers in the fan in Which the dust could Since it was impossible to blow the dust with air, as this would involve again a4 separation problem, it decided to permit the dust to settle and fall by gravity into these dust cham- bers. The dust chambers lead hoppers in which the dust is separated and from which it can be removed periodically or continuously by means of screw ow other conveyors. From the view shown, it to see the action of the dust in entering the inclined channels and thence to the dust Several little guiding vanes will be noticed which serve to direct the air and cinders into the inclined channels It was found that this cinder-separating fan be built without taking up any more room and without requiring any more attention than an ordinary induced- draft fan. As a fan it proved more efficient than the average induced-draft fan in the market, and as a separator it was found, on test, to remove 75 per cent of the solid matter in the Naturally the fan femoves a much larger percentage than this of the heavy, coarse material which drops over the city in the neighborhood of the power plants, causing numer- os complaints from the residents in that section. Two large fans were installed in a large power plant in New York City and proved to be a complete success. an office room. If a fine dust was secured it would be seemed successful with the settle. was to closed is easy chambers. could g£uses. These fans are installed in connection with six 500- horsepower boilers, and when these boilers were op- eating at 200 per cent of rating it was found tiat fach fan was removing 250 pounds of cinders per hour, Which showed on analysis some 9700 B.t. u. per pound. At higher ratings this would be much greater, and it Was estimated that if these fans were placed on all of the boilers they would separate seven tons of cinders a hour The maintenance of these fans is practically negli- gible. The wheel will last as long as the wheel of an dinary induced-draft fan because the, latter is sub- ject to the same abrasive action caused by the cinders will last reaches The housing of the fan part of the cinders never the fan housing. The only place where there is any wear is in the cinder chamber of the fan housing. These cinder chambers are provided with easily remov- against the blades. longer because a able wearing strips of simple forms. The cinder-eliminating induced-drafi fan larly desirable for use with underfeed stokers. derfeed stokers do not cause a serious smoke nuisance when they are op- high is particu- The un- as we usually consider smoke, but erating the boilers at over-ratings, the necessary forced-draft pressure blows a lot of the finer portions of the coal over into the stack and these are carried up and discharged over the city. The nuisance thus produced is very serious and is getting more so as boilers are being forced to higher and higher ratings. The extremely fine particles in the smoke are not par- ticularly objectionable because they are carried away by the air currents and not deposited over the sur- rounding neighborhood, but the dust and cinders in the gases are fairly heavy and fall near the stack. Many attempts have been made to clean the gases from boilers, but the success that has been attained up to the present time has not been suilicient to warrant installation of dust-removing devices. Usu- is an expensive proposition The wash- fairly a general ally an electrical to operate, and involves a high investment. resorted to, system ing of the sometimes gives good separation, but the high up-keep of the washers and flue work handicaps this attack upon the problem. gases, Portable thermocouple that registers the infinitesi- mal amounts of heat which we receive from the stars Measuring the Heat from the Stars > vacuum thermepile of glass—a form of thermo-electric battery used as a thermometer in measuring the radiation of stars—has been perfected by W. W. Coblentz of the National Bureau of Stand- ards. The empty space is maintained by use of calcium —a substance present in limestone and chalk—which has the faculty of mixing harmoniously with when it is heated. This device enables those engaged in determining the radiation of stars and sun to main- tain a vacuum without being compelled to have the radiometer or measuring instrument attached to a pump. rases The thermopile or radiometer is built of bismuth wire, 0.08 millimeter in diameter, and silver wire, 0.031 millimeter in diameter. When constructed of wire 0.1 millimeter in diameter the device would be less fragile and therefore better adapted to general use, The receivers of the instrument being described are made of tin, size 1.7 by 1.1 by 0.018 millimeters. The entire length of the receiver of the finished ther- mopile of a dozen elements is 12.5 millimeters; it has a resistance of 6.7 ohms. The bismuth wire, when cut to a prescribed length of 4 millimeters, is pressed flat between glass plates as a means of heightening heat conduction where it is in contact with the receivers. This facilitates the attainment of thermal or heat equilibrium. The sensitivity of this instrument for measuring the heat of the stars is so keen, when exposed to radiation, that a galvanometer swing of two seconds is not re- tarded. Concretely expressed, when employing a gal- vanometer possessing a single swing of two seconds the sensitiveness of the thermopile is se quickly re- sponsive that observations are not made with ease. To illustrate, 90 per cent or 18 centimeters of a total deflection of 20 centimeters is obtained in one second. The instrument in its new vacuum mounting, as shown in the accompanying illustration, is 20 centimeters in height. The mounting takes the form of a cup made of a single piece of glass, which is covered with a thick glass window. The quartz tube, a standard-size test container, holds the calcium and is cemented to the glass tube. The electrodes are of platinum wire 0.8 to 0.4 millimeter thick. Either an induction coil or a 200- to 10,000-volt transformer may be employed for testing the empty space. The glass window enveloping the rear of the con- tainer is 7 millimeters thick. Considerable thickness in this particular is essential as a safeguard against warping by atmospheric pressure and resultant leakage through the ground joint. The latter is closed by use of beeswax and tallow. The lead wires to the thermo- pile are of copper, sealed to the glass with a platinum wire. The glass receptacle is mounted in a brass box, capable of sliding in vertical directions, The calcium used in the vacuum is cut into tiny pieces with a chisel and then inserted in the quartz tube, which is forthwith aflixed to the thermopile container. The de- vice is made void with an oil lamp. While the pump- ing is under way, the calcium is heated with a Bunsen burner as a means of causing this constituent of lime- stone and chalk to become identified with the water vapor, the air left in the container, and the acetylene gas which is generated from the water vapor and the calcium carbide, formed in preceding use. Pumping is continued for some time to clear the walls of the con- tainer of water vapor. then and the vacuum is reasonably The stopeock is closed, permanent,

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SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN invisibly hinged opening revealing the interior In the shop where anatomical models are made Left: Fitting a set of false teeth in the jaws of a toothless skull. Right: The work-room in which large models of the individual organs are made; note the heart model in the foreground, with the The Counterfeit Presentment Anatomical Models — What They Are and Where They Come From N OST of us have seen anatomical models of one i eee or another, in class-room, museum or elsewhere. It is to be doubted whether the average person realizes, however, the variety of these to be had, or the variety complete demonstration of the There is, so far as we necessary to give a entire human mechanism. know, but one establishment in this country where the models in question are made—located in Rochester, N. ¥Y. The majority of those which we see in use or on display come from abroad—and, of course, from Germany. The manufacture of articles of this char- acter seems to temperament of the scientific Teuton. Some of the models are all in come apart to facilitate study of the relationships which and still a third class comprises what to some extent may be called of them show the entire human internally ; some of them are of single organs or groups appeal to the one piece, others they portray ; working models. Some frame, externally or of organs, Of those that involve the entire human body, there are numerous kinds. have seen the general-utility anatomical with its blood-vessels in blue or red or structure of the Those of us who model, diagrams of the muscles are prone to be liberally plied the surface of each muscle. they are entire human tity of special organs. they can actually be taken apart; not they are hollow, modelled true to life inside as well as out, and with a little door that opens and exposes the interior to the familiar of these single-organ brain of such Most of these manikins are accordingly made of papier- mache, degree of running into details, however, is the finishing and coloring. ship combined to the last degree with art and anatomy, sup- with explanatory labels or captions, lettered on “manikins” as show the In addition to the general models, or often known technically, which frame, there is obtainable a great quan- single organs or groups of sectional in the sense that but more often than models of These are seldom most of the studious eye. Perhaps the manikins is that everyone must have seen this one. While occasionally the anatomical model is of plaster or allied material, usually it is so large that the weight construction would be a serious drawback. considerable knowledge calls for a plus an anatomical Even more of a specialized task, This is artisan- Their molding very artisanship, and it is not surprising to learn that there are few places in the world where it can be done properly. The photographs, showing in the one case a small model of a heart with all the delicate tracery of the outlying blood-vessels superposed upon it, and in the other the entire architecture of the abdominal cavity worked out in fullest detail, indicate sufficiently what an ex- tremely delicate and fussy job this one is. The work of the model maker is not wholly confi d to casts and artificial models. For the perishable ele ments of our bodily structure we are of course de pendent upon such counterfeit presentments for class- room and museum display, but our skeleton usually speaks for itself in the show room. There are, how- ever, skeletons and skeletons; and not only do many of them have for some reason to be made good in some deficiency before going upon exhibition, but every one of them has to be articulated and mounted. This, while not such a highly specialized task as model-making, calls for considerable accurate knowledge of anatomy, and is usually done in the same establishment as the other work. Perhaps, next to the insertion of the wire supports that keep arms and legs quiet and ribs from both; its nerves in green, perhaps; its muscle tissue is still another color, and per- haps the skeleton or parts thereof in yet another, will probably agree that the gen- eral effect is confusing. Nevertheless, these general models are of great value as the structural relations between And many showing the several systems depicted. of them are surprisingly complete—there seems to be no end to the sections which ean be lifted off to expose what lies be- neath, or opened up to show what lies in- side. One of our photographs shows the artist putting the finishing touches upon one of these omnibus models. This view gives a very good idea of the way in which the human anatomy is split up into layers by the modellist. In some regions the external layer is omitted altogether, in others it is present but detachable; and again it may be firmly fixed in place and not removable at all—as the side of the face and chest upon which the artist's brush is actually engaged in our view. Aside from the general utility model of the entire human frame, there are those intended to facilitate special study of the nervous system, These usually cireulatory system, the the muscular system, etc are confined to the particular structure which they illustrate, together with such of the skeleton and general structure as is Ssugging, the most frequent operation on skeletons is the supplying of the teeth which the subject has lost in life. Our gold teeth are admirable sub stitutes as far as mastication is com cerned, but they are not exactly a valid base for the study of anatomy; so whe we die under circumstances that put our skeletons in the hands of a museum or clinic, they are usually replaced by care fully constructed substitutes designed only to match in form the genuine article. Particularly is the grisly job of dental work done on skulls that are to be used as such—the dentition is such a very im portant part of skull anatomy that defi cient teeth must be made good before such a specimen can serve any useful purpose. Novel Wire-Wheel Design OME time ago an American wheel Ponca perfected a wood wheel with 4 steel felloe in which the loose wedge was eliminated and fixed lugs securely fast ened to the detachable rim used in its place. This type of wood wheel has beet adopted by several quantity producers of motor cars. Now the fixed lug construe tion has also been applied to wire wheels. The same kind of steel felloe and the same kind of demountable rim are used, and the new wood wheel rims are interchange able with the new wire wheel rims. The attached lugs on the wire wheels are said necessary to support and locate the parts which it is desired to show. Those es- pecially which serve as three-dimensional A retoucher putting the “hair” on the head of a half-finished figure cast to life size to do away with loosening of the spokes and with throwing the wheel out of round

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h the » few The lel of lying r the irked 1 ex- fh d ele- : de- lass- lally how- lany ome one hile ‘ing, my, the wire rom tion the

JULY, 1922 The Airman’s Weather-Finder IRPLANE traflic between Britain and France has i been greatly hampered by fog, that characteristic feature of British weather. It has often been impossi- ble to start, or at least altogether risky to venture into the air, from the starting point at Croydon, even though reports from stations five or ten miles along the route showed clear skies; for no adequate information could be had of the extent and particularly of the depth of the fog. Through the courtesy of the Jllustrated London News we are able to show a clever, albeit extremely simple, ap- SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN The paper points out that different grades of lime are required for the different varieties of glass. Thus, plate glass requires lime containing a high proportion of calcium and magnesium oxides, while cheaper glasses make use of less pure lime. In conclusion it is recommended that limes be divided into three classes containing 96, 91 afid 83 per cent of oxides of calcium and magnesium. It is also necessary that the calcium oxide content shall not vary from day to day, the maximum variation permitted being 2 per cent. All of these figures apply equally to limestone, quicklime and hydrated lime, the percentage being cal- it has been further identified, on account of the small quantity present. The rose “George Dickson” was chosen for this in- vestigation on account of its deep red color, which would indicate a fairly large percentage of the an- thocyan pigment. One hundred grams of the petals (which had been first air-dried in the shade, at room temperature, and finally over concentrated sulphuric acid), were allowed to stand in a closed vessel, with about 300 c. « of methyl aleohol, containing 2 per cent of concentrated hydrochloric acid (to prevent pseudobase formation), for about 24 hours: the

paratus, by means of which this uncertain and unsatis- factory condition has been entirely done away with. It is known that human hair contracts sharply on passing from damp to dry air. A group of toy balloons is sent up on a cord through the fog: and they carry a little device by means of which, through the stated property of human hair, a signal is given to those below when the top of the cord emerges into clear, dry air. This sig- nal consists in the dropping down the cord of a metal ring. The manner in which this scheme is worked out is no less clever than the general idea itself. The ring is held in place on the cord, when the instrument starts its flight by a trigger-like catch. Attached to the butt end of this catch is the hair, which passes over a little pulley- wheel that acts as a ful- crum, and then runs up for some inches through an open cage exposed to the weather. The hair is damp to begin with when the adjustment is made on _ starting the flight, and so long as it re- mains in the damp, foggy air it remains damp and nothing happens. When it reaches the clear, dry air above the top of the fog, however, it contracts; and by virtue of the purchase given it in its passage over the fulcrum, it drags the catch-off to one side and releases the ring. The latter is mounted around the cord on which the ap- paratus goes up, so that it falls, not freely, but down this cord. When it puts in its appearance at the lower end of this, the observers know that the top of the cord has emerged into clear weather; and, knowing how much cord they have paid out, they know how high the pilot must direct his plane in the search for fair weather. It is contemplated install- ing this weather-finder at close intervals along the

mass was then pressed, te obtain as much extract as possible, and the residue treated with a further quan- tity of methyl alcoholic hydrochloric acid. After standing some hours, this was filtered, with suction, and as the extraction was still incomplete, the residue was again extracted with the same solvent. The resi- due, after filtering and wash- ing, possessed but a pale pink color, and further ex- traction was deemed un- necessary. The filtrates and washings were united; they possessed a fine, deep red color, with a bluish-violet tinge at the edge of the so- lution. The combined 41 trates and washings were poured into about three times their volume of ether, well agitated, and allowed to stand for some hours. Prae- tically all the anthocyan pig- ment separated out as a dark brown, gummy mass, from which the supernatant solution could be readily de- canted. The crude anthocyan pig- ment was redissolved in methyl alcoholic hydrochloric acid, and reprecipitated with ether (about two and a half times the volume of the aleoholic solution). After standing some hours, to al-_ low precipitation to be as complete as possible, the ether-alcohol solution was decanted off and the precipi- tate allowed to stand for 24

ee)

iin iP. hours in contact with a mix- ture of methyl alcohol and glacial acetic acid (to re. move impurities capable of being hydrolysed or acety? lated), and finally collected on a filter, washed with a small quantity of methyl al- cohol (containing 1 per cent hydrochloric acid), and air- dried. The dark brown powder thus obtained was dissolved in boiling water, an equal volume of ethyl alcohol (containing 3 per cent hy- drochloric acid) added, and the solution allowed to cool; the coloring matter sep

Paris-London route, in con- junction with radio stations. The pilots of the planes will then be advised at all times how high they must go at various parts of their journey to get clear weather, and, among other things, to avoid such accidents as the recent fatal collision in the fog. In addition, the uncertainty surrounding the question of whether a safe start might be made in thick weather would be resolved, and trips that are now lost could be made alike in safety and in comfort. Limestone, Quicklime and Hydrated Lime for Use in the Manufacture of Glass IRCULAR 118 of the Bureau of Standards, for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., at 5 cents per copy, considers the quality of lime to be used in the manu- facture of glass. The details of construction and operation, and some of the suggested uses, of the latest device for sound- ing the thickness of fogs and locating the clear zone above them culated upon the nonvolatile matter of the material. Whichever material is used, it should be fine enough to pass a No. 16 sieve. The Coloring Matter of Red Roses N examination of the petals of the red rose “George 4 Dickson” has shown that the anthocyan pigment contained therein is the cyanidin glucoside, cyanin. It is present to the extent of about 9/10 per cent by weight of the dried petals, and exists in the petals as an oxonium salt (i. e., in combination with a plant acid). A yellow glucoside sap-pigment also occurs in the same flowers, but beyond the fact that it has been shown to be capable of producing an anthocyan, by reduction, and that it is not a glucoside of the flavonol myricetin, arated out in the form of dark brown leaflets, possess- ing a golden reflex. These were collected and air-dried. For identification purposes the anthocyanin chloride thus obtained was examined for the following properties: viz., crystalline form, cotor and reflex; color changes on the addition of ferric chloride to aqueous and alcoholic solutions; color of solutions in aqueous acid and alcohol; color changes with alkalies; behavior with Fehling’s solution (hot and cold); color of precipitate with lead acetate; and behavior with sodium bisulphate. On comparing these properties with those given by Willstatter and Nolan for cyanin chloride, they were found to be identical; the anthocyan pigment of the red rose “George Dickson” is, therefore, the di-glucoside eyanin.—G. Currey in the Proceedings of the Royal Society for March, 1922

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SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN JULY, 1922 36 ITHERTO, in the few years H of its operation, the State Barge Canal bas labored under the great disadvantage’ that when its barges laden with wheut reached New York, they were dependent upon the grain eleva tors of their competitors, the rail roads, for receiving and handling their cargoes The railroads nat urally gave preference to their own trainioads of wheat, and the canal barges had to wait their turn, and were subjected to much costly delay. Consequently New York State has constructed the very fine concrete elevator, with its accompanying docks, dock sheds, and covered convevor belts which is shown in our illustra tion. This great plant has been built in South Brooklyn, where is conveniently situated to the main channel which leads into und out of New York Harbor. The elevator itself covers a site length, and 70 1O8 feet In about feet in width. Here, resting upon pile foundations, has been built up a great cluster of circular, reinforced-concrete bins, VW ar runged three abreast There are 4 of these circular bins, and by studying the plan-view it will be seen that they are connected with each other, both transversely and longitudinally, by vertical walls of concrete, which serve to pro- vide between the circular bins a series of star-shaped bins, Y, of which there are 34 In all: while around the outside of the struc ture a series of curved segmental walls provide 38 small bins, Z The circular bins have a of 25,000 The inner 16,000 bushels each, and the outer spaces have a 10) bushels. The total capacity of the whole 2,000,000 bushels. The height of the the total height from grade to the top of the main structure is 110 feet. The walls of the bins are S inches thick, and they reinforced circumferentially capacity storing bushels each. bins contain ‘ ipacity of structure is about bin is 05 feet. and ure Fig. 1. Vertical section through a marine tower lofter, with elevator unloading a barge-load of grain General view of the two-million-bushel grain elevator, now completing for the State Barge Canal, showing its location in New York Harbor. To Canal dock, and between elevator house and dock extend the covered-in b The Terminal Elevator for Built to Receive Grain from the Canal B Deliver It to Deep-Sea by flat bars of steel which vary in sections from %”x1\4” for the first 65 feet of height, to 34”x1” in the next 15 feet, to 14,"x1" to the top. We are indebted for these details to Mr. H. G. Onstad, the engineer for the Fegles Construction Company, build- of the for the of this great work, which, by the way, has been pushed through with elevators, particulars ers remarkable speed. The concrete bins which constitute one complete monolithic construction were poured and carried to their full height between September 27 and October 9 of last year, or in 13 days of two shifts each. Continuous pouring at such a rapid facilitated 600 special steel screw-jacks, which rate was by the use of nearly supported the sliding forms, the latter being lifted steadily us the work proceeded. All the materials were barge to the site, where they were deposited in The handled by two each bins having an and an ex men were em top of the bins, about 300. concrete brought by wis two mixed concrete 160 feet high, 65 cubie yards capacity, Forty two the large piles, hoist towers, ugeregate each of tensive belt conveyor ployed in wheeling the concrete to und the total number of men employed In addition to the bins and their equipment for handling the grain, there was built a large pier and freight shed, and a system of overhead belt-conveyors, which lead from the elevator house down to the extreme ends of the pier. The whole of this work will have been completed in about 12 months’ time from the beginning of operations. In our general this plant are looking in a system. was view of we northwesterly direction. The barges are brought to the east side of the elevator house and moored alongside the one at each end We present a cross-section of one alongside, from which The grain is taken from the barge by known as a marine leg, “A” (Fig. 1), which consists of an inclosed structure within which runs an endless belt provided with buckets, which, as the belt travels, scoop up the grain and carry it to the top of the marine towers, of which there are three; and one in the center. towers showing a the grain is being removed. of these barge what is leg, where it is discharged into a spout, “B.” The grain within the barge is brought to the foot of the marine leg by means of automatic grain shovels, which are operated by ropes from shovel machines installed at the base of the tower. led marine The grain passés down the chute, “B,” and is delivered to the boot, “C,” at the foot of the marine lofter (Fig. 2): and here it is elevated to a receptacle known “DPD.” From the garner it is discharged by garner, “F,” from which it passes through a tower gurner, gravity to a spout either to the main lofter legs, “G,” which are di- rectly opposite the bottom of the spout. or to a belt-con- veyor, “H,” which in turn discharges the grain to any of the seven lofter legs, which are placed at intervals down the length of the bins of the storage The lofter legs carry the grain to the top of the cupolas, “Ss,” of which there is one large cupola at the southerly end of the bins, which is served by five legs, and two smaller cupolas, one at the center and the other at the northwesterly end of the bins, each provided with one lofter leg. Our drawing (Fig. 2) is a cross-section taken through the bins and the main five-leg cupola. When the grain reaches the top of the cupola it may either be discharged into the garners, “G,” or be spouted direct to the bins within reach of this spout; or it may be house. ¢ in the b charged ‘ side of | a diagon ing garn direetly the forei spouts t¢ put back that the ‘anal bo: Fig. 3. i Section through elevator house, showing bin .constructic 70 feet wide by 400 feet long, and 100*eet high, j discharged onto be It-conveyors, “I,” which extend for the full length of the house and can discharge it te any one of the 126 bins. It should be noted here that all grain is weighed before it enters the bins. When the grain reaches the top of the cupola, “g,” It is spouted to a large garner, “J,” and from “J” it goes to a scale hopper, “K,” where it is weighed; and thence !t passes through spouts to the adjacent bins, or to the con- veyor-belt, “I,” as before mentioned. Now, when the grain which has come through the barge canal reaches the lofter, it contains a certain amount of grain dust, and foreign material, such as mustard seed, and it is necessary to clean it before it is placed oats, etc., the house The for of the flo barges th The du fans: sett house: e¢ loaded to Now, si more or | house, Westerly tylindrics

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2 JULY, 1922 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN + York Harbor. To the right is the elevator house, with the tall buildings of Manhattan in the distance. end the covered-in belt conveyors for transferring the grain for shipment vator for State Barge Canal m the Canal Barges and Store, Clean and It to Deep-Sea Shipping » house. ¢ in the bins to await shipment. For cleaning, it cupolas, charged to certain bins, “M,” shown on the right-hand southerly side of our drawing (Fig and = 0 i diagonal floor, the upper portion being used as a clean- r at the vith one directly to four large cleaning machines which remove all on taken the foreign matter, and discharge the clean grain through spouts to the lofter legs, “G,” by which it is elevated and | it may it back into the bins of the house. It should be noted spouted that the uncleaned grain may be taken direct from tmay be canal boats, or it may be taken from the storage bins 2), which are sub-divided ng garner. From these garners the grain is spouted te A ES TT ving bin onstruction and the five grain spouts. The structure, and 100ett high, is built of reinforced concrete for the ' the house. as may be desired. any one The foreign matter is spouted into sacks; stored oh one ul ai if . e . . I] gram = the floors in the cleaning house; and finally loaded into arges through what are known as the bag spouts. “ug? the col- loaded to barges for shipment. Now, since the grain, due to various causes, may become e barge = More or less damp, it is necessary to treat it in the dryer ount of house, The dryer house, which is shown at the rd seed, Westerly end of the main building, is filled with vertical s placed cylindrica) receptacles, which are traversed by a a The dust in the cleaning house is drawn off by suction " f - es . goes ans; settled in a dust collector on the roof of the cleaning pence € = house; conveyed to a dust bin; placed in bags; and finally number of horizontal hollow pipes or ducts, through which a stream of hot air is forced under pressure. These ducts are freely perforated, so as to allow an escape for the hot air into the vertical drying cylinders. The damp grain is discharged by gravity at the top of these dryers, and as it passes down it is freely washed, if we may use the term, by the hot air issuing from the above-mentioned ducts. After discharge at the bottom, the grain is elevated and passed through a cooler, which is of the same general construction as the dryer, but with this difference—that cold instead of hot air is forced from the ducts into the grain, as it passes down. After being thus dried and cooled, the grain passes to the scale hoppers, where it is weighed and delivered to the lofter legs, which carry it up to the top of the bins for storage. Along the northwestern side of the bin house are seven divided bins, the upper portions, “M,” of which are used as shipping bins. From “M” the grain falls through spouts, “N,” to the belt-conveyors, “O,” which are housed within the elevated structures which extend from the great bin house to the end of the shipping pier. These belts are served by a series of shipping spouts, which are arranged at intervals down the full length of the deck. Through these the grain is spouted into the holds of foreign and coastwise ships. From the shipping bins, “M,” if it is so desired, the grain can be loaded through spouts, “P,” on the easterly side of the house, either to barges or to the smaller sea- going ships. Nutrient Requirements of Growing Chicks FELLOW CORN (maize) is deficient in several of the y essential qualities necessary for the complete nutrition of growing chicks.. A deficiency in the ash content of the yellow corn kernel is no doubt responsible for the early failure by baby chicks when restricted to a ration of corn alone. Supplementing the corn kernel with 5 per cent of a complete ash mixture improved the ration so as to enable very slow but persistent growth. Yellow corn is deficient in quality and quantity of protein required for normal growth, of chicks, The addi- tion of more corn protein by including corn gluten in the ration did not markedly improve the efficiency of the ration, The addition of 15 per cent purified casein to a basal ration of yellow corn and ash did improve the ration decidedly. The amino acid deficiencies of the corn pro- teins are no doubt supplemented by the amino acid contri- butions of the casein. Supplementing the basal yellow corn ration with certain other proteins, egg albumen, and gelatin, lowered rather than raised the efficiency of the ration. The poor results with rations 217 and 218 were probably due to a distinctly In the left foreground is the new Barge sticky physical quality which prevented normal nutrition, The fat-soluble food accessory does not appear to be a limiting : factor in a yellow corn diet for baby chicks. The addition of butter fat to a yellow corn, casein, and ash ration did not im- prove but rather lowered the efficiency of the ration. A slight change in the physical condition of the ration may explain this lowered efliciency, though it is more probable that the butter fat addition temporarily stimulated growth so that the supply of some other essential accessory was exhausted earlier than would have been the case had the butter fat been omitted. It is apparent at least that the failure of chicks on ration 215 was not due to fat- soluble A starvation, Green feeds make certain very valuable contributions to a ration for growing chicks. The addition of wheat greens to a yellow corn, casein, and ash ration effected a decided improvement in the effi- ciency of the ration. An excess of the wheat greens was offered, and subsequent observations in- dicate that about 5 per cent (dry matter basis) of this kind of green food are consumed when offered regularly !n excess, The helpful influence of the wheat greens may have heen due to, first, an improvement of the phy- sical condition of the ration; second, a food accessory contri- bution; third, an increased food consumption, due to a stimula- tory effect on the appetite. It is possible to raise to normal maturity chicks confined to a small pen. Drummond reports great difficulty in rearing chicks in confinement, and other investigators have noted some of the problems, especially leg weakness. —Messrs. Jack Cecil Drummond, FE. B,. Hart, J. G. Haipin, H. Steenbock, in the Journal of Agricultural Research for October, 1921, Fig. 2. Vertical section through house, showing ele- vators, belt conveyors, etc., for handling the grain

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; pacity, insulation is in place, 338 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN Stopping the Leaks JULY, 1922 How Asbestos Insulation Improves the Performance of Electrical Apparatus otors, dynamos, and trans TIVE rated capacity of t than doubled formers, so we are told, could be more by improving their insulation so that this feature of their makeup would be on a par with the other asso clated elements. This is certainly a significant state ment: and realization of this desideratum and to make it renders it moistureproof, but it finish that helps it measurably abrasion After this process the insulation is passed through rolls in order uniform as to size. This is of to the conductor and also gives the wire a to resist mechanical to smooth it very importance in manufacturing magnet wire, as a thousands of an inch one way or makes it unfit. The insulating envelope thus produced is guaranteed not to exceed in thickness the double cotton cover of a similar wire. There was a time when asbestos for this purpose was great variation of a few the other ubout a great advance in the Ily applied electricity would bring art of It is a among the practica knowledge that the could be fear common fraternity apparatus matter of electrical overload periods of much extended if it were not for the that the action of heat The heat-resisting ing materials usually ally taxed to the limit temperature of a motor, for risen to the boiling point It seems that frequently recurring tem- insulation would fail through the overloading insulat- employed is gener long before the instance, has induced by capacity of the a sustained or perature in the neighborhood of 150 de- Fahrenheit promotes carbonization tape, and this reaction trans- insulating fabric from a non- into a good conductor of elec- grees of cotton forms the conductor tricity. ‘The breakdown of the insulation invites damaging if not destructive short objected to because of the bulkier char- acter of the insulation. The Navy has re- cently specified that asbestos insulated wire be utilized for the motors, ete., of a group of our newest submarines, where service conditions are very trying and the demands extremely exacting. Magnet wire, whether round, flat or square, can be insulated in this manner with asbestos, and the envelope will hold its own even when the copper conductor is heated to the fusing point. The insula- tion can be heated quite 500 degrees with- out lowering its dielectric value; and it takes a temperature of 2280 degrees Fah- renheit to melt asbestos. Magnet wire, insulated as described, can be sharply bent without cracking or breaking the _ tective covering; and an elongation of | per cent is permissible. In conclusion, let it be said that switch- board wire, nitrogen-lamp cord, heater circuiting. - On electric railways, on classes of machinery, on elevators, in rolling mills, in mines, and in numerous other departments of industrial life, the nature of the service demands frequent starting and stopping loads of varying intensity. The heating, temperature many and the handling of sudden application of especially of the rapidly if the The same handicap is laid upon the operation windings produces this maintained for a loads and these armatures, mounts stresses are while of lifting switches, the magnets, automatic of electric furnaces, solenoids, induction coils, trans- formers, etc. The betterment of insulation by the sub- stitution of a material that can withstand high tem- properties is a for cotton, rated ca- and peratures and still retain its dielectric wide concern. Such a substitute would permit an matter of for example, would safeguard agi substantial American technicists have been evolv- and they increase of iinst electrical collapse, would effect very economies. For some years, forms of asbestos insulation, ing, step by step, insulators of this substance capable are now producing of replacing cotton or rubber wherever conditions re- quire expesure to high This state of the art has been reached only after extensive and costly for from the very nature of their struc- fibers are temperatures, experimenting ture and physical much more difficult to manipulate than the long and pliant filaments of silk, flax, cotton, etc. Again, it has been essential that asbestos free from any traces of iron used, lest its dielectric characteristics asbestos or other metallic oxides be properties be impaired. Fortunately, as- Inspecting, electrically, small magnet-wire insulated with asbestos. The wire passes through a mercury bath, and if there is any gap in the insulation, the mercury penetrates to the charged wire, closes a circuit, and lights the lamp Carding the fiberized 3 asbestos before working it into roving cord for divers electrical appliances, mov- ing-picture cables, and other cables that are led through hot places, are now to be had in which asbestos insulates against leakage and the harmful effects of either heat or fire. American enterprise and ingenuity have made these commodities possible; and the net result is a long step forward in the direction of added effi- ciency and greater security in the use of electricity. electrical The Physiology of Grapefruit Ripening and Storage A* a result of investigations made on the Physiology of Grapefruit Ripening and Storage, Mr. L. A. Hawkins of the United States Department of Agricul- ture concludes, in an article in the Journal of Agricul- tural Research for October, 1921: “It has been brought out that in warm storage the percentage of acid calculated to the wet weight of the pulp increases markedly in two months’ storage. There is evidence that this increase is not due entirely to loss of water from the pulp, but that there is an increase in the amount of acid present. There is evi- dence indicating that there may be a slight decrease in the sugar content in warm storage. In cold storage there is a decrease in the acidity very marked after four months in storage, while there is little change in the amount of total sugars present. A _ possible ex- planation of this difference in the behavior of the sugars and acids in warm and cold storage was pointed out. This phase of the problem deserves further atten- tion. The investigations on the changes purity is obtainable; and the best of this material is now mined right here in the United States. Its fila- ments are frequently three inches or more in length; and this permits the stuff to be worked up so as to Insure ample me- chanical strength and uniformity in thick- ness of the insulating envelope. The crude asbestos is run through a fiberizing plant, where it is shredded and freed from particles of rock. After this treatment it comes from the machines in a light, fluffy Next, it is put through carding apparatus which comb all of the fibers out parallel to one another, and so prepared the mineral filaments are spun into a loose strand known as “rov- ing.” This roving is formed on a base of threads of cotton or silk: and these materials oxidize after the this deterioration weaken In any bestos of this state. a few should of the textiles does not way the strength or the dielectric value of the insulating asbestos. When the asbestos is to act as an electri- cal insulator it is wound immediately and uniformly around the copper conductor, and in the fruit during development on the tree showed that the total sugar con- tent increased while the acidity decreased, the increase in sugar content being very marked. “Fruit on the tree increases in pala- tability and food value. There is, of course, always danger that the seeds will sprout in the varieties containing seeds if the fruit remains on the tree too long. There is also danger that the fruit will drop or be shaken from the tree by high winds.” These problems are common to all fruit-growing, and it does not seem that they should dictate the picking time of grapefruit more than of other species. “It is of interest to note that the behav- ior of the acids and sugars during growth and in cold storage is similar to the behavior of these constituents of some of the deciduous fruits; that is, it is ap- parently possible to remove the fruit from the tree after it is well along toward maturity and to ripen it in storage. The result will be an apparently sweeter fruit, due to loss of acidity and a reduced bitter- ness, the naringin or bitter principle ther saturated with a chemically neutral cement. In the case of magnet wire, the impregnant not only binds the insulation Insulating heater cord with a covering of asbestos roving, on a machine capable of finishing 40,000 feet of wire per day breaking down in storage. A period in cold storage, then, renders the fruit more palatable.” As a pe «-—— A Cl OR m: been t ring po it than 1 for tl iform r » tight 1 ificult p wst dra lich mi; sing hig (erystall ‘bration r instar teriorate hen no i We illus kc years de main-s electric, ther she e marke e dry b teed to winly th: rmittent sed anc terval of — no There is und. T once th can not run it ; g shows The spir riving pa luctor) in tiving pa Mthe rat | When t os the wth and fith the | fom the ergized wshing tl oth in tl the too oth and ised fro hen able peated. | Making pring A, is only he sprin fave for duced by ere is n ithe acti lay. The he spring Went a ni So accu fat it is fi keep

Page 39

GROUND the mechanism of the battery-driven clock, that has o main-spring and needs no winding, running for a year without attention A Clock That Runs Without Winding MR many years the bugbear of clock-makers has been the main-spring. Spring tension and spring ing power are of course greater when the spring is it than when it is partly run down; and the regula- 1 for this condition, to insure regular running at a iform rate from the time the main-spring is wound » tight until it is completely run down, is the most ficult part of clock-making. And this is but the rst drawback of the main-spring—there are others lich might be mentioned, such as the necessity for ing highly-tempered steel, which is peculiarly liable crystallization and breakage when subjected to much bration—which it gets when used on an automobile, r instance—and which, under this crystallization, teriorates rapidly and to an extreme degree even en no actual break occurs. We illustrate a clock, now on the market after some kc years of investigation and development, in which je main-spring is done away with. The driving force electric, and comes from the battery. The user of the ther short-lived search-lights which have been on emarket in recent years will be amazed to learn that e dry battery which comes with the clock is guar- jteed to run it for a year. The reason for this is kinly that current is used, not continuously, but in- mittently. At each tick of the clock the circuit is sed and the current flows “or an extremely short terval of time; during by far the larger part of each pnd no “juice” is used. There is no main-spring, and hence the clock is never mund. The timepiece is set, the battery inserted, and once the clock starts running and runs for a year. can not run irregularly—so long as there is current run it at all it must keep uniform time. The draw- gshows the principles of its operation. The spiral spring A pulls the armature B so that the riving paw! D drives the ratchet wheel F (a non-con- netor) in the clockwise direction of the arrow. The lriving pawl D and the holding pawl /’ press downward fthe ratchet wheel LP. When this wheel turns through the length of one Wwth the holding pawl F drops from the top of the foth and makes contact, as shown in the drawing, fith the driving pawl D, thus completing the circuit ftom the battery through the magnet G. The latter, Mergized by the connection, attracts the armature B, hing the driving pawl D over the top of the next th in the ratchet wheel. D then drops to the bottom the tooth, the pawl F’ being held at the top of the oth and the circuit broken. With the armature re- used from the magnetic pull, the spiral spring A is ® able to pull it over again, and the process is peated. \Making and breaking the circuit, which tensions ting A, takes less than one-fiftieth of a second, and | is only during this interval that current is used. tle spring remains always under the same tension “ive for the variation between tension and relaxation duced by the action of the current and the magnet) ; fre is nothing to run down and no change whatever the action of the clock from hour to hour or day to 'y. The current is either strong enough to overcome Spring, and work the clock; or it is not, and in this vent a new battery is put in—once a year. So accurate is the clock when run in this fashion Maat it is sold under an unqualified guarantee that it fil keep time to the user’s satisfaction. SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN Ventilating Manholes with a Portable Blower Detroit the company furnishing electricity to the city has developed an interesting machine for ven- tilating manholes. When the temperature survey shows a hot duct run with temperatures of 150 degrees or over, this outfit is hauled to the vicinity and mounted ever the manhole at one end of the hot duct run. The large vertical vent-pipe is inserted in a sheet-iron plate which is the same diameter as the manhole cover. The iron plate and vent-pipe are cemented together with asbestos cement so that an air-tight job will be attained. A ventilating cover is placed on the manhole at the other end of the hot run. This cover consists of a number of one-inch by one-half-inch bars spaced three- quarters of an inch apart and bound together by a cir- cular band. The blower has a 28-inch fan, and the power is fur- nished by a T7%-horsepower 220-vyolt D. C. motor mounted on a steel truck. Wires are strung to the nearest pole or wall-box, and when the blower is in motion a cooling current of air is forced through the ducts. Optimum Temperatures for Flower Seed Germination N an interesting article in the Botanical Gazette for | December, 1921, Mr. G. T. Harrington presents the results of experiments made to determine the optimum temperatures for flower seed germination. In conclu- sion the author says it is evident that the use of warm temperatures usually increases the rapidity of germina- tion of the species investigated, but that comparatively low temperatures are more favorable for completeness of germination. In conducting germination tests of each species, a temperature should be used which Is warm enough to accelerate the progress of germination as much as can safely be done. At the same time, it should not be warm enough to prevent the germination of any viable seeds, or to encourage more than is necessury the development of microorganisms. When the germination temperature is too warm, fre- quently the germinated seeds make but little growth, and it is impossible to judge the comparative vigor of different lots of seeds. Sometimes weak seeds of little value will germinate when a warm temperature is used, How five fixed points at the top and sides of the dome were made sufficient support for a painter’s platform 39 A portable outfit-for blowing fresh cool air into man- holes and electric ducts and will then appear to as good advantage as other strong, vigorous seeds. If the germination tests are made with a more favorable temperature, both the strong and the weak seeds will germinate, but in this case the difference will be obvious at once. In this case some seedlings make rapid growth and are normal in appearance, while others have a watery, translucent ap- pearance, grow very slowly, and sometimes have begun to decay before emerging from the seed coat. On the other hand, too cool a temperature decreases the ger- mination, increases the time required, increases also the difference in time required by different lots of seeds of the same species, and thus makes uniform pro- cedure with the different lots impossible. In conducting germination tests of some seeds, con- siderable latitude is permissible in deciding upon the temperature to be used. With certain other kinds, as lurkspur, the temperature requirements for complete- ness and rapidity of germination fall within narrow limits. The substratum should be such as to furnish abun- dant water to the germinating seeds without limiting the supply of oxygen. For this purpose folded blotting paper well moistened with water is favorable. Most seeds of medium size can safely be tested between folds of blotting paper. Very small seeds do not hold the separate folds of the blotting paper apart so as to allow circulation of air between them. To insure a sufficient supply of oxygen, such seeds should be tested on top of the moist blotting paper. Candytuft seeds were tested on top of the blotting paper, not because of their size, but because of their mucilaginous cover- ing, which softens when the seeds are wet and sticks the seeds insecurely to both the upper and lower layers of the blotting paper, thus increasing the danger of loss or displacement of the seeds when the blotters are opened to count the germinated seeds. Pansy seeds have a mucilaginous covering similar to the covering of candytuft seeds and may well be tested on top of blotting paper, instead of between blotters as in this investigation. Large seeds, such as sweet pea and nasturtium, should be tested between folds of moist canton flannel or other similar material, instead of in moist blotting paper, because the cloth folds around each seed and supplies moisture to a larger portion of its surface than the blotting paper does. Painting the Inside of a Big Dome Without Scaffolding AINTING, cleaning, or other work on the inner surface of a big dome has usually involved the erection of a large quantity of wooden scaffolding, at considerable expense and extreme inconvenience. The superintendent of one of San Francisco's big depart- ment stores, which boasts a large, dome-surmounted rotunda, met the problem in a novel and highly in- genious fashion. From the center of the dome he sus- pended a long and sufficiently heavy steel cable. At the lower end of this, where it hung in space, he at- tached four other cables, and stretched these taut in four directions to serve as guy lines. The picture shows this construction, and indicates that with the guys in place the cable is really a suspended pole, with ample rigidity. From its high-flung base a derrick-like ar- rangement was then swung upwards, carrying a com- fortable seat for the workers, and supported further by lines to the top of the dome. The derrick-mast is sectional, and may be lengthened or shortened to permit of the workers reaching any desired spot on the interior of the dome.

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40 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN JULY, 1999 How Airship Accidents Lead to Airship Progress The Intricacies of Airship Design Explained by an Airship Engineer

world's airliner, the result yy E largest ae Ht of several hard work British ment’s air has come When executing turning maneuvers the giant ship broke in two and, taking fire, plunged head long to destruction The whole airship years of the Govern experts, to grief

. = history is full of 2 accidents; but. one Lang1vOwh GOEL , INTERNAL ABEL might say that it

By C. A. Oldroyd

Wit)

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pie a a <—-GASBAG in SECTION-

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having turning ¢ip. cles of 1000 to 200 yards diameter, The smaller the ¢irele the more Violently the ship must be forced over, and the greater ig the resulting stress and the danger of the structure failing While turning the ship is also gyp. jected to a power. ful centrifugal force, which tends to throw the ship out, away from the

wus these accidents that have made the frames to shape. modern ship what fers load to points D’ C’ etc. she is today, by riveting the attention of the designers to the parts which require still further improvements. The next ships were correspondingly stronger, swifter and safer. What causes the wreck of an airship? The causes may either lie in the ship herself, and be due to the breaking of essential parts of the struc- ture, or they may be external, thunder storms or electric discharges which set the ship on fire The frame of a rigid after all, nothing but a giant birdcage which encloses the as gales, such airship is, Fig. 1—Radial wiring holding the Lift wiring trans- Fig. 2.—Note the tendency of the gas pres- sure to bend, outwardly, the upper longi- tudinal girders and the radial wires clumsy, is a much more difficult matter. You can make the experiment yourself. Take a thin twig and bend it slightly; if you add pressure on its end, it will tend to make the twig buckle or break. If the next gasbag is also fully inflated, as under normal conditions, the two adjoining pressures counter- act each other, since they act in opposite directions. But as soon as one gasbag is more or less deflated, as shown on the left side of the sketch (Fig. 4), the radial Fig. 3—Arrows show effect of bal- anced and unbalanced gas bag pressure center of the tum- ing circle. The cushioning effect of the air counteracts this, as shown in the diagram (Fig. 5). You all know the experiment of swinging a small weight fastened to a cord around in a circle: let the stone swing horizontally and you have the same condi- tions. The centrifugal force is in this case taken by the string (Fig. 6); in the case of the airship by the air cushion, which means another great stress on the framework. And still another danger threatens our airship, the danger of fire. An electric connection breaks—a_ short-circuit happens—and if on the wiring

gasbags containing the lifting gas—hydro- gen, A number of longi bow very light lattice tudinal girders (Fig. 2) run from to stern. Crossing them at right angles are the transverse girders. Between each two of the latter lies a gasbag. Radial wires tie the structure together, and hold it to shape, just the wire spokes of a motor car wheel hold the rim The different bays formed by the inter- section of the longitudinal and transverse girders are braced together by the called diagonal wires. Under them, close to the gasbags, lies strong netting, which as sO transmits the lift of the gasbag to the framework. Inside the ship is built a triangular keel, which contains a passageway afford- ing access to the various cars, and to the Maw ‘Pre

Loweruswm Groen

wreRnnorrt® Raat

gas mixed with air is near, a mighty flame shoots up and the ship is doomed. But if the inside of the hull is well yen- tilated, so that no gas can accumulate, such an accident is very rare. With the advent of the helium-filled ship, this danger will be eliminated alto gether; but even in this case another danger still remains—the risk of the petrol taking fire! Good petrol evaporates at ordinary tem- peratures, and as a large ship carries many tons of this fuel in from 20 to 30 tanks, a slight leak might easily occur, especially as the framework of an airship is not as solid as that of a bridge, for in- stance, and the structure “works” and flexes considerably. The fuel is carried in large tanks sus

fuel tanks and water ballast bags, which are suspended within the keel. But the keel serves another purpose. Strong wires run from the upper joints, D’, C’, B’, etce., between each longitudinal and transverse girder, to the apex, N, of the keel (Fig. 1). They transmit the lift from these girders to the bottom of the ship Fig. This is uecessary because all heavy loads, such as petrol, ballast, ete., are contained in the keel; the cars with the heavy engines are also suspended from the latter. What happens now to our framework when the gas- bags are in place and inflated? The gasbag tends to escape from its prison and bears against the upper 4.—The framework of a rigid dirigible. pression members; dotted lines show wire tensional members wires are forced out and a severe additional stress on the framework is the result. Great as these stresses are, still greater occur when the ship is turning. With the rudders put hard over, the air pressure on the rudder planes forces the stern of the ship over, the vessel turns about her center while still proceeding on her way. Her path becomes a circle. (Fig. 5); we therefore speak of a ship's turning circle. Owing to the great length of an airship, her turning circle must be of larger diameter, modern large ships Full lines show rigid com- pended in the keel (Fig. 7), and from them pipes lead to the engine cars; first to a smaller service tank and from the latter to the carburetor. (Fig. 8) A “backfire” from the engine, a short-circuit of the mag- neto, might ignite a few drops of fuel which have leaked out; immediately the fire would spread, first to the service and then to the storage tank. In a few seconds the whole ship would be on fire. Only a new type of engine using heavy fuel would do away with this danger, and such engines are ac tually being constructed and tested in Europe. They possess a second advantage, they are very cheap to rua, an important point in commercial aviation. The rigid airship took 20 years to de

longitudinal girders

and laterally : . CENTRIFLamN Force against the radial wires. (Fig. 3.) CusHioning’ Erreer The former must or AiR PRESSURE not only be strong - enough to resist the pressure, they must in addition, deal with the stress of oi

velop to its present state of perfection; a few years’ work are yet required to produce the ideal long-distance air cruiser—the he lium-filled dirigible, propelled by heavy oil motors.

compression, P, act- , . ing along their axis, \ That we shall ub due te the bending \ CIRCULAR timately reach that of the ship. . PATH ideal, the writer is To deal with one ¥ fully ona . fs) hl » load alone is com « ot The results W @ Perrot, WALK: wi . paratively simple; TANKS ew have been accom but to resist both plished in America together, without Fig. 5.—When a rigid is turning, centrifugal force Fig. 6.—Centrifugal force of Fig. 7.—Cross-section of rigid diri- = the produ pled the girder getting is counteracted by air pressure on its weight is taken by the cord, gible, showing a completely filled ©! ae = ty with the certain too heavy and outer side as indicated here gas bag and the fuel tanks

JuLy, 1 that imp ering its gineering the probl oil engi fund of ered fron all poss! that, ea! expect, f fortable, ships wil In con endeavor tion and over the not forge younger without I and back the Gert deavor te made al These th give pror in the né Cond ROFT versit of Gener ductivity When : into a /iN enter the of the p! resistance the proto of its pet If we the proto the tissu Laminari thin laye filled wit that the ance as t that wher on transf the same increase i which bo that the 1 the surfa face it is this layet It is the upon the In Lan separated substance part of t another in the su we empl whether — protoplasi Obvious is to kill heating t the cell wv havior un agents. \ produce t living tiss in resista living tis: of reagen the chang plasm. The cel have prac the surro living tiss ductivity, Position, remains u Dlasm unc example, tion of €: ductivity fers. In CaCl, it r minimum. of the pre

Page 41

y 5 ’ 99 » 12 | uy, 1922 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN ‘a that improved methods will result in low- ering its cost; the great amount of en- , with a glass front, the uncoated side of gneering talent which is being applied to the plate being turned toward this glass the problem of producing a lighter heavy- The document to be copied is placed with al engine ond ie ever accumulating the text in contact with the sensitive sur- fund of experience which is being gath- face, the frame closed and exposed to the ered from the operation of airships, under light. Under these conditions the light hing gir. | all possible conditions, make it certain which passes into the system is absorbed ) to 2) | that earlier perhaps than many people by the lines of the design, while it is re- ter, The | expects traveling through the air in com- flected by the unprinted portions of the > Circle fortable, fast, and absolutely safe air- document ; broadly speaking, it may be violent}y ships will be an established fact. said that the amount of light acting on nust be In considering this question we must the sensitive surface where the high, lights », mee endeavor to maintain our sense of propor- are is double that which acts in the is the tion and prospective. If we feel dismayed shadows. If, therefore, suflicient exposure ress and over the loss of the “ZR-2 we must iS given, the high lights of the original of the not forget the superb persormance of her will be, in the coating, completely in- iling. younger sister, “R-34,” when she flew soluble, while the design will represent a turning, without mishap from England to America, somewhat soluble area, By development, a Iso sub- and back again; nor the earlier feat of relief is produced from which copies can power. the German Zeppelin, which, in an en- be obtained. The original patent dees i fuga! deavor to relieve German forces in Africa, f not give satisfactory details, but pram 1 tends made an even longer non-stop flight. Albert, professor at the Institute of 1€ ship These things have been done, and they Graphic Arts at Vienn: . Rae ‘om the give promise of even greater performance The old and dangerous method of landing which led to many wrecks. Today some experiments = ‘the Beer ‘ae ; . ia the near future. the rigid makes fast to the top of a lofty military mast pee gg he have obtained cotiethasshaten ae . Tt = at in CaC —— sults. The thick layer that results w ffect a Conductivity and Permeability ian Living — ee is . decrease followed by an increase. ordinary gelatin se prac Raper gp iin gee teracts Matter volved fn prvi car eee to analyze the factors in- applicable in the process, a very thin. canitens vse SOFESSOR W. J. V. Osterhout of Harvard Uni- ductivity of tt _ | resistance, and shows that the con- being necessary. Albert gives two Sebeenten at a ng ve small yersity presents an important article in the J : oll ch a ee protepunem is less than that of both give good results. The one c “atau are adie ersit} “eer i in the Journal the cell wall. An electrical current passing through : lution in w on e one comprises white-of-egg let the of General Physiology for September, 1921, on Con- living plant flows partly through the cell wi waa ae pot in water, 25 cc.; clarified liquid glue, 20 ce. ; condi- ductivity and Permeability in living matter. partly through the protoplasm “The ple: Mi gpacesdr ae gNe bichromate, 20 per cent solution, 20 cc, The wi TIE” scx, case Poueene Gesauaaitle a of these two portions of the current can be cz leulated. saa olka ee tao pari sc ~ on een > : » Say s , ions must wn ‘ ire must be thoroughly mixed. m the enter the protoplasm. An increase in the permeability Direct Prints Without a Camera = second formula involves water, 60 cc.; liquid glue, af the protoplasm » ions must decrease its electrical yy years ago one Max Ullman patented a process pe me gp bichromate, 10 per cent solution, 24 B, me resistance, and vice versa. The electrical resistance of 4/7 for reproducing manuscripts, plates, drawi - sae OS NE, TS Pe SS ee ee ection the protoplas! ) may therefore be regarded as a measure without the use of th » = - ; — = ' ee oe. thoroughly and add a few drops of glycerine. nd if of its permeability to ions 1e camera. French investigators The materials used are not as clearly defined as they lighty If we attempt to measure the electrical resistance of should be, but it is evident that the basis of one ra ea = the protoplasm we must first consider the structure of i - an albumin solution reinforced by gelatin, and that ven- the tissue For example, we find in the case of $ 1e commercial egg albumin and a high-grade vols i ulate, Laminaria that the protoplasm of each ce cas HEX/BLE WATE “ can be used. In such case, : aed dieincalos —_ ae th i ee - iis consisted simply in placing the sheet to first > ad a ns r— cell wall. Consequently when in 1890 and more recently improved upon by Fontenay a sala t ra as oe mse A we So few Pata a peo yor sarin method we must | ascertain Le Procede, Photographische Korrespondenz, and other by po te hi eet having aces strongly activated ‘ stigating the permeability of the foreign photographic journals are greatly interested not 1: j 207 clataepeatiatine anne stir pein fea sald Pmoplasm or merely that of the cell wall. merely in the controversy but in the roms ee pr Sart — aim or development paper was placed and the tie gong the best method of attacking this problem selves. The French workote used gelato-bromide emul- roy surface allowed to act for about ten minutes. ‘hey lee tgs by such means (e.g. partial drying, sions, while Ullman uses an egg albumin-bichromate poet Bey 3 arrangement must be made in the dark run, a ns to 30° C.,, weak aleohol, ete.) as can not alter’ film. The sensitive plate is placed in a frame pr zw _ , mig taken that the sensitive surface is not exposed SED wall and then investigate its be- ame provided to the luminous one except through the subject to be ship a aang influence of various re- mene ~~ copying short letters or dia- de- ead . . find oe all of these methods es ae only on one side of the on | in resistance wl a : er “s —— talline matter a adi ag op ind we ‘ork living ti =“ a . " are o served when co : 3 a er on both sides, as there will ito | of 8g ray: ——- to the han a confusion, ] agents. is therefore evident that i i - the changes are due to the living proto- Value of Casein Glue of plasm. ASEIN glues which have been widely ble. oo — appears in all cases to 6 liege - aircraft work are as a class avy the cman the same conductivity as soe AOS ce 2 <2 than animal and living _ ing solution. If we subject ree 2 s glue * pat they are not, strictly ul- ® tissue to solutions of the same con- speaking, waterproof. There is no glue hat | eee but of different chemical com- oo - gg oe a the emes that i fs ,js | Position, the resistance of the cell wall absolutely unaffected by water after a ed. remains unaltered, while that of the proto- long immersion, Nevertheless, there are ich wa hag great variations. If, for — —— ate so water-rouatent m | ton ee tissue is placed in a solu- a pls peta with them will with ica | a Cat lor CaCl, (of the same con- ‘ = oon ing for many weeks in water jon fers vity es sea water) its behavior dif- or exposure for many months to a warm led | Cac] In NaCl the resistance falls; in damp atmosphere. Under similar condi ty | an a rapidly rises and later falls to a tions, animal and vegetable glues would p eal a infer that the permeability — aioe eee z a aa time. For otoplasm increases in NaCl; anc ° s reason casein glue is especially val- 1; and Passenger rigid safely landed. Note the air cushion below front end of car uable in automobile body nainaiiien, Ba ene

Page 42

4? SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN JULY, 1922 Wild Birds and Their Music The Feathered Tribes of the Eastern States Identified Wy ost of us have had the experience of hearing a burst of melody from behind some leafy screen, that urged us to exclaim, “I wonder what bird that is!” We have wished that some bird-man might have been at hand to identify the invisible singer by his song “Be your own bird-man” is the key-note of a fascinating field guide by F. Schuyler Mathews, from which, by courtesy of G. P. Putnam's Sons, the accompanying illustrations are abstracted. That portion of our country east of the Rocky Mountains Is rich in bird life; among the many families revels in the passionate and tragic; it is perhaps in- evitable that the New World should prefer the joyous in art, and the Old World the more somber interpreta- tions. The hermit thrush has the distinction, all other birds, of having developed the Scotch, or pentatonic scale; this is the musical mode instinctively adopted by primitive man, and it has been memorial- ized most effectively by Dvorék both in his humoresque above and in the largo movement of his New World Sym- phony. The nightingale essays this scale, but lacks the mastery of the thrush. While some of the fuller notes of the hermit thrush may be heard distinctly at a dis- by Their Songs There are birds, too, that can by no stretch of nation be called musical, but who furnish the comj and bizarre effects of the operatic orchestra, [Tq ap. pearance the owl is a low comedian, who can only turn his eyes by turning his whole head: but the wail of the screech owl, shattering the silence of night, has been compared to “the screech of a pioneer’s wife ag she is scalped by a red-handed Indian.” It is un forgettable, The great horned owl, in addition to his uncanny Whoo, has the trick of emitting a blood-curdling ery bursting upon a prolonged G above the staff and sliding dow, to an abrupt A. Among the mimics are enrolled the that make this their home, some are distinguished by their resplendent costuming, blue jay and the catbird, who some by their vocal perform- z imitate with equal facility the ances, and others by their sheer oO squeak of a cart wheel or the buffoonery. If we are looking for 0 liquid note of the thrush. And that quality the dramatist calls i what shall be said of the whip “character,” we may find it in poorwill, that bearded bird of full measure among the feath ‘ the night, whose raucous t ered tribes of our fields, cop A O O Main’s whiistlle © 9 the superstitious have rato ices and forests. There are : ~ = cepted as an omen of death? — and exquisites such as the om D E F c: A B i D E. F G A B "ts D E. F GC, A B cc D E. FE G A B i Nothing can be said in his favor blue jay and the cardinal, oper > =) Sy & gen Hermit Thrush as" a songster, yet his ery, atic stars like the Baltimore a ma & x a SS] a Wod Thrush unique in nature, conforms per- oriole and the hermit thrush, > 2 rS ~ > zg Q P $s fectly to pitch and rhythm, and low comedians and S; = > “ a 2 Oriole thongh no two individuals sing “henvies” like the owl and the te a ‘S & > 2 oi exactly alike. whippoorwill. Most of these NX » 3 & = > RA Veer to a Excellent plates, many of performers have a musical au- x Sa 3s & a x Pee Y a them in color, accompany the tograph, and this makes their 2 > mS > = Ss A ig r Laraf author's notes; of the hundred. identification easy, even when 4 z ~S ‘ QQ x Coe Bi AN bir odd birds described in detail, we cannot see them. What we 8 g & ~ S 2 B uebird Wood Fe ire the songs or cries of most are mean by “musical autograph” = => & a po Red Winged Bhackhird Peabody |Bird transcribed on the musical staff. is very plain in the case of the _ S = a 2 a Ser ; hich\adee The work further extends its bob-white and the whippoorwill, g SPF & Whi rill ReyeVireo usefulness by the six maps re who enunciate their names with ‘S 2 Sj > e 2 Cucfhoo Flicker safer lating to the migrations of BS : } birds. As a guide to identifiea- a clearness that carries convic tion: but other birds, while they sing their names, do not sing the names we know them by. The American gold- finch furnishes a good example ; note is often mistaken for that of his near relative, the canary; then he bubbles out into six or more rising chirps and three or more falling ones; but, like a wise author, he always follows productions with the unmistakable nature “Per-chic-o-ree” to the notes G-A-F-E at the top of the treble clef. Some ornithologists hold that the use of the musical staff to convey the distinctive notes of a bird is of little value; they will find it hard to sustain their position in the face of the evidence presented.by the author. Granted that fantasias elude they can yet be approximately and logically placed on the staff. Certainly this is the only means of locating a tone; syl- lables cannot locate tone, and are at best an uncertain guide to quality of tone; and while they are of some use in express- ing rhythm or time, they often fail even in this. The white-throated sparrow is said to sing “Old Sam Peabody, Pea- body, Peabody”’—but who is to tell from this that the first of the three syllables of Pea- body is sung to three beats, the second to one beat, and the third to two? The musical staff provides the only scientific way of conveying this fact. The first diagram which reproduce places the keyboard Diagram showing his call sig- these these laws, many of musical 2 y ay) y 17] ORULapul psig Layj0 fueyy 13291694 Lay we ul youd ajeurustajap Buryor) a210A aaisueyasduos P fo saoupjsut sno “ngdsuoo ate spuoras satin yuyf ayy range of 21 birds; the second diagram records the range of 15 more. Most birds sing in strictly measured time, many give a perfect bar, and not a few give several bars Incomplete as the song may be, there can be no doubt as to the accuracy of the time. Here we have a strong argument for the usefulness of the musical staff in the identification of songsters The thrushes are our supreme vocalists, and Roose- velt was not the only trained observer to exalt the hermit thrush above the vaunted nightingale. The rating is to some extent a matter of mood and taste; despite its monkish livery, the hermit thrush climbs to the peak of pure happiness, while the nightingale the pitch of twenty-one bird songs compared with the keyboard of a piano tance of a quarter of a mile, the listener should ap- proach within 70 feet of the bird if he would gage the extent of the melodie variety, or appreciate the mar- vellous pianissimo and crescendo effects and the mys- terious, ventriloquistic overtones that hold the hearer in thrilled surprise. This thrush has been known to approximate Wagnerian themes, such as the Rhine the exact Symphonia was caught in Strauss’s and phrase one from daughter's anotive, reproduction of a Domestica. The wood thrush is a brilliant executionist, his notes coming in clusters of three, his intervals composing CDEFGABCDEFGABCDEFGABCDEFGABC Li Diagram showing the pitch of fifteen bird songs relatively with the keyboard of a piano minor third. The veery, another member of a beautiful glissando of overtones, but definite pitch. Among other noted a perfect the family, has without melody or families of singers we may not overlook the bobolink, exponent of comic opera, with his musical fireworks; the Baltimore oriole, a musician in the fullest sense of the word; the purple finch—which is crimson, not purple, and is incomparable as a true warbler; and the song sparrow, the most gifted and versatile of his family. Not a song in their repertoire but can be fairly weli-indicated by musical notation, always keeping in mind the fact that birds very often sing off key. tion it leaves nothing to be de sired, and it offers a rare treat to students and lovers of our feathered friends who put the pulse of life into inanimate Nature and fill her breath with melody. Proteins Differ in Their Nutritive Value as Food ECENT investigations in the field of proteins and nutrition conducted by the Bureau of Chemistry, United States Department of Agriculture, have shown that different proteins vary widely in their nutritive value. A diet may furnish a sufficient amount of pro- tein, fat carbohydrates, salts and vitamines and yet fail to promote growth or sus tain well-being unless the qual- ity of protein is nutritionally adequate. Certain of the amino acids, of which about 19 have been found in proteins, are absolutely essential for growth and maintenance, among which are lysine, cystine and trypte- phane. A protein, which is deficient in lysine or cystine, even though it contains all of the other amino acids, will fail from a nutritive standpoint. The def- ciency, however, when properly understood, can be _ supple mented by the addition of other foods to the diet which contain an adequate amount of these essential amino acids. Studies with navy, adsuki, and lima beans have shown that these foods are lacking in cystine, the amino acid contain- ing sulfur, and that all of them are therefore deficient a8 sources of complete protein. The lima, adsuki and other of closely related beans were found by similar experiments to require cooking and addition of cystine before they were adequate for proper nutrition. 1 practical feeding the deficiency of cystine in cooked beans could be supplied to provide the normal needs of man or animals by including in the diet meat, eggs milk and cheese, and other common articles of food. There can be no doubt of the fact that we are lear ing more about foods every day, thus making for 4 better dietary at a minimum of cost, for our indi vidual requirements, JULY, 1 The inver HE tr monop with a se opaque, r While 1 devised, : cellulose, This, hov vented by solves a so far ha are much the latter each time carefully will reduc aluminum and can t year. Me than cell superiorit be greate! affords tl the amou a given r formance, second hé dispensin; a separat Anothe! Whereas absorbs ¢ the reflec able lumi be added abrupt tr jection of more ple: fine-grain quite rem gravure, | marked. The ah strenuous tions, uns chemical, be solved, consulted best to d lines, A be develo surface o emulsion the sensit to which practice silicates, silicon sk thus obta ment will the film even the Finally, opaque fi’ this case, addition | anvil, he addition |

Page 43

, 1922 f imagi. e comie In ap. ily tum wail of ht, has P as she 4 Wwhip- ird of 3 tones Mg ac- death? $ favor ~ cry, IS per- iythm, S sing ly of ly the ndred- detail, st are staff, 1s its DS Tre is of tifiea- de- treat who il her P as and istry, own itive pro- yet Sus jual- ally nino have are wth hich pto- ient ugh her n a lefi- rly ple- her ain PsP ki, lat in in- of as nd ar ne In od of we juuy, 1922 The inventor with his aluminum film which serves as a non-inflammable film Aluminum Films By Our Berlin Correspondent HE transparent cellulose film, which so far had monopolized the field, will in future have to count with a serious, and possibly superior, competitor, the opaque, reflecting metal film. While nearly uninflammable films have already been devised, a film made from organic material, such as ellulose, cannot, by its very nature, be incombustible. This, however, is the the aluminum film in- vented by M. Werthen, of Berlin, which, in addition, solves a number of other problems the film industry s far had to contend with. In fact, aluminum films are much more durable than celluloid films: Whereas the latter after a few weeks’ use will be worn out and each time before being lent out anew have to be checked carefully until repeated clipping of defective sections will reduce their length to, say, half the original figure, aluminum films have a life at ten times longer and can therefore be kept in permanent use for a whole year. Moreover, they are 40 to 50 per cent cheaper than celluloid films, and, if used on both their superiority from an economic peint of view will even le greater. Using the film on both sides, by the way, affords the additional advantage of reducing by half the amount and weight of film material required for a given record. When the first half, during the per- formance, has been unwound, the rear side with the second half is unwound in an opposite direction, thus dispensing with the necessity of winding up again in ease of least sides, a separate operation. Another advantage is the better utilization of light. Whereas the never quite transparent celluloid film absorbs considerable amounts of light (15-18 per cent), the reflecting aluminum film enables the whole avail- able luminous intensity to be utilized. To this should he added that the reflected picture never shows such abrupt transitions between light and shade as the pro- jection of a transparent celluloid film, thus producing more pleasing effects on the eye. Reflection on the fine-grained aluminum surface, moreover, results in quite remarkable effects comparable with those of roto- sravure, of which a surprising plasticity is the most marked. The aluminum film is the outcome of twelve years’ strenuous work, partly under difficult war-time condi- tions, unaided by the advice of others. Metallurgical, chemical, photographical and optical problems had to le solved, and experts in these various fields, whenever cosulted by the inventor, would in good faith do their best to dissuade him from any further work on those lines, A special rolling process had, for instance, to ke developed to obtain the uniform fine-grained metal Sstrface of the aluminum film. A special photographic emulsion and, primarily, a special process for uniting the sensitive layer with the metal had to be devised, to which effect the inventor, imitating Nature’s own Practice of accumulating aluminum in the form of silicates, inserted between the metal and emulsion a silicon skin similar to water-glass. The combination thus obtained is so intimate that no mechanical treat- ment will sever the picture from the underlying metal, the film being bent and crumpled without loosening even the slightest traces of the photographie layer. Finally, the optical system used in projecting the *paque film had to comply with special conditions. In this ease, too, the inventor did everything himself. In addition to making his own apparatus at the lathe and avil, he would even grind his own lenses. By the addition of a special illuminating apparatus, the same SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN projector can be used in alternately working witi cellu- loid and aluminum films. However, any ordinary pro- jector can, after shifting the lamp case, as well be used in this connection without any further alteration or adaptation. Aluminum films can, of course, only be used as posi- tives, preferably in connection with practically unin- flammabie cellon films as negatives. A Magnet as Back-Stop for a Portable Drill ERMAN contractors are using a novel application of the electromagnet, which ought to appeal strongly to any workman who has been called upon to match his weight and strength with an electric drill in the effort to hold the latter in place while it drills a large hole. The difficulty of doing this is sufficient testimony that if the human drill were to be replaced by a magnet for the service of holding the drill in place, an extremely powerful magnet would be required for the purpose; but the ability of large lifting magnets to carry very heavy loads ought to be suffi- cient indication that magnets large and powerful enough to hold the dril! down to its work are obtained without unreasonable expense. In any event, they are doing it in Germany, as our photograph indicates, press Holding the portable electric drill down to its work with a powerful magnet Specifications for Fire Hose IRCULAR No. 114 of the Bureau of Standards is concerned with specifications for fire hose drawn up by the Bureau for use by government departments. The specification was submitted to the Rubber Association of America and has received the official endorsement of the technical committee on specifications. The hose purchased under the requirements of this specification is cotton lined and the types included are _ single- jacketed hose for use at fire hydrants, stand pipes, and similar places; double and triple-jacketed hose for use on pumping engines and in places where additional wear requires the increased protection afforded by the extra cotton jacket. The chemical and physical tests to which the hose must conform are described in detail. A spark arrester that suggests a candle-snuffer 43 British apparatus that automatically records the weight of coal dumped from the cars Car Dumper That Weighs as It Works MERICAN observers are accustomed to seeing large cargoes handled in bulk, and cars full of coal picked up and swung bodily through the air to be un- loaded just as one unloads a spoonful of sugar. Britain is not so inured to sights of this sort, but it is never- theless a British invention which we illustrate here- with. The feature of interest in connection with this giant crane, however, is not so much the free-and-easy manner in which it handles the coal cars, as the fact that it automatically weighs the coal as it dumps it. The full car is held suspended until the balance at- tached to the suspension comes to rest and indicates the gross weight; the same thing is done with the empty car after the contents have been spilled out; and the deduction is made automatically, registering the net weight of the coal dumped. A Machine for Counting Bees N interesting problem was recently brought to the attention of the Bureau of Standards by the Bu- reau of Etomology of the Department of Agriculture. One of the members of that bureau has devised a gate to be placed at the entrance to a beehive and which permits only one bee to pass at a time. It was desired to obtain an arrangement which would automatically record the number of bees passing through this gate. It was found possible to arrange a series of telephone message registers in such a way as to accomplish this result. As in the actual work only alternating current was available for the source of power, experiments were made to find out the conditions under which these counters could be operated on rectifiers. The difficulty of using a battery for the purpose arose from the fact that 300,000 exits of bees per day from the hive are expected to take place. The amount of energy required at each exit is small, but on account of the number of bees which are expected to pass through the gate, the total energy needed per day is considerable. An emergency device has also been designed so that the apparatus will continue to operate from an auxiliary source of power in case of failure of the main power circuit. The Spark Arrester Proves Its Worth N fighting the menace to forests from flying sparks it has been found through repeated experiments that a special form of spark arrester in position at the top of smoke-stacks is of positive value. The United States Forest Service has cooperated in these experi- ments, for the department has realized the vast eco- nomic waste that is brought about every year during seasons of prolonged drought. Not only to forests is fire protection thus afforded, but also to various crops. For instance, previous to the installation of spark arresters on locomotives run- ning through the South Park, or what is known as the “Hay Country” in Colorado, it was necessary to plow fire guards the entire length of the road. After the installation of spark arresters, the plowing of fire guards was entirely discontinued. Furthermore, since that time the railroad has not had a fire in the “Hay Country,” nor paid any claims due to locomotive sparks in that district. The making of this type of spark arrester is a very simple matter. The netting itself requires renewal! about every thirty days. With this appliance the en- ginemen find they can leave their windows open with- out being bothered with sparks.

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44 Utah’s Poisoned Duck Marshes

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN JULY, 1999

Science and Bee-Culture = the hollow tree with its Strag J gling branches and devious Openings in which the bee thrives best, is Not ae. cessible for bee-culture, a series of experi. ments conducted by bee experts Of the United States Department of Agriculture have determined correct methods of con. struction and arrangement of the apiary, In other words, this improvised home, the handiwork of man, is camouflaged with realistic effects not unlike the domicile of the untamed bees of the forest, — The quarters of the nectar-sucking jh sect are designed for comfort and pro.

PIVHE Utah Fish and Game Commission | is struggling with a very pretty prob lem in biological engineering, and its suec- cess or failure in effecting a solution will determine n large measure the amount of duck-shooting which the coming genera tion ill enj hroughout the United tite I in ears the pools and shes and iniet of the Great Salt Lake in the neighborhood of what is known as the bear River marshes have been extensive breeding grounds and resting places for ducks In the spring there are consider ible sections of this marsh land curry nj many as 300 nests per acre, and iltogether many thousands of pairs bring the younger generation into existence on these marshes In the f he marshes serve again as a stopping point in the southward migration This has heen going on Dead ducks on the alkaline flats of the Bear River marshes,

her to teach them the dividing line between salt water that is good for them and salt water that is bad. The rd of the rocks is full of the remains of species that have perished through just this inability to make some relatively slight adjustment. In the present case, however, man is with the ducks in the effort to make djustment unnecessar and, just us he is apparently responsible for the present state of affairs, it may be hoped that he will find a solution that will enable the ducks to survive. But any solution, to be effective, niust now be pretty prompt, Salt Lake tection in winter as well as visua the hollow-tree idea. In determining 4 site for the apiary, select a grove of trees where the brisk winds of winter are virtually elim- inated and the location partakes of the atmosphere of the untamed wilderness. An artificial windbreak, a high fence, is not nearly so efficient, It has determined by an apiculturist of the Federal that a wind with a velocity of 20 mii an hour, spending its force on winter packing will reduce the temperature of the packed hive ey that of an unpacked hive. Buildings are unreliable owing to the variable changes wind. such as been Government aus low as windbreaks of the The bees should occupy the same

winter and summer. The series of) periments of the Department of A ture indicate that shrubbery planta umong the hives will serve as markers@ directing their flights in winter g spring. True to the scientifie dcdal that bees are most happy and prosperous when subjected to environments appromge ing the the shrubbery will not for their retum nectar-gathering errands in early but acclimating them to man-made institutions, leaves, sawdust, planer shavings and broken cork are materials offering a of selection for packing of The insulating value forests, only serve as markers Prom spring, assist in modern, Forest diverse runge

the hives in winter.

for nobod nows how long In 1900 it wae first noticed that many of the bir n he Uk River marshes « e down tl ous sickness, and that in a good many cases this w fut Ni erious attention was paid the matter th ear, b the next year, and every vear since, the fact hus been obvious that the ducks were on the road to extermination It is conservatively estimated that as many s two million ducks per yeur die of this malady er Investigation has established that the cnuse is a too great salinity of the water Birds removed from the point at which they are stricken and placed further up the tributary streams, where the water is fresh, effect speedy recovery in 00) per cent of the cases, even though many of them seem beyond aid. The onset of the malady is extremely rapid; within a few noments « settling down in the super salty aters the ducks are too feeble to make their escape It is heeoming increasingly plain to those interested in migratory birds that it is not possible to destroy the birds in iny one section of the continent through which they pass, without seriously inter Men from fering with the supply in every other lo eality The local aspect of the Utah situ ation is bad enough, for few gunners can enjoy a day's sport when the marshes are carpeted with sick and dying birds: but the Utah Commissioner regards the problem through national eyes as one menacing the country’s game rather than merely one threatening the spert of a local constituency Accordingly, he is making every effort to meet the situation Just how to meet it is the great little has been done save to move sick fresh water It is, of course, understoo ne permanent remedy but knowledge on lacking. It is absurd educate the i better remedy is birds to diserim- to hope to inate hetween the salt content that is beneficial and that which is fatal, and it is equally out of the question to hope to frighten them from the deadly marshes. The logical attack lies rather through an “unswer to the question “Why are these marshes fatal to ducks now when for decades past they have not been so?” The answer to this, in general terms, is eus Due. doubtless, to some alteration of the drainage of the surrounding terri- tory for vhich the extensive Irrigation works are no doubt responsible, the par ticular streams that drain into the marsh bringing down more salts of different The ommission is doing its best to pass from facts, and to learn in question are today heretofore, or "oO ve than salts eontent from those of ars ago generalities to specific just where the deadly increment comes from. If it succeeds, new drainage or re- location of present drainage may be ex- pected to carry this material to a point it which it can do no harm to the wild life of the lake In the meantime che ducks are dying at the rate of over two millions per year; admirable ttlustration of trivial and we have an the sort of from the physical or chemical standpoint, environmental chance vet work toward extinction of Apparently it is easier for na the ducks than for which may fa species ture to exterminate problem To date birds back to 1 that which to base this is the Utah Fish and Game Commission and transporting them to fresher water Room for Improvement = every car and truck designer would make it a point to see that each new model is capable of travel ing under average conditions farther per gallon cf fuel than the model immediately preceding it, the total sav ing in fuel during the life of the vehicles so improved would be astounding. Certain vehicles now extensively used in New York average nearly eight miles per gal- lon A few vears ago similar vehicles in the same service made about two miles. This shows what can be accomplished by intelligent development. rescuing alkali-sick ducks of this assortment of material is prae tically on a parity, despite exaggerated claims of some beekeepers in extolling the broken commercial insulating ma merits of cork or terials. The box containing the packing should be rain proof, permitting the insulation to be impregnable to rains and snows. For a climate comparable to Washington, D. C., it is advisable to provide four inches of packing underneath the hives, six inches m all sides, and eight or more inches on top. For et matie conditions similar to New York or Wisconsil, eight inches of packing on the sides and one foot @ top is sufficient. The scientific tests recommend unequivocally the mse of bottom packing; otherwise, when hives

packed exclusively at the top and sides the heat escapes rapidly at the bet Heat vanishes from the hive not only by convection currents but by co duction and radiation as well. Conse quently, when the bottoms are unprotected the insulating value in materials piled @ the top and sides beyond two inches is practically nullified. To obtain a full measure of benefits from bottom packing it is essential to reduce the entrance f the hives, although it need not be closed. E. F. Phillips, apiculturist of the De partment of Agriculture, has devised @ special packing case which is being us in Government experiments. The four colony type of case is sanctioned—twe colonies face east and two west. All colonies are wintered in two full-depth hive bodies, The sides of the case should be so built that the cleats which hold the boards together will support the overlapping side on the bottom. <A central cleat om sides will prevent warping. The sides can be held in place and together by nails # The top of the case is made to telescope over the sides. A tunnel, affording passage for the bees on warm days, will permit ventilatio® Two boards, one the width of the packing (e. g., six inches) and the other this wid@ are tom. hooks.

Preparing bees for winter, in hives that simulate the hollow tree as closely as possible less the extension of the bottom board- is material for constructing the t

JULY, °

Centrifu fan pul pres A Fire HE fi confr water pr culty, J. has inve can be ¢ truck an sure to | works on can be « stage des the moto a one-inc sure is 0 pounds i only 5O p Pour bo quickly t nent chai ism is th must be which the hose can well and be obtain Stated in higher-po possible. problems buildings their hay Way it i truck ow!

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Y, 1929 re ts Strag. Openings > Not ac f experi. 3 Of the riculture : Of cop. > apiary, Ome, the ed with domicile it. king ip nd pro ua. lining a Of trees ly elim. losphere early hem to avings ring a ting of r value } prac- erated ng the g ma- > rain- enable ble to » four 1eS8 On wr cli- onsi, ot Ye use hives » and e bot e not ’ COn- ‘onse- rected ed on es is full cking ce fo losed. » De ed a sides the ; can is or e to tion. king idsh nel, juy, 1922 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN 45 —— Inventions New and Interesting A Department Devoted to Pioneer Work in the Various Arts and to Patent News Centrifugal pump, attachable to the fan pulley of a truck, for getting pressure in fighting rural fires A Fire Pump for a Motor Truck HE firemen of a small town often are confronted with lack of sufficient water pressure. To overcome this diffi- culty, J. O. Turner, of Franklin, Ky., has invented an auxiliary pump which can be quickly attached to any motor truck and which will increase the pres- sure to the desired The pump works on the centrifugal principle and can be obtained in a single or double stage design. With a single stage, when the moter truek makes 1300 r.p.m. with a one-inch nozzle, where the city pres- sure is only 30 pounds, a pressure of 60 pounds is attained. The pump oly 50 pounds and is cast in aluminum. Four bolts enable one to attach it quickly to the truck. The only hent change made in the engine mechan- ism is that the fan pulley of the truck must be keplaced by a solid pulley to Which the pump is attached. The suction hose can be dropped in a cistern or a well and a pressure of 30 pounds can be obtained under the same conditions as Stated in the foregoing details. With a higher-power engine higher pressure is degree. weighs perma- possible, Contractors having drainage Problems during the construction of buildings can use the pump on any of their hauling trucks, and in a general Way it is a valuable accessory for any truck owner. ee Quick and handy tool for recutting or cleaning the grooves of pistons A Combination Lock for the Gasoline Feed ry. HE latest attachment to render the parked car thief-proof consists in a little device that prevents anybody who has not an owner's knowledge from get- ting any gas to flow to the carburetor. A series of circular plates is mounted on the gas line, each plate having one or more holes provided in it. When the holes in all the plates are properly lined up, the gas flows; when they are not, it meets an obstruction in the unbroken face of one of the plates. The outer rims of the several plates carry the digits from 0 to 9, and the affair can be adjusted so that any desired six-figure number forms the combination. Once adjusted, the gas will only run when this setting of the discs is made; so that, in parking the car, the owner by disturb- ing the combination makes it impossible to drive the car away until he sets up the right combination again. Track Laying Tractors in Alaska MATERPILLAR-tread tractors have pressmse dogs as the motive power for hauling freight in many parts of Alaska, where these tractor and sledge trains are now operated regardless of the low temperatures. This is made possible by a recently perfected frost-pad which protects the cooling system in all temperatures. These machines have kept to their freight schedules at 40 below zero. An engineering asset of the most popular machine is found in the articulated roller-frame and the equal- izer bar which join the two portions of the tractor truck and supporting roller. This latter factor enables the tractor to conform to the unevenness of the ground and to climb over obstacles and yet assures traction. It is one of the re- finements and modifications “made pos- sible by war experience. The notched plate by means of which the car is prevented from sliding backwards down grade Simple Regrooving of Pistons ISTON regrooving is reduced to its gprs terms by the device illus- trated herewith. This tool is provided with correct-sized cutters aud guides for all the more usual pistons, and these are instantly interchangeable. When it is necessary to deepen the groove, the cut- ter adjuster is provided with a microme- ter of standard construction, and the depth may be accurately regulated by setting the tool one or two thousandths deeper for each cut. For ordinary cleaning of the grooves, the tool may be adjusted so that the cutter just sweeps the bottom of the groove, and a single revolution will clean it out thoroughly. To Keep the Car from Sliding Downhill HE accompanying photos show a de- vice the primary purpose of which is to check the rearward movement of auto- mobiles and automobile vehicles on any grade. This is accomplished auto- matically, quickly and noiselessly with- out assistance of any kind from the driver. The device employed is absolute- ly fool-proof; it works when it should and cannot be made to work when it should not. By means of it an automobile can stop and start on any up-grade that the car Only the owner who knows the com- bination can get gasoline to drive the car equipped with this device can negotiate and on such grade can start as easily as on the level ground. Without it, in starting a load on a grade, the engine is often “killed” by reason of the excessive friction of the brakes which imposes upon the engine a load it is unable to start. Also very often the engine is “killed” when changing gears on a grade. The shaftlock in such cases instantly stops the rearward movement of the car. Again, oftentimes a parked car will start backward on a grade, even with the brakes applied, thereby causing accidents. With this device it is impos- sible for this to happen. The device includes, first, a stationary plate attached to the _ transmission ; second, a control plate that normally holds the four dogs in an inoperative position (so that the car can move for- ward or backward). This control plate is operated by the shift lever, and when moved slightly backward permits the four dogs to come in contact with four of the twelve notches in the third ele- ment—a revolving plate attached to the drive shaft. This checks the rearward movement of the vehicle on a grade when such rearward movement is not desired. When in the vehicle forward gears progress up automatically any of the stops in its grade, this device will prevent it from backing down hill, or when shifted from any of the forward gears into “neutral,” it will also auto- matically stop the car from going down hill backward. When shifted into “re- verse” for the purpose of backing the ear, the shaft lock will not interfere with the rearward movement ; or when shifted from “reverse” into “neutral” the car will continue its backward movement without the shaftlock interfering in any manner. It will be realized that the device does not merely lock the shaft to the engine with its compression ; it locks it to a rigidly motionless plate. One “blade” of this pocket knife is a pipe-wrench A Pipe-Wrench in a Pen-Knife UMEROUS handy tools of one sort or another have been combined with the pen-knife, taking the place of one or more of its multiple blades, and one might be pardoned for supposing that the limit of invention in this direction had long ago been reached. But we have never before seen the duplicate of the knife illustrated, which, in addition to the ordinary knife-blade, a can opener, a screw-driver and a punch, has a fifth blade in the form of a very handy pipe- wrench. Stainless Steel for Engine Valves neers steel is being extensively used for the inlet and exhaust valves engines of all lenst of internal combustion kinds. It is also being used in at one instance for piston rings, and for the bolts and nuts of exhaust pipes and muf- flers. As usual, the best results are ob- tained by polishing the objects to a high degree. Such steels are cobalt-chrome alloys and are not so apt to change their character under extreme heat as other steels are. Rustic Garbage and Trash Cans PARK that is frequented by picnick- A ers finds that when plenty of recep- tacles are provided these people will be more careful to keep debris from the grounds and the tables. It did not wish to have the pretty park made less at- tractive by the view of numé@rous galvan- ized cans about, so a very effective plan was used to hide these refuse cans, An outer jacket was provided for each can, It is so finished that it resembles a A garbage can in disguise

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A kerosene water-heater of interesting design stump of a tree in design and color, and surface. trash can is set into this and may easily be lifted out to Nor need it be of is sanded to produce a rough The “stump” be emptied where it is down st heavy material protected by the jacket with the The park is thus rendered none the less beau stump appearance tiful by the can’s added utility. Four Cars in One fon auftomobilist who is dissatisfied with the top that comes with his car substi- has always had a wide range of tute tops from which to select. Some of these have even been convertible, to the muke a extent that one may more or less distinctly closed car out of what looks like an open one. Some of them gibe contuined in who was invalided deserve the war-time the tale of the man home from France, and when asked how he got his wounds, explained that thes were the result of his helping two of his buddies put up a one-man top on the company ambulance. And sometimes the added superstructure is more ambitious than the mere term “top” would indicate, and justly under the designation “body.” Seldom, such a general utility as the quadruplex body invented, and attached to his flivver, by J. J. McGuire of Yonkers, N. Y. Within a minute Mr. MeGuire can convert his tin lizzie into touring car with victoria top, The windows have foes does one encounter affair in this line however, imousine, coupe, or runabout, been so constructed that they cannot be opened from the outside, and a tire com- partment is provided beneath the rear And when the car is in its touring the front ean be got suffi- seat. dress, sent The automatic oil controller that blows the horn when the oil is low and winks a light when it is replenished suffi- ciently. Note the two pins that make the “hich” and the “low” contacts SCIENTIFIC ciently down out of the way to make good sleeping quarters immediately available for a party of at least two, as the inventor is demonstrating in one of our photographs. Hot Water Anywhere TITH this new water heater, sub- WU urban, country and farm houses can have a hot water supply if water is piped to the house. The heater burns kerosene at an estimated cost of one half cent an hour The peculiar half turn of the coil is said to produce greater and more rapid heating capacity than the more usual designs. An Audible “Low Oil” Warning gees life and performance of a lubrication; the an automobile is its engine and motor vehicle depend upon heart of the blood of this heart is lubricating oil. We a that but the man who has been driving a car for any length of time through | know without incurring a repair bill neglect of this fundamental principle is a rare bird indeed. All manner of auto- warnings that oil is low or been devised, and we matic pres- sure failing have go right on driving our cars to destruc- tion after we been automatically warned. James F. Tex., has got up a warning that His device is a private chauffeur that never have Chapple of Dallas, is different. sleeps. He honks your horn when the car is nearly out of oil, and he will not cease making a noise until you pull a little chain and let the oil flow from the reserve supply tank into the crank- Then he becomes quiet; but when case, AMERICAN the usual inlet for admitting oil to the inside of the crank case. There is a little spring valve at the outlet from this tank and from this valve a little chain runs through a hole in the dash and ends in a ring which is always within easy reach of the driver’s hand. When the horn begins to sound the driver has only to stick his finger into the ring and pull this little chain and the oil flows into his engine—the danger is over—the horn ceases to sound and the oil gurgles into a satisfied engine, which in appreciation, winks its eye— the dash light. Fabric Shackle New Idea for Spring Support T is well known that the wear of spring shackle bolts is one of the main causes of cars becoming noisy in operation prematurely, and to eliminate this trouble, improvements in the lubri- eation of shackle bolts have been made by many designers in recent years. An- other method of eliminating this trouble recently by several completely adopted designers which consists in eliminating the familiar spring shackle. The latest designs for pivotless shackles fabric It is claimed for this construction that it requires no lubrication and cannot rattle or squeak, that it will outwear the average spring shackle and that it certain extent the functions of a shock- The tension type of shackle is made by clamping together four or more strips of rubberized fabric, which thus form a link or shackle which is bolted fast to the spring at one end and has been make use of also performs to a absorber. The touring car and the coupe are only half the possibilities of this versatile body for the flivver just the right amount of oil has been added to the crank-case supply “That’s enough” by winking at from the dashboard. In less figurative language, Mr. Chap- ple’s invention is an oil-lever indicating is much like the more famil- from he says you device that iar ones and yet muchly different them. It consists of two small sealed metal boxes which act as floats. They are attached to pivots placed in opposite ends on the inside of the bottom part of the crank There is a series of insulated wires strung between pivots. Each float is attached to a short lever which in turn has affixed to it on each side of its fulcrum, short pins that cuse, these can engage the wires referred to and complete electric circuits therein. When the oil in the crank case is at the desired level the floats are raised and the forward pins drop in between two wires that lead to the dash light and the light is thus made to burn. This indicates plenty of oil. When the oil is nearly out, or dangerously low in the erank case, the two floats fall until their rear pins engage two other wires bearing an electric current that then goes to and sounds the horn, and be it known that this horn will bellow all day from that minute on until the car is given a drink of oil. A reserve supply of oil is carried in a two-gallon specially built tank placed on the dash under the hood or on top of the crank case and from this reserve supply tank a piece of flexible tubing is run into to the frame bracket at the other. The required clamping pressure is obtained when the shackle is assembled on the ear, when the nuts which hold the shackle to the spring and to the bracket are tightened up. The clamping faces of the top and bottom boxes protrude at an angle in such a manner that under rebound the fabric strips act as cushion between them. Making Castings of Terra Cotta HE casting of iron and other metals -—R is an every day occurrence and familiar to most persons, but the pour- ing of terra cotta into the shape of cast- ings is not so well known. R. F. Geller of the U. S. Bureau of Standards pub- lished a paper in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Ceramic Society on possibilities of terra cotta casting. The experimental methods described therein involved the treatment of clays and with varying amounts of salts and cast in the form of small ash- The casting properties, viscosity, bodies lars. specific gravity and drying behavior of these kaolins, two ball clays, one fireclay four representative commercial together with terra cotta clays, were studied. The author concluded that kaolins have an open structure, but do not develop strength on drying. Bonding properties are furnished by ball clays, which, however, tend to seal against the mold. Commercial terra cotta bodies tested do not possess good casting prop- erties, but can be modified through a study of the component clays. and bodies, JULY, 1999 An individual rubber auxiliary f public wash-bowl = Carry Your Own Wash-Bowl Wwe do not mean to insinuate that all / public washing places are unsanj- tary; many are kept up with the utmost care. But accidents will happen in Spite of all precautions, and in many publie places precautions are absent. The map who invented the portable rubber in-set for the public wash-bowl which ye illustrate did so after contracting gp from using a publie bowl, Now he carries his bowl with him, ang uses the public bowl only as a place ip which to set it, a source of water, and, place into which to drain it when he js through. eye disease Wood Disc Wheels AN automobile wheel in which a disk i of laminated wood takes the plage of the usual spokes has recently beea developed. The wheels are made from the same grades of wood as used for airplane propellers and are laminated ip such a way that the grain in ead lamination runs in a different direction from the grain of the other lamination, The laminations are held together with glue developed for the severe duties imposed on air propellers. These are claimed to be of about the same weight as spoked wheels but to have four times the lateral strength Tire inflation does not involve any mm usual difliculties with this wheel, the pump tube being attached to the outside of the wheel. The wheel may be used with the hubs as the ordinary spoked wheels. A Pencil That Writes With Heat y pny latest application of electric heat is in the form of a simple pened with a very hot point. This device known as the electric pencil, can be used for a number of different tasks, and itis likely that many more tasks will b found for it in due course. The electric pencil receives its current from the usual electric light socket. It consumes about the same amount of cur rent «as the usual electric iron. It is held special wheels same The electric scorching pencil JuLy, - in the h same ea while a | from slic The he ficient t all kind: jects. I as a me they Par they are pencil Ci for its § moved 0} work ma by mean js even Ff lite, hare terials 0 so to spe The § HE large picture € era and panying invented N. Y., mi images a —_ Three of the us While 1 hot altog incorpora in this First of light-proo loaded in light, Py

Page 47

for the Bowl that all unsanj- ' Utmost in spite y public ‘he man T in-set ich we ting ap ¢ bowl im, and lace in *, anda n he js a disk e place y been e from ed for ated in n each rection nation, rT with severe These ut the but to rength, ny un pl, the vutside e used dinary Heat ic heat peneil device, e used d it is rill be urrent et. It »f cur- s held joy, 1922 in the hand and used with almost the same easy the usual pencil, ghile a shield protects the user’s fingers from sliding dewn to the hot point. The heat ot the electric pencil is suf feient to burn lettering and marks of swing as | kinds on steel and other metal ob- In this connection it is invaluable jects. > gs a means of marking tools so that they can be readily identified, in case they are lost or stolen. The electric peneil can be used in making out checks, for its scorched writing cannot be re- moved or altered. tSeautiful decorative york may be done on wood and leather hy means of the electric pencil, and it ig even possible to write on glass. Bake- lite, hard rubber, and other similar ma- trials may also serve as the “paper,” @ to speak, for the electric pencil. The Simplified Motion Picture HE latest addition to an already large collection of amateur motion- picture equipment is the combined cam- era and projector shown in the accom- panying illustrations. This machine, invented by OQ. Antonelli of Brooklyn, v. Y., makes use of a disk on which the images are arranged in a spiral, instead SCIENTIFIC aperture in the envelope so that the sensitized surface can be exposed for the space of one image at a time. When the disk has been completely exposed, a ribbon is pulled while the en- velope is still in the camera, closing the aperture. As a camera, this machine does very well indeed. The lens is of the focusing kind, and a provided for fine focusing and composition. Two shut- ters are provided, one for the camera work and the other for projection. The shutter has one large blade and two small blades to reduce the flicker, while the camera shutter has a single opening. The change from camera work to projector is readily made, and the machine, in its compact case, which is not much larger than the snapshot box camera, contains the lamp and other projection members. second peep-hole is projector Warm Air Where It Is Needed MONG the recent electrical appli- i ances is a combined blower and elec- tric heater which serves to supply any- thing from cold air to warm air, where it is most needed. The device, which is shown in the accompanying illustration, AMERICAN perature to 100 degrees. The effect of adding the cold water is not only to thin down the stock but also to throw more or less of the soap out of solution, with the result that as the agitation or beating continues, the emulsified soap, oil and pigment will rise to the top in the form of dark soapy bubbles. These may be removed from the surface of the stock as it flows around the beater by any conven- ient means, as for example by rotary washing screens but preferably by a rotary skimming mechanism devised by the patentees. This mechanism consists of a wooden roller so arranged that its under side just touches or is but slightly above the surface of the stock. In front of the skimming roller are two inclined de- flectors, extending under the roller for the purpose of concentrating the bub- bles toward the center of the roller. Be- yond the roller is a dam extending trans- versely across the channel between the midfeather and the side wall, and pref- inclined, with its upper edge the roller. The dam extends down a short distance into the stock, so that its effect will be to cause the stock itself to flow down and under the erably close to 47 | One-man fire-fighting outfit ready for action The One-Man Forest-Fire Pump NOREST-FIRE fighting is a serious business, these days, and calls for seriously thought-out equipment. The one-man pumping outfit which we Iilus- trate is ample evidence that we have got away from the days when a shovel and a wet blanket comprised the standard =. oe of the usual single-strip film ribbon While the spiral image-arrangement is hot altogether new, Mr. Antonelli has incorporated several novelties of his own in this combination camera-projector. First of all, he places the disk in a light-proof paper envelope, which can be laded into the camera in broad day- light. Pulling a ribbon opens a small Heating and ventilating in one operation raised for focusing is of exceedingly rugged construction, yet, thanks to its self-contained form and a convenient handle, may be readily carried about and used for many differ- ent tasks. For heating, it has distinct advantages over the usual electric heater, for it is warm air in circulation that gives the best results. For drying anything, this device is highly efficient. De-Inking Print Paper by a New Process A NEW process for de-inking paper i has already been patented by New York and New Jersey patentees. It is especially designed to remove ink from waste newspaper and the like. The old paper is macerated in an ordinary beater or is shredded in some other way. The resulting stock is then transferred to a beating engine. After heating to about 140 deg. Fahr. and making up to a con- sistency of about 6 per cent, enough soda ash or other alkali is added to give the whole a decided alkalinity. After beating for a short time, 10 minutes to half an hour, sufficient ordinary laundry soap is added to form a saturated solu- tion and the heating is continued until the oil of the ink is thoroughly emulsi- fied. At this stage sufficient cold water is added to bring the consistency down to about 3 per cent and to reduce the tem- dam, while the bubbles, trapped by the dam, and brought into contact with the under side of the roller, may adhere to the latter and be carried upward. Across the roller at a suitable point below the top is a doctor in close con- tact with the roller, so that the bubbles off by the doctor as the The doctor is inclined, and at its lower edge is a _ backstrip forming a trough. The trough thus pro- vided is slightly inclined so that the oil, pigment and other matters will tend to flow down the same and out over the side of the wall, where they can be dis- charged. To facilitate this flow of the material, a spray pipe is provided, ex- tending across the doctor at a slight dis- tance from the same and connected at one end with a source of water under pressure. The pipe has a series of per- forations on its under side, so that the water is discharged in the form of jets upon the doctor to wash down the mater- ial scraped from the skimming roller. After the stock has been cleansed by skimming and washing as described, it may be formed into standard pulp laps on an ordinary “wet machine,” or it may have added to it in the beater such color and mordant as may be desir- able, and may then be run directly to the paper machine. For some purposes the cleaned stock may be mixed with new pulp in any desired proportion. are scraped roller revolves. Three views of a combination camera and projector for the amateur, showing the front and rear views and the outside front view with peep-hole magnifying tube apparatus for undoing the work of the spark-belching locomotive and the care- less smoker. The pump is constructed throughout of hard bronze, with nickel- chrome steel shafts bushed with bronze wherever they come in contact with the water. Its guaranteed capacity is 20 gallons of water per minute under 85 pounds pressure. The engine is a single- cylinder two-cycle affair of 2% horse- power, water-cooled by a stream by- passed from the pump.. Ignition is, of course, by magneto. The gas tank holds four quarts. The weight is such that any ordinarily healthy man can carry it in the fashion indicated in our photo- graph, and operate it to good effect. The ability to direct a real stream of water under adequate pressure at a ground fire makes a huge difference in the tac tics employed in subduing these confla- grations. More Telephone Connections for the Radio Set UST so long as radio remained in the monotonous dot-and-dash state, a single pair of receivers was sufficient for the average amateur station. No one but the radio amateur was interested in “listening in,” and there was no need for several pairs of receivers or a loud- speaking device. The introduction of radie-phone pro-

Page 48

48 SCIENTIFIC

be The twin plug, making it possible to use two connections where ordinarily only one could be accommodated evening by broad and down erums sent out every custing this Stations scattered up made Now wants to country of has papular large ours, radio a very pastime every member of the family “listen in,” and it is no longer a tion of but one of ques- using a single pair of receivers, providing a loud-speaking de vice or many pairs of receivers so that every member of the family and the guests as well cun enjoy the radio-phone a number of programs matter of connecting up receivers, Us well therefore with the the av pairs of dey ice, What knowledge of as the loud speaking comes up for discussion, limited electrical erage radio novice, it becomes necessary to use some simple method of connecting uny number of receivers or loud-speak- ing devices into eireuit with the receiv ing set. It has remained for Mr. Louis G Pacent, a well-known radio man, to de velop a method of connecting and discon necting receivers and loud-speakers in and out of a receiving cireuit. Aside from developing a plug especially de signed for radio, which grips the tips if the telephone cords with a bull-dog hold that only becomes firmer as the connections are stressed, Mr. Pacent has now introduced a multi-jack device and a twin plug, both of which are illus trated in the accompanying views The multi-iack device is a block of corpesition material which is connected with the output terminals of the usual receiving set or amplifier, and which car ries three jacks arranged in series. Any telephone receivers or a loud pair of speaking device, provided with the usual connected in cireuit by into one of the ja can he pushing the plug The Jacks are designed to short not plug, CKS circuit automatically when engaged with a plug, so that one, two or thre plugs muy be used at will For a greater number of plugs, a second and third multi-jack unit may be added,

For ironing in armholes, pleat-ends and other tight places model jacks larger two The of the Pacent plug In this manner two plugs may be where one would twin plug is simply a containing used ordinarily be accom- modated. An Electric Iron for the Odd Corners reve usual electric iron is at times | not quite so practical as it might be, ironing must be done dresses or milline ry, iron cannot be for the reason that corners of ind in odd and the larae heavy AMERICAN Mud Shoes for the Horse greens employed in drainage, in the I farming of very soft land, etc., specially prevent sinking into the muck in have to get footing. We one of the forms in necessity been met—a have to be shod to them from which they illustrate herewith which this large auxiliary shoe clamped temporarily has to the hoof over the regular shoe. A Novel Suggestion in the Two- Cycle-Engine Field always has oo automotive industry 1) numerous untried suggestions or partly-tried designs which are of interest on their own grounds, regardless of their One of which comes to our attention is a two-cycle en- one anomal- SUCCESS, these ultimate gine which does work on only side of the This apparently ous result is accomplished by the aid of a piston, secondary piston, with a connecting rod of that through the main piston and is driven by cam, so that its motion may be straight up and down. When the main piston goes up the other goes down, and vice versa. The two are together at points near top and bottom centers; and their so arranged, with valves distributed its own passes respect ive reference dead strokes are to intake and exhaust at various parts of the cylinder, that the subsidiary cylinder attends to the busi- intake, while exhaust is partly ness of

; ee,

The multi-jack, which enables several receivers, loud-speakers, etc., to be plugged in at once worked in such narrow confines. There has just come to the rescue of the ironer a new device which resembles nothing so much as a deformed golf stick: that head and metal The de- hat on, is to say, it has a metal insulated handle iron ruffles and so over the work or little iron mounted rigidly table and running the work illustration shows the iron used stem, with an vice may be used to ribbons, trimmings, tine Ww running it laces, either having this on the over it. Our both ways What Color Is the Paint? FIVUHE buying of is often a matter | of uncertainty many shades and finishes that as likely as not purchased, with paint There are so the wrong puint may be consequent disappointment. A Western paint cognizant of this fully affairs, has taking munutacturer, state of introduced a simple method of the guess-work out of paint buying. As the packed into cans in his factory, a daub of paint is put on the side of each can and allowed to dry. The which is placed around the ‘an, has a hole cut in it let the daub of paint show through. The the label calls atten- paint is being label, small so as to proper wording on tion to the fact that a sample of the finished paint is framed by the little circle, In this simple manner the guess- work ts taken out of paint buying, and there is no real for subsequent disappointment. reason secured by the extreme end of the main stroke, plus the action of the secondary piston This leaves the main piston free to give the bulk of its travel to compression and strokes, and to have one of the latter on every down- ward journey through the cylinder. Among the details worthy of mention is the claim that extraordinarily advantag- eous fuel mixture is gained by the by- passing of the fuel from the be- tween the pistons through vents in the power space

To keep the horse from sinking into soft ground auxiliary one, into the combustion cham. ber. Doubtless this expectation of better mixing is the basis for claiming supe. riority to the ordinary two-cycle engine: and the more frequent power stroke js relied upon to give a favorable compari- son with the four-cycle engine of like number of cylinders. While some of the claims seem a trifle rash, the idea is @ the whole of interest. Striking New Automatic Welding Process ee ee comes from England of a new system of automatic welding which seems likely to produce far-regach- ing effects and to be widely used iy the future. It has been devised by Li. Steele, chief electrician of a British shipyard. It is claimed that a solutia has been found to the problem of.welding together dissimilar metals of widely dif ferent welding points, Such as brass to steel, etc. The unique feature of th process consists in the claim that masses of metal, differing both in size and i quality, can be automatically welded ina single operation by pressing an ordinary bell-push. Only the metal parts to be welded are heated, and no reinforcing with metal from any other source, such as a metal lic electrode or the use of any flux, & necessary. It is the only process in e& istence which will weld metals of widely different character and section. A brass plate can be welded to armor plate, The new process was developed in the first instance to meet Admiralty require ments in naval construction, and espe cially in order to obviate the piercing of bulkheads—in fact, to eliminate all drilling—and thus maintain watertight ness. The importance of that will realized from the fact that on a ship of the “Queen Elizabeth” there are 350,000 quarter-inch holes in the bulk- heads for the attachment of studs, and each hole is a potential leak. class

The daub of paint on the outside of the can matches the contents, and shows through the round hole in the label

JULY, ° process a structive advantage tion are t trial appa ing proces tion of he desirable danger 01 and the m and conta The cor complete but little bustible <« amounts 1 per cubic cess becon itean be | current pi The gas, p from solid power of cubie mete temperatur processes a illumina tin gas turbins the manuf: The gas tl and posses heat units directly as industria! eletrie pr permits th fuels for tl he earried smaller th: a8 process HE mo to most khow of, the makin There are, this commo article, pu Metallurgic A very table of the given, The such as in 1 the vuleani processes, 0 Preparation and the pui the gas ind ferent agric 4 Teal reve versified fie tical import New ROM Ge that the acetic acid

Page 49

ng into m cham. f better ig Supe engine; troke js ompari- of like e of the a is m elding ingland welding r-reach- | iy the y he J, British olution welding ely dif. rass to of the masses and in led ina “dinary led are metal metal- flux, is in ex widely \ brass >. The ie first equire | espe iercing ite all rtight- vill be ship of re are - bulk is, and 99 JuLy, 1922 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN 49 a The Service of the Chemist A Department Devoted to Progress and Achievement in the Field of Applied Chemistry Conducted by ISMAR GINSBERG, Chemical Engineer eVOnO—_— Production of Gas by Electricity gonvert coal and other combustible materials into gas, it is necessary to supply heat to the apparatus in which the gasification takes place. Generally a part of the combustible is consumed in the process for this purpose. Electricity has been used for heating, and in the German journal, Zeitschrift fuer ange- wandte Chemie, 1922, 73, there is dis- essed the application of electricity to the gas production process. Electricity can be used for the complete gasification process as well as in the process of de- structive pyrogenous distillation. The advantages of electricity in this connec- tim are the simplification of the indus- trial apparatus required for the gas-mak- ing process, the more economical utiliza- tion of heat, the easy attainment of any desirable concentration of heat without danger of consuming the combustible, and the more expeditious use of pressure and contact materials in the process. The consumption of current in the complete degasification process depends but little on the quality of the com- hastible or on that of the gas. It amounts to about 1.1 to 1.3 kilowatts pr cubic meter of the gas. The pro- cess becomes decidedly economical when itean be run so as to utilize the excess current produced by the power plant The gas, produced in the electric process from solid fuels and possessing a calorific power of 2800 to 3000 heat units per mubie meter, is especially useful in high temperature production, in reduction processes and syntheses, as an addition to illuminating gas, as fuel for motors and gas turbines and as a raw material for the manufacture of liquid combustibles. The gas that is made from liquid fuel and possessing a calorific power of 5000 heat units per cubic meter, can be used directly as illuminating gas and for all industrial and domestic purposes. The teetrie process of manufacturing gas permits the utilization of low grade fuels for this purpose. The process may Me carried out in apparatus much maller than that used in the ordinary £48 process, Uses for Lime HE most common use for lime, and to most people the only use that they ow of, is in construction work, in the making of mortar and_ plaster. There are, however, many other uses for this commodity, as is pointed out in the article, published in Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, 1922, 294-300. very comprehensive diagrammatic lable of the uses to which lime is put is fiven, There are many chemical uses, ich as in the manufacture of medicine, the vuleanization of rubber and other Dieesses of a catalytic nature, in the Meparation and preservation of food, and the purification of materials, as in the gas industry. There are many dif- ferent agricultural uses. The article is 4 Teal revelation of the numerous di- Yersified fields in which lime is of tech- tical importance. New Wood Preservative ROM German sources it is reported that the alkali salts of oxymercuric ‘etic acid and like preparations have teen found to he very useful as a wood Meservative. It is claimed that only Ml to 1 per cent of these salts need be ted in a solution to obtain good results. The wood is impregnated with this solu- tion and then exposed to the air. The carbon dioxide in the atmosphere de- composes the alkali salts and the active mercury derivative is precipitated on the fibers of the wood in an insoluble form. Acids may be used to hasten this action. In order to obtain an even stronger dis- infectant action, the solution of these alkali salts is admixed with metallic salts, such as copper sulfate, lead acetate, tin chloride, ete. Synthetic Edible Fats \ ITHIN recent years much experi- mentation has been done, particu- larly in Germany, in the attempt to produce edible fats artificially. In the German journal Chemiker Zeitung, 1922, page 157, there is given a description of some preliminary experiments on this subject which were performed with iso- propy! alcohol and stearic acid. The isopropyl ester of stearic acid is formed, which melts at 24 degrees Centigrade and possesses a mild taste and odor. It is claimed that this fat can be used as a food. On admixture with suet and milk, an oleomargarine is obtained which also has a mild taste and is altogether a recommendable product. The experi- mentation is being continued and fur- ther results will be published shortly. Paper from Carmia Fiber XPERIMENTS have been conducted 4 in Brazil to see whether paper could not be made from the fiber of the Carmia plant which grows very profusely in that country. The results have been very encouraging, and not only is a good paper made from this fiber, but it may also be used to good advantage in mak- ing rope and twine, and in the manu- facture of artificial silk. Petroleum, the Basis of Chemical Industry in Poland CCORDING to the German journal F Petroleum, volume 17, page 332, a Polish chemical industry is being estab- lished, based on the pyrogenous distilla- tion of Galician petroleum. Such a dis- tillation is, of course, directly opposite to what is generally carried out in pe- troleum refining. The products of this distillation consist, in addition to illu- minating gas, of 6 to 8 per cent of benzol, 3 to 4 per cent of toluol, 1 to 2 per cent of xylol, 3 per cent of naphthalene and 0.5 per cent of anthracene, besides 12 to 15 per cent of pitch and 10 per cent of different oils. Canning Food with Inert Gas HE point of prime importance in the canning of food is the effective pres- ervation of the same so that when the food is ready to be eaten, it will not have undergone any decomposition or deterioration. The tin can is perfectly successful in keeping air away from the food, but there is always a_ certain amount of oxygen entrapped with the food within the can, and the change in flavor that canned goods suffer has been definitely assigned to this oxygen in the can. A new process for the removal of the same by its replacement with inert gases is described in the Chemical ige of February, 1922. Besides keeping the flavor of the product as it wes in the original fresh state, this process of canning also adjusts the internal pres- sure in the can to atmospheric pressure, which relieves the seams of the can from strain and enables the packer to use lighter weight tinplate. It also avoids corrosion and pin-holing where due to oxygen. It is claimed, furthermore, that the inert gases improve the flavor of the canned food and preserve the vitamines. Oil from Seeds of Rubber Plant N the fourth year of its life, the rub- ber tree produces seeds, and these are produced regularly after the eighth year. These seeds contain about 50 per cent each of kernel and shell. The air-dried kernels contain on the average about 45 per cent of a drying oil. This oil hardens in air and can be used in making lin- oleum and soft soap. For further de- tails, the reader is referred to Gummi Zeitung, volume 35, page 500. Mineral Oils Soluble in Water Piypweery Patent No. 342,149 is con- cerned with a process of rendering mineral oils soluble in water by treat- ment with sulfur trioxide at high tem- perature without danger of carboniza- tion. Sponge Rubber as a Heat Insulator JOR some time in the past, strenuous efforts have been made to find new uses for rubber. The National Physical Laboratory, which has been occupying itself with this problem, has announced that sponge rubber, which is a particu- larly porous form of rubber, made by conducting the vulcanization process un- der a pressure of 100 atmospheres, may be used with success in lining refriger- ator walls. When the double walls of ice-boxes were filled with sponge rubber of the above nature, the heat transmis- sion through the walls was found to be only half as great as when cork or other insulating materials were used. Asphalt in Argentine Republic ARGE deposits of asphalt have been found in the Argentine in close prox- imity to oil fields. The interesting fea- ture about these asphaltic deposits is that they also contain considerable quan- tities of vanadium. Tetralin in Soap Manufacture _ STRALIN is the product that is ob- tained when tar camphor, that is, naphthalene, is treated with hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst. When tetra- lin or tetrahydronaphthalene is subjected to the action of sulfuric acid and then to that of an alkali, the sodium salt of tetralin sulfonic acid is produced. The solution of this salt in water possesses soap-like properties. The use of this substance in admixture with soap is rec- ommended, for it has the property of rendering the same soluble in hard water. The reader is referred for fur- ther details to the Zeitschrift fuer ange- ~ wandte Chemie, 1922, page 27. New Alcoholic Disinfectant | JPROPYL ALCOHOL is a compara- tively new commercial product, which is assuming importance as a substitute for ethyl alcohol. Certain experiments have been conducted in the laboratories of the City Hospital in Friederichshavn, in Berlin, where it has been found that the new alcohol can be used to good ad- vantage as a disinfectant of the hands in the place of ethyl alcohol. It has also ascertained that the same effects ean be obtained with a much smaller amount of the isopropyl alechol. For further details the reader is referred to the Vergl. D. med. Wochenschrift, 1922, page 68. Lead and Zinc Tailings as Fertilizer | ager ge Fe: made at the Univer- sity of Wisconsin have indicated that the tailings recovered from the lead and zinc mines of southwestern Wis- consin may be used to good advantage as a fertilizer. There does not appear to be any danger of poisoning due to the lead or zine nor of the development of sulfuric acid by the oxidation of the sulfide. As much as four to five tons to the acre have been used without any injurious effects and with marked benefit to clover and alfalfa crops. Radioactive Fertilizers COMPANY has been incorporated in Czecho-Slovakia, in which country there are large radium and uranium mines, controlled by the State, for the purpose of making fertilizers containing radioactive earths. Remarkable results are claimed from the use of such fer- tilizing materials. been Pasteurization of Milk NE of the principal difficulties that has to be overcome in the pasteuri- zation of milk is to avoid changing the appearance, odor and taste of the milk during the process. If the temperature is not controlled carefully and the heat treatment allowed to continue beyond the proper length of time, then the various albuminous and fatty constituents of the milk are thrown out of colloidal sus- pension and the milk thickens and ac- quires a taste which stamps it at once as an improperly pasteurized product. To avoid this happening and also to correct milk which has been, spoiled in this manner are the objects of German Patent No. 329,214. This process con- sists in passing indifferent gases, such as air or oxygen, through the milk, while it is being subjected simultane- ously to a rapid sterilization or pas- teurization. This is accomplished by al- ternate sudden internal heating and cool- ing, which brings about sudden changes in the temperature. To this end gases of a comparatively low temperature are made to pass through highly heated milk and highly heated gases through cold milk. The milk, for example, may be warmed to 40 to 50 degrees Centi- grade, and gases, heated to 250 to 350 de- grees Centigrade, are passed through it. Sponge Asphalt HEN ordinary asphalt is melted and allowed to run out of an appa- ratus, provided with a spout, in such a way that the stream of molten material is made to come in contact with a stream of air, a product, full of air cells, is obtained after the mass has congealed, or, in other words, sponze asphalt is produced. This material possesses valu- able properties, which render it usable as a packing between cement or paving blocks, for electrical insulating purposes, as a heat insulator in freight cars and refrigerators and as insulation against moisture and sound. The process is pat- ented in the United States. (See U. 8S. atent No. 1,401,974.)

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bO TIEN stronomers travel together like other hu 1%" mun beings they sometimes “talk shop ind again they don't The writer has been In the same boat—literallys vith the Director of the Harvard Col lege Observatory for a fortnight but there has been less discussion of hie Ldere universe than might have been the case if there had not intervened sucl opportunities for Dser ifion or our own planet ind its inhabitant s occur in the course of a Mediter ranean cruise Sol ! f howevel ma In worth passing on to the yentie readet Mention has probably been made ng ag n these columns of the important work of Professor Baile and his associates at Harvard upon the frequency with which temporary stars, or novae, appear in different parts of the sky It has long been known that such objects are almost though not quite, completely con fined to the Milky Ways but the question of their relative abundance in different parts of the Galaxy has been less thoroughly studied until recently. Only the brighter novae, which rise above the fourth or third magnitude, are likely to be dis covered with the naked eye though the occasional objects whiecl like Nova Aqui lae of 1918, rival Arcturus or even Sirius have been detected independently by doz- ens of observers For the fainter mem bers of the class photographic methods are necessary ind here the gre Hat vard library of celestial photographs tis of enormous value For son years pust i caretu and systematic study of the Harvard plates has been made ith this end in view comparing all the different photographs of the same region and looking keenly | tor newcomers This searcl has heen | rewarded by the discovery of a consider a able number of novae, too faint to have j2 been seen with the naked eve but plainly 3 recorded on the plates, awaiting the searcher. though vears may have passed yor iJOH since the photographs were developed and filed away The Extent of the Universe Two important results have emerged from this investigation In the first place it is found that the brighter novae are distributed about at random in galactic longitude; in other words, they are about as likely to appear in one part of the Milky Way as in another. But for the fuinter ones this is by no means true By far the larger proportion of these have appeared in one half of the Milky Way, extending from Cygnus through Aquila " : ‘ . At 11 o'clock: and Sagittarius to Centaurus; while the At 10% o'clock other half, including Cassiopeia, Auriga At 10 o'clock: and Orion, has shown very few. A con- spicuous concentration occurs in Sagit- tarius, in the region of the great star- clouds. This phenomenon, though very striking, is not hard various re we have good which least tentatively. From searches—notably those of Dr. Shapley- reason to conclude that the “universe” surrounds us has its center far away from the sun—at a distance of 50,000 light-years or and in the direction of Sagittarius. In this direction the Milky Way extends, star-cloud behind star-cloud, to a depth of perhaps 200,000 light years, while on the opposite side of the heavens its depth is very much We may put this fact together with another—namely, that best existing evidence indicates that the brighter have in reality of gigantic luminosity often more 10,000 as bright the sun and that even to have been at dis tances of many If the fainter which at maximum reached only the eighth or magnitude, of the real brilliancy their distances must to explain, at of stars more, less the novae been than the nearest hundreds of light-years times as appear novue, ninth the others great, or thereabouts, and in some cases have exceeded the smaller dis were sume as have been 50 times as 50,000, or even 100,000, light-years. At tances of the brighter novae, there are probably about as many roughly speaking, in one direction as in another: but at the vast distances of the fainter ones, thin in the direction of stars, the stars probably get very The hours given are in Standard Time. SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN The Heavens in July, 1922 The Photographic Search for Novae, and Some of the Conclusions Drawn from the Results By Professor Henry Norris Russell, Ph.D. still abun- Auriga or Orion, while they are presumably dant in that of Sagittarius. The lop-sided distribution of the fainter novae, favoring one-half of the Milky Way, is therefore quite in line with these modern views of their actual brightness and of the extent of the universe. When we know a little more, it may even help us to map out the depth of the Milky Way. The second result of the Harvard investigation is even more remarkable The number of new stars vhich have been detected on the plates is evidently only fraction of those that actually appear in the heavens, Thorough as the patrol of the sky” has been, it is not possible to cover every region of the sky by plates taken at intervals so short as to be sure of including the time during which a neva was near its maximum for this is often but a few days. Moreover, there are months in every year when any given region of the sky is near the sun, and the stars in it cannot be ob- served or photographed at all. Taking all this into account, it becomes clear that only a small fraction of the novae which appear will actually be caught on the wozvoH | UIDYIION .

course around the zodiac. All throug end of the month he draws in betwea us and the sun, and becomes hard to se At his he is brighter than Capella or Arcturus, and a conspicuous object Venus is an evening star in Leo, stil increasing her apparent distance from th sun, though slowly, but at the same tim moving southward that the time o her setting grows earlier, changing from 9:35 P. M. on the Ist to 9:05 on the 3is Mars is in Scorpio and very conspitt ous in the evening sky. He moves wet ward at first, then, on the 16th, reverse his motion and begins his long eastwatl best sO

latter, then approaching to within 3 @ grees, then receding again. His distant from the earth increases from about 4 to 55 millions of miles, and his brightae fades accordingly; but he greatly exceeds Antare> about sixteen-fold at the month’s beginning, and nile fold at its close. Jupiter is in quadrature with the sun on the 2nd, and is therefore accounted an evening star. He is abe 83 degrees south of the equator, and sets close t night on the Ist and at 10:05 P. M. on the 31st. Saturn, like Jupiter, is an evening star in Virgo, is a little lower in the sky and sets about 20 minute earlier. Uranus is a morning star in Aquarius, and cros® the meridian at 3:23 A. M. on the 16th. Neptume® technically an evening star, but is too near the sul® be observable. The moon is in her first quarter at 6 P. M, @ the first, full at 10 P. M. on the 8th, in her last quarter® midnight on the 16th, new at 7 A. M. on the 24th, a again in her first quarter at 11 P. M. on the 30th. She is nearest the earth on the 26th and farthest away @ the 14th. During the month she passes by Saturm Jupiter on the 1st, Mars on the 6th—at the unu great distance of 8 degrees—Uranus on the 13th, Me cury on the 22nd, Neptune on the 25th, Venus on th 27th, Saturn again on the 28th and Jupiter on the #® On board S. S. “Patria,” in the Ionian Sea, Aprils 1922.

JuLy, This —_—_— é An WH! A nect axle hou which cl: axle hous wheel, is adapter « designed encircles the adapt thus elim housing, : the adapt: ly and ch A speci main fra mounted « frame th takes all and stress relieves tl shear whi: tamsion mi in which is mounte half of th wishbone. The ch: diately ur termed thi are mount camps. bone is m is carried rolls bene: iron quadr main trail is to carr bone, whic load throu frame of t The stee the flexibl between tl connects tl ing them o The wis! connected trailer as dither righ main fram. to the poi fo make j the first ¢ axle type t of the towi The maiz T feet long, ard chann trailer axle dump body body, 6x10 be mounted carried by Suspension,

Page 51

X, 192) Indergone ring ge iNcreay stionably sure that Yambrian Professor nS doubt. being g e of ep nd ther 't Notice by Luné iminatels of thow represent Y behing the out COllisign dust o he stars rhood of tO mov r risk of ll be m- he. The destruc iy there ortunate pace, tf * clouds mgation, aly 11th, yugh the nini, far and is 40 AM through vard the betwee 1 to see. Capella yb ject. 20, still ‘rom the me time time of g from the 3ist onspict- es west reverses astwarl throug) ht star of th n3é@ distance bout 4 ightnes itares- rd nine nd, and s about to mi¢ t. rgo, but minutes | crosses tune § . sun f on th arte? i th, and n.. Sle way @ in. abi Jury, 1922 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN ——s— The Motor-Driven Commercial Vehicle Conducted by MAJOR VICTOR W. PAGE, M.S. A. E. This department is devoted to the interests of present and prospective owners of motor trucks and delivery wagons. The editor will endeavor to answer any question relating to mechanical features, operation and management of commercial motor vehicles Left: Side An Innovation in Trailers WHEELED trailer designed to con- A nect directly to the tractor rear axle housing through adapter castings which clamp solidly to grooves in the axle housing, immediately inside of the wheel, is now being marketed. The adapter casting is a cast-iron bushing designed so that the steel clamp that aeircles saine may swivel radially on the adapter casting on the axle housing, thus eliminating any wear on the axle housing, and throwing all the wear on the adapter casting, which may be quick- ly and cheaply replaced A special connection underneath the min frame of the trailer pivotally mounted on the front end of the main fame through the king plate, which takes all of the draw-bar pull, strain ind stress, and through its construction, tlieves the king bolt entirely from any shear whatsoever; it merely acts as a tasion member to hold the main frame in which the top half of the king plate is mounted in contact with the bottom half of the king plate mounted in the wishbone. The channel-iron construction imme- diately underneath the main frame is termed the wishbone; on its two ends are mounted the steel spring-cushioned damps. On the other end of the wish- bone is mounted a 6-inch roller which is carried on *%4-inch ball-bearings and tills beneath the flanges of a channel- in quadrant placed transverse of the main trailer frame. Its main function is to carry the rear end of the wish- bone, which carries 75 per cent of the lad through the king plate and main frame of the trailer. The steel clanijs above mentioned are the flexible spring-cushioned connection letween the tretter and tractor, which connects the tr:! te the tractor, mak- ing them one u The wishbone is so constructed and commected to the main frame of the failer as to allow the tractor to turn dither right or left without turning the main frame of the trailer until it comes to the point where the tractor started © make its turn, therefore producing the first two-wheeled trailer of dead- axle type that will follow in the tracks of the towing vehicle. _ The main frame is 3 feet wide and (feet long, constructed of 6-inch stand- id channel-iron. It balances on the Mailer axle so that a 3-yard gravity end- dump body, 83-yard gravity side-dump body, 6x10 platform-body or hayrack can be mounted thereon. The main frame is ‘arried by a new innovation in spring ‘Uspension, the spring suspension con- view of the trailer attached to towing tractor. Right Two views of a new two-wheeled trailer for agricultura! work sists of a cast-steel head fixedly riveted at either side to the main frame, which floats on three graduated coil-springs on either side of the frame, supported by the cast-steel bracket fixedly clamped to the square trailer axle. This construc- tion is designed for a payload carrying capacity of five tons, of which 40 per is carried by the tractor rear axle wishbone. The trailer is cent through the Tank Trucks in the Dairy Business MAx* dairies throughout the country 4 are dispensing with cumbersome milk cans by installing tank trucks. These are either glass- or copper-lined and are frequently insulated to prevent heating of the milk in summer, or freez- ing in winter. In fact, they may be compared, in a way, to thermos bottles, fitted with indestructible steel wheels on which are mounted 6-inch tires. On these steel wheels are mounted the ex- ternal band brakes which operate from the driver's seat. The trailer is also provided with adjustable screw-jack sup- port, hinged underneath and toward the front end of the wishbone, which is hung up out of the way when the trailer is connected to the tractor. The milk, of course, being cooled before it is piped in, increases in temperature but a degree an hour, even on the hottest day. Circumstances, naturally, govern the use of tank trucks. There are cases in which they relegate the old-fashioned ean to the scrap heap and others in which they cannot be used economically. If the capacity of any country plant ean be carried in one or two trips by Among the jobs that this emergency truck performs for the traction company is the bridging of fire-hose that lies across the tracks : Side view of trailer alone, showing clamp castings closed. there is a worth-while saving of cans. Cans of eight gallons capacity cost around $6.50. Two hun- dred and fifty of them at this figure would cost $1625. It is necessary to have two sets of cans and some extras in handling milk, for while the empties are returning, the full ones are going a tank truck, in. Cans can be used for about four years. A tank should easily outlast them. The fact that the tank has a longer life than a set of cans is, how- ever, of the least importance in deciding upon tank equipment. The dairyman is engaged in supplying one of the vital necessities of human life. Upon the quality of the product he handles depends the health of millions of persons. The tank truck guards the temperature and therefore the quality of this product while it is being trans- ported and in addition prevents the milk being contaminated by harmful foreign substances. This feature of the tank truck means as much to the dairyman as the practical savings in labor, time and equipment brought about by its adoption, A Milwaukee dairy company has in- stalled on the chassis of a new, specially designed pneumatic-tired trutk a copper milk tank with a capacity of 840 gal- lons. The tank weighs 700 pounds when empty and 7924 pounds when fully loaded. A glass-lined tank of 800 gal- lons capacity weighs 2150 pounds empty. The truck is equipped with a rear box which can carry 22 8-gallon cans of milk in an emergency. This space is used to haul one ton of ice to the coun- try receiving station on the return trip. Loading is done from three reserve vats at the country plant. An Efficient Ally of the Street Railway ' INCH-HITTING” for the street railway in Los Angeles, Calif., is the specialty of the two-ton truck, shown in the accompanying illustration, laying a temporary bridge over an obstructing length of fire hose. The bridge pre- vented a pile-up of street cars on either side of the hose. Another feat which the truck is frequently called upon to perform is the replacement of derailed ears. This it does by coupling onto stranded cars with a heavy log chain and towing the cars back to their tracks. The truck is also equipped with a three section telescope tower designed to fa- cilitate the repair of overhead wires. Other paraphernalia includes blocks, tackle, picks, shovels, jacks, crowbars, cables, ropes and lights, so that it can cope with almost any emergency.

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SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN JULY, 1929 Our Readers’ Point of View Magnesium Alloys To the Editor of the SclreNTIFIC AMERICAN: I have read with interest the article on magnesium alloys in your paper of some time since, and would ask space fot a few comments and strong protests against some stats ments in that article The magnesium alloys in question were not invented by the American company putting them out, and the idea of using these alloys for pistons and connecting rods in auto mobiles and airplane engines did not originate with this company. They are mere infringers of the patents of the undersigned. invented in Montreal by the deve loped during 1917 and started their The magnesium alloys were undersigned in 1917, and 1918, two years before the were American company alloy for experiments The idea of using a magnesium pistons occurred to me in 1917; and in spite of the advice 1 received from all my engineering friends, that the pistons would take fire and burn up on account of the high tem perature (about 1500° C.) inside the cylinders (magnesium burns at 650° ©), pistons and connecting rods were in stalled in one Buick engine and one Grant engine in the beginning of 1918, The results were so satisfactory that experiments were continued with several other engines, including one large 6-cylinder airplane engine of 55/16 inch bore. This airplane engine was fitted with both pis tons and connecting rods, and at an official test showed an increase in power of more than 12 per cent over what it had with aluminum pistons and steel connecting rods. In the autumn of 1918 patents were applied for in all coun tries on the alloys, and patents were granted to me in the United States (1,341,774) and Canada (19,882) in 1920 During the past year I have also tested the alloy for large vaw-oil and Diesel engine pistons up to 12-inch diam eter. The alloy stands up in these large pistons fully as well as in the smaller ones, and the advantages are even greater than in the automobile engines In the ordinary one or two cylinder raw-oil boat engine the change of piston from cast iron to magnesium alloy inereased the maximum power output by 50 per cent or more, and yet runs much cooler the engine, in spite of the higher speed, and with less vibration than before. Many two-cycle en gines need to have water injected into the explosion cham ber in order to keep them cool. This water injection is not necessury whet using magnesium alloy pistons. (hn account of the high heat-eonductivity of the alloy (three times that of cast iron) the piston, and thereby the whole engine, keeps cool in spite of the much higher power output This should be of great importance, especially for the construe tion of Diesel and other crude-oil engines used for driving electric generators. On the relatively slow speed of such oil engines the generators have to be made the speed of the motor is done when using pistons account of very large and expensive. If doubled (and that can easily be and connecting rods of magnesium alloy) it is easy to see that the price of the whole aggregate will be greatly re duced, The amd tear of bearings and cylinders of such a high-speed engine with the new pistons and wear rods is less than in the slow-speed engine with reciprocating parts of iron. That the new alloy is the material par excellence for motor crank-cases hardly needs to be said. Unlike the aluminum alloys, which are ‘rather brittle, the magnesium alloys are very tough and will stand up well against knocks and vibration. The hardest varieties of the alloy will bend and not crack, if the stress becomes too great Elasticity varies to some extent with the hardness of the alloy, and the hardness again may be varied greatly by the composition and by working. As a rule the alloy over &5 per cent magnesium. In their elastic contains properties these alloys come nearer to wood than any other metal. On aceount of the low modulus of elasticity and the extremely great resilience, the alloy will stand vibra tion better than any other metal. It has, like wood, the property of giving way when stressed. I have now succeeded in producing all kinds of struc- tural shapes, such as channels, angles, I-beams, ete., in all sizes and lengths up to 30 feet or with tensile strength, 45,000 to 50,000 pounds per square inch; elastic limit, 30,000 to 40,000 pounds per square inch; elongation, 12 to 15 per cent, and modulus of elasticity, 5,000,000. By further rolling or hammering the strength may be brought up to more than 60,000 pounds per square inch, but, then the elongation drops to about 1 or 2 per cent. If an alloy is desired with an elongation of 20 per cent or more this may be obtained by annealing after rolling, but then the strength drops to 40,000 pounds per square inch. It will be noticed that this magnesium alloy in its physi- cal properties is the equal of ordinary structural steel and yet weighs 4.4 times less. The alloy is in its worked form the only existing metal which has a greater tensile strength in proportion to its weight than the strongest woods (ex- cepting such special steels as hard drawn piano wire). That magnesium alloys will be the material for the con- more, nade in the corre sponde nee column. correspondents will be withheld when so desired. Anonymous communications cannot be considered, but the names of struction of airships and airplanes in the future seems ‘ certain. Even the airplane propeller may be made from this alloy and with the same weight it will have greater strength and far greater toughness than the present wood propeller. Many attempts have from time to time been made at producing metal propellers, but they have all failed for the simple reason that we had no metal strong enough in proportion to its weight. The centrifugal force tore the propeller to pieces. The magnesium alloy pro- peller is made in one piece and has the same shape as a wooden propeller except that it is thinner. It is cast with straight blades and afterward the whole propeller is ham- mered and the blades shaped to the correct piteh in the same way as we would hammer it to shape if it was to be made in from steel. In hammering the mag- nesium alloy it must be kept at a temperature between 200" and 300° Cc. The that they where they are one piece one great drawback with all magnesium alloys is are attacked by salt water, and must, therefore, painted, varnished or covered with other metal by the Schoop method or protected in other way. I have a short time diseovered a simple way of treating the metal so that it becomes quite impervious to salt water. This new method of treating magnesium and its alloys, which, by the way, will be of great importance to the electrical industries, will be communicated later, when the patents are in order. Cur. BACKER. exposed to this, be sore some ago Bergen, Norway Helmholtz’s Handbook of Optics To the Editor of the ScleENTIFIC AMERICAN: Many readers of the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN will be gled to know that the council of the Optical Society has ap- pointed a committee to make arrangements for bringing out an English translation of Helmholtz’s great work on physi- ological optics. The first edition of the “Handbuch der physiologischen Optik” was published in 1866, more than half a century ago; and the fact that this epoch-making work, which re- today the original treatise on physiological opties, has never translated into English, is a re- proach to both Great Britain and America. To make its valuable contents accessible to those who do not find it easy or canvenient to read a foreign language will be con- ferring a boon on many scientific investigators in the vast which this book was originally mains most been and expanding territory intended to cover. Incidentally, the proposed English edition will be a memorial of the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Hermann von Helmholtz, whose influence on modern scien- tifie thought in nearly every direction has perhaps been as widespread and permanent as that of any of his great con- temporaries in the nineteenth century. It is estimated that the cost of translating, editing, and publishing this memorial volume (or volumes) will be $5000 or more. It is particularly desired that every indi- vidual who is interested in the success of this project and in the advancement of the science of light and vision in this country will have an opportunity of contributing. Contributions, no matter how small, may be sent to Adolph Lomb, Esq., treasurer of the Optical Society of America, care of Bausch & Lomb Optical Company, Rochester, New York. Make checks payable to “Adolph Lomb, Treasurer.” Anyone subscribing as much as $15 will receive a copy of the complete work when it is issued. JAMES P. C. SOUTHALL, President, Optical Society of America. Uniforms and Clothes To the Editor of the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN: In one of your recent issues I notice an article by E. C. Crossman on the subject of army uniform, and I wish to take exception to part of his article. I wore this same uniform many months, myself, and will agree to some extent with Mr. Crossman’s remarks regard- ing the blouse, but when he gets on to the subject of the trousers I fail to agree with him. Mr. Crossman recommends that “long trousers (be issued) as articles of regular issue,” ete. Of all the abom- inable garments designed for human wear long trousers head the list, in my opinion. They are neither becoming, sanitary nor comfortable, and only show that the male of the species is not far ahead of the female when it comes to being led like sheep. Any young boy in his teens has it in every way on an adult in the style of trousers he wears, and while the army style is not as neat as are the short trousers worn by boys, they were at least comfortable and a relief from the flapping pieces of cloth that we have to wear as civilians. Any golf player, any bicyclist or any athlete knows the superiority of knee pants in every way. With a lighter legging there certainly is no valid objection to the present style of army trousers, though I ———.., don't like the so-called “wrapped” leggings myself, I, like all others, had to don “long pants” years ago and was well able to appreciate the change when I enlisted and got into O.D.’s—and it was with a real regret that I returned to the senseless and uncomfortable “long” trousers of the civilian. If you want to advocate something, get a movement started to shake off the “long” trouser style that has en. dured simply because no one has had nerve enough to question it. FRANK C., RUTLEDeg, Pleasant Ridge, Ohio. A Menace to Our Forests To the Editor of the SctentiIric AMERICAN: One of the great constructive achievements of President Roosevelt is in danger. A serious attack on the United States Forest Service will soon be in the news from Wash- ington. In the House the Curry Bill (H. R. 5964), in the Senate the King Bill (S. 2740), and the New Bil (S. 2382) provide for transferring the Forest Service jp whole or in part from the Department of Agriculture tp the Department of the Interior. Hearings have been held and will shortly be continued. In the Department of Agriculture, where they are now, the Forest Service and the National Forests are safe and so well managed that (except for certain special interests) they have won the unanimous support of the nation. Their purpose is to grow trees, and they belong naturally in the department which has to do with growing all crops, inelad- ing tree crops, from the soil. Forestry is a part of agri- culture and is so recognized the world around. The Interior Department is the real estate agent of th Government. It is not the business of a real estate agent to grow forest or farm. As a matter of faet, when the Interior Department had charge of the National Forests, years ago, they were so badly handled that Presi dent Roosevelt was forced to insist upon their transfer tp the Department of Agriculture. The modern progress of forestry in America dates from that change. The Forest Service has little business with the Depart ment of the Interior, and what it has is rapidly diminish ing. It has many times more business with the other bureaus of the Department of Agriculture, and that bus- ness is rapidly increasing. The Department of Agriculture has much forest work to do outside the National Forests. There are more aeres by twenty million in woodlots on farms than in all th remaining public domain, of which the Interior Department has charge. If the Forest Service were transferred, the Department of Agriculture would be compelled to build up a similar organization, thus leading to more duplication in the Government service instead of less. Forestry is doing admirably where it is. There is not one sound reason of any kind for the proposed transfer. It is well understood in Washington that the same inter ests that attempted to gobble up the natural resources of Alaska in Secretary Ballinger’s time are at it again. Th best stalking horse of the men behind the grab is the daim that Alaska is going backward. The fact is that from 1910 to 1920 the exports from Alaska have increased from $13- 608,394 to $62,469,096, or 366 per cent, while during the same ten years the exports from the United States inereasél from $1,866,258,904 to $8,228,016,307, or 340 per cet Alaskan business has actually been growing faster tha the business of the United States, although the latter ha been increasing at a rate without precedent. The National Forests in Alaska, if they can be savel will produce two million cords of pulpwood annually fr all time, or enough to supply one-third of the present ness of the United States. The Forest Service in the Depart ment of Agriculture has completed plans for developing this great resource in a way to open it to the public bit keep the grabbers out. More than half our timber is gone already. Only ome sixth of our virgin forests remain, and they are being at at a rate that will destroy them entirely before twenty-fit years. Only a little more unrestricted forest devastation will bring down upon us the dangerous hardships of 8 timber famine. The cost of pulpwood and lumber is plait proof enough of the stage to which the searcity has already advanced, and of what is still ahead. Little has been heard of all this outside of Washingte® The purpose of this letter is to let you know what ® planned, and to express my hope that when the occas comes you will treat the proposal as it deserves. Unles the friends of forestry take up this matter in earnest, ® enemies will win out. If they do, it will mean the ruin 0! the Forest Service, the wreck of the movement for fore protection in America, and higher prices for forest product of every kind. It would seem to be the wrong time t chances with forestry just now, when every cle citizen knows that with the utmost care we can escape most serious trouble from the exhaustion of @ forest supplies. crops on GIFFORD PrncHot JULY, Brie —_— pee TROL St, Nev lates to l, al constru”’ is provid ing the joring provide strip hel are used together. GARY CaUDLE, Wadesbo invention ing trous be disper for appe: vided ma ble of be between | places on GARM Brandfor vention bloomers. more esp and arral veniently it from object is the wear few parts PROC NEUTR/ 80N, ¢/0 Hawaii. provide a less, and provide a may be u tions, as butter su generally. COMP‘ AND M TION.—\ Jackson vi Ave., Woc vention is will be ef extinguish result of mable sub of a mixti aluminum wulfurie ac COLLO MONY §) 1116 Seco. most objec colloidal ; stable eno ing sterili: obtained ; As a prot 4 protalbir SOLUB COLLOID Wotvex aa Calif. Ty the electri their solut:

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, 1929 of —— A ago and enlisted zret that > “long” 10Vement - has ep. 10ugh to LEDGE, resident > United n Wash ), in the ew Bill rvice in ilture to een held ire now, safe and iterests) n. Their y in the . includ of agri- it of the te agent of fact, National it Presi- nsfer to gress of Depart- iminish- e other at busi- st work re acres all the artment red, the yuild up ation in » is not ransfer. e inter- irces of in. The e claim m 1910 m $13; ing the crease! r cent. or than ter has saved. ally for it needs Depart: eloping nie but ly one ing cut nty-five station s of 4 s_ plait already ingtob. rhat casio! Unles est, its ruin of forest ~oduct® to take headel hardly of out HOT. JuLy, 1922 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN Recently Patented Inventions Brief Descriptions of Newly Invented Mechanical and Electrical Devices, Tools, Farm Implements, Ete. tia Pertaining to Apparel “TROUSERS.—J. H. Barnert, 713 B. 6th st, New York, N. Y. This invention re- lates to trousers and to wearing ap- parel, and has for its object to provide a construction of seam wherein an extra strip is provided which may be actuated for break- ing the stitching of the seams without in- juring fhe garment. Another object is to provide in a garment of any kind a ripping grip held in place by the same stitches that also are used to hold the parts of the garment together. GARMENT SUPPORTER. — T. L Caupte, c/o Robinson, Caudle & Pruette, Wadesboro, N. C. Among the objects of the invention is to provide a device for support- ing trousers, by use of which suspenders may be dispensed with entirely and a belt worn for appearance only, a supporter being pro- vided made from resilient material and capa- ble of being sprung and held into position between suitable buttons sewn at the proper places on the inside of the trousers. GARMENT.— ANNA B. Gnrissie, 80 Brandford Place, Newark, N. J. The in- yention relates to a combined dress and bloomers. Its object is to provide a garment more especially designed for children’s wear and arranged to permit of quickly and con- yeniently donning the garment or removing it from the body of the wearer. Another object is to insure the utmost comfort for the wearer, in a garment of comparatively few parts. Chemical Processes PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING NEUTRAL COCONUT OIL.—W. S. Coox- son, c/o Lulu M. Smith, Maunawai, Oahu, Hawaii. An object of the invention is to provide a coconut oil which is neutral, odor- less, and colorless. A further object is to provide a coconut oil of great purity which may be used for medical and toilet prepara- tions, as well as for the manufacture of butter substitutes, and for edible purposes generally. COMPOSITION OF MATTER FOR AND METHOD OF SOIL INOCULA- TION.—W. B. Guy, c/o Baldwin & Vetter, Jacksonville, Fia. The invention has for its object to provide a fertilizing composition, whereby the growth of vegetable and plant life is greatly enhanced. Besides its valuable property of liberating carbon dioxide in re- lation to the seeds and roots, it contains valuable food properties adapted to the sus- tenance of plant life. The composition com- prises a formation of sucrose and yeast cul- ture in dry powdered form to be mixed with | the seeds and roots in the soil. FIRE-EXTINGUISHING COMPOST- TION.—M. R. Resanovicnu, 179 Hopewell Ave.. Woodlawn, Pa. The object of the in- vention is to produce a composition which will be effective to quickly and completely extinguish fires, even though the fire be the result of the combustion of highly inflam- mable substances. The composition consists of a mixture of sauerkraut brine, skim milk, tluminum salt, salt, and hydrochloric or wilfurie acid. COLLOIDAL COMPOUND OF ANTT- MONY SULFIDE.—M. E. WotveKamp, 116 Second Ave., Oakland, Calif. The fore- most object of this invention is to provide colloidal antimony sulfides which will be stable enough to allow of their solution be-| mg sterilized by boiling and which may be obtained as dry solids without dialyzing. As a protective colloid the sodium salt of *protalbinic or a lysalbinie is very suitable. SOLUBLE COMBINATION WITH A COLLOIDAL SULFARSENITE. — M. E. WouveKAmP, 1116 Second Ave., Oakland, Calif. The object is to provide colloidal sulfarsenites which will be stable enough 0 allow of their solutions being sterilized boiling and which may be obtained as dry solids by simple evaporation of their ‘lutions without previously dialyzing away electrolytes which may be present in solutions as manufacture:l. CHEMICAL COMPOUND.—M. E. WoOLVEKAMP, 1116 Second Ave., Oakland, Calif. The present invention relates to im- provements in antiseptics and its object is to provide an antiseptic that will serve as a substitute for mercuric salicylate, and that may also be used as a disinfectant for medical or other instruments. The compound is very easily soluble in a sodium chloride solution. Electrical Devices AUTOMATIC AWNING CONTROL DEVICE.—W. GReBLER and L. Oskow, ad- dress Louis Oskow, 1725 Sterling Place, Brooklyn, N. Y. This invention relates gen- erally to an electro-machine control system. An object is to provide with an awning, an electro-mechanical means for moving the awning and a system of control, whereby the awning may be automatically stopped at the limits of travel or may be held in any position intermediate the limits of travel, until again moved by the prime mover. ELECTRIC IRON.—F. B. WiIpMAYER, 65 W. 95th Street, New York, N. Y. An object of the invention is to provide means whereby the electric heating sections are automatically interconnected when the me- chanical connection between the sections is established. A further object is to provide a construction so that if any particular heating element burns out it is not necessary to in- stall a new complete unit but only to replace that particular section which is burned out. BATTERY VISE.—H. G. LerFrrine- WELL, 1155 Grand Ave., Grand Junction, Colo. The invention has for an object to provide a simple construction for holding a storage battery in position on a bench while being operated upon. A further object is to provide for holding the batteries in such way that the holding members are actuated by a foot pedal which will cause the battery to be firmly clamped against the bench. ARMATURE WINDING MACHINE.— P. F. RHoapDEs and W. M. WeLiine. Address P. F. Rhoades, 146 W. 21st Street, York, N. Y. The invention relates to a machine in which an armature, with the commutator attached, can be rewound in a simple and efficient manner with a maximum saving of time and labor. Another object resides in the provision of means whereby with a simple adjustment a plurality of dif- | ferent types of armature windings can be made, and an accurate count of the number of armature turns wound at any particular instant may be made. JAR CLOSURE. Army and Navy Y. M. C. eadero, San Francisco, Calif. The invention relates in general to jar closures, but more particularly to a liquid seal for the cap closures for primary battery jars. An object is to so construct the seal that any gases which may be generated within the jar may readily pass through the seal into the atmos- A. W. KRrowIckt, c/o phere and at the same time provide an ef- ! fective seal to prevent air from obtaining eo to the interior of the jar. Of Interest to Farmers REVERSIBLE HILLSIDE TURNING | PLOW.—S. Lutes, Primrose, Ky. The pri- |mary object of the invention is the provision of a plow adapted to be held in different positions so that only the extreme forward | portion of the point will engage the ground and be subject to wear, and may be main- tained in line with the land-bar or runner at all times, thereby producing an effective | hillside turning plow, as well as insuring! proper engagement with and turning of the; earth. POWER POSTHOLE AUGER. —L. J. HerpiitcHKa, Humboldt, Neb. The inven-| tion has for its object to provide an appa-' ratus which is adapted to effect a rapid bor- |ing or drilling of postholes, which has a wide | range of action and which is of simple and durable construction, reliable in operation, }and easy and inexpensive to manufacture. | HAYRAKE.—W. Kovwns, Salina, Kans. The invention relates to a hayrake which ‘ean be attached to a vehicle body, such as New | A., 226 Embar- | a motor truck body. An object is to pro- vide means whereby a rake frame can be attached to the front and rear of a truck, and can be raised from, and lowered to the ground, to receive the load of grain, and whereby the loads will balance with respect | to the body of the truck, and may be easily and quickly transported. SOIL TILLING MACHINE—C. C. Cook, c/o Rindge Land Navigation Co., Stockton, Calif. This invention has refer- ence to a rotating tiller having knives on its periphery which till the soil. An object is to provide an apparatus in which the weeds, corn rolled flat and then cut into fine particles by the tiller which also tills the soil. STUMP AUGER.—W. Hveunes, c/o Hughes Lumber Co., Meridian, Miss. The invention relates to hand-operated augers for drilling tree stumps, that they may be re- moved from the land either by burning or blasting. The object is to furnish a portable and collapsible construction capable of be- ing readily transported, operated and ad- justed, and in which the feeding of the auger ean be controlled to operate and remove shavings from the hole bored. Cutting tools or drills of various size may be employed. HONEYCOMB FRAME.—H. C. Hart- MAN, Route No. 2, Braddyville, Iowa. An object of the invention is to provide means place within the frame so that it will not sag or sway from the weight of the bees there- upon. A further object is to provide a frame which will be simple and practical in con- struction, strong and durable in use. BROODER.—H. J. Wetcu, R. R. No. 1, Grafton, Ohio. The invention has reference which no hovers are used, a proper cir- culation of air is maintained and the body portion of the chickens receive the necessary amount of heat. Another object is to pro- vide a brooder which can be used equally well indoors and outdoors, having provisions against draft and abnormal winds, and is | self-cleaning and provided with means to save the excrement for use as a by-product. INCUBATOR TRAY.—J. Kovar, address |H. Zdavil, Taylor, Texas. This invention |aims to provide an incubator tray which will provide means by which all of the eggs within the tray may be simultaneously and quickly turned, so that the expense, incident to the delay heretofore experienced in this operation will be eliminated, aside from the | fact that danger of injuring the eggs will be precluded. The tray is extremely compact and capable of being manufactured at a | nominal figure. SOCKET.—R. F. Armstrone, La Cygne, Kansas. The object of the invention is to provide a device for use with artificial hands or the like, which evenly distributes the strain, incident to the securing of the arti- | ficial hand over the fore-arm and upper arm and without impairing the flexibility of the elbow joint, or otherwise interfering with the |normal functioning of the arm, and which will not chafe or irritate the arm. SCALE.—F. A. Burxnarp, 158 E. 82nd Street, New York, N. Y. for its object to provide a construction wherein a comparatively heavy or light | object may be accurately weighed. A further | object is to provide a scale having a plurality of springs and manually actuated means for throwing one spring out of operation and another in for working the same dial, the ar- rangement being such that one of the scales will accurately weigh heavy objects and the other light objects. FIREPROOF DOOR.—A. V. Kerry, 780 St. John’s Place, Brooklyn, N. Y. The in- vention relates to sliding doors commonly known as “fire doors.” An object is to so mount these doors, which are constructed of heavy material, that they may be moved along a true horizontal track with little | effort, and that they may be mounted to move to an inclined position in order that the door may automatically close. " _ Of General Interest _ stalks and other vegetation are first) for holding the foundation web firmly in| more particularly to portable brooders in | This invention has | | WORK BENCH.—G. A. Scort, Marion, | Ind. The primary object is to provide a | bench designed for supporting a motorcycle |at a convenient elevation above the floor | while it is being repaired. A further object is to provide a bench which may be tilted to | form a runway so that the motor cycle may be rolled upon the bench and the inconven- ience of manually lifting the machine is done away with. PLURAL STREAM DISTRIBUTING ATTACHMENT FOR SODA WATER DRAFT ARMS.—C. R. Ragspare, c/o Liquid Carbonic Co., 209 9th Street, Pitts- burgh, Pa. The invention relates especially to a draft arm through which soda water is drawn. The special object is to provide a novel form of attachment with plural coarse stream nozzles as well as a separate distine- tive element embodying fine spray nozzles, and for clamping said element detachably in position, as well as to provide for the effec- tive control of the respective streams, to per- mit the operator to fill either one, two or three glasses at a time. SCRUBBING DEVICE.—G. A. BLANK, 427 E. 139th Street, New York, N. Y. The invention pertains to a traveling platform upon which the operator may propel himself over the surface being scrubbed. Among the objects is to construct a device of this char- acter in such a manner that the operator when kneeling upon the same will experience no discomfort. Ample water, brushes, soap and other necessities may be carried by the device. COFFEE BREWING APPARATUS.— F. H. Smwonton, 1207 Ogden Ave., Bronx, N. Y. Among the principal objects which the invention has in view are to provide means for brewing coffee or similar beverage |in small quantities for individual consump- tion; to vary the strength and to proportion | the quantity of the material from which the | beverage is concocted to the demand for the | beverage. DETACHABLE HEEL.—H. 8S. Ara- | MIAN, 102 W. 102nd Street, New York, N. Y. |The invention is particularly designed as a ;}means for securing what are known as French heels to shoes. An object is to pro- vide a simple, efficient and durable attaching means which does not materially add to the | weight of the heel, which is entirely covered |when the heel is in applied -position and | which affords means when removed to admit necess being had to the interior of the heel | to manipulate the tread fastening element. | | CUFF BUTTON.—H. PD. Kantor, c/o | Kantor & Lyons Co., 51 So. 2nd Street, | Memphis, Tenn. This invention relates more particularly to cuff buttons which include separable members, the principal object in | view residing in the provision of a member for effecting more readily the disengagement and separation of the members, and means | connecting the same without directly forcing | or straining them. PEN.—R. P. Starkey and G. C. Ratn- BUN, 773 Market Street, San Francisco, Calif. The principal object is to provide a lettering or drawing pen having an ink reser- voir, and to provide means for keeping the ink from drying up in the reservoir so that it is unnecessary to fill and clean the pen each time it is used. A further object is to pro- vide an adjustable holder which may be in- clined at any angle, and the pen still present an upright position on the paper. ROLL PAPER HOLDER.—E. D. Cas- TERLINE and J. A. Brien, 2471 Sacramento Street, San Francisco, Calif. The object of the invention is to provide a container for serving roll-paper tape, adhesive or non-ad- hesive, that will allow a strip of paper to be withdrawn in a convenient and easy manner. A further object is to provide a device which eliminates all possibilities of the paper curl- ing up, and providing sufficient tension to insure against slacking. COOKING UTENSIL.—J. H. Cvurrts, 651 So. Clarence Street, Los Angeles, Calif. Among the objects of the invention is to pro- vide a cooker which is adapted to maintain a relatively high cooking temperature when placed over a moderate supply of heat, and |

Page 54

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN JULY, 1929

a Phd

Fig. 1: Ice-pan signal invented by ( H. Bonekemper

\ Fig. 2: W. Celeda’s self-cleaning smoking pipe

Fig. 3: Burial vault patented by J. T. Elmore Exercising apparatus put out by Cc. E. Lincoln

4: Fig.

—____|

to provide a cooker in which the steam pres sure will not exceed a predetermined degree, and in which the major portion of steam will be condensed and returned to the boiler portion insuring a long supply of water with- out replenishing. COFFPEE-MAKING APPARATUS. G. ANSTON and G. P. PETROPULOs, Geo. Anston, 810 Buckingham Place, Chicago, II. The principal object of this invention is to provide a manually controlled coffee-making apparatus in which a fluid is adapted to be passed over the coffee grounds and at the same time to entrain the coffee liquid that is below the coffee grounds to above the grounds, whereby the liquid will again pass through the grounds. c/o COT.—C. M. Irwin and E. A. Fiscuer, address CC. M. Irwin, 1363 15th Ave.. San Franciseo, Calif. The invention relates to collapsible cots, the object is to provide a cot which when collapsed can be reduced to a bundle of small size such as can be easily carried in an automobile. The main feature of the cot is its joints, which, although col- lapsible, are perfectly rigid when assembled and do not even suggest that the cot is col- lapsible. DEVICE FOR FEEDING COMPOUNDS IN WATER SYSTEMS.—P. Severx, 1416 N. Lawndale Ave., Chicago, Ill. An object of the invention is to provide a device for feeding compounds to the liquid in water systems for the purpose of purifying the water, for preventing the accumulation of scale on the apparatus. A further object is to provide a device which can be operated at will, and which, when operated, will not in- | terfere with the functioning of the system to | which it is applied. SIGN SUPPORT.—G. H. Power, 508 W. 12th St., Tulsa, Okla. The primary object of the invention is the provision of a sup- port for signs permitting of limited swinging movement in such manner that the sign may be effectively and advantageously displayed and will be capable of movement under the effect of air currents to attract the attention of those within view of the same. PLASTIC-BLOCK MOLD. J. BEen- 8ON, 137 S. Los Robeles Ave., Pasadena, Calif. The purpose of the invention is the provision of a mold which capable of forming a block with ducts extending com- pletely through the body of the block and grooves in the side of the block, such grooves being designed to receive and effectively se- cure plaster when applied to the side of the block. PNEUMATIC CUSHION.—J. J. Hat- LORAN, 212 Woodrow St., Daly City, Calif. The object of the invention is to bring about a cushioning effect by constructive features rather than the qualities of the material used. A further object is to provide a cushion that will adapt itself to a wide range of uses whether it be a unit to ease the slam- ming of a door, or as a combination of units to give resilience to the running-board of an automobile, or the heel of a shoe. SOAP-DISPENSING DEVICE.— L. B. Scuwarcz, 1245 Madison Ave., New York, N. Y¥. Among the objects of the invention is the provision of a simple and economically manufactured liquid soap-dispensing device, in which the body portion and cover are so connected together that the connections can- not be tampered with by persons using the E 18 ns device. The receptacle is ornamental in its design. CEILING FAN.—-M. M. Gtrasser, 42 Lawrence St., Charleston, 8S. C. The object of the invention is to provide a fan wherein the blades in addition to their rotary move- ment have vertically swinging or oscillating movement imparted to them during their ro- tation, and controlled by their rotation for distributing the current of air thrown by the blades over a large area. COVER FASTENER.—C. H. BALKNap, 1373 President St., Brooklyn, N. Y. The in- vention relates especially to fastening devices adapted for pinning in position bed clothes. An object is to provide a fastening device for bed covers wherein the fastening members are allowed a yielding movement so as to give when there is a pull on the covers within cer- tain limits. The fastener comprises a pin, and a special tube for receiving the pin. LUMINOUS LETTER.—.,. P. SHeripan, 8 W. 104th St., New York, N. Y. The object of the invention is to provide means for mak- ing luminous figures that are legible in the dark for some considerable distance. The ob- ject is accomplished by providing a founda- tion colored to form a suitable background, and painting the figures with a luminous compound, and a strip of radium luminous paint to define the shape. VANITY CASE.—W. G. Kenpbatt, 118 Market St., Newark, N. J. Among the ob- jects is to provide a vanity case whereby the interior divided and means are provided for securely holding two porcelain or similar disks for carrying different An- other object is to permit of readily placing a partition in position in the case and securely holding it therein without cement or adhesive material. 18 cosme;ties. FOLDING CHAIR INTERCHANGE- ABLE FOR USE AS CHAIR OR BACK SUPPORT.—J. A. North Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia. The invention relates to a metal folding chair SELL, Eddington Street, supported thereby may be conveniently posi- | tioned with relation to the light and to the user. The device may be conveniently ap- plied to the wall without in any way marring the appearance of the wall. BOAT CONSTRUCTION.—V. 8S. Down- ING, ¢/o Jackson Board of Trade, Jackson, Miss. A purpose of the invention is the pro- vision of a boat having an air duct and air channels formed in its hull which are so shaped and positioned as to effect a lifting and propelling action to the boat when air is forced rearwardly through the duct. The construction of the hull is such that the boat as an entirety is caused to ride substantially upon a film of air. ICE-PAN SIGNAL.—G. H. BoNEKEMPER, 137 Hazel St., Paterson, N. J. The object of this invention is to provide a simple de- vice which can be readily attached as a unit to an ice pan to eause the reaches a predetermined height. The whole device can be attached to the pan merely by sliding it over the edge, means are provided whereby a plurality of signals are succes- sively given as the water rises. (See Fig. 1.) HAT HOLDER.—J. P. GLENN, c/o News Print Co., Fort Pierce, Among the objects of the invention is to pro- vide a device adapted to be secured to the under face of an automobile top and to con- veniently engage the brim of a hat to support the hat in inverted position, and to provide a device which will be neat and attractive in appearance, and will take up very little room. PHRENOLOGICAL CHART.—F. C. NeweLt, Jr., c/o Frank C. Reilly, 1457 Broadway, New York, N. Y. This invention address, with flexible seat which can be altered when | has for its object to provide a chart with a required to use as a legless chair, such as| plurality of rotable members or cards each for placing on forms or benches to constitute | having illustrated thereon similar portions or a back support. A special feature is that the parts are constructed and adjusted so that the article can be used with or without legs at option. It is also readily portabie and ean be folded up into very small space. CONCRETE FORM.—W. J. PEDERSEN, address Helen Marsh, 347 Fifth Ave., New York, N. Y. An object of the invention is the provision of a conerete form or mold so constructed that columns may be simply and quickly formed with a minimum expenditure of time, and by an unskilled workman. Re- inforcing material, such as rods or wires, may be inserted within the mold, and the columns formed may be readily removed from the mold without injury to their sur- faces. EGG BREAKER AND SEPARATOR.— | J. A. Becker, Box 361, Nampa, Idaho. The invention relates to a device which is adapted to cleanly and sharply break the shell of the egg, which provides a receiver for the yolk and white of the egg, and means for separat- ing the yolk from the white when desired, and which is in general of simple construc- tion and reliable and easy to operate. NURSING BOTTLE HOLDER.—W. H. Saunpers, 4287 Boston Post Road, East Chester, N. Y. The invention relates to supports adapted for use in connection with nursing bottles. Among the objects is to provide an attaching device of a _ resilient and adjustable nature in order that the bottle may be properly positioned, and to provide aeclamp which is capable of holding bottles of various sizes. The device is ca- pable of attachment to a child’s carriage or crib, or various articles of furniture. BRACKET.—C. M. Cox, Straight, Pa. The invention relates to brackets especially adapted for supporting mirrors. An object is to provide a bracket which is capable of sections from a member of different types of heads so that the members may be rotated relatively to each other to bring into position selected portions or sections on the members or ecards to form a complete head. object is to print on the cards information explaining the personal characteristics. CAN COVER.—H. P. Crestetska, Bear Valley Ranch, San Niguel, Calif. The in- vention relates to covers for milk cans such as are commonly sold containing condensed milk. The object is to provide a convenient form of cover for such cans which can be used as a protector to keep the can air tight, and the milk in good condition, after it has been opened. The cover provides means whereby the can may be closed immediately after milk has been used. SHIPPING CASE FOR LINOTYPE COMPOSITION.—F. P. CorrermMan, 522 So. Main St., Wichita, Kans. An object of the invention is to provide a shipping case which can be convenientlg operated to re- ceive the linotype composition, retain them properly packed during transportation, and readily and easily release them when they reach their destination. A further object is to provide a device which can be reused, which is durable, and easy and inexpensive to manufacture. DRINKING FOUNTAIN.—C. O. Cowan, 208 Jackson St., Seattle, Wash. <A purpose of the invention is to provide a drinking fountain of simple construction which is readily attachable to or detachable from a faucet of ordinary construction. A further object is to provide a device which is adjust- able to allow for different water pressures, whereby a proper flow of water is insured ir- respective of the water pressure. RECEPTACLE.—R. L. Sappiemrire, 821 Crane St., Schenectady, N. Y. This recep- ‘a variety of adjustments so that the mirror’ tacle is particularly adapted for use in con- giving of an} alarm when the tiquid level within the pan | Fla. | Another

nection with preserving, but may be utilized for any suitable purpose, where air tight m ceptacles are required. The object is to pr vide structure including an air tight seq which shall effectively guard against any de terioration of the contents of the receptacle, a removable bail and lever being so eo, | structed: that the receptacle and cover may be cleaned with ease. MOTION PICTURE CAMERA.—L, § Uuver, 543 Napoleon St., Detroit, Mid One of the foremost objects of the invention, lis to provide a motion picture camen | whereby exposures can be made either at the ordinary rate of sixteen per second or at th rate of only two per second, the latter pm ducing an artifice in the resultant exhibited picture, commonly known as a “trick” pie ture. A further object is to provide means for automatically opening and closing th shutter. SMOKING PIPE.—W. Cetepa, 489 § 15th St., Newark, N. J. The invention relates to a pipe having means to eateh th nicotine and prevent the direct passage o | the smoke from the bowl to the mouthpiec, thereby keeping the pipe thoroughly cea, The general object is to provide a nicotine chamber so arranged relatively to the stem | and mouthpiece as to insure the settling an deposit of the nicotine, and to prevent the | passage of saliva to the bowl, and cause | the smoke to be cooled. (See Fig. 2.) | BURIAL VAULT.—J. T. Exaore, College St., Jacksonville, Fla. An important | obiect of the invention is to provide a reit- forced conerete burial vault in which th parts are so constructed, arranged, and ®& lated as to be susceptible to easy and ready assembly to present a very substantially unitary and hermetically sealed structure having the qualities of great strength and durability. The hermetic seal may be reat ily broken from the outside when necessary. (See Fig. 3.) EXERCISING APPARATUS. —C. E LINcoLn, Box 24, Station A, Boston, Mass An object of the invention is to providea resilient device in the form of a pair pneumatic balls which may be held in the hand of an operator and squeezed to exercitt the muscles of the fingers and wrist. A® other object is to so construct the apparatis that it may be conveniently carried in tt pocket of the user, and will be simple and practical in construction and durable in we (See Fig. 4.) PIPE WALL SCRAPER.—W. F. G4® STER, 2105 Metropolitan Ave., Middlevillags Queens, N. Y. The object of the invents is to provide a scraping device for the - of smoking pipes which can be automati adjusted to fit different size pipes and whieh may be readily operated for scraping walls evenly without injury to the pipe. further object is to provide a seraper which a minimum number of parts are with an arrangement which is simple strong.

Hardware and Tools PLUMB AND LEVEL—W. Bene Newport, Ark. The object of the invent is to provide an arrangement including # gravity controlled pendulum by means which in connection with a graduated ring? practically unbreakable level may be fo! which will be unaffected by climatic change and by means of which a level or ind degree of inclination may be accurately 6 termined at all times without the n of adjustment of parts. | COMBINED DRILL AND REAMB |'FOR PEARL BUTTONS.—P. F. Dus ‘and A. FeyK, e/o Holub Dusha Co, 1

the same | ing the so wAT¢ LATHE Grand St. the invent which the ing plate» the jaws « tion of th chuck whi is on the « convenient COMBI J.P. FUL port, La. tion is to reamer CO blades no} walls of t they may plane of tl! or undereu BLACK Lion, Bo: is the obje tool set 01 which vari mer, swed; the like, n thus neces: numerous | viee to be mechanics to be exect LOCKID BUCKLES Seattle, W tion is to | locking dev buekle is le parts unite especially : %, to turt ecomneet the railway car SCRAPE —W. J. W wood, L. I., object to | automatical any operato guard whic Sraper so ¢ the same 1 Operator ag I DAMPEI place Co., vention rela for its ob; adapted to « ing is provi opening of with the ju flue, and he perated fri ing the drat

Page 55

mut by | > utilized tight re S to pro ght seal ; any de ceptacle, SO COD ver may —L. § t, Mich nvention camera er at the or at the tter pro sing the 489 § nvention atch the ssage of ithpiece, y clean. nicotine he stem ling and vent the d cause ) RE, 743 portant a rein- ich the and re d ready antially ructure, rth and be read cessary. -C. EB le Mass. ovide 4 pair of in > xercise t. At paratus in the ple and in use . GAY village, vention ew atically -ention ding # hanges JULY, 1922 ist AVE New York, N. Y. Among the ob- of the invention is to provide a com- oj drill and countersinker, and means for polding the two together, for making and fnishing of a buttonhole in a single or con- A further object is to us operation. jnuo “ wide a tool of such character as to enable nm . . it to be maintained sharp automatically. i spADE.—F. B. CURRIER, 356 Rockwell st, Long Branch, N. J. The invention par- ticularly relates to a type of spade used in connection with handling salt marsh sod. in object is to provide a spade which shall extremely rigid in construction, so that yo play will exist between the parts, which chall weigh but a fraction of the weight of ols commonly used for this purpose, and at te same time permit of cutting and remov- ing the sod in an efficient manner. WATCHMAKERS’ COMPOUND THE CHUCK.—A. Gorspanker, 734 Grand St., Brooklyn, N. Y. An object of the invention is to provide a lathe chuck in ghich the work is held securely in a clamp- ing plate which in turn is clamped between the jaws of the chuck so that a larger por- tion of the work may be placed inside the chuck while the smaller portion of the work js on the outside of the chuck in a position envenient for the turning operations. COMBINED DRILL AND REAMER.— 1.P. Futiiwove, 1825 Fairfield Ave., Shreve- port, La. Among the objects of the inven tion is to provide a combined drill-bit and rnamer comprising a blade or plurality of blades normally housed within the outer walls of the drill-bit and so arranged that they may be forced outwardly beyond the plane of the wall of the bit-head to enlarge or undercut the hole made by the bit. BLACKSMITH’S TOOL SET.—A. L. lwon, Box 447, Fort Stockton, Texas. It is the object of the invention to provide a tol set or detachable handle for tools by which various types of tools, such as a ham- mer, swedges, hatchets, claw-hammers, and the like, may be readily applied and held, thus necessitating but a single handle for mmerous tools, while also adapting the de- vice to be made in various sizes for use by mehanies generally, according to the work to be executed. LOCKING DEVICE FOR’ TURN- BUCKLES.—C. F. JayYNeEs, 1724 11th Ave., Seattle, Wash. The purpose of the inven- tin is to provide a simple and inexpensive locking device by means of which the turn- buckle is locked to prevent spreading of the parts united by the buckle. The device is epecially adapted, although not necessarily %, to turnbuckles employed to adjustably emnect the brake-rods or other parts of a railway car. -W. J. Werner, 867 Sedgwick St., Ridge-| wood, L. I., N. Y. object to provide a construction which is| automatically adjustable to suit the hand of amyoperator. Another object is to provide a guard which is slidingly positioned on the sraper so as to be readily adjustable and at the same time protect the fingers of the operator against injury. Heating and Lighting DAMPER.—J. Tanpy, c/o Apex Fire- place Co., Box 454, Urbana, Ill. The in- vention relates to fireplace dampers, and has for its object to provide a construction wlapted to control the draft wherein a hous- ing is provided of a size to register with the pening of the flue, and shaped to conform with the junction of the fireplace and the

erated from outside the flue for regulat- ing the draft. fue, and having a damper capable of being | SCIENTIFIC DRYING APPARATUS.—W. WokRL, Weissensee, Berlin, Germany. This inven- tion has for its object to provide a construc- tion for drying granular material in a con- tinuous operation. Another object is to pro- vide an apparatus with stirring and convey- ing means, in which the drying medium en- ters at one side and leaves at the opposite

side while the material being dried is forced longitudinally of the apparatus and trans- | versely of the movement of the drying medium. HEAT INSULATING COVERING FOR PIPES.—C. Dorno, ¢/o Clarke, 44 Maujer St., Brooklyn, N. Y. The invention more} particularly relates to heat insulating cover- | ing for steam, hot water, and similar pipes. | The prime object is to so construct the cov- erings as to greatly facilitate the rapidity with which they can be manufactured, thus reducing the cost as compared with cover- ings as at present used. SUPPORT FOR COLD-AIR REGIS- TERS.—J. E. Hve, 511 E. 22nd St., Indian- apolis, Ind. The invention relates to cold- air registers used in connection with hot-air furnaces. The object is to provide clips which may be easily positioned for support- ing a register within an opening in a floor, and also to provide for the easy removal of the register when desired. VALVE.—P. J. Hvustn, 86 Hadley Ave., Clifton, N. J. The object is to provide a thermostatic or automatie air valve for use on radiators of steam heating systems so as | to permit the air in the system and particu- larly in the radiator to eseape to facilitate the entrance of steam and hasten the heating | | responding to the letters of such outline in |in average word construction. AMERICAN means for arresting and retracting the spindle when a predetermined pressure is reached, MECHANICAL INDEXING MEANS.— J. E. Mack, ¢/o Nassau County Sanatorium, Hicksville, N. Y. The invention relates to a simple and readily expansible indexing system having digits representing the con- sonant outline of indexed matter and cor- groups of letters, according to the relative frequency of the oceurrence of such letters LOGGING DEVICE.—D. G. MANGEs, c/o Lidgewood Mfg. Co., 96 Liberty St., New York, N. Y. An object of this inven- tion is to provide mechanism in connection with a power-operated logging device for per- mitting a series of drums to be operated from a single engine. A further object is to pro- | vide an adjustable bed frame for the engine |

| to permit the drums to be readily alined with | the sheaves and spar.

Musical Devices ATTACHMENT FOR PHONOGRAPHS. —J. R. McPuivurps and H. S. Bowgs, ¢/o! M. P. MeDonagh, 425 Richmond St., London, | Ont., Canada. The object of the invention | is to provide a device which is especially | adapted to carry the reproducer when it is | disconnected from the tone arm in such a manner as to relieve its elements of any) stresses which would tend to impair its re- | producing qualities, which provides contain- | ers for phonograph needles, and which may | be used with different styles of cabinets. SOUND REPRODUCER.—F. Permecry, | c/o The Petmecky Co., Austin, Texas. The | action, and to close under the action of heat! invention relates to a stylus bar and mount- | from the steam, so as to prevent the escape} ing therefor which permits a turning or thereof, thereby insuring a most efficient | rotary adjustment so that the sound or tone heating action.

Machines and Mechanical Devices ean be varied, and also permits the sharpen- ing of the needle. An object is to provide a device which not only permits economy, but sn os ian eas ene ‘ ie r,_| also so mounts the stylus that its various APPARATUS FOR HANDLING MA TERIALS.—F. H. McConne tt, 1117 2nd | St., S. W., Roanoke, Va. The invention relates to a device for handling materials of various characters, particularly sand, cement, stone and like materials in mixing concrete. | 0bject of the invention is to provide a repro- | A purpose is to provide an apparatus which will facilitate the handling of materials in large quantities, it being operable to dis- charge predetermined quantities from a bin to a plurality of points to allow of the simultaneous filling of a plurality of recep- tacles. (See Fig. 5.) WINDING DRUM.—L. C. Mires, 1503 No. 25th St., Boise, Idaho. The object of the invention is to provide a drum with lag- ging sections made of different thicknesses so that when placed upon a drum they may | have different diameters, and thus be suitable SCRAPER GUARD AND SHARPENER. | for making the drum adapted to perform different classes of work; that is, a small The invention has for its | diameter for lifting a heavy load and a larger diameter for lifting a lighter load. PISTON.—T. G. Saxton, Boonton, N. 7. The invention relates to a piston so con- structed that it provides a medium whereby any wear incident to a moving engagement between the piston and the cylinder will be reduced to a harmless factor. A further ob- ject is to embody a wrist pin in which the wear will be evenly distributed, and reduced to a minimum. EXPANDING APPARATUS WITH AUTOMATIC STOPPING AND ADJUST- ABLE ACTION.—H. E. A. GALLON, 25 Rue de Pontoise, Herblay, Seine-et-Oise, France. This invention relates to an apparatus for expanding tubes and ferrules, and comprises a rotary tool-earrying spindle, }—W. means for} rotating the spindle and causing it to pro-| TERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES.—F. gressively move forward, said means includ-| J. ing a spring connected to the spindle and’ toba, Canada. positions of adjustment result in a varying | |} sound production. REPRODUCER FOR PHONOGRAPBS. | E. Hunt, Silver City, Mexico. An | ducer by means of which a perfectly clear, distinct, loud and natural tone is secured, | and in which the so-called mechanical noises | and the nasal twang are eliminated, and the | lapping of sounds caused by echoes is obvi- ated and the loudness of sound increased. A further object is to provide a novel means for holding the needle in the stylus bar. FASTENER.—J. Gaynor, 67 College St., Jersey City, N. J. This invention has par- ticular reference to means for fastening the body portions of casings of musical instru- ments. An object is to provide a fastener which, in a simple manner, not only fastens | the closure but saves as a metallic reinfore- ing element and grips the body portion along its edges to provide rigid space relation be- | tween the closure and the body portion. |

~ Prime Movers and Their Accessories SELF-ALIGNING CONNECTING ROD. —J. E. Crowreirt, Matthews, N. C. The foremost object is to provide a flexible con- nection between the piston and crank shaft | so that the piston and connecting rod, in| which the flexible connection is located, will | always be free to line up with the engine | eylinder regardless of any inaccurate align- | ing of the crank shaft, a condition often brought about by badly fitted or worn bear- | ings. The invention relates to internal com- bustion, as well as other types of engine. SPEED CONTROL DEVICE FOR IN- BruMME, Lowe Farm, Box 126, Mani- Among the objects of the in- | Apt. 4, Chicago, Ill. | which | Motor 55 vention is to provide a device designed to be applied to an internal combustion engine of a standard or ordinary construction, and which will be operated automatically when the speed of the engine exceeds a predeter mined rate to control the valve in the car buretor of the engine and thus insure the operation of the engine at uniform speed. GOVERNOR.—R. Espre, Mount Carroll, Ill. The invention relates particularly to a governor for marine engines for automati- eally actuating a throttle of the engine when the propeller rises and ceases to impart the normal propulsion to the shaft. The primary object is to provide a governing device for automatically throttling the engine when the propeller is raised out of the water and thus permitted to race, due to the vessel being abnormally rocked by a heavy sea. (See Fig. 6.) INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE, —B. L. Camppett, 60 E. Chicago Ave., An object of the in- vention is to provide a two-cycle engine in the necessity for crank case com- pression is obviated. A further object is to provide a device having a fan mounted on | the crank shaft and serving as a fly wheel in addition to performing its function as a means for causing a circulation of air through the jacket of the cylinder and forcing air into contact with an inflammable liquid to form an explosive mixture for driv- ing the engine. FAN DRIVE.—V. W. Pace, c/o Page Corp., 309 Lafayette St., New York, N. Y. The invention pertains more particularly to cooling fans for _ inter- nal combustion motors. Among the ob- jects is to provide a gearing for driving the cooling fan of a motor vehicle motor in lieu of the belt drive commonly used in this connection. <A further object is to operate the fan driving gearing by the same power transmission element as furnishes the power for the cam shaft of the motor. CIRCUIT CONTROLLER FOR IGNI- TION SYSTEMS.—J. H. STearns, c/o Wash. Missionary College, Tacoma Park, Washington, D. C. An object of the in- vention is to provide a device designed to be automatically controlled by the pressure of oil in the lubricating system, to short circuit the ignition and stop the motor when the quantity of oil is low, making it impossible for the motor to run without sufficient lubri- eating oil, and thus prevent burnt out bear- ings. The device also gives a visual indica- tion as to the position of the circuit con- troller. (See Fig. 7.) COOLER FOR INTERNAL COMBUS- TION ENGINE RADIATORS.—S. Barucn, 133 Mercer St., New York, N. Y. The object is to provide an inexpensive cooler having a drum in which extends a per- forated tube connected with the interior of the radiator, so that the steam nfay pass up- wardly and through the perforations where it will be cooled by the air which will flow up- wardly in the radiator overflow pipe to the drum, the condensed steam flowing back through the lower perforations in the tube and into the radiator. HOT AIR REGULATOR.—G. P. B. Hoyt, 1 Clinton Place, Jamaica, N. Y. The object is to provide a hot air regulator for internal combustion engines arranged to con- trol the temperature of the hot air passing into the carbureter to insure the formation of a proper explosive mixture for effective use in the engine cylinders. Another object is to compensate for the difference in the temperature of the atmospheric air drawn into the ecarbureter during different parts of the day, or when traveling over hills or through valleys.

= oristcr Fig. 5: F. H. McConnell

The material-handling apparatus of

Fig. 6: Marine-engine governor invented by R. Espie

Fig. 7: Ignition-circuit controller patented by J. H. Stearns

ee

Page 56

56 VALVE GRINDING TOOL.—H. Gar TELMAN, 32 Hildreth Place, Yonkers, N. Y. The primary object of the invention is to provide a tool especially adapted for grind ing the valves of internal combustion motors, in which the shank of the tool will be given a partial rotation in opposite directions in an intermittent manner \ further object is to provide a tool which will be simple in operation and durable. Railways and Their Accessories ADJUSTABLE RAIL BRACI J. L Bett, 302 Main Street, Galena, Lil. The in relates to a railway switch con vention struction, an object being to provide a device for bracing the of a switch to more effectively prevent the spreading of the rails in service. A further object is to provide a device having means for adjusting the rails to move the same toward the initial position when they have been moved apart. The device may be employed in connection with standard rails and other switch parts CAR TRUCK.—S. B. Briimart, 214 W. 27th Street, New York, N. Y Among the objects of the invention is to provide a car truck frame and anti-friction rollers jour naled to the frame, means for pivotally con necting the car bodies together, and for pre venting undesirable lateral movement between the body connecting means and the central truck beneath, so that the car sections may swing laterally with respect to each other as vertical rails a resuit of either lateral curves or depressions in the track TIE PLATE.—J. D. Tusar, Forest City, Pa. Au object of the invention is to supply a device which will provide a relatively wide bearing surface for railroad rails, and which is provided with integral means for prevent- ing its displacement upon a tie. A further object is to provide 1 te plate which is simple and durable, and which will tend to lengthen the life of the tie AND GRASS CUTTER FOR WEED RAILWAYS.—T. W. Ketry and C. Trnare, c/o Clem ©. Countiss, Belton, Texas. The general object of the invention is to provide a cutter in which the cutting element of the driven cutter will be flexible to remove weeds and grass by a brushing action. A further object is to utilize lengths of cable as the cutting elements and to provide an effective assemblage of said elements as well as means to firmly clamp the same. RAILROAD SPIKE.—A. Prump, 420 Maple St., Redwood City, Cal. The inven- tion has for its object to provide means in connection with a spike for firmly holding the spike in place against the possibility of accidental displacement or The spike provided with a groove extending from the head on a continuous curve: into this groove a heavy nail is inserted, driven two-thirds its length, and then bent over the top of the spike head. The curved groove loosening 18 will force the nail into the tie material, thus anchoring the spike. RAIL SUPPORTING ELEMENT.—A. Il. ANDERSON, 1024 Chamberlain Ave., Fair- mont, W. Va. The object of the invention is to provide a self-locking tie for mine and industrial purposes, which light in con struction, has no loose parts, may be easily manufactured of wood and steel combined, when the use of steel ties is not feasible, which is easy to lay, requiring no tools and avoiding the necessity of using wooden blocks, bolts or other accessories for fasten- ing the tie to the rail. DOOR-OPERATING APPARATUS.—E. Hi. Guia, Box 91, Dott, W. Va. The inven- tion relates more particularly to an appar- atus for opening and closing a door at the entrance of a mine or tunnel through which railway cars pass. The object is to provide means by which the door will automatically open when the cars’ approaching have reached a predetermined distance, and upon the passage of the cars through the entrance the door will be again automatically closed. 18 Pertaining to Recreation AMUSEMENT APPARATUS. E. A. Day and A. W. Wuarre, P.O. Box 107, Odanah, Wis. The primary object of the in-| vention is to provide a device which is de-| signed to test the skill of a contestant, in maintaining his equilibrium. The object is to provide an apparatus which will closely | simulate the usual log rolling contests. The| device includes a cylindrical member fotat- | ably supported over a safety net. GAME APPARATUS.—P. D. Rriorpan, 1231 Bast 86th St.. New York, N. Y. Among the objects is to provide by means of a series | | and | whereby SCIENTIFIC of regular geometrical figures outlined, pref erably in the national colors, of a designated State foreign possession, an in instructive in its geo- circles, radii, ares, as well information of color country, or teresting metrical and sectors of pastime, illustrations of concentric circles, historical motive as political and patriotic in its and its Im the scheme Pertaining to Vehicles WHEEL Hi. T. Evans, The primary object of the non-pneumatice resiliency as a wheel in addition attendant RESILIENT Manhasset, N. Y. invention to provide a embodies the shock-absorbing qualities pneumatic tire, the disadvantage The wheel consists of 18 wheel which same and equipped with a to eliminating upon pneumatic tires. standard interchangeable parts, capable of replacement when worn or broken, and it may be readily disassembled for cleaning or repair. SLEIGH RUNNER FOR MOTOR VE- HICLES.—H. T. Mriier, 15714 Henrietta St., Rochester, N. ¥Y. The purpose of the in- vention is to provide runners adapted to be attached to the front wheels of a motor vehicle to facilitate its traveling through snow of considerable depth, the runners sliding over the surface and packing the same beneath the wheels so that a firm bed is provided for the rear wheels of the vehicle. SEAT.—R. M. Montcomery, 47 Bellevue Ave., Pontiac, Mich. The invention particu- larly relates to seats employed in connection with automobiles or other vehicles. The ob- ject is to provide a seat of such construction that the sides and back are freely movable with the the seat is moved up- wardly or downwardly under the action of the springs associated therewith. CHANGE SPEED GEARING.—J. B. Rowe and A. G. Barratt, address D. Young Co., 57 Chancery Lane, London, England. The invention relates to speed gearing in which the gear ratio is made continuously variable by means of an auxiliary variable friction gear, the purpose being the provi- sion of a simple mechanism in which the moving parts are subjected to comparatively little stress and will accordingly wear well. HEADLIGHT.—H. R. Lorz, Military Department, Iowa State College, Ames, Iowa. The invention resides iti a post for support- ing the headlight to be turned, the post be- ing formed with a tubular body in which an inner tube fitting snugly therein is adapted to turn, a lamp bracket being suitably mounted on the upper end of said tube, the electric conductor cord passing through the inner tube. CONTROLLING DEVICE.—F. DANIELS, 1253 Minnesota Ave., Portland, Oregon. The invention relates to control levers for self-propelled vehicles or tractors seat when A. Meo- |}of the type which embodies a single motor mechanism for independently or sim- ultaneously coupling the driving elements thereto. The invention primarily contem- plates the association of a plurality of levers with independent connections whereby the levers may with convenience be independ- ently or simultaneously operated and re- tained in any one of their adjusted positions. TRANSMISSION GEAR.—C. BEARENS, 106 Bank St., New York, N. Y. The inven- tion relates to a gear embodying means to effect an automatic gear shift so that in overcoming inertia in starting or in overcoming resistance as in hill climbing, or otherwise running under a heavy load, under direct drive and high speed, should the speed be too high for starting or over- coming resistance without shock, the gear- ing will be automatically thrown out of high gear and into low gear. AUTOMOBILE RADIATOR.—A. Frost, Bellevue Hospital, New York, N. Y. Among the objects of the invention is to provide a radiator, or what is the equivalent of an ordinary radiator, having the property of bringing the cooling air into direct contact with the water in the form of a fine spray or mist whereby the greatest cooling effect is accomplished. Another object is to pro- vide means for varying the rapidity of cir- culation of the water so as to control the de- gree of cooling of the water according to the variations of the temperature. ACCESSORY FOR MOTOR TRUCK.— Cc. S. Werter, 26 Caspian St., Elizabeth,| N. J. The invention particularly refers to! a device for extricating a vehicle which is mired or stalled, but is capable of a number of uses as part of the emergency equipment, AMERICAN and may be employed as a skid board for loading or unloading the truck, or a towing means. Preferably the equipment consists of two specially constructed skid boards, and two chains which may be employed for anti-skid on the wheels, or for towing. SIDE WIND DEFLECTOR.—H. and L. DENZER, 141 Roebling St., Brooklyn, N. Y. It is the primary object of the invention to so construct wind deflectors that a re- flecting mirror may be attached to the trans- parent material, to take the place of the ordinary reflecting mirror as separately at- tached. The mirror of each wind deflector may adjusted to reflect the presence of vehicles at the rear. TRUCK AND TRAILER COUPLING.— J. W. Buiier, Hillsboro, Kan. The general object of this invention is to provide a cou- pling of the ball-and-socket type, the socket being composed of members movable relatively to the other, for quickly coupling and uncoupling. An important object is to provide a lubricating means for the ball and socket so that not only will the ball be lubri- eated at its contact with the upper socket member, but the oil will pass through the ball to the lower socket. EMERGENCY TIRE FOR AUTOMO- BILES.—J. H. SkocmMan, 1514 Moffett Ave., Joplin, Mo. An important object of this invention is to provide an emergency tire which is capable of ready attachment to a vehicle wheel for the purpose of displacing the original tire should the same become punctured. A further object is to provide an emergency tire which, when not in use, may be completely folded up and carried in one of the storage compartments. FLOAT - CONTROLLED ENGINE SHUT-OFF.—B. S. WiittaMs, 416 Deader- ick St., Nashville, Tenn. The invention re- lates to automobile and other engine-con- trolling apparatus. One of the foremost ob- jects of the invention is to provide means for automatically stopping an engine, when the fluid vital to the operation of the engine becomes exhausted to a predetermined de- gree. A further object is to provide an auto- matie eut-off for the engine controlled by a float in the oil reservoir. GEARING.—J. L. Warp, 115 So. Walnut St., Hutchinson, Kan. The object of this invention is to provide a variable speed and reverse gearing which embodies the desirable features of both selective and planetary types and which is especially adapted for use with that class of motor vehicle requiring only two speeds forward and a reverse. Another object is to provide gearing im which the necessity for the use of brake bands, jack- shaft, individual selectors is obviated. SEAT.—D. C. Gorr, 1611 West Broad St., Richmond, Va. This invention especially relates to seats of the class designed for use with motor vehicles wherein the seat and the back are so connected that the seat does not move vertically relative to the back, during shock and jar, but wherein the parts are so connected and cushioned that resiliency will be provided, with the seat and back moving vertically together. purposes side one VALVE TAPPET.—F. H. BEtimorre, Brandon, Va. The invention relates more particularly to a valve tappet manufactured in two parts instead of one, and provides for the coaction between these parts in such way that an adjusting screw will engage respec- tively with the valve stem and the cam at all times. It is an object of the invention to provide for a more thorough lubrication of the tappet without danger of overlubrication and waste of oil. RADIATOR SHUTTER.—L. S. Hanson, 419 Main St., Lewistown, Mont. The object of the invention is to provide a shutter for automobile radiators, including a series of vanes and horizontal strips, and means for conveniently operating the vanes associated with the dashboard of the car in such posi- tion that it is within manual control by means of a hand wheel. Any fine degree of adjustment may be conveniently secured by this arrangement. WINDSHIELD CLEARER — B. York. The general object of the invention is to provide a device for clearing the wind- shield of snow or moisture, such device being mounted in position for convenient operation. A more specific object is to provide a device adapted to be readily taken apart or assem- bled. TRANSMISSION BAND.—L. F. Crvum- LEY, R.No. 3, La Follette, Tenn. The in- VER- | LANGIERI, 315 E. 175th Street, Bronx, New} JULY, 19% bands for automobiles, but Particularly gq, automobiles as subject the bund to q ing or undesirable vibration and f become accidentally displaced. tha object to provide a removable Construetigg by which the undesirable features are elimip. ated while permitting of the ready Temor,! of the band. WINDSHIELD CLEANER.—S8, Rosy. SON, Box 245, White Plains, N, y, object of the invention is to provide aN eles trically operated device for wiping the moisture off the outside of a windshield, » that the operator of the car may be able see clearly the road ahead when Ariving jp snow, or inclement weather. A further oh ject is to provide a wiper which Will bp simple, durable and inexpensive to manufy ture. WARNING SIGNAL.—J. D. Cover, 157 W. 123rd Street, New York, N. ¥, & object of this invention is to provide an ant mobile signal having a diaphragm and a vibp. tor so formed and relatively arranged as» overcome the startling and disagreeablesouny produced by the usual signal, this obj being attained by a contact element on diaphragm which may be operated gently a with the minimum expenditure of foree, Ty device is simple and compact, adapted ty; wide field of usefulness. SAFETY ANCHOR.—C. R. Down Box 146, Fellows, Calif. This invention p lates to anchoring devices for the radiaty caps of automobiles, its object is to provik an anchoring device which is inexpensin can be easily inserted into the tank or rade tor, is strong and will resist the ordinay pull exerted on a cap when unscrewed by te rapid motion of the machine, and still my be easily removed from the tank when & sired. PLATFORM FOR TRUCKS.—A T GoLpFIELD, Spring Valley, N. Y. This vention relates more particularly to plt forms or stands adapted for use in conne tion with elevating transporting trucks, Ty primary object is to provide a_ platfom which will have greater rigidity than th platforms usually constructed, and to soa struct the platform that in large sizes truck will be automatically centered, thy preventing rocking of the platform relativ to the truck. SOLID TIRE.—C. V. Honecker, Brok ville, Ind. This invention has for its objet to provide a solid tire so arranged on wheel that movement of the tire with respet to the wheel will cushion the jolt and jard the wheel, permitting the easily punetuml and expensive pneumatic tire to be dispensed with. AUTOMOBILE SIGNAL.—I. R. Jom son, 1059 3rd Ave., New York, N. Y. ]& invention relates to direction signals and pt ticularly to a semaphore signal pivotal) mounted to be swung to a position projecti from a side of the ear. The general object? to provide a signal with spring means, tit when projected, will yield to a blow in ett direction to prevent breakage. MUD GUARD FOR AUTOMOBILES- F. P. Francis, c/o Diamond Match & Orland, Calif. Among the objects is to vide a mud guard having means for prote® ing the front end of the automobile, whie at the same time will force part of the # through the air space in the radiator, wher by the same is cooled more effectively, will protect the lamps from mud or dt prevent rattling, and in no way im with the oiling of the car. —— ‘sl potation © ea basis of machin link book- Des WER: PiNTSTE KKlaatsc Verlags 892 pp. While t! startlingly ter shrewd 4 pictorial larly rich them phot cobwebbed wine that present. Tae CHE ited by curate. tabular for wetions ar ucts, carbo constants. Tue Bost Francis Essex I) illustrat Mellow | Boston viv’ tions, train and the me Boston anc and narrati the main ri history, acl APROPLANE Jones, B New Yo 1920. 8 The Pit draughtsme the author: mating the Instinct’ A H.R. Ri York: 1 8yo0.; 252 The syste Great Brita: netroses of wtting, Th has an unus elly from th: Designs DESIGN FOR A POWDER CONTA ER.—C. S. Humpurey, c/o Manhattan @ Co., Bush Terminal Bldg., No. 10, B ‘. ¥. DESIGN FOR A CHRISTMAS-T® ORNAMENT.—G. H. Nerpiincer, 5 field, N. J. DESIGN FOR A RIBBON OR N ROW FABRIC.—D. C. Frank, 395 Fo Ave., New York, N. Y. DESIGN FOR AN ELECTRICAL TURE ARM.—M. H. Dwork1n, 271 © | St., New York, N. Y. DESIGN FOR LACE.—A. MEGIBOW, 11th St., West New York, N. J. DESIGN FOR AN ELECTRICAL TURE BOWL.—M. H. Dwork1n, 271 © St., New York, N. Y. DESIGN FOR A BADGE.—T. W. = ‘ address Mrs. J. A. Perdue, 195 Juniper , vention relates generally to transmission | Atlanta, Ga. probable. J i defining inilar term his interpre md princip iration. Tae Evecti San. Aut Lenher, | teal Pub! 813 pp. ; | tran: seat industy tes of the y rie fi md volitiza tion, Race, of a I of « ug tompoun Mader to Pr fito-chemi high-tem p

Page 57

LY, 1922 "ularly gu, © & chatter frequent) It is the “ONStPuctio, are elimi. dy remor,! -8. Rony. N. ¥. & ide an eles Viping th \dshield, », be able Ariving jp further oh ch will bp O Manufge. apted to; Dowm vention m e radiaty to provid eX pensive, Kk or radie » ordinary ved by th still may when & —A.T This i * to plat in connet ucks. Th platfors than th to so cm» sizes th red, thu n relativ R, Brook its objet “don th th respet ind jar puneturel dispense R. Jour Y. Te ; and par pivotally projecting | objects ans, that in eithe SILES- atch (, is to pr r protett le, whit f the # Tr, wher vely, a or interlet ———— NTAIY ttan Ce 3rooklys JuLY 1922 Book Reviews By Robt. F. | Edwin Ar-! Longmans, Green 440 pp.; 407 dia- THEORY OF MACHINES. rcKay, M.Se. London: gold. New York: and Co., 1920. S8vo.; 8. aor McKay deals systematically and embracingly with all parts ot his subject. He anticipates thie student's difficulties in of underlying principles. his jnitial survey commits The treatment © ‘ | gif to the engineer's unit of mass for the sake of practical advantages. Reuleaux’s gotation of lower and higher pairing is used gs a basis of classification in the kinematics of machines. Nume rous serve to link book work to practice. Des WERDEGANG DER MENSCHHEIT UND DIE PyYTISTEHUNG DER Kutturx. By Hermann Klaatsch, M.D. Berlin: Deutsches | Verlagshaus Bong and Co., 1920. 8vo.; | 992 pp. : illustrated. While the anthropologist will find nothing startlingly new in this work, he will encoun ter shrewd observation, logical deduction and and force f mass exercises 4 pictorial museum of human types particu- larly rich in Australian examples, many of them photographed by the author. From the wbwebbed bottle of the past he pours live wine that reflects intriguing lights upon our present. Tas CHEMISTS’ YEAR Book. 1920. Ed- ited by F. W. Atack, B.Sc., assisted by L. Whinyates, A.M.C.T. New York: Longmans, Green and Company, 1920. | i6mo.; 2 volumes; 1136 pp.; illustrated This handbook of British origin, now in its fifth year. vast amount of information for chemists and scientific work as. It was designed to take the place of dmilar German works, and is full and ac- curate. Most of the data is arranged in tubular form, and among other newly-revised setions are those dealing with dairy prod ucts, carbohydrates, and physical chemistry | constants. Tue Boston AND Francis B. C. Bradlee. Essex Institute, 1921. illustrations. Mellow plates on tinted paper bring old Boston vividly before us. The railroad sta- tions, trains, and steamboats of bygone days, ad the men who guided the destiny of the Boston and Maine, stand forth in picture ad narrative. The text relates the story of the main road and its tributary lines, their | history, achievements and finances. publishes a Marne Rarvroap. By | Salem, Mass.: 8vo.; 84 pp.; 26 AmopiaNe StRUCTURAL DesiGn. By T. H. Jones, B.Sc. and J. D. Frier, A.R.C.Se New York: Isaac Pitman and Sons, 1920. S8vo.; 267 pp.; 121 illustrations. The Pitman impress assures designers, draughtsmen and students of the value of te authors’ exposition. Methods of esti- mating the strength of airplanes under load- ing are the subject of careful examination ; ttlity and simplicity are the aims; and kading British firms have contributed from their experience. Eight plates of super- acellence embellish the work, and there are tumerous tables of strong appeal to those weking up-to-date knowledge. Issminct AND THE UNconscious. By W. H. R. Rivers, M.D., D.Se., F.R.S. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1920. 8yo. ; 252 pp The system of psychotherapy adopted by Great Britain in the treatment of the psycho- uetroses of war is here put into a biological | etting, The author is closely observant and has an unusual faculty for arguing connect- tilly from the concrete to the speculative but Mobable. He exercises a laudable caution M defining instinct, the unconscious, and Snilar terms we often use too vaguely, and his interpretation of psychological theories tnd Principles commands our respect and 3-TRE , Blow 2 NAB ) Fourt L Fil 1 6 30W, umiration. Tae Evectric Furnace. By Henri Mois- San. Authorized translation by Victor lenher, PhD., Easton, Pa.: The Chem- tal Publishing Company, 1920. 8vo.;| 313 pp.; illustrated. 8 translation deals with a subject of Mat industrial importance. The four chap- | of the work take up the different forms | téletrie furnaces as applied to the fusion Md Volitization of refractory bodies; the ation, by means of the electric fur- % of a number of elements, the three Wtleties of carbon; and researches on vari- | “compounds. It is needless to point the | Mader to Professor Moissan’s status in the ike hemical world, or his achievements high-temperature research. SCIENTIFIC ADDITION TO STARRETT CATALOG The Supplement to the Starrett Catalog No. 22 “B” will be particularly appreciated by those who wish to keep in touch with the newest de- Many of the improve- ments listed in this Supplement will be the direct signs in precision tools. means of saving time and money to those who work metals to close limits. Mechanics who prefer a 1l-inch movement in a Depth Gage will be interested in the Starrett Depth Gage No. Each Gage with and Micrometer £40. has three lapped ends and provides measurements of the depths of holes, from 0 to 3 inches by thousandths of an inch. Unless other- wise ordered, the 440 is sent with case. the measuring rods hardened projections, etc., To meet desire for a better Micrometer yo” \ Before You AMERICAN Caliper case, the Starrett Co. has designed a metal case which is proving very popular every- where. This case (No. 910) is made for the l-inch Mike only. It is lined with black velvet and has round corners, is compact and weighs but seven ounces. The Starrett Inspector’s Micrometer Caliper Gage No. 175 was designed particularly for measuring the walls of cylindrical forms through a drilled hole in a flue or pipe where it would possible to secure accurate to read by very not be otherwise measurements. This gage is made thousandths of an inch and its peculiar construc- tion makes it possible to obtain as exact meas- urements on flat surfaces. No. 175 is used by U. S. Government Inspectors for testing Boilers, Drawn Die Work, ete. No. 170, easily held with ring while the thumb Flues, Tubing, The Dial Sheet Gage through the one finger 57 presses the button above, determir.es quickly and accurately the thickness of paper, steel, fibre, cloth, leather, celluloid, ete. Its simplicity and ease of operation are making it a great favorite wherever used. The Combination Square No. 94 with Level, Miter, and Plumb makes a special appeal to those who do not require a fine graduation of the blade or a scriber. Blade is graduated 8ths and 16ths on both sides. Made only in 12-inch length. The selling price of this Combination Square ($1.50) makes it one of the most popular tools in the Supplement. Be sure to ask it will Many other tools are shown. for Supplement to Catalog No. 22 “B”’- be sent free on request by THE L. S. STARRETT CO. Athol, Mass. —— Start “Be sure you’re right, then go ahead”—That applies to any work, but it’s especially to the point in working metal. The best Hacksaw ever made is of little use in cutting structural steel if it was de- signed for brass pipe. Whatever the material, there is a blade which cuts it best—an intelligent. use of the Starrett Hacksaw Chart makes the se- lection of the right blade a certainty. The quality of the Starrett Hacksaw assures the efficiency of the work. Send for the Starrett Hacksaw Chart “B,” and also Catalog No. 22 “B” with supplement. THE L. S. STARRETT CO. The World's Greatest Toolmakers Manufacturers of Hacksaws Unexcelled ATHOL, MASS,

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SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

Only one-fifth of the buildings owned by the Bell System are shown in this picture.

A Telephone City Above is an imaginary city, made by grouping together one- fifth of the buildings owned by the Bell System, and used in telephone service. Picture to yourself a city five times as great and you will have an idea of the amount of real estate owned by the Beil System throughout the country. If all these buildings were grouped together, they would make a business community with 400 more buildings than the total number of office buildings in New York City, as classified by the Department of Taxes and Assessments. Next to its investment in modern telephone equipment, the nl > wv “BELL SYSTEM” %, AMERICAN TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH:COMPANY 8 AND ASSOCIATED COMPANIES One Policy, One System, Universal Service, and all directed

RADIO a ea : —— instead of a plaything. You can earn big money as a Radio-trician. Learn by mail, in spare time, how to design, construct, install, repair, main tain, operate, sel! and demonstrate complete radio outfits Write -page catalog describing our course en- titled or free 2 How to Learn Radio at Home.’ Dept. 1158, Washington, D. C. 50! PLA

LEARN WATCHWORK 5W5LR%, WORK AND ENGRAVING A fine trade commanding a good salary and your services always in demand or you can start in business for yourself. At BRADLEY INSTITUTE The greatest school for watchmakers in the world d ress tHorological Dept H, Bradley Polytechnic Inst., Peoria, il... for our latest catalogue

® men with training are in de- ectrica mand. For morethan a quarter of a century, this school has been training men of ambition and limited time, for the electrical industries. Condensed course in Electrical E ngi neeri ng enables grad- uates to se- eure good positionsand promotions. Theoreticaland Practical Elec- tricity. Mathematics, Steam and Gas Engines and Me chanical Drawing. Students construct dynamos, install wiring and test electrical machinery. Course with di- ploma complete In One Yea r Over 100 men trained. Thoroughly equipped fireproof dormitories, dining hall, laboratories, shops. Free catalog. 30th year begins Sep. 27,1922 BLISS ELECTRICAL SCHOOL Takoma Ave., Washington, D. C. Study Engi ring : : Inan Engineering Country The South Dakota State School of Mines is a tech- nical institution with unsurpassed field facilities. Degrees granted in Mining, Metallurgical, Chemi- eal, Civil and Electrical Engineering. Excellent laboratory and library. Individual attention, Graduates hold responsible positions. Tuition and ees low. For catalog address Cc. C. O’Harra, Pres., Box X, Rapid City, So. Dakota MEBANE, N. C. BINGHAM SCHOOL, MEBANE.N:<: AN IDEAL BOYS SCHOOL IN PIEDMONT NORTH CAROLINA ERE at Bingham, the spirit of old-time Southern hospitality makes each boy fee! genuinely welcome. [Military orgavization, began in 1861 igh moral tone System. Celebrated climate. Outdoor classes. school with an ancient name, fame and history COL. PRESTON LEWIS GRAY, President, BOX 27, MEBANE, N. C. Lovely lawns. Limited numbers Send for catalogue Athletic park. Honor Gymnasium. 340 acres. A modern Sports in variety. | with a

Science Notes A Digest of Everything of General Interest Appearing in Current Literature

Special Training for Foreign Service| 4 curio dealer a strange stone picked Up is is now offered by 71 colleges and universities. | The University of Washington leads with 107 students of this subject; New York University is second with 401. Glass Models of Mines are prepared by first washing the glass with Bon Ami; the surface which is to take the lines is dulled pencil eraser, and drawing ink is applied by pen or brush. Oil paints, re- quiring a day or more for drying, are thus dispensed with. A Pin in the Left Lung of a little Kan- | sas girl was removed by the aid of one of the latest devices of science, the broncho- scope. The instrument was inserted in the bronchus through the mouth, and forceps, lowered through the tube, brought out the | pin within two minutes. Bringing the Dead to Life.—Many ap- parently dead persons have been resuscitated by injecting into the heart one cubic centi- meter of a 1 in 1000 solution of either adrenalin or pituitrin; the injection is made into the left intercostal space one or two | finger-breadths to the left of the sternal | border. | Gorgas Memorial Institute.—The insti- | tute will be established at Panama for the study of tropical diseases, and will be closely associated with two hospitals and the Palo Saco Leper Asylum. It will constitute a tropical station for the Harvard School of Tropical Medicine, and Dr. Richard P. Strong, head of that school, will also serve as scientific director of the institute. The Child’s Reaction to the Movies

was recently tested in Chicago, and some unexpected results were obtained. The 5000 children were blasé towards elephants; bison thundering over the prairie met with a heartier reception; but it remained for the skunk, above all other animals, to excite their enthusiasm. The picture of a boy steal- ing apples and wading in shallow creeks put many of the children to sleep. Breeding Snakes for Bounty.—The De-

| partment of the Yonne, infested by vipers, offered 20 centimes a head as a bounty. Two enterprising farmers turned their land into a snake farm, and had sold 48,000 heads to the Government when their envious neigh bors gave the game away. A sentence of two years “for obtaining money on false pre- tences” was reduced to 18 months, since it had to be admitted that the men had kept the letter of the agreement. An Airways Weather Map.—The Lon- don-Continental airways officials are erect- ing a large map at the London Station that, for the benefit of pilots and the public, will show the weather, from hour to hour, at points along the routes. Wireless reports from France, Belgium and Holland are given. On the Lympne Field, in huge white letters, are the latest reports from London way, and pilots arriving from the Continent can thus see what weather will be encoun- tered between the coast and London. Fisherman’s Luck.—Puget Sound and neighboring harbors have been invaded by mackerel, cod, halibut and other known and unknown species of fish. Thirty thousand pounds of plaice were taken in a single haul, and a 30-pound cod was caught from a wharf; near Bremerton Navy Yard seiners discovered huge quantities of a tiny fish re- sembling the Norway sardine. This inshore movement of fishes is laid to a great earth- quake that disturbed the floor of the Pacific and caused an abrupt change in the currents of the Northwest coast. German Alchemist Is Discredited.— Professor Fisher of Yale, who has been abroad investigating the reported production of synthetic gold by a German scientist, and who at first credited the story, is assured by a genuine German scientist that the gold- maker is a fraud with a prison record. Pro- fessor Fisher’s investigations disclose the fact that the Government at one time made seri- ous attempts to produce gold in new ways and did, in fact, sueceed in extracting it from seawater, but not at a profit. These attempts have apparently been abandoned. New Radium Deposits.—During the war an unknown Belgian traveler sold to

| gusta, ——————— the Congo. The dealer sold it to the Britis, Museum. Examination showed Dowerfy) radioactivity, and Belgian geologists Wer informed. An expedition was sent to th Belgian Congo, where two veins were dis covered, one near the Portuguese frontier The mineral is named “curite” after the discoverers of radium, and the deposits — to be the richest in the world. 7 radium may be isolated by si i : in acid. a “oh Deciphering Burned Records.—Reconj, charred beyond recognition in a fire at Ay. Ga., have been made legible by th Bureau of Standards. Chemical meas failed, so Raymond Davis, chief of the tographic laboratory, laid the charred shee between two photographie plates with th emulsion side next the paper. After tp weeks of contact, the developed plates gare a plainly readable record. Where there wy contact between the charred paper and th plate, the latter was affected, but where th ink had been the chemicals of the plate wer unchanged. A Boom in Leeches.—A fter many yea of comparative neglect, the humble leech j again coming into its old popularity. By the old leech farms have long disappear) and modern physicians who claim there gp few better methods of relieving inflammatory areas than by the application of these blow sucking creatures find difficulty in the supply, The “animated mustard plasters” are » ported in baskets from Turkey, and Pam has one leech farm selling 130,000 a month but it is said that chemists in England eoul easily dispose of double the number thr are able to buy. The Elusive Plesiosaurus.—The ple osaurus hunters who have been attemptiy to track the Patagonian rumor to its ls are taking a holiday. Reports as to the wh of this are conflicting. The newspaper ma with the expedition say it is because th Governor of the territory of Chubnt hx issued an edict forbidding hunting, fishix or trapping for the monster. The Govern issuing any such edict. Meanwhik the hunters are enjoying themselves in tk beautiful lake region known as the Arge tine Switzerland while cabinet ministers fight the matter out. Sea Lions Invade a Lighthouse—Tk keeper of Bride’s Island light, below Cap Flattery, has appealed ta the Federal # thorities in Tacoma for weapons and hep No sooner does he open his door than # lions force their way into the house a make free with his possessions. At nigh they surround the place, barking for admit tance, until sleep is impossible. One bi fellow amuses himself by climbing the & terior steps to the light, to plunge headlow into the sea. To kill one would only attrat more, for the smell of putrefying meat® denies an irresistible attraction. Eruption Follows Earthquake.—ls March two mild earthquake shocks Wf sueceeded by the collapse of the 200 eruptive cone of Vesuvius, inside the eraltt accompanied by rumblings, explosions, a the ejection of ashes and white-hot ston® in 24 hours the liquid lava covered an m@ of 100,000 square feet; around the erate it formed a molten band with a temperaiit of 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. Professor ladra, direetor of the Vesuvius observaltt) descended into the crater at the start of te eruption, and escaped with a badly face. The width of the crater is now 10) feet. Food from the Skies.— Washington ® received from Bagdad samples of Turki manna. This manna falls like dew the autumn months, lodging on the of oak trees and hardening into the form grain. It is supposedly the same su used by the children of Israel in the

ness, and is a recognized article of or merce in Syria; sheets are spread U trees in the early morning, and the trees shaken. Only the oak tree retains the stance until it hardens; such of it elsewhere is lost. It is a good substitute sugar and honey, and sells for 45 pound.

JULY Al ~=—_— Con by sta’ The co remain satisfac The port of the tor over co age pe 100 ac ASu difficult experie to be river, V the Ba shore. Wipi tain busines: decided Twelve States, United the mot grata. of dyna shovel. Hart Secreta Rivers : is a m damagi! munitie: harbor are con mission: York hs that wo structur action i Open recent gives da harbor : Manila | railway hary pot result h: in the fc tracks, 1 apart th The fact only live for deck. A Su condition by a sur’ ter of « Bureau ‘ survey ¢ Most ext the work how mar weakness or what | of costs able to « » one As futur tentage o tations a with the Deteri Nashville Was caus Used for erete ins’ the prod Seams of of a suy

Page 59

r in —— eked up jy the Britig _ DOWerfy 2ists Wer ent to th were dis frontier, after th posits an ‘ld. Thei dissolutig, —Reconj fire at Ay ble by th al Meaty f the phy irred shee with th After ty ates guy there wy r and th where th plate wey any year le leech li rity. By Sappeare, there ar ]ammatory rese blo. he supply ” are tat and Park a month land couli nber they ‘he ples: ittempting o its lair o the why yaper met cause th iubut he g, fishing Governor Teanwhik es in th 1e Argen ministers ise.—The low Cap deral a and help than st jouse a At night ‘or admit One big y the & headlong ly attract r meat ¥ ce.—Las cks wer 200 -fost he erattt, ions, a t stone 1 an are he erate nperatur ssor ervator: rt of th 800) now 1) mn has er w durin he lear® » form * substan" ie of inder trees s the sib as fb titute ; cents ! Jury, 1922 SCIENTIFIC ——— Civil Engineering Notes Abstracts of Important Recent Papers and Published Articles Concrete May Be Poured Under Water py standing a pipe in the desired position. The concrete, poured through the pipe, will remain intact on its removal, and will set satisfactorily. The Strain on Country Roads.—A re- port of the Department of Agriculture shows the tonnage of 11 crops hauled to market over country roads. In five years the pe age per year was 27 tons hauled for every 100 acres of land, or 86,560,000 tons. A Subterranean River.—The mysterious ently no special precaution had been taken to exclude the shale. As a consequence, he is satisfied that the limestone screenings used in the mixing of the concrete of this struc- ture were heavily charged with argillaceous impurities, and that this admixture of shale was certainly one of the causes of disintegra- tion in the concrete. Alaskan Mineral Resources, according to a recent Geological Survey report, include good prospects for silver and lead mining on a commercial basis in the Kantishna Valley. AMERICAN New Low Fares To South America First Class Rates difficulties which Lubeck, Germany, has been| About 50 prospectors are at work, and a good experiencing with its water supply are found deal of placer mining is being carried out. |Two companies have been organized for hy- Rio de Janeiro-$295 to be due to an unsuspected underground | river, With several tributaries, emptying into the Baltic about 20 miles beyond the sea- shore. Wiping Out a Mountain.—The moun- tain Morro de Castello encroaches on the} business section of Rio Janeiro. It has been | decided that this huge excrescence must go.| Twelve million dollars, raised in the United States, and twelve men, also raised in the} United States, will endeavor to impress upon) the mountain the fact that it is persona non grata. The hint will be conveyed by means of dynamite, hydraulic pressure, and pick and shovel. Harbor Oil Hazards. — Oil pollution, | Secretary Hoover testified before the House} Rivers and Harbors Committee, destroys fish, | is a menacing fire hazard, and is seriously} damaging the beaches. Our industrial com-| munities eventually pay the bill. New York! harbor is beyond redemption so far as fish | are concerned. Murray Hulburt, Dock Com- missioner, said that oil in the waters of New York harbor might any day result in a fire that would wipe out the wooden piers and structures along the waterfront. Immediate action in the matter was urged. Open Pier Deck to Resist Storms.—A recent issue of Engineering News-Record gives data and illustrations of an interesting harbor installation at an point in Manila Bay. The pier carries a double-track milway and must stand up under extraordi- hary pounding when the typhoon blows. The result has been achieved by building the pier in the form of an open crib between the two tracks, which are placed considerably further apart than normally with this end in view. The fact that the wharf is designed to carry oly live trains, and not as a storage place for deck-loads, makes this expedient possible. Smallest Railroad in the World.—Dur- ing the war the Governors Island, Fort Jay, | Castle Williams and Filled Ground Railway, with its one engine, two flat ears, a gondola} and a box car, and its 29,000 feet of track, Was a very busy road. The termination of hostilities killed its usefulness, and now 28,600 feet of its track, 24 warehouses, half a mile of shedding and 5,800 heads of auto- matic sprinkler system are offered for sale, While the lone sergeant who ran the road has gone back to soldiering. What little is left of it after the sale will be scarcely longer than its name, and its title to the claim of being the smallest railroad in the world will be even more unassailable than before. A Survey of Our Roads.—The general condition of our highways will be disclosed | by a survey of the mileage, cost, and charac- ter of construction, to be made by the Bureau of Public Roads. This is the first} survey of the kind in 7 years, and the| Most extensive ever undertaken. Not until the work is completed may we even guess | how many miles we have, the strength and | Weakness of these arteries of transportation, | or what assets they represent. Comparisons of costs and maintenance will then be avail- able to our road builders and the informa- tion, once obtained, will be kept up to date. As future legislation may be based on per- tentage of road mileage, road officials, organi- | tations and individuals are asked to cooperate | With the Government in this gigantic task. Deterioration of Concrete Bridges at Nashville, Tenn., the city engineer reports, Was caused when limestone screenings were| Wed for the very fine aggregate in the con- rete instead of sand. This limestone was} the product of a quarry interspersed with} ams of shale. The limestone ledges were} of @ superior quality of rock, but appar-| exposed | then the outlaw switchmen struck, demoraliz- jing transportation, and draulic mining, but will not begin work for some months. Transportation in this district is poor ; if it could be. brought up to the mark there is little doubt that it would be followed by mining operations on a large scale. In addition to the large undeveloped resources in gold, there are to be considered the re- sources of the country in tin, platinum, tung- sten, sulfur, antimony, mercury, graphite, gypsum, ete. Tar Pollution of Fishing Waters.—The publication is shortly expected of an interim report prepared by a joint departmental com- mittee of the Ministries of Transport and Agriculture upon the question of damage caused to fisheries by tar pollution from road rain washings. As a result of experiments at Arlesford, Hampshire, the committee has found that the maximum toxic effect upon fish of the rain washings from a tar-treated road occur at two distinct periods, namely, when the road has been recently tarred, and when its surface is disintegrating. It is suggested that highway authorities should give preference to an asphaltic bitumen free from tar products for treating roads draining directly into fishing waters.—The Engineer. Elastic Properties of Small Wire Cable. | —In aircraft manufacture several sizes of | small wire cable are used, and for effective) design a knowledge of physical characteristics of such cable is important. In a paper pre- sented before the A. S. M. E. in December, R. R. Moore gives the results of tests car- ried off at Dayton. It is shown that the} modulus of elasticity of small wire cable varies between 15,000,000 and 28,000,000. | Between specimens identical in specifications | and apparently in make-up there may be a| difference as high as 3,000,000. Loads upon | the cable, below the elastic limit, have the} effect of raising the modulus of elasticity ; | but resting the cable seems to have no effect either way. Coal in 1920.—Bituminous coal produc- tion was normal during the first quarter, ex- cept for the decline due to February storms; the withdrawal of Government maximum prices and the great export demand combined to shoot prices up to record levels. By December business stag- nation was influencing output, until in April of 1921 production was but half the capacity of the mines. Anthracite started the year well; then came labor troubles, and 1920 terminated with production but a million short tons over 1919. The plans of the Federal Power Commission and the Super- power Survey should lead to increased use of hydroelectric power and this, with better transportation and more economic use of coal, may slow down the rate of depletion. Wasting Coal By-Products.—By burn- ing raw bituminous coal instead of coking it we are annually wasting fertilizers of a crop- producing value of 800,000,000 bushels of wheat. Such is the import of figures pre- sented to the Senate Finance Committee. Based on the annual production of 585,883,- 000 tons, the annual loss of ammonium sul- fate by present methods is $354,037,560, or enough to fertilize 118,000,000 acres. Ex- perts estimate that 100 pounds of ammonium sulfate to the acre will increase the yield by 7 bushels. The ammonium sulfate wasted by bee-hive ovens alone would mean an in- crease of wheat production by 60,000,000 bushels a year. Nor is agriculture the only industry affected by this waste of coal- tar products. The manufacture of paper, glass, glue, leather, paint, rubber goods and | many other commodities depends upon the use of chemicals that are coal-tar derivaties. | Montevideo - $345 Buenos Aires-$360 11 DAYS from NewYork is South America! If you have dreamed of a wonderful ocean trip, send the 1; coupon below and let your Govern- NM; ment tell you about the palatial i} Government ships that take you to at South America. ‘ South America! Land of age old romance, of exquisite beauties, a thousand extraordinary business op- portunities and stupendous undevel- oped resources! In September the Rio de Janeiro Centennial Exposi- tion will celebrate Brazil’s 100th year of independence. The coun- tries of the world will partake in the festivities and study the vast poten- tialities of this great country. $295 to Rio and the Exposition The United States Government has reduced the fare to South America more than 25%! First “j| class passage to Rio de Janeiro is 1} now only $295. The trip is made in just 11 days—the fastest time. : These great Government ships are the finest on the South American run. Their spacious staterooms are equipped with beds, not berths, hot and cold running water, electric radiators and fans. All rooms are on the outside; most have private baths. Diversion for every hour is provided by shaded promenades, library, card room, grand salon for dancing. For information regarding reservations address: Munson Steamship Lines 67 Wall Street, New York City Write for Booklet Your Government wishes the name of every prospective traveler, If you are considering an ocean voyage anywhere send the informa- tion blank now. You willreceive the Govern- ment’ s valuable booklet of authentic travel ine formation and description of the U.S. Govern- ment ships, You will be under no obligation, U. S. SHIPPING BOAR Next Sailings Are: S.S. Western World July 8 S.S. Southern Cross July 22nd 5 S.S.A merican Legion August Sth S.S. Pan America August 19th Fortnightlythereafter INFORMATION BLANK To U.S. Shipping Board Infor. Desk B248Wash., D.C. Please send without the U.S. Government Booklet travel facts. am consi a to America. would travel it ¢ () 2d) 8a (). () Pave definitely - ami merely considering tbe trip () If | €o date will be about................-. My Name............ My Business or Profession My Address ia Informatiox 2 sk B248 Washington, D. C. 59

Page 60

60 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN JULY, 192°

OR convenience, economy, and the shaving com- fort that is of first importance to every man who uses the razor, there’s nothing that equals gtd ng a Colgate“Refill” into the “Handy Grip” is like putting a new blade in a razor. Send us 10c for the “Handy Grip” with a trial size stick of Colgate’s Shaving Soap. **Refills” cost you the price of the soap alone. COLGATE & CO. Dept. 40 199 Fulton St., New York

The Cinema Handbook Author of “Behind the Motion Picture Screen,” etc Bound in full blue fabrikoid pocket-book style, blue A Practical Guide to motion picture of the non-theatrical order, particularly as applied to the reporting of news, to industrial and educational purposes, to advertising, selling and general publicity and to the production of photo-plays by amateurs and to entertain- ments of all kinds. Full details of projection as well as film making. SCIENTIFIC AMBRICAN PUBLISHING CO. MUNN 8 CO. By AUSTIN C. LESCARBOURA 517 pages, 221 illustrations, many tables under gold edges and round corners. Price $3.00. By mail insured 53.10 233 Broadway, NBW YORK, N. Y.

SBESTOS We are miners and shippers of Crude Asbestos in any quantity. We produce all grades at our world-famous BELL ASBESTOS MINES in Canada. We also card fibers, spin yarns, weave cloths, and manufacture a full line of Asbestos products.

For anything you want in Asbestos, turn to KEASBEY & MATTISON COMPANY Dept. S- AMBLER, aa. U.S. A. Owners of the world’s largest Asbestos Mines

Be <,- itera The Engleside, Finest isting TE FNGLESIDE ach Haven, N.J. +g ERS ORE $ ABI 0 ATU aS ic N. J., is on an island five miles at sea. sailing, bathing on the New Jersey Coast.

The Engleside is noted for its up-to-date Private baths with sea and fresh water. terms and booklet. 350 guests. June to October. Fine Automobile Bridge connecting beach with mainland. ts, excepti 1 table and home-like at- Sure relief from hay fever. Send for R. F. ENGLE, Manager.

Mechanical Engineering Notes Survey of Progress in the Mechanical Arts Gathered from Various Sources

Deformation Temperatures of Brickwork| formed the subject of an illuminating dis- eussion by E. B. Ricketts. Methods of pre- venting this serious difficulty by currents of steam or air, and by circulating water through the brickwork, were outlined. The Use of Diamond Tools in the ma- echining of fiber, hard rubber, and similar substances often affords a means of escap- ing the heavy costs of frequent resharpening and resetting of the ordinary type of steel tools. Nor is the cost of the diamond points and edges as serious as it might appear it would be. Air Heaters with Low-Grade Fuels were discussed both pro and con at the Fue Waste Session in December. On general principles argument seems to be in their favor: but it is pointed out that on account of sulfur content of the fuel, they might in certain instances be accompanied by conclu- sive disadvantages. Efficiency Ratings are subject to con- siderable confusion and ambiguity because of the difficulty of separating the efficiency of the boiler alone from that of the combined boiler-furnace unit. Notwithstanding the diffieulty of effecting this separation, it is well worth while to attempt it, and methods are available for doing this. The Uniform Tightening of Bolts, which is of some consequence in many in- stances, and which sometimes actually condi- tions the successful operation of a machine, is extremely difficult with ordinary manual operation of the stangard wrench. Wrenches with friction-release gears have been put on the market, the release coming into action as soon as the tension reaches a predetermined figure. Pressed Steel Machine Handles are a desirable improvement over older fashions. They are neat, light, and uniform in shape. They possess a strength that is fully up to any operating strain. Hollow and seamless, they are made in a range of sizes to meet every hand-wheel and lever need. There does not seem to be any reason why they cannot also be used for screw-drivers, chisels and other hand tools. The Inventor of the Machine-Gun.— Lyons, France, puts forward this claim in behalf of Du Perron, who offered Louis XVI., in 1775, a military “orgue” capable of firing 40 bullets almost simultaneously. The king rejected it as too murderous and the inventor was called an enemy to humanity. Hostile powers endeavored to secure the gun, but Du Perron was too patriotic to meet their advances. He died in poverty. A New British Galvanizing Process has been put out, not intended to replace the ordinary procedure of hot galvanizing with virgin spelter, but aimed at the large variety of uses where this is too crude. Frequently an extra smooth surface is required; or the temper of the coated steel is to*be retained ; or the piece is part of a_ big-production article in which distortion must be avoided ; or bolt-threads, ete., are to be coated but not to be retapped; and so on. The rough and ready method that is entirely adequate for ordinary wire and sheet metal is here quite out of the question, and it is in such places as this that the new “electro” method is recommended A Phenomenon of Grinding.—Probably everybody with extensive experience in grinding has noted that surface grinding of metals tends to curl the work toward the side on which the wheel is working, and that the thinner the stock the more pro- nouneed this tendency. E. A. Dixie, in American Machinist for December 22nd, dis- cusses this matter and puts forward a sug- gested explanation which is at least plausi- ble. He points out that the work is heated | above the critical point by the heater, and | shorten cooled by the fluid with sufficient sudden- ness to justify the assumption that quench- ing takes place. He suggests that this may the linear dimensions of the side affected, and points out that some action of leomparable character with that which he | the elastic limit in order to effect a perma- since the steel force exceeding involved, with a outlines must be must be distorted . ! nent set of the reverse side. Steam and Air Flow.—That stea: when expanded rapidly as in turbine nozzk becomes supersaturated provided the initi superheat is not so high that it remain; superheated throughout the expansion, is no. recognized. Whether any condensation ox eurs before the nozzle throat is reached not so definitely known; but evidence her is afforded by a series of experiments indi eating that the coefficient of discharge fo saturated steam is slightly less than that fo air and for superheated steam, which ar about the same. It would appear from this that there is little or no condensation in th: expansion of saturated steam in a_ nozzik down to the critical pressure ratio. A Jack Operated by Compressed Air, for use in factories and garages, is described in a recent issue of Automotive Engineering A six-inch model has a piston-head area of 28% square inches, and with an air pres- sure of 100 pounds will lift 2825 pounds. An 8-inch model with piston-head area of 5014 inches will lift, under the same head of air, 5250 pounds. By attaching a stand- ard air-gage with special dial graduations to the cylinder of the jack the latter may be used as a weighing device, indicating directly the weight on the tires. The particular jack- ing advantage claimed is rapidity of opera- tion, five seconds being considered ample time to get a car clear of the floor. A Rotary-Valve Internal - Combustion Engine which appears to be rather more promising than most of the inventions in this eategory was shown at the Automobile Expo- sition in New York. The valve consists in a general way of a long hollow eylinder with appropriately arranged ports, ete., which sets in the cylinder head, running the entire length of the engine-block, and rotates at one-sixth crank-shaft speed. Depressions and runways in the surface of the inner and of the outer shell match up in such a way that intake and exhaust channels are opened to each cylinder of the engine at the right instant. So far as the “valve” itself is con- cerned, there is but the one port, which serves alternately the various functions necessary. Hardening Polished Tool Steel.—Arti- cles of polished tool steel may be hardened without raising a scale and destroying the polish by the following method: Prepare equal parts in bulk of common salt and fine cornmeal, and mix well. Dip the article to be hardened first into water, then into the mixture; and place it carefully in the fire. When hot enough to melt the mixture, re- move from the fire and dip or roll in the salt-meal mixture, after which replace it in the fire and bring to the heat required for hardening. Watch the piece closely and if any parts show signs of getting dry, sprinkle with the mixture. The latter, when exposed to heat, forms a flux over the surface of the steel which excludes the air and prevents oxidation, yet when cooled in water or oil comes off easily, leaving the surface as smooth as before heating. Borax would pos- sibly give the same result, concludes the American Blacksmith, from which we quote, but is sometimes difficult to remove when cold. New Etching Mediums for Steel are deseribed by Dr. A. Fry in Stahl und Eisen; and particularly a new etching method con- sisting essentially of a strong acid solution of copper chloride over a properly prepared steel. The new medium reveals in details the strain lines in a low-carbon steel as dis- tinct from the actual crystalline pearlitic or other structure. In other words, it permits locating alterations in the body of steel caused by stress. In this connection mention is made of an experiment recently conducted by a large eastern railroad, the results of which are in good accord with those obtained by the German method. Thin strips of highly polished low-carbon steel were laid on the surface of the rail, over which the locomotive wheel was allowed to press gently. It was found that there resulted in the strips a dis- tinct set of lines entirely different trom any- thing encountered previously. It is now found that these lines bear a close resem- blance to the strain lines brought out in one of the pieces of German steel.

JU trac no 1po as ¢ ditic time the stea inci clea mor pail shov F Owl the tute iron as t eal the Hov loss very num vant the | the L In « ture out mat of h ized into dire to a trice in t man can luloi glas: W Evel gets has that ing | rem: cons as i Only are 13,51 agin cent requ capp new and ment E) elect serib de I ciall eabl guar to i elute pows ear 8000 cable elect heav pene “pot Woo elect bare negli

Page 61

JULY, 1922

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

Electrical Notes Summaries and Excerpts from Current Periodicals

New Miracles of Science.—At the Bell <ystem laboratories, members of the Amer- in Institute of Electrical Engineers were itertained with demonstrations of marvel- is new devices. Using an ordinary tele- hone transmitter, a speaker saw his “words” projected on a screen in electric waves of distinetive forms ; 10,000-watt vacuum tubes, with untold possibilities in wireless and ower fields, were shown; singing, talking nd “shimmying” crystals of Rochelle salts ere put through their paces; and by an- her device molecules were heard to turn er when polarization was changed. Electric Shovels in City Work. tracting work in cities there is no smoke, no sparks, no objectional noises attendant ipon the operation of the electrie shovel, as compared with the steam shovel. In ad- dition, the electrically-operated shovel gains time over the steam-operated shovel, due to the elimination of delays encountered with steam equipment. These delays are those incident to supplying the boiler with fuel, clearing trouble on the water line, and the more protracted shutdowns required for re- pairs. It is surprising that the electric shovel is not being used to a greater extent. From Iron Wire to Copper Wire. Owing to the high cost of copper wire during the war, iron was largely used as a substi- tute. The precise electrical properties of iron and steel cam only be vaguely known, as they vary with the sample, though chemi- cal analysis may show no difference between the samples, according to Electrical World. However, it is found in practice that the losses with iron and steel conductors are very heavy, and it is believed that there are numerous cases in which it would be an ad- vantage to revert to copper. It is said that the losses per mile increase very rapidly after the first few miles. Luminous Spots for Electric Devices.— In order to enable the electrical manufac- turer to put out an illuminated device with- out in any way engaging in the luminous material technique, a leading manufacturer of luminous material has developed standard- ized luminous units which can be molded into composition or mechanically inserted directly into metal. This idea lends itself to adoption in many ways, according to Elec- trical Record. The same disk which goes in the switch-push button can be used for many other purposes. Naturally, the size can be varied, and it is possible to use cel- luloid, mica, a plain glass lens, or faceted glass lens for the front. Wired and to Be Wired Houses.— Every so often everyone in the electrical field gets the pessimistic idea that the market has about reached the point of saturation— that all that must be done in electrical wir- ing and other work has been done, and little remains but to wait for new houses to be constructed. Such is not the case, however, as statistics soon indicate when _ studied. Only 36 per cent of the homes in America are electrically wired, and the remaining 3,508,000 homes are yet to be wired. Im- agine the amount of labor, the materials, the central power equipment, and the capital required to “electrify” the greatly handi- capped houses! And then there are many new houses, hotels, garages, theaters, schools, and so on being erected at the present mo- ment, all requiring electric wiring.

Electrical Farming Machinery. — An electric windlass for plow operation is de- scribed in a recent issue of Revue Generale de U'Electricite. This windlass has a spe- cially designed guide roll for the pulling cable, a hydro-pneumatie shock absorber to guard against suddenly arising overloads due to irregularities in the soil, an overload clutch between the drum and the 35-horse- power motor, and so on. If the windlass car is properly anchored, a pull of 7000 to 8000 pounds may be exerted upon the plow cable. To minimize the cost of temporary electric power lines the use of extremely heavily-creosoted wooden poles so strongly penetrated with creosote as° to be called “poteaux noirs” (black poles) is suggested. Wooden poles so treated have such a high electric resistance that it is possible to nail bare wires directly to them, resulting in a ing or putting in small screws by hand, when taking down or assembling electrical and other devices, is a slow process, states Hlec- trical Review and Industrial Engineer. A large Eastern repair shop, therefore, makes extensive use of a device driven by an elec- tric motor, for this kind of work. The electrical screw driver consists of a sewing- machine motor mounted on an iron base, which in turn is fastened by a U-shaped member to the table. The pulley end of the armature shaft of the motor is fitted with a knurled sleeve provided at each end with a flush set-screw, one for fastening the sleeve to the shaft and the other for holding the screw driver in the sleeve. Instead of a screw driver, a socket wrench can be mounted in the same way and used for putting on or removing small nuts. With the aid of this device an operator can do at least four times the amount of work that could be done by hand. Heat and Commercial Insulating Mate- rials.—The variation in electric strength of many of the solid insulating materials at present employed in the manufacture of electrical machinery and apparatus was in- vestigated between the temperatures of 30 degrees Centigrade and 100 degrees Centi- grade, and reported upon before a recent meeting of the Institution of Electrical En- gineers of Great Britain. The materials used were various kinds of prepared paper, micarta, fuller board, varnished cloth, mica, and some miscellaneous materials. These tests showed that in the case of some of the materials used at present the breakdown voltage at 100 degrees Centigrade may be only one-half that at 30 degrees Centigrade. Consequently, all insulating materials should be judged and used in accordance with the breakdown voltage at 100 degrees Centigrade, and not on the results of tests carried out at air temperature.

of Calabria to Sicily, which is now being studied in Italy, will require the crossing of the Messina Strait. account of the space for the poles the dis- tance would be 3450 meters. The cables for this mighty span would be six galvanized steel ropes about three-quarters inch in di- ameter, spaced 340 feet apart. The same problem has been studied from the stand- point of a submarine power cable, but it is reported that in the narrowest part of the strait the currents are so violent that no armored cable can stand for long, so a point some distance to the south of the narrowest part has been selected for study. Two types of cables would be necessary, one for the deep-sea portion and the other for the coasts. The coast cable would be insulated with India rubber and protected with lead and 24 steel wires. The deep-sea type would be insulated with rubber and wound with brass ribbon in order to prevent attack from tere- dos. The voltage transmitted would be 25,000. Railroad Electrification. — One advan- tage of the electric locomotive that is fre- quently overlooked in comparisons with the steam locomotive is the fact that the former is more ‘“fool-proof,” states The Practical Engineer. The electric locomotive is pro- vided with meters affording complete knowl- edge and control of operating conditions, also forming a valuable guide to the handling of a train, particularly in starting. The econo- my of electric traction is not dependent upon man, as is the case with steam, and oper- ation is therefore no longer a matter of in- dividual human judgment, skill, or fidelity. The theoretical advantages of the steam loco- motive are more often than not in practice nullified by the human element. Brick arches, superheaters, stokers, siphons, automatic fire-doors and power reverses all show low average results because their properties for increasing efficiency are dependent upon the intelligence and faithfulness of the engineer, who is only human. In the modern power | house, on the other hand, the efficiency de- | vices are used in far greater completeness, and, in addition, there are trained men and carefully ept records to make sure that they

negligible loss at voltages up to 550.

are properly used. Motor-Driven Screw Driver.—Remov- | Motor and Generator Bargains for Household and Radio Use Bargain No. 1—The effi- cient 4 h. p., 110 volt, 60 cycle, A. C. Motor shown in the cut. Weighs 28 ibe. and easily takes care of 4 h. p. peak loads. Just the motor for washing machines, grind- ers, large ventilating fans, cream separators, small bench lathes, and drill $13.50 presses. . Bargain No. 2—\%

h. P-y 110 volt, 60 cycle, A. C. $20 00 Synchronous Motors for operating spark gap Bargain No. 3—\%4 h. p volt, 60 cycle; for charging Rae Batteries . Motor Generator oud 110 ' $35.00 Bargain No. 4—% h. p., 110 or 220 volt, 60 cycle, A. C. Com- bined Motor-Generator with low voltage for Scie “A” Battery, and 500 volts for broadcasting $100.00 Bargain No. 5—Big capacity Grinder and Buffer, using the l¢ h. p. motor described in Bargain No. 1. Wheel and 7-inch Standard Ibs. bare. Half usual price . Has 6-inch Abrasive Cotton Buff. —_— 38 * $25. 00 Immediate Shipment from Stock At these low prices, cash must accompany the order. Every outfit is fully guaranteed, money will be refunded on any unsatisfac- tory apparatus returned to us within 30 days. NORTHWESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY 418 South Hoyne Avenue, Chicago

Spanning Messina Strait.—The trans- |

port of energy from the hydro-electric plants | The narrowest part of | the strait is 3200 meters across, but taking |

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Page 62

62 Successful Speculation The great basic law of Action and Reaction governs both the specula- tive and investment markets exactly as it governs the scientific and mechanical worlds. While it is im- possible for any one to anticipate the day-to-day ripples the great major movements are as regular almost as the tides themselves,

REPORTS Based on fundamental s_\N forecast these major movements. They enable you to find the real “buys” at low tide—to ride up with the rise and sell out near the top with unusually long profit. Over 16,000 of the country’s keenest in- vestors have increased their income by adopting the Babson he book You will find the whole story in the booklet “‘Gerting the Most from Your Money.’ — Tear out the Memo—now—and hand it to your secretary when you dictate the morning's mail, Hinman MEMO For Your Secretary Write Roger W. Babson, president of Babson’s Statistical Organization, Wellesley Hills. 82, Mass., as follows: Please a send me Booklet G60 “Getting the Most from Your Money” and copy of recent report—gratis.

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

Miscellaneous Notes Odd and Interesting Items from All Sorts of Sources

beet seed imported into the United States) comes from Germany, and is through the port of Galveston. Microscopic Writing—A Frenchman has written on an ordinary posteard 23,154 words—125,000 letters. The writing is said to be legible to the naked eye.

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Power Facts COSTS: With onal \y $3.50 per ton; elece oe = ante ae 05 Sys sca con to average of twice as much as Power—e ic power costs five times as wey he occupy small floor space and do not tequire a large investment in auxiliaries. OPERATION: Bessemer Engines y= 4 to start and will run contuauously with little | oiling. Bessemers pasate on 2 wide saage df feck and Geensh > = regulation meet the most exacting power requirements. RELIABILITY; Bessemer, the pe cticing! 2. cycle ode s with cross-head, has combined amplicity with economy. 20 years’ experi- ence covering 24,000 installations has given us the necessary knowledge to meet your re= quirements exactly. Write for our Of) Engine Catalog THE BESSEMER GAS ENGINE CO, 14 York St. Grove City, Pa., U.S.A,

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A Will Written in Shorthand has been admitted to probate in England. The tes- tator, before dying in hospital at Antwerp, wrote the will in the form of a letter to his brother. Finger-Printing a Town.—The town of Glenview has 2500 inhabitants and a bank. The cashier of the bank was shot and killed by a burglar, and the authorities persuaded the entire adult male population to register their finger-prints in an attempt to discover the criminal. cemeteries are so overcrowded as to threaten public health; cremation has proved unpopu- lar. The municipal commission studying the} problem advises the building of four big cemeteries 15 miles out of Paris, with rail- road service to and from the city. A Verdict on Violins.—“Old things are best” has always been accepted as true o wine and fiddles. But at the servatoire, where six old and six new violins were played in complete darkness, the votes of the audience placed two modern violins first, then a Stradivarius, and after that a Guadagnini. Finger-Printing a Corpse——The body of Mrs. Elizabeth Maier, who was murdered |in Westbury, L. I., was disinterred to be| finger-printed. Her finger prints were com-| pared with those found on a cream pitcher and sugar bowl, and found to be entirely dif- ferent. Those on the china are said to agree with the finger prints of an itinerant peddler charged with the crime. Colonel E. L. Mills, who saved the

| country thousands, possibly millions, by his new method of embedding small picks of silk in bank notes, died on January 17th, at | Elizabeth City, N. C., at the age of 70. His |idea was such a distinct improvement on | existing erude methods of protecting the greenbacks that counterfeiting fell off 90 per | cent after the adoption of the process. Wire Netting for Packing.—The Fed- eration of British Industries suggests that in order to prevent pilfering in transport goods should be packed in wire netting, the parcels | being made into bales, with hoop-iron bands | on the outside. The extra cost and weight would not be prohibitive, and since the package would have to be entirely opened up before its contents were accessible, the delay | and difficulty would put a stop to much of! the pilfering. Refurnishing the Capitol. — Painters and upholsterers were busy in the Capitol last year. The ceiling lighting of the House was increased by 2000 square feet and the ventilation doubled. A new high-pressure | water system provides fire protection, with | its 62 valve outlets. Twelve thousand square feet of floors were surfaced, and 14,000) square feet of new marble tiling laid. New sculptures increase the statuary to 118) pieces. Liquor and Votes in Old Pompeii —| The saloon was known in ancient Pompeii, as recent excavations disclose. A bar has been found, with a furnace and caldron for making the brew; there was even a little| liquor left in the caldron. Election appeals | were found on the walls; Lollius, a duumvir| who looked after streets and sacred build- ings, asks the votes of the frequenters of the saloon. This method of seeking votes antedates 200 B. C. Disappearing Money.—In an effort to uvert the small-change crisis France issued bronze-aluminum “jetons,” or one-frane and two-frane tokens. These are disappearing at the rate of 800,000 a day—almost as fast | as the mint turns them out. According to} authorities these tokens, though intrinsically | almost valueless, are going into the “woolen | stockings” of the notoriously thrifty French | to join the silver coins that vanished long | ago. Means are being sought to force at

people to disgorge the jetons. Sugar-Beet Seed.—Much of the sugar- | received | Funerals by Train for Paris.—Parisian | Paris Con-| | account in Nature’s savings bank.” | the steel-nickel-chrome alloy in the watch. |library is inaccessible. The Beisan Heiroglyphics.—The Uni- versity of Pennsylvania’s expedition to the Holy Land has unearthed at Beisan, the Beth-Shan of the Scriptures, a large stone stela on which are 30 parallel lines of hiero- glyphies, the first Egyptian inscriptions ever found in Palestine. These may establish a connection, hitherto unknown, between Egypt and Palestine, and antiquarians are awaiting a translation with great interest. The Census in 3800 B. C.—While prid- ing ourselves upon our census system it may be well to remember that census-taking is no new thing. The first count of British heads took place in 1801, after long opposition based on superstition. The Romans looked upon it as a regular institution. But it is now found that Babylonia took a census before 3800 B. C., which was perfected, and | returns made by districts, in 2300 B. C. Fragments of the returns during the second dynasty of Ur are on tablets in the British Museum. Squirrels and Gunstocks.—Black wal- nut is a fine ornamental tree of fairly rapid growth. The Forest Service points out that the merry squirrel was really the agent that supplied our Army with gunstocks; his habit | of burying the nuts in open areas, where the | saplings sprouting from them can secure the necessary sun, was “a big deposit to man’s There are about 821,000,000 feet of black walnut in the country, 50 per cent of it available

for commerce. It requires good agricultural soil, and if the supply is to be adequate there must be careful management of existing | groves and the immediate establishment of new ones. | What Our National Parks Offer.—Not | the least of the claims made for the national parks is that they make for better citizen- | ship by providing healthful diversion com- | bined with unequaled educational advantages. Their use in 1921 exceeded all records; they | were visited by 1,171,797 persons, as com-| pared with 356,097 visitors in 1916. The | world war, that closed European ports to| pleasure travel, is to be credited with their| unprecedented leap to popularity. Elaborate camping accommodations attract motorists, and hiking is now encouraged by furnishing definite itineraries. State parks are advo- cated, to be located every hundred miles or so along the main highways; this movement was auspiciously begun last year at Des Moines. A Discovery in Watch-Making.—The great obstacle to precision in the time- keeping qualities of the watch has been the expansion and contraction of its parts caused by variations in temperature. C. E. Guil- laume, Director of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, has discovered an alloy that, used in the compensating parts, obviates this “secondary error.” The mini- mum expansion of nickeled steel is found to be increased by the addition of 12 per cent of chrome, as well as by a very small quantity of tungsten, manganese or carbon. The new Swiss process mounts a spiral of

According to M. Guillaume, this perfectly | accomplishes its purpose, and by simplifying | the process of regulation should give a revo- | |lutionary impetus to the watch-making! industry. | Every Man His Own Compiler.—What- ever business or profession a man may live by, his working library runs to mamnenens volumes; much time is lost in finding a) needed item among thousands that are never | while to the traveling man any such} “Lefax,” an ingen- ious loose-leaf pocket encyclopedia, solves the problem by enabling him to carry an amazing amount of self-selected, practical information right in his pocket. The leaves consist of blank and ruled forms—double, triple, and quadruple-folded, if necessary—classified as business, engineering, and _ cross-section (graph) paper; and of special sets of data sheets specifically covering various classes of knowledge; these data sheets provide self- indexing, nutshelled information. Clippings may be placed in linen-lined envelopes that fit the pocket binder, and filing boxes com- plete the system that men in all walks of| life are adopting to great personal advantage. used,

JULY, 1922

eo » ” ~ "” a hs é m 1 fj be ” er * I ” “ " si Ie Wer, Creeping Shirts And Falling Pants Permanently Cured Many times a day you pull up your trousers, replace your creeping shirt, tighten your belt—constantly getting hotter and more uncomfortable, One pair of STA-ON trousers supporters will banish this discomfort, keep your shirt down, your trousers up, your temper cool, and give waist comfort. STA-ON’S do not bind, chafe, annoy or disturb; the shirt and undershirt slip through the groove of supporter and hold with bull-dog grip that will not harm the sheerest silk, sive men's apparel shops are Progres stocking STA-ON Trousers Supporters, Ask your dealer, if he hasn't stocked, send for pair today, nickel-plated, $1.00 gold-plated, $3.00, Try them ten days and if not satisfied return and get your mongy, THE LINRAL CO., Dept. C, St. Louis, Mo.

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JULY No ships : this y 192" Bis 9311 3527 < which has 4! 1920 Ameri The rats Oo ing cl least § being are su unless to be Dor ers fin is wor harbor damag bullsn: The bi and m serves Den to as of the deep-se not ey Althou sures, proach tissues upon 0 Gro produc leads t $100,0 did a $ ing im 000,008 supply is inere foxes ¢ Whi The B the bi States South swallo sandpi the St: of mig increas Soft Toume tive of estry, world need fe more j wood, We ar and th Life have t water carry Howev finds tl fresh 1 water, hatchec fathom these e Hun ing of dens t about more p geese the Mi their s bers; numbe! the de time bs The there i birds | the wa has no shippec Africa. the bus

Page 63

12 Juty, 1922 SCIENTIFIC The Naturalist’s Corner Notes on Flora and Fauna from All Parts of the World No Demand for Whale Oil.—Only eight ships are in the Norwegian whaling industry this year, as compared with thirty-three in 192 Much unsold oil is in storage. Bison Population.—There are now but 9311 pure-blooded bison in the world, and 3527 of these are in the United States, of which only 100 are running wild. Canada has 4916 captive and 800 wild bison. In 1920 1700 calves were born, reports the American Bison Society. The Plague of Rats in England.—The rats of England have entered the profiteer- ing class, and are costing the nation at least $350,000,000 a year. The problem is being diseussed in London. Rat inspectors are suggested but, as one official remarked, | unless these are Pied Pipers, little relief is to be expected. Don’t Kill Bullsnakes.—Kansas farm- ers find that a bullsnake in an alfalfa field is worth at least $2.50 a month; for an acre harbors, on an average, six gophers, which damage the crop to that extent. One adult bullsnake keeps an acre free of the pests. The bullsnake is harmless, feeds also on rats and mice around barn or granary, and de- serves the protection of the farmer. Denizens of the Deep Sea.—According to a statement by the world-famed explorer of the ocean’s depths, the Prince of Monaco, deep-sea fishes, contrary to popular belief, do not explode when brought to the surface. Although constituted to withstand great pres- sures, they are, in fact, not only able to ap-| proach the surface without danger to their tissues, but actually do so at night to prey upon other animals. Growth of the Fur Industry.—In the production and use of furs the United States leads the world. Sales for 1920 were about $100,000,000 ; in 1919 New York City alone did a gross business in domestic furs, count- ing import, export and handling, of $375,- 000,000. While demand has depleted our supply of fur-bearing animals, “fur-farming” is increasing, with the rearing of silver-black foxes as its most important branch. Where Birds Spend Their Winters.— The Biological Survey finds that many of the birds migrating between the United States and Canada spend their winters in South America. Among these are the barn swallow, the golden plover, and the pectoral sandpiper. Some travel as far south as the Straits of Magellan. Federal protection of migratory birds has resulted in a marked increase of game birds. Softwood Reforestration—Dean J. W. Toumey, at an important meeting representa- tive of all southern States interested in for- and circuses, is now practically out of this trade. Japan, says Dr. Hornaday, has op- ened 14 zoos in two years, and prices are soaring in response to the demand. A Woman’s Exploits in Africa.—Mrs. Frederick Dalziel of New York has some re- markable exploits to her credit in German | East Africa. She is the first white woman |to visit the noted extinct volcano in the Ngoro Ngoro country, with a crater 10 miles | in diameter; she bagged many large animals, | including an elephant, two rhinoceroses and | seven lions, and is presenting a fine rhinoc- eros to the Museum of Natural History as a souvenir of her narrow escape from death when the beast charged her. Our Boneyard in the Pacific—The little | island of Laysan, northwest of Hawaii, used to be white with the eggs of sea fowl when, in 1909, Japanese poachers slaughtered 300,- 000 of the birds for their feathers before Uncle Sam’s cutter ran to the rescue. To- day, where albatross, sooty tern, boobies, |petrel and goonies used to flock, there is |simply a huge boneyard—probably 40,000 tons of stuff available for lime and fertilizer. A Seattle man has secured the right to gather guano and bones there, and is out- fitting three vessels for the trade. How conducted by the Bureau of Entomology demonstrate that the house fly frequently journeys five or six miles in 24 hours, which emphasizes the sanitary importance of de- stroying breeding places. Some 234,000 flies of various species were dusted with finely- powdered red chalk and released. Baited fly traps were placed at measured intervals in all directions; thus the flights of differ- ent species were determined. The maximum distance traveled by the house fly was 13.14 miles. Duck Hunting with Motor Boats.—To correct erroneous reports that have been cir- | culated, the Biological Survey states that no |changes have been made in the Federal reg- | ulations prohibiting the use of power boats Far Flies Travel.—Experiments | |in taking wild fowl; still grosser is that vio- | | lation of the law known as “bushwhacking” ; | | that is, the running down with motor boats of ducks that have settled among previously placed decoys. Power boats may be used to go to and from the ducking grounds, and | dead ducks picked up from them, but ducks |may not be shot from such boats. | ago 11 gray squirrels were taken from Ken- tucky and liberated in a park in Vancouver, Wash. Since then a thriving industry has been developed in filberts and English wal- nuts; and the squirrels, now numbering | Squirrels in Vancouver.—Twenty years | estry, spoke of the acute situation due to a!/ thousands, have also developed an astonish- | world shortage of coniferous wood, and the need for increasing production. Softwood is more important to civilization than hard- wood, and must be grown on a vast scale. We are producing but a fourth of our needs, and that of inferior quality. Life History of the Eel.—Most children have been told that a horsehair placed in water will develop into an eel, and some carry this belief into their mature years. However, Dr. Schmidt, a Danish scientist, finds that the eel lives up to eight years in |ing industry with nuts as its basis. Instead |of burying the nuts in quantities, where the growers might recover them, they bury each nut separately. As this army is at work for long hours each day, the growers are in de- spair, and deportation of the aliens is sug- gested. The Origin of Corn.—Botanists have | long held that our maize is descended from | a wild grass called teosinte. Luther Bur- | bank has experimented in this direction for /18 years, and has succeeded in producing, | fresh waters ; adult eels Zo down to tide- through successive stages of development, | water, where they spawn and die. Newly- hatched eels spend their early existence 500 fathoms below the surface, emerging from these cold depths in late winter. _ Hunting Season of 1921.—At the open- ing of the season United States game war- dens the country over were enthusiastic about the promising outlook. Game was more plentiful; in some localities ducks and geese were abnormally abundant; east of the Mississippi migratory birds were making their southern flight in unprecedented num- bers; the quail (bobwhite) was seen in numbers not equaled for years; and even the deer was less scarce than for a long time back. The Wild Animal there is great demand for wild animals and birds to remedy the depletion caused by the war. The New York Zoological Park has not only refilled it own cages but has shipped animals to Europe and even to Africa. Germany, that had almost coralled the business of supplying zoological gardens Market.—Abroad | perfect ears of corn from teosinte. In the original evolution, aided by the crude agri- culture of the Indians, it doubtless took cen- turies to become the maize that is now our most important crop. Incidentally, Burbank has created a most productive fodder crop that can be grown a thousand miles farther north and south than its present range. A Pigeon’s Long Flight.— An ex- hausted pigeon picked up at Columbus Circle was found to bear a message from Edmund Heller, the well-known naturalist now mak- ing a survey of the animals of Yellowstone Park. The message, upon being read, de- clared that the writer was lost on the Hoo- doo Mountains, and asked that help be sent. It was addressed to his fellow-naturalist, Dan Singer, who identified the pigeon as one of a flock they had trained together, and promptly wired orders for a_ rescue party. As it is 1,900 miles from Yellow- stone Park to New York, and the bird apparently made this in five days, it had to average 380 miles a day. | AMERICAN SB iitituyime BB iw a Architeets : Widmann & Walsh George Pankau Klipstein & Rathmaa oneness MOANA in any similar work. “Entirely Satisfactory” After Many Years A-PIDO TRADE MARK [ITH a Gilsonite Construction Co oo se Over 1,000,000 Square Feet of Concrete Floors Treated with Lapidolith in the Bevo Building, St. Louis Read the testimony of the architects of the Bevo Building. building has every type of department where concrete floors have been subjected to every kind of wear and tear. “We are pleased to advise that about five years ago we used Lapidolith as a hard- ener for all cement floors of the Bevo plant (about 1,000,000 square feet), and the granitoid sidewalks around the building. The result has been entirely satisfactory to all concerned, and we have no hesitancy whatever in recommending Lapidolith for use i Very truly yours, This also for DMANN & WALSH, GEORGE PANKAU, Assoc. Archts."’ Whether your concrete floors are new or old, they need the liquid hardener Lapidolith to make them dust-free and wear-proof. OTHER SONNEBORN PRODUCTS It will save repairs, replace- ments and delays, also the costly dam- ages of concrete dust. Hydrocide interior of exposed walls. Gmcoat the durable Mill White. Washable, fire- resisting, and of exceptional covering capacity. Gloss, Flat and Eggshell. A black, tacky material for waterproof- ing foundations and dampproofing the Lapidolith is the original hardener— the standard for twelve years. It is not the cheapest in Price, but it is the cheapest in Service, and so it has the preference. Over 250,000,000 square feet of con- crete has been lapidolized. Send for literature and sample lapidolized concrete L. SONNEBORN SONS, Inc. Dept. 1, 116 Fifth Ave., NEW YORK IAAT a “ lil ml SB SW I 00 rtreATAM ET ene EMTs vy ANN S 0 ia] N E B ORN = enn se oon ee) | « 63 RANA bitty TTA TAN TTT iA Mm it himself, with his The large Set-Back Rev- olution Counter at right is less than % actual size. The small Revolu- tion Counter below is shown nearly full size. You'll want to study or Make Your Machine Sure Pay It’s got to pay if you're getting recorded production— getting what you know is enough of it. It’s the sure way you can run a machine profitably : figure the standard for hourly or daily production, and see that the operator holds to the standard. The o rator will even see to record before him on a “Yeedey COUNTER WetoMtowse) The Set-Back Revolution Counter above re- cords the output of the larger machines where the revolu- tion of a shaft registers an operation. Counts one for each revolution, and sets back to zero from any figure by turning knob once round. Supplied with from four to ten figure-wheels, according to purpose. Price, with four figures, as illustrated, $10.00 (subject to discount). The Small Revolution Counter at left records the output of smaller machines where a shaft revolution indicates an operation. Though small, this counter is very durable ; its mechanism will stand a high rate of speed, making it especially adapted to light, fast-running machines. Will subtract if run backward. Price, $2.00. select counters from the larg — line and the most diversified; that line is illustrated in the Veeder boorret. You have only to write for the booklet to see the solution of your counting problem. The Veeder Mfg. Co., 18 Saigeant St. Hartford, Conn. 99 |

Page 64

64 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN JULY, 1922

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ut ' the Tate

ti y c s -— SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

Aeronautical Notes | Recent Activities and Forthcoming Plans That Mark the Progress of Mechanical Flight

_— French Gliding Competition.—Encour- | aged by the successes attained in the German | soaring and gliding tests in the Rhén moun- | tains last year, the French Aerial Associa- | tion and the Aero Club of Auvergne are organizing a somewhat similar competition at Puy de Combegrasse, near Clermont Fer- rand ust 20. According to Flight, a total amount of prizes of 100,000 francs is to be awarded. It is believed that British and other contes- | aside from French entries, will take tants, part in the competition. London-Brussels Service—A new aerial passenger line and fast freight service has re- cently been inaugurated between Croyden, which is the air port for London, and Brus- Owing to the engineers’ strike, delivery of new machines has been considerably de- layed, but it is hoped that before long the Instone fleet, which has undertaken this ser- vice, will comprise ten passenger machines and two specially built cargo machines, when a regular and frequent service to and from trussels will be run without in any way interfering with the London-Paris service. Russo-German Air Mail Service.—Word comes to us that two Fokker monoplanes are to be used on the Konigsberg-Moscow service, which was inaugurated on May Ist. At first the service will be bi-weekly. Machines will leave Konigsberg on Sundays and Thursdays, and Moscow Sundays and Wednesdays. The railway journey between Berlin and Konigs- berg sels. tween Konigsberg and Moscow 9 hours, giv- | ing a total of 22 hours, more than five days by train. The air mail fees are 8 marks for post cards and 8 marks for every 20 grammes in the case of letters. Seaplane Floating Dock Tests.—From our British contemporary, Flight, we learn of the tests to which the Seaplane Floating Dock, built under arrangement with the Ad- miralty at Sheerness Dockyard, has been sub- jected before being handed over to the Air Ministry. The tests included towing trials and anchor trials, and the dock was also sub- merged, a seaplane being docked on the pon- toon. The tests were satisfactory in every respect, and the dock was towed back to Sheerness yard to be completed for delivery. The dock is fitted for the reception of two seaplanes of the latest type. Laminated Wood in Aircraft.—A neces- sary feature of all modern aircraft construc- tion is the building up of the laminated wood parts. Most aircraft factories have a depart- ment devoted to this kind of work, with one or more batteries of special glue processes for joining the layers of wood into a compact whole. This careful lamination produces a unit infinitely stronger and more enduring than could possibly be shaped from a single piece of wood, while still preserving the im- portant lightness and resiliency which are inherent to wood. The process calls for the most careful work, the best of materials, and | ideal conditions in respect to temperature and humidity of the glue room. Science and experiment must be combined to secure an unfailing joint of maximum strength. A New Gas for Airships.—From Los Angeles comes word to the effect that Dr. Edward Curran, head of the research depart- ment of a new aerial navigation company, | has developed a new gas, Currenium, for air- |; ships.

The new gas is said to be the out-| come of several years of intensive study and | experimentation. The company owning the formula is preparing to engage in the manu- facture of the gas by an electrolytic process | at a cost, it is estimated, of about $100.00 per thousand cubic feet less than it costs to produce helium. According to a witness of | the demonstrations, the new gas has a lift | about the same as pure hydrogen, but is non- inflammable and non-explosive. However, it remains to be seen whether the gas is all that is claimed for it, when it is once produced in commercial quantities. Safety Fuel Tank Competition.—There have recently been held in England a series of tests with safety tanks of various kinds. On the first day the trials consisted of accel- eration and crashing tests, and on the sec- ond day of firing tests. Twenty-six entries were received for the competition, which, it |

| or leaking, thus eliminating almost entirely | the possibility of fire, and which will also will be remembered, was being held in order to obtain, if possible, a tank which will with- stand the shock to which it may be subjected in an airplane crash without either bursting withstand the effects of enemy action by machine gun and shell fire. The crashing tests are similar to those to which the tanks

| Auvergne, between August 6 and Aug- | | | occupies 121%4 hours, and the flight be-| as compared with | | brief study of the International | Convention report. letters reading, “Airworthiness Certificate, none.” in addition to special tests to determine the resistance to acceleration. In the firing tests the tanks were subjected to machine gun fire with ammunition capable of penetrating the | ordinary type of mild steel fuel tank and of exploding and igniting the fuel either on con- tact or after penetration. Recent Developments in Fighting ’Planes.—A G. A. X. armored attack tri- plane, which has excited much interest and comment among the members of the 3rd Group at Kelly Field, has been assigned to the 90th Squadron. This ship, a design of the En- gineering Division at McCook Field and built by the Boeing Airplane Company of Seattle, is the first of several of these planes to be delivered for the use of the Attack Group. It is especially designed and constructed for the attacking of ground troops, states Aviation. In addition to being armored with machine guns, it carries a small cannon. The power plant consists of two Liberty engines set in a steel compartment, located in each |wing. The weight of the ship empty (in- eluding water) is 7,532 pounds, and with armament, and gas and oil, 9,750 | pounds. The minimum speed at sea level is 63.8 miles per hour, and the maximum speed 105 miles per hour. Night Landing Device.—The largest electric sign in the world is now operating at the Croydon air station, which is the air port for London. It is shaped like a star and has been constructed to assist belated pilots | crew, were subjected during the preliminary trials, | coming in to land on the airdrome during the | winter months. The giant sign, more than a quarter of a mile from point to point, is let into the ground, and over the whole of it has been fixed thick glass so that the surface is on an exact level with the surrounding ground, and an incoming air ex- press can land with safety on and, if neces- sary, taxi across the surface of the guiding star. It is illuminated with several thou- sand electric lamps. An ingenious arrange- ment of the switching equipment enables the direction of the wind to be indicated to guide travelers on the airway. Every night during the winter a letter L of huge dimensions will be flashed to the skies, the position of same to be determined by the direction of the wind. The long leg of the L will show the airman in which direction the wind is blow- measuring |

ing. Certificates of Airworthiness—At a recent meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Aircraft Underwriters’ Asso- ciation, states Aviation, it was determined that the present plan for registration of air- eraft pilots and for registration of aircraft by Underwriters’ Laboratories, be extended to include a plan for “certificates of air- worthiness” for individual aireraft. It is the plan of the members of the National Aircraft Underwriters’ Association to insist upon cer- tificates of airworthiness as a condition of future policies on aircraft. This certificate is particularly essential and necessary at this time since it has been wrongly assumed that the registration of aircraft includes assur- ance of safety and airworthiness. This is not the case, as will be evidenced from a Aircraft A certificate of regis- tration is issued merely for identification pur- poses of individual aircraft, and offers no as- surance whatever that the ship is safe to fly, or is capable of undertaking the particular work under consideration. Hence the air- worthiness certificate program is essential to avoid misunderstandings covering the real significance of the Aircraft Register. In this connection all aircraft register certificates, going out after the first six, which have already been issued, will be rubber stamped diagonally across their face with outlined

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SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN JULY, 1929 - —— for advertising in this section 15 cents for Rate ecard giving discounts The number of insertions sent on Market for each request. insertion, payable in advance. Advertisements for by July 20th. per word, CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS Place for the Small Advertiser insertion in the September issue Minimum space acceptable, 20 words. Rate should be in our office AGENTS WANTED BIG MONEY AND FAST SALES— Every owner buys Gold Initials for his auto. You charge $1.50: make $1.35. Ten orders daily easy Write for particulars and free samples. American Mono- gram Co., Dept. 197. East Orange, N. J. SPECIALTY Salesmen here’s your chance. Want it? Nifty, clever little “Cataract” washer cleanses autos quickly. Attaches to garden hose. All brass——can’t rust. Won't mar finest varnish. y car owner a customer. Two styles, No. . No, 2-——$1.75 $15.00 doz. profit. Dept. M., Cataract Auto Washer Company, Topeka, Kansas. SELL entire rooms, enclosed automobiles, cent profit; territory Chemical Co., Box 174R, 1386 LETTER AUTO INITIALING $1.50 postpaid. Apply 25 each ma Samples free. Monogram Initial Co., D 10, J. ocks, ore 50¢ block perfumes closets, lavatories, trunks, ete. Lasts months; 100 per protection. International Cleveland, Ohio, Perfume BI! clothes Re 32.50. West- wood, WANTED. Your spare or full time. Guaranteed line of soaps, toilet artic les, household specialties Repeat sales assurec 100° profit. 150 articles. Exclusive territory. Free samp le case offer. Write at once. Ho-Ro-Co. Mfg. Co., 182 Locust St., St. Louis, Missouri. BIG MONEY-—-FAST SALES. Transfer initials on autos, trunks, etc ou charge $1.50 and make $1.38. No Experience or License necessary. Average 10 sales a day Write for samples. New- Co., Dept. 24, 568 Broad Street, ark Monogram Newark, N. J. Automatic Four AGENT made $56 one day. Free ‘ake orders. Point Rag Rug Embroidery Needle. Wholesale Supply Co., Valdosta, Ga. AGENTS, 600% Free sample. Lowest priced Gold and Silver Sign Letters for stores, offices, automobiles. Large demand. No experi- ence necessary. $50 to $200 a week easy. Exclu- sive territory. Acme Letter Co., 2800 A Congress St., Chicago. AGENTS. Here's big money $2.50 invested nets $28.25 profit ; Apply initials to side doors of autos. owner a prospect. Transfer Moncgraga Co., Dept. A., 10 Orchard St., Newark, POCKETKNIFE profit. and independence. $5.00 nets $83.00. Every car Inc., blade. Wonder- with renewable ful seller. Agents wanted everywhere. Sample 25e Particulars free. Kolar Company, Dallas, Texas. ae ae RUMMAGE Sale 8 a woke $50.00 daily. Represen- tatives wanted everywhere. We start you. Dept 833, Wholesale Distributors, 609 Division, Chicago. AMBITIOUS WRITERS 7 ~M ANU SCRIPTS WANTED: stories, poems, plays, ete Cash or royalty Make money spare time. Copyrighted. Instruction Book for Writers Free. Submit Mss. or write Literary Bureau, 526, Hannibal, Mo. AMERICAN MADE METAL TOYS AND NOVELTIES ~ MANU FACTURERS WANTED on large or small scale, for production of metal toys and novelties. Toy soldiers, cannons, macirine guns, cowboys, In- dians, wild animals, whistles, bird whistles, race horses, baseball players, paper weights, mateh holders, automobile ornaments, souvenirs, adver- tising specialties, and hundreds of other things. No experience or tools necessary. Hundreds and thousands made complete per hour. Bronze casting forms furnished to manuacturers complete with outfit from $5.00 up. We buy these goods all year, paying fixed prices. Contract orders placed with manufacturers. An enormous business is offered to industrious men this year with an_excellent oppor-| tunity to enter this open field. Write us only if you mean strictly business. Catalog and informa- tion free. Metal Cast Fees Company, 1696 Boston Road, New York “AUTOMOBILES ATTENTION! Salesmen, Agents, Ford Owners, Garage Men! Exclusive State and County rights now open. Nothing placed on the market in recent years makes such an improvement in operating a Ford and adds so much comfort to a driver as our Duple x Gear Control Holds gear in low position when climbing long grades, operator resting both feet on floor instead of tiring himself out operat- ing car as in old manner. Holds gear in neutral when reversing and relieves emergency brake pres- when moving car manually, when making sure repairs. A boon to truck owners and drivers oper- ating in mountainous sections, relieving operator of that exceedingly tiresome operation of holding gear in low when climbing long grades. Some- thing new. No competition. Our device practically sells itself. Every sale brings a dozen new cus- fomers. Retuils at $6.00. For particulars, address Morris & Burns, 278 _l2th St.. Oakland, Calif. _ FORMULA—Keeps wind-shields clear in rainy. foggy, misty weather. Cheap, simple and easy to make. Send 25 cents (coin) i. Hancock, 1165 12th St., San Diego, Calif. AUTOMOBILE OWNERS AUTOMOBILE OWNERS — Garagemen Me- chanics—Repairmen—send for free copy of this month's issue. It contains helpful, instructive in- formation on overhauling, ignition troubles, wiring, carburetors, storage batteries, ete. Over 140 pages, illustrated. Send for free’ copy today. Automo bile Digest, 542 Butler Bidg., C incinnati. BUSINESS $ OPPORTUN ITy YOU CAN have a business profession of your own and earn big income in service fees. A new system of foot correction ; readily learned by any- one at home in a few weeks. Easy terms for train- ing: openings everywhere with all the trade you can attend to. No capital required or goods to} buy: no agency or soliciting. Address Stephenson | Laboratories, 23 Back Bay, Boston, Mass. Ray Filter Mfg. BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY ! | A BUSINESS of Your Own.—Aggressive, ambi- tious men who seek new and larger business oppor- tunities and expect to scratch and hustle to build real prosperity. Such men can secure factory sales connection and exclusive wholesale distribution on high grade automobile necessities becoming well- known through national advertising. More than sales job; an opportunity to build permanent and profitable business with ‘“‘Money Back”’ merchandise that sells and repeats. Must have references, financial standing, evidence of past success and business promotion experiences outlined. Waste no time on postal cards or letters that do not state particulars requested. Correspondence with new, wide-awake specialty distributors solicited. Write Robert Bowes Company, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana. RESPONSIBLE corporation wants general sales managers to open branch office, manage salesmen. $500 to $5000 necessary ; expenses to Baltimore al- lowed if you qualify. Address Manager, 603 Eutaw Street, Baltimore, Md. CENTRAL INDIANA Manufacture ‘rs now mar- keting an entirely new Auto Accessory that makes night d ng safe, eliminating glare from ap- proaching headlights, want general sales managers to open branch office, handle exclusive territory and manage salesmen Some investment neces- sary. Profit possibilities practically unlimited. Co., Marion, Ind. BECOME MASTER DEALER.—Learn secrets real estate success. Amazing profits, independence. Develop natural ability. Operate on own hook. Either sex. Guaranteed. Special offer free. Stephens Realtor System, Wysor Bldz., anda Ind. “SCHEMER MAGAZINE,” Alliance, Ohio. 40- page monthly, prints big profit schemes; one sub- scriber making $25,000 from three, another $10,000 from one. Try your luck. Year, only $1.00; three months, 25c. None free. MAKE MONEY AT HOME making toys.—We show you how. Send $1 for complete | ety, drawings and instructions. DeKalb Designing Co. Dept. 56, Decatur, Ga. BOOKKEEPING “Dukes’ Columnar partnership and corporation. ton Av., New York. POWERFUL sales litemature legitimate purposes; stock selling campaigns to raise capital; and branch office service for out ot town firms. *rices very reasonable. Write fully. 18th successful year. References. S. Hyde, 309- $311 Fifth Ave., New York. week with Individual, 1859a Wal- self-taught in a Bookkeeping.” Dukes, prepared for all BUSINESS SERVICE RELIABLE information about where to buy or sell anything; personal calls; business represented; $1. Mailing lists, 4500 pur- chasing agents $9; others. You'll want more. Cottrell Service, Box 259, Chicago. organizations ; EXECUTIVES AND other experienced men of proven ability seeking positions find our service extremely Satis- factory. Our Mr. H. H. Harrison can confidentially negotiate for you suitable connection as he has successfully done for theusands of others since 1909. Inquiries invited. The National Business Bourse, Ine. Association Building, Chicago. FOR INVENTORS PUNCH press work, tool and die making, model and special machine work wanted. Completely equipped with new machinery of the latest type Prompt delivery, reasonable prices guaranteed Quality Hardware & Mz achine Co., 6154-56 N. Clark St., Chicago. Dept. C. INVENTOR and Manufacturer: Let us be your machine shop. We make models, build special machinery tools, dies and manufacturing. We have a modern daylight factory with precision machin- ery. Send blue prints or ske tches for estimate. Victor Engineering & Mfg. Co., 2524 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IIL. I SELL PATENTS. Established in 1900. To buy or sell write Charles A. Scott 773SA Garson Avenue, Rochester, New York. LET us be your factory! Write today. Logan Machine Company, 222 South Clinton Street, Chicago, Illinois. PATENTS. If you have an invention. which you wish to patent you can write fully and freely to Munn & Co. for advice in_regard to the best way of obtaining protection. Please send sketches or a model of your invention and a description of the device, explaining its operation. cations are strictly confidential. Our vast practice, extending over a period of seventy years, enables us in many cases to advise in re gard to patent- ability without expense to the client. Our Hand- Book on Patents is sent free on request. This ex- plains our methods, terms, etc., in regard to Patents, Trade Marks, Foreign Patents, etc. ‘Scientific American” contains Patent Office Notes. Decisions of interest to inventoszs, and particulars of recently patented inventions. Munn & Co., Solicitors of Patents, 626 Woolworth Bldg., New York ; Scientific American _Bldg., Washington, D.C.; 801 Tower _Bldg., Chicago, Ill.; Hanna Bidg., Cleveland; Hobart Bldg., 582 Market St., San Francisco, Calif. FOR SALE GUN FLASHLIGHTS complete with battery and bulb, $1.50 each or three for $4.00. Money re- funded if not satisfactory. Simon ‘Supply Com- pany, 207 North Seventh Street, St. Louis, Mo. NON-LOSEABLE Cuffbutton Patent, only $5,000. Extraordinary opportunity to make money in manufacturing business. Get Patent Copy No. 1398954 Patent Office and make offer. R. E. B. Allen, Thomasville, Ala. All communi- | FOR SALE buy a Bicycle Motor Attachment until you get our catalogue and prices. Shaw Mfg. Co. Dept. SA, Galesburg, Kans. DON’T | CARPENTER’S bench device—outright or on roysity basis. An attachment to help jaws of vice hold various sizes of lumber with a firm grip. Elim- inates present method of packing. Can be attached with eight screws. Frank Lanzetta, 90 First Place, Brooklyn, New York. HELP WANTED ‘REL IABL E HEL P WANTED ‘to learn “Tan- gography Art Painting,” and establish branch at your home. Genuine offer ; opportunity for perman- ent business. No experience necessary, learn quickly. Free booklet, act one. Tangley Company, 166 Main, Muscatine, Iowa INSTRUCTION | ~ DOUBL E Entry Bookkeeping § senstered in 60 ; guaranteed ; diplomas. Beginner bookkeepers, attention! Trial balances and Finan- cial statements learned in one hour. International Bookkeeping Institute, Dept. 25, Springfield, Mo. LANGUAGES WORLD- ROMIC SYSTEM, MASTERKEY to All hours with 8 keys Languages. Six Textbooks, $1.73. French Chart, 87c;: Spanish, 37¢ ; Speech- Organs, 87c. Pronunci- ation-Tables, 79 languages, 30c each. Languages Publishing Company, 8 West 40th St., New York. LETTER SPECIALIST The better the letter—the greater the returns. I can improve any letter, folder, or sales literature that you send me. You be the judge. To get maximum results submit your campaign for im- —s 9? Wilson, 247 William St., East } Orange MACHINERY AND TOOLS CONCRETE Building Block Machines and Molds. Adjustable Steel Molds for Concrete Burial Vaults. Catalogue free. Concrete Working Machinery Co., 303 South Third St., St. Louis, Mo. MAIL OR DER METHODS» "LE ARN how I made "$25, 000. Mail Order Busi- free 25e. Started with $3. ness Booklet, plan, Alsctfe Seott, Cohoes, N. Y. MANUFACTURERS PATENT Rights for sale on lamp globe pro- tector. Adaptable to oil or gas lamp chimneys. Article easily manufactured and possesses un- limited market Household necessity capable of large returns. Henry C. Groh, 220 Scherman Avenue, Newark, New Jersey. MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS VIOLINS.— Des, Mellow, credit terms. High-grade, wonderful instruments of my own make. Development of many years’ expertness. Write for book. Gustav W. Henning, 2424 Gaylord Street, Denver, Colo. OFFICE SUPPLIES Soulful—on_ easy YOU notice, Quality samples. Wells St., can make 50 to 100 copies of a letter, ete., on three cents worth of Heyer compound. Write for free catalog and The Heyer Duplicator Co., 158 No. Chicago. PERSONAL EXCHANGE cheery letters with new friends! Lots of fun! Send stamped envelope for informa- tion of our exchange plan. Betty Lee, 28 East Bay Street. Suite 19. Jacksonville. Florida. BROTHER :—Pleasant Florida root easily, inex- pensively overcomes any tobacco habit. Not a medicine. Just send address. Joseph Stokes, Mohawk, Florida. TO PIPE SMOKERS I WANT to send Free to every shueute pipe smoker in the country a good, big, generous sample package of my pure, sun-cured, nature- flavored Old Green River Pipe Tobacco. No money to pay. If you are a tobacco crank, all the better. Try the pure stuff. No syrup, flavoring or dope. After you try it free, I'll ow you how to cut your smoke bill one-half ond get more pipe joy. Just send name and address, and say whether you want mild, medium or strong. Pete Moberly, Box 897, Owensboro, Ky. POSTAGE STAMPS “4 FREE! Sectional Loose Leaf Postage Stamp Album at the rate of 8 pages each month given with subscription to our monthly Journal. Send two-cent stamp for prospectus. United Stamp Co., 140 S. Dearborn St., Chicago, IIl., Dept. S. FIUME TRIANGLE STAMP free with appli- cation for my one, two, and five cent approvals. H. E. Codwise, Melrose Highlands, Mass. PRINTING REDUCED prices for better printing. 1,000 Bond letterheads, $4.75: 1,000 good envelopes, 54-38 3 1.000 four-page folders, 34%4x6™%, $12.00. Catalogues, circulars, booklets our specialty. All printing at reduced prices. Samples free. Fantus, 525 S. Dearborn St., Chicago. — eee LETTERHEADS designed for you by Type Artists and executed in the better grade of Craft- manship will reflect the standing of your house and gain your message more favorable attention. For such work write Letterhead Press, 1451 Broad- way, New York City. N otes and Queries The Notes ‘ana Queries column is maintained for the benefit of our readers who desire :njor. mation on subjects germane to the scope w/ the paper, together with technical formulas and sim. Matters requiring profoun?’ re. ilar information, search or searches in a library cannot be wider. taken. In connection with Notes and Queries proper, we maintain a “Service Bureau,” which is able, in nearly all cases, to supply address:s of manufacturers whose articles have sufficient noy. elty and merit to be illustrated in the news pages of this periodical. Correspondents are requcsted to write their inquiries in all cases, making the subject of the letter entirely separate from the correspondence relating to patents, subscription, books, ete. This will greatly facilitate the swering of these questions, which in many cases have to be referred to experts. The full name and address should always be given. Our full “Hints will be gladly mailed on re. an- to Correspondents” quest. All letters are answered by mail and only a@ very few of them can be printed in the limited space at our disposal. (14403) P. C. writes: In a recent issue of the ScIENTIFIC AMERICAN a short paragraph appeared stating that during the next ten years astronomers would have only a few minutes while the sun was eclipsed in which to confirm the proof of Einstein's theory of the deflection of light waves by the attraction of gravitation. Instead of delaying for so long a time the decision of this matter by observations which might pos- sibly be explained by refraction of the stellar rays in passing through the solar atmosphere, why not measure the deflection of light on the earth where errors caused by atmospheric refraction can be avoided? There can surely be no property possessed by the attraction of the sun which would not be displayed in a proportionate degree by the force of gravi- tation on the earth’s surface. Dr. Einstein states that he has proved theoretically that the rays of light from a star are deflected 1.7 seconds of are while passing through the gravitational field of the sun. The sun’s apparent diameter being about 32 minutes, it would therefore appear that the light is bent about 1/1129th part of the solar diameter, or that its total de- parture from a straight line is about 765 miles. An accurate calculation of the defle« tion of the rays per mile when the curve approaches most nearly to the surface of the sun would be of some difficulty, not only on account of the attraction continually increas- ing and decreasing as the beam drew near or departed from the sun, but also because the angle in which the gravitational pull acts on the ray is constantly changing from a right angle as it passes to practically nothing at extreme distances. An exact calculation, however, is entirely unnecessary for the pur pose of my argument, and roughly I compute that if the above statement is correct the beam of light would be deflected when near- est to the sun at the rate of about three feet per mile. The attraction of gravitation on the surface of the sun is about 27.9 times the same foree on the surface of the earth, so that a beam of light on the earth's surface should be pulled downward by grav itation somewhat more than one inch in a mile. So great a departure from a straight line is, of course, not possible, because pre- cise levels, for instance, could not be run if the line of sight was so much deflected. My point, however, is that if the sun’s attraction can cause the light from a star to bend, as asserted by Dr. Einstein, the earth’s attrac- tion would cause a beam of light to fall about 1/28th as much; and even if my cal- culation should be a hundred times too large, which I think is hardly possible, yet the deviation could be easily measured, and this would be simpler and more expeditious than to wait for solar eclipses extending over a period of ten years. A. P. C. has overlooked the more important of the two determining factors in this problem. The diameter of the sun is 866,000 miles, and we may con veniently define the sun’s gravitational field, for the present purpose, as extending over this distance in the case of a light-ray that passes tangent to the disk. The correspond ing distance for the earth is but 8000 miles. In both cases the gravitational field is at work during the entire time of passage of the ray. The time of passage for the earth's field, however, is but 8/866 that for the sun’s field, since the speed of light is the ame in both cases. The distance “fallen.” by a ray of light, as by a more materi:l object, varies as the square of the time Scienti yea Postag Foreig Canadi Remit BUL plete u assemh tector tive five $1 Compa BUI prints diagra half th 159. i2nd & TEL thorou wireles expens Dodge’ GAI paid f Place, “RA fusely all tyr adapta tions author! Gives hook-w! postpa New Y HAI brings sonalit: Heywo HOV Needle J. L. I AME come earn $ pare q to posi 299 Wi INF CHIN] yarn 1 We wi Addres TI A Pra particula education and to th ments of : Ss Woolw

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1929 Juty, 1922 during which the gravitational influence acts. The distance fallen by the ray of light that passes completely by the earth, then, if the earth’s field were as intense as the sun’s, would be (8/886)?, or about 1/11500 of the | corresponding distance in the case of the sun. As P. C. points out, however, the fields are not identical; that of the earth is but 1/28 that of the sun. This ratio must then | be compounded with the other, since gravita- | tional action is directly proportional to the | field intensity; and we finally see that the ray passing completely by the earth will fall jonly 1/11500X1/28, or about 1/320000 as | far as the ray passing the sun. As P. C. points out, in both cases we have made an |error in failing to take account of the | diminution of the foree with increasing dis- tance and decreasing angle. It will easily be seen that the force at a distance along the tangent equal to the radius will be approxi- mately 1/3 that at the point of tangency, the distance now being r\2 in place of r, and the angle being 45° instead of 90°. When we compare the ray passing completely past the sun and the one passing completely past the earth the errors balance off to all intents and purposes and leave the ratio of the two forces the same. If we take the mean value of 2/3 as applicable throughout the distance traveled by the ray we shall be able to compare with the ray that travels a mere mile or two parallel with the earth’s surface. Accepting P. C.’s calculation of. 765 miles fall for the ray that passes the sun, the ray that passes the earth will fall 765/320000 miles, or about 13 feet. For comparison with the earthbound ray we re- LEGAL NOTICES ONAN Nn PATENTS Trade-marks Copyrights Designs 76 Years’ Practice Before the Patent Office If you have an invention which you con- template patenting, or a trade-mark which you desire to have registered, we shall be pleased to have you consult us. We have thor- uughly experienced attorneys in our New York, Washington, Cleveland, Chicago and = San Francisco offices, with long experience in preparing and prosecuting both patent ind trade-mark applications. qu We nn ANN Wnt NTT Prompt, Conscientious and Efficient Service The SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN contains Patent Office Notes, Decisions and other matter of interest to inventors—and particu lars of recently patented inventions. We shall be pleased to send, without charge, yur Handbooks on United States and Foreign Patents, Trade-marks and Copyrights. MUNN & COMPANY PATENT ATTORNEYS Woolworth Building, Scientific American Building, Hinnnn NEW YORK WASHINGTON, D.C. Hanna Building, CLEVELAND, OHIO | c Tower Building, CHICAGO, ILL. duce this by one-third, and it becomes about Hobart Building, SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 100 inches. The ray that travels, say, two miles takes 2/8000 as long to do so as the ial ; “| ray that passes the earth completely; the square of this ratio is 1/16000000. The distance fallen in two miles will then be something like 100/16000000 inch, or 1/160- Annual Subscription Rate Scientific American (established 1845) one 000 inch. We can hardly hope to measure FOR ee ccc ccccccvccessscccccccccessssccece $4 ° . aa ce . this deflection. Postage prepaid in United States and posses- | sions, Mexico, Cuba and Panama ~ a : 5 ’ Foreign Postage........- $1.00 per year additional (14404) O. M. 8. writes: Your — Canadian Postage........ $0.50 per year additional | tO _the question asked you September 22, _| “Will a ball of iron and a ball of cork, when Remit by postal or express money order, bank let fall from the same height, fall to the draft or check. = aa - e ground at the same time?” does not coincide with the author of the Encyclopedia Britan- - nica, ninth edition, Vol. XI, page 66, which | BUILD RADIO SETS. puty, 3% pts. maintains that two bodies when let fall at assembly drawings, Audion Detector, Crystal De-| the same time from the same height will fall tive Receiver, 2 ales Be conte a to the ground at the same time, except a ve $1.00. No stamps accepted. Hatfield Airfone | feather, a balloon or a live bird. If the Company, Dept. F, ScreNTIFIC AMERICAN is correct the encyclo- BUILD YOUR OWN Radiophone with blue-| pedia is wrong and only good for the dumps. nts which show full constructional data, wiring| I would have good reason to doubt any one Superior apparatus at. less than| of the authors. A. We are not able to find Owego, N. Y. gram, etc. half the cost of finished products. Ask for Bulletin ‘ . gh 159. Experimenters Information Service, 220 West | your reference to the Encyclopedia Britan- 2nd St., New Yor nica since we have not the ninth edition. : | The eleventh edition of that valuable work was published in America in 1910, the ninth preceded it by quite a time and is now quite | past. Nor was the statement as you quote lit eorrect when the ninth edition was pub- TEL EG RAP HY “both Morse and Wireless taught thoroughly. Big salaries. Tremendous demand for wireless operators. Oldest and largest school. expenses low—can earn large part. Catalog free. Dodge’s Institute, Vail St., Valparaiso, Indiana. GALENA CRYSTALS. One half donen peat paid for one dollar. Am. Tech. Labs. 31 P. O.| lished. It is only in a vacuum that all Place, Salt Lake City, Utah. | bodies, light and heavy, fall with equal - ADIO FOR EVERYBODY”—352 pages pro- | Velocities, and hence through the same space usely illustrated with an accurate description of | in the same time. In a vacuum a feather al types of receiving sets and wiring diagrams » ont - os valamtwe an 1 adaptable to your particular location, with instruc- falls with the same velocity as a bullet, as tions of how to make them. Written by an|is shown in a well-known experiment. In authority on radio in plain understandable English. the air they do not fall equally to the Gives the rudiments of radio for beginners an 2 . hook-ups for the advanced. Bound in cloth $1.60| ground, as everyone knows. In the eleventh Was Was mA C, Box 773 City Hall Station, | edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. colon |II, page 411la, is the statement, “Galileo SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION | taught that gravity and levity are relative : that in a vacuum all bodies —— | terms—and HAPPY? If not, why not? New way plan oa brings realizations. Valuable pointers and per-| would fall with equal velocities.” If any Send birthdate. Thomson-| hook contains any different statement from sonality revealed for 10c. Heywood Co., Chronicle Bldg., San Francisco, Calif. this we are not able to accept it, even if we “Dumps.” There are _HOW, when and where to find the Magnetic | are consigned to the Needle Dip. Booklet Magnetic Pole. Price $1.00. many things besides the three you name J. L. Reese, H let« Pa. . P P oe on which do not fall rapidly through the air, WANTED }such as snowflakes, a sheet of paper and | Oi —— | falling leaves, and you can supply m AMBITIOUS MEN: $40.00, $150.00 weekly. Be- g y — come advertising writers. Students frequently more. earn $20.00, $40.00 weekly while learning. Pre- ~ ogy Bg (14405) T. F. H. asks: I understand pare quickly at home spare time. We it to be a fact that all whirlwinds, tornadoes, to position. Write Applied Arts Institute 99 Witherspoon Bldg., Philadelphia. aaa’ Ae TG EEPAMATR WAL cyclones, typhoons (movements of air). and NI Ms AS ShrAn Nu MA- ‘ 4 widioee shi 2 aale CHINERY. We have a large tonnage of waste | that all eddie s, whirlpools, maelstroms, yarn made of brass wire twisted with asbestos.| water leaving a washbowl, or bathtub We wish to separate the wire from the asbestos. sments rate aS ificis Address Box 140, care Scientific American. (moveme a of water), unless artificially interfered with, revolve contra-clockwise. Is this true? If se, what causes this re- The Cinema Handbook By A. C. LESCARBOURA 517 pages. 22h illustrations. Many tables A Practical Guide to motion picture of the non-theatrical order, particul — as applied to the reporting of news, to industrial and educational purposes, to advertising, selling and general publicity and to the production of photo-plays by amateurs and to entertain- ments ofall kinds. Full detafls of projection as well as film making. Price $3.00. By mail insured $3.10 Scientific American Publishing Co. Woolworth Building New York volving always in that direction? A. The rotary motions which you describe are caused by the earth’s rotation on its axis. They are | wise in the southern hemispheres. For the discussion of this subject we would refer you to Davis’ Elementary Meteorology, page 101, ete. The full treatment, however, is mathematical. SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN 67 ‘MADERA” Clearspeaking Horn and Cabinet Made of Die-Cast Wood A Delight to Both Eye and Ear Brings out the soft, distinctive | semi-tones of the human voice and lends to music a rich, full tone quality impossible with metal horns. It absorbs and destroys all jangling sounds and makes clearly audible mes- sages that are otherwise unin- telligible. Horn is separate from, and sets loosely in, the Cabinet. Is equipped with attachment for holding any type of Phone Receiver. Wire connections enter back of cabinet out of sight. Cabinet are die-cast from wood fibre under great pressure; accom- panied by an electric baking process. very dense wood, possessing remarkable acoustic properties. So thin are these walls that the entire Cabinet and Horn weighs only 5 lbs.; yet so strong it will bear a man’s weight. Height over all, 20 in. eter. Price, Send for an outfit. Circular for the asking AMERICAN ART MACHE CO., 6317 No. Clark St., Chicago Horn 10 in. in diam- boxed—ready for shipment It will add a new and unexpected joy to your Radio parties. Send cash with order. Money will be refunded on return of outfit if found unsatisfactory. Both Horn and This forms thin walls of a $25.00 counter-clockwise in the northern, and cloek- NACO Radio Receiving Sets $20.00 If you wish to hear the human voice clearly and distinctly get a NACO SET. The wonderful sat- isfaction obtained surely is pleas- ing. A sick person, lying in bed, can listen to the music and be happy, making the hours fly by. Send your order at once with check. DEALERS WANTED EVERYWHERE Knock down sets, radio parts and phones at reasonable prices “Our motto is to please always” Na sitnaal Motor Accessories Corporation 47 Vesey Street New York City Ge AUTOGLAS Git mar ninad) PATENTED MAY 2, 1911 Is an Eye protector for Out-of-Doors people. Made so that it gives full protection from wind, dust and flying particles without caus- ing the slightest discomfort or detracting from the appearance of the wearer. Motorists, Golfers, Hunters, Trap-shooters, Tourists and Fishermen find it adds ma- terially to the pleasures of their outings. Obtainable from Opticians, Motor Supply and Sporting Goods Establishments. We will gladly furnish the address of your nearest Autoglas Dealer. F. A. HARDY & COMPANY Dept. D Box 804, CHICAGO, ILL. Stalking and Spotting Telescopes Ottway’s Silver Baby Spotter For full particulars and specification of these Telescopes apply to the Production Equipment Co. 91 John Street, New York

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SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN JULY, 1922 The Radio Store 100° Radio will move July Ist to a new and larger store at 562 East Colorado Street Pasadena, Calif. Now the largest Radio Store West of Chicago PAUL FRANKLIN JOHNSON Elmco Senior Tuner Elmco Junior Tuner (For Crystal Detector and Vacuum Tubes) ELMCO DETECTOR AND TWO STAGE AMPLIFIER ELMCO TWO STAGE AMPLIFIER BELL ROTARY QUENCHED SPARK GAP Write for catalog “‘S”’ THE ELECTRIC MACHINE CORP. INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA | mot gratifying to be Always Ready for Kadiophone | IMMEDIATE DELIVERIES —POST PAID Antenna Wire—7 Strand Tinned 150 Feet, $1.60 TOWER MANUFACTURING COMPANY |10c. Charges RADIO & AUTO Batteries | FROM A LAM? SOUKET, At Home With an F.F BATTERY BOOSTER, | which iso Fail Ware Snqnetto Rectifier for 105-125 Volt 60 Cycle A. C. | @ Your Station will never be clo whenFriendsCa!!’ "-F Battery he omaticC! 7 Rectifying Brushes maintain U ni: Service, at Cons’ = tant | ng 2 while Full Far ee ares Socket: Reap CLIPS Serew Piug in on Battery Terminals & ris Required. | No Skill is ired. i AMET i ER climinates, All Guess Work. They Las’ ‘etime. : s. or Order. us to forward Type You D.D. Order Now or Write CHARGES RADIO & AUTO Immediately for FREE ROOSTER ‘Bulletin ( & for greue, C Charging | 12 Battery, 8 Ampere Full Wave Automatic ROTARY Bulletin 22 B. THE FRANCE MFG.CO., CLEVELAND, OHIO, U.S.A. Canadian Rep.: Battery Service & Sales Co., Hamilton, Ontario, Canada RADIO IN YOUR HOME COMPLETE WIRELESS TELEPHONE RECEIVING SETS_ ff} | federal Jr. PRICE eS EMPIRE RADIO CORP. 271 West 125th St., N. Y. Citv Music and News RADIO Farmers, Merchants, Amateurs and Sports- men, write for Free Literature ‘“‘THE BEST IN RADIO” WHOLESALE — RETAIL VIRGINIA RADIO COMPANY Charlottesville, Virginia $25.00 |f| Oakland, Cal. _ THE MAGNAVOX CO. 370 Seventh Ave., quip your receiving set with the Magnavox Radio —the only reproducer con- structed on electro-dynamic principle. Write for booklet and name of nearest dealer N.Y. MA Radio bring s it GNAVOX tell Audibility Unsurpassed — Money Back if Dissatistied 1 STATION ST., BROOKLINE, MASS. WIZARD World’s Best “B” Batteries, at Lowest Prices EVERY BATTERY GUARANTEED No. 1623—P lain, 1623— Variable, 1625—P lain, 1625— Variable, 1626—P lain, 1626—Variable, 1630— Variable, 1632—Variable, Size 2x3} x2) 2x3ix2} 4x6,x3 4x6'x8 8x6'x3 8x6'x38 3x6 x2} 5x6 x2} Weight Ib. Ib. Ib. Ib. Ib. Ib. } Ib. i Ib. — coovurTe wr Volts 224 22} 224 224 45 45 27 45 Get them at your dealer or write direct. WIZARD BATTERY CoO. 173 Lafayette Street New York City S [nl NAVY TYPE Immediate W Delivery WE have the hard-to-get Head Sets. Full, clear tone—sensitive to even very weak signals Comfortable Phones matched for tone quality 3000 ohms $8, 2000 ohms $7 immediately, on receipt of Shipped postpaid, ) Your money back if money order or check. not perfectly satished. TUEX SUPPLY CO., 1429 State St., Bridgeport, Conn. “Radio for Everybody” A. C. Lescarboura, Managing Editor SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN Now available for immediate delivery. Published by Scientific American, written by the Managing Editor, with pages and 176 working diagrams and illustrations. A complete guide on Radio— in plain language for everyone. Accurate, authori- tative and easily understood. Price $1.50, by mail $1.60 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN Munn & Co. 233 Broadway New York City Jobbers and Dealers VARIOCOUPLERS ROTORS STATORS WINDING FORMS IN GENUINE MAHOGANY Quick Deliveries Write for Prices ARTISTIC WOOD TURNING WORKS 523 North Halsted Street, Chicago, Ill. Kennedy Radio Receivers Are recognized everywhere as the very finest made Bulletins sent on request The COLIN B. KENNEDY co. hs Francisco (Incorporated Rialto Building “B” Storage Batteries for Radio $4.00 One glass jar 44 x 44 x 5% inches, 2% volts— taps as desired. No corrosion, no evaporation, no separators. Something new, patents pending. Write for illustrations. Charge this battery for a few minutes every week and it will outlast your set. Charging Rectifier Complete, $2.50 A. RITTER, Lansdowne, Pa. || Radio Inventions WE. shall be pleased to have you consult us with regard to patent- ing any new radio equipment which you may develop. Two members of our staff of attorneys, formerly with the Western Electric Company, specialize in patents relating to the radio art. Office consultation particularly invited. MUNN & COMPANY PATENT ATTORNEYS Woolworth Building . Hanna Building .. Tower Building Hobart Building . NewYorkCity ° Cleveland, Ohio . Chicago, Ill. Scientific Aenean Bidg.. rg veshingvon, D.C. Francirco, Calif. | | | | LIMITED COMMERCIAL (BROADCASTING) STATIONS So numerous have been the inquiries received with regard to a list of radio-phone br ting stations that we decided to publish a complete li.+ of such stations, up to and including April 10t), which appeared in our June issue. As new ata- tions are opened up for radio-phone broadcastin 7 service, we shall vor to make mention of them in our future issues, thus keeping this list up to date. The present additi stations are From April 11th to May 17th.—Tue Epiror. Call Station | WBAY Amertenn Teleg. & Telephone Co., New ork. WAAV Athens Radio Co., Athens, O. WSB Atlanta Journal. Atlanta, Ga. KQP Blue Diamond Elec. Co., Hood River, Ore. WBAE Bradley Polytechnic Institute, Peoria, I!! a Bullocks, Los aon Calif. WIZ Cina Radio Mfg. Co., Cincinnati, O. KUS City Dye Works and Laundry Co., L« Angeles, Calif. KUY Coast Radio Co., El Monte, Calif. WBAH Dayton Co., The, Minneapolis, Minn. KZN Desert News, The, Salt Lake City, Utah WBAG Diamond State Fibre Co., Bridgeport, Pa WAAG Elliott Electric Co., Shreveport, La. WBAV Erner & Hopkins Co., Columbus, Ohio. WRP Federal Institute of Radio Telegraphy, Camden, N. KTW First Presbyterian Church, Seattle, Wash. WAAS Georgia Radio Co., Decatur, Ga. WGM Georgia Railway & Power Co. (Atlanta Constitution) Atlanta, Ga. WAAK Gimbel Bros., Milwaukee, Wis. WAAR Groves-Thornton Hardware Co., Hunt- | ington, W. Va. KPO Hale Bros., San Francisco, Calif. | KSC Hale & Co., O. A., San Jose, Calif. | WBAQ Harmon, Myron i South Bend, Ind. | KXD Herald Publishing Co., Modesto, Calif. WAAZ Hollister-Miller Motor Co., Emporia, Kans. KON Holzwasser, Inc., San Diego, Calif. WHX Iowa Radio Corp., Des Moines, Iowa. WOI Iowa State College, Ames, Iowa. WSL J & M Electric Co., Utica, N. Y. KWH Los Sates Examiner, Los Angeles, alif. lw BAW Marietta College, Marietta, Ohio. WBAJ Marshall-Gerken Co., Toledo, Ohio. WBAF Middleton, Fred M., Moorestown, N. J. WBAO Millikin University, James, Decatur, II. KOQ Modesto Evening News, Modesto, Calif. KGB Mullins Elec. Co., Wm. Tacoma, Wash. | WAAQ New England Motor Sales Co., Green- wich, Conn. K&T North _— Products Co., Aberdeen, Jas WAAW Omaha Grain Exchange, Omaha, Nebr. WBAB Potter, Andrew J., Syracuse, N. Y. KZC Public Market & Market Stores Co., Seattle, Wash. WAAX Radio Service Corp., Crafton, Pa. WBAM Rennyson, I. B., New Orleans, La. WBAU Republican Publishing Co., Hamilton, O. WAAE St. Louis Chamber of Commerce, St. Louis, ve KNI Smith, T. WBAX Stenger, — “John H., Wilkes Barre, Pa. | WBAD Sterling Elec. Co. & Journal Printing So., Minneapolis, Minn. KOE Spokane Chronicle, Spokane, Wash. WAAP Taylor, Otto W., Wichita, Kans. KYF Thearle Music Co., San Diego, Calif. WBAZ Times Dispatch Publishing Co., Rich- mond, Va. | WAAB Times-Picayune, New Orleans, La. WAAC Tulane University, New Orleans, La. WAAN University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo, KOJ University of Nevada, Reno, Nev. WWZ Wanamaker, John, New York, N. Y. WBAN Wireless Phone Corp., Paterson, N. J. WBAP Wortham-Carter Publishing Co., Fort Worth, Texas. WAAY Yahrling-Rayner Piano Co., Youngstown, io. WCAZ Compton, Robt. E. & Co., Quincy Whig Journal, Quincy, Ill. | KDYV Cope & Cornwall Co., 1138 Michigan Ave., Salt Lake City, Utah. WCAV Dice Electric Co., J. C., 113 W. Capitol Ave., Little Rock, Ark. WDAD Harrison, William Louis, Central Kansas Radio Supply, 122 E. Lincoln St., Lindsborg, Kans. KDYU Herald Publishing Co., 119 Eighth St., } Klamath Falls, Ore. WDAI Hughes Electrical Corp., 413 So. Clinton | t., Syracuse, N. Y. | WDAC Iilinois Watch Co., 9th & E. Grand Ave., Springfield, Ill. DAF Kansas City Star, 18th & Grand, Kan- | sas City, Mo. WCAY Kesselman O'Driscoll Co., 517 Grand | Ave., Milwaukee, Wis. WDAG Martin J. Lawrence, 605 East 4th St., Amarillo, Texas. WDAH Mine & Smelter Supply Co., 412 San Francisco St., El Paso, Tex. WAAD Ohio Mechanics Institute, Canal & Wal- nut St., Cincinnati, Ohio. WCAW Quincy Herald and Quincy Electric Supply Co., 1033 Maine St., Quincy, Til. KDYW Smith-Hughes & Co., Phoenix, Ariz. WDAB Summer & Son, H. C., 906 Callia St., Portsmouth, Ohio. WHB Sweeney School Co., Kansas City, Mo. WDAE Tampa Daily Times, Sts., Tampa, KDYS Tribune, The, Inc., 113 4th St., Falls, Mont. Sweeney Bldg., Tampa & Lack N. Great | WCAX University of Vermont, Burlington, Vt. WDAA Ward-Belmont School, Belmont Heights, Nashville, Tenn. Supplemental ee ag) Raed 1 to May 12, 1922, KDYL ——— Publishing Co., Salt Lake City, KDYM KDYN KDYO oun Theatre, San Diego, Calif. Great Western Radio Corp., City, Calif. Carlson & Simpson, San Diego, Calif. (Continued on page 72) Redwood JU — if Stat shut oper ence take inte! thom not has of € fere whi law. T not phot of t beau wall viou wha offer with was sults exce prac the ° will some ings R Acer sion is sh keep chee hous insti year with Witl phot in § Alas equi radi comi the « more D woul the ° for peril the 1 ing to f ciret or a degr inter reau now amp! meas will both tube: mucl amp! prac tane leaks phon crys! detec ther not A Fror Gert sion chea cent tion news of n teria pay for i seriy agen are } by « deco part of a

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eived sting é list 10th, | Bta sting s list | are tah Pa oO. »hy ash int- ria, JULY, 1922 Radio A Review and Commentary on Rapid Communication Notes the Progress in This Branch of Interference Between Stations.—Broadcasting stations should | plifying receivers. shut off transmitters when not in actual operation to prevent unnecessary interfer- ence from carrier wave. Care should be taken not to extend schedules resulting in interference with the schedules of other sta- tions. Transmitters must be adjusted so as not to produce unnecessary interference. It has come to the attention of the Department of Commerce that some stations have inter- fered over a band of from 200 to 500 meters, which may be reported as a violation of the law. The Question of Echo.—Bare walls are not the best thing in the world for the radio- phone broadcasting studio. Recently, one of the leading studios moved into a large, beautifully decorated room, with paneled walls and smooth, unbroken ceiling. Pre- vious to that time, the studio held forth in what had been the cloakroom of a factory office, where the bare walls had to be hidden | with draperies and rugs, while the ceiling was broken up by beams. However, the re- sults obtained with the old studio room were excellent, for the reason that there was practically no echo or sound reflection from the walls and ceiling. The new studio room will have to be provided with tapestries or some other form of sound-absorbing hang- ings in order to reduce echo. Radio Installations for Lightships.— According to George R. Putnam, Commis- sioner of Lighthouses, the radio telephone is shortly to make the life of the lighthouse keeper less lonesome and certainly more cheerful. The keepers of the Alaska light- houses at the entrance to Behring Sea, for instance, remain at their posts for three years at a streteh, and some of them remain without mail for ten months at a stretch. With the cooperation of the Navy radio tele- phone equipment has recently been installed in several of the remote lighthouses in Alaska. Some of the lightships are also equipped as radio fog-signal stations. The radio installations are certain to maintain communication between the lightships and the outside world, and make life that much more endurable. Doing Away with the Storage Battery ould aid materially in the development of the vacuum tube receiving set and amplifier or home use. To this end numerous ex- perimenters have endeavored to make use of the usual direct or alternating current light- ng cireuit, with anything from impossible to fair results. The hum of the lighting circuit must be eliminated if at all possible or at least brought down to a reasonable degree in order not to interfere with the intercepted radio-phone programs. The Bu- reau of Standards recently stated that it is now possible to operate a receiving set and amplifier on lighting current, but so far only meagre details are available. “The amplifier will utilize a 60-cycle current supply for both filaments and plates of the vacuum tubes,” states the Bureau, “thus eliminating much of the interference met in an ordinary amplifier circuit. This interference has been practically eliminated by balancing resis- | tances, grid condensers, and special grid leaks of comparatively low resistance, tele- phone transformer in the output circuit, and crystal detector, instead of vacuum tube detector. In the final form of the amplifier there is only a slight residual hum, which is not objectionable.” A German Radio-Phone Opinion.— From long and systematic experiments the German Post Office has come to the conclu- sion that radio telephony is the simplest and cheapest means of distributing news from a central point. The post office administra- tion has entered into an agreement with a news distributing agency for the circulation of market prices of stocks, prices of ma- terial, and so on. Subscribers to the service | pay 4000 marks per annum to the post office | for installation and maintenance and a sub- scription for the news services to- the press agency. Reception of news services which are not subscribed for is partially prevented by changing the figures, which have to be decoded by the subscribers entitled to the particular service. The apparatus consists of a single-wire antenna, loop antenna not Broadcasting | being used since they involve expensive am- | of two horizontal coils. | between will send a localized landing signal for air- planes. A single vacuum tube re- | ceiver is supplied, supplemented where neces- sary by two stages of audio-frequency amplification, while filament and plate cur- rents are taken from the electric lighting circuit through suitable resistances. All ap- paratus is inclosed in sealed cases, inspection windows being provided so that the condition of the tubes may be readily ascertained. Transmitting Aerials.—In the technical | | report of the Wireless Telegraphy Commis- | |} sion of Great Britain, with regard to the | Imperial wireless system connecting Great | | Britain with the British colonies, there is | | an interesting section on transmitting aerials. | | The choice of an aerial for a new type of | transmitter, states this section, lies between | |low aerials of great area and high aerials | | of smaller area. In the case of vacuum tube | | oscillators, where a plant large enough for the task is being made with difficulty, the high aerial of relatively small area is prefer- able. The preference is independently sup- ported by a deeper study of the better wave- making properties of high as compared with low aerials. From the nature of the vacuum tube oscillator, it can be shown that a sym- | metrical aerial is more suitable than an | unsymmetrical one, whether a low or a high aerial is concerned. The masts or towers used for supporting the aerial constitute the | most costly item of a wireless station, and | SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN unless properly designed they affect and eause great loss of oscillatory energy gen- erated. The ideal mast would be built of insulating material; wooden structures are an approximation to the ideal, but are un- suitable for the tropics. Steel structures are conductors, and cause considerable elec- trical loss. A great deal of this loss can be avoided by making the mast or tower in sec- tions with insulating portions and standing | the mast on an insulating base. There are | HOMCHARGE YOUR BATTERY No muss, trouble, dirt—no moving of batteries— loss of time—no effort on ok gatas technical or professional knowledge n . THE HOMCHARGER successfully meets all charging conditions, and is the only rectifier combining the following essential Homcharging features: 1. Self polarizing. Connect battery either way and it will always charge. charging. ruined battery or burnt out Rectifier. 2. 0 delicate bulbs to break or burn out. Only one moving and two wearing parts. These are —— as a unit, after thousands of hours use, at small cost. Cannot be injured by rough andling. 3. ation stops and consumption of current ceases immediately upon disco i ° 4. The only pmo aoe costing less than $100.00 that will fully charge a hateary a ae battery a taper charge—exactly as recommended by battery manufacturers, Guaranteed not to harm your battery even though left connected indefinitely. 5. Highest efficiency of any three or six cell charger made. 6. No danger of fire. Approved by the Underwriters. Attention, Motorists No danger of reverse Will charge your auto battery as well as radio battery. Send for Bulletin No. 58 for further information. | ee by all radio, electrical and accessory dealers or shipped express prepaid for purchase price, 18.50. $20 West of the Rockies. , é x The Automatic Electrical Devices Co. 131 West Third St., Cincinnati, Ohio j Branch Offices: New York, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Los Ange'es, New Orleans, Detroit, Toronto, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Dallas go - A a — ——_ ! Largest Manufacturers of Rectifiers in the World some mechanical difficulties in this mode of construction, but they do not greatly affect the capital cost, and may be regarded as subsidiary detail. The above remarks apply alike to self-supporting towers and to masts supported by guys, the guys also being seg- mented by insulators in the latter case. The cost of masts is much less than of towers. Localized Radio Landing Signals for Airplanes.—Radio direction finders and other radio devices have been in use for some time to assist airplanes to land during the night, during fog, or at other times of poor visibility. The usual method of using radio for this purpose is to transmit from an or- dinary elevated antenna at the landing field, radio signals which are received on a direc- tion finder located on the airplane. On small planes the direction finder may be simply a coil of wire wound on the fuselage; in large planes a small rotatable coil may be mounted vertically aft in the plane. This method gives the direction of the landing field, but does not give accurate information as to its distance when the plane is near the landing field. Now the Bureau of Standards If It’s On Radio The Scientific American’s Book Has It “RADIO FOR EVERYBODY” By A. C. LESCARBOURA, Managing Editor, Scientific American from technical difficulties. It is an ideal handbook on Radio for daily use, written by the Editor of Scientific American; accurate The Scientific American’s Book on Radio is the most complete book on the subject ever pub- lished—-328 pages, 176 illustra- tions—bound in serviceable cloth and authentic as the magazine —given in plain language, free itself. Price $1.50, by mail $1.60. Scientific books published by Scientific American; The Scientific American Encyclopedia of Formulas, Einstein’s Theories of Relativity, Behind the Motion Picture Screen, The Cinema Hand Book, Fingerprint Instructor, Scientific American Boy Series, etc. « SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN PUBLISHING COMPANY MUNN & CO. 233 BROADWAY NEW YORK CITY has published a paper giving the theory of | the radiation from an antenna consisting | It is found that if a vertical coil antenna is used for reception on the airplane and if the airplane flies horizontally, the maximum signal is received when the line joining the airplane to the transmitting coils makes an angle of 30 de- grees with the vertical, assuming that the effect of the earth is negligible. The region of space within which the signal can be de- tected by receiving instruments of given sen- sibility has nearly the form of the space two inverted coaxial vertical cir- cular cones of finite length, having their common apex at the transmitting station. | The upper limit of the region within which | the signal is audible depends on the oomal-| tivity of the receiving apparatus and is not | as clearly defined as the bounding conical surfaces. The signal vanishes when the air- | plane is directly over the transmitting sta- | tion, and vanishes rather soon after the air- | plane passes over the region of maximum | signal and flies away from the transmitting station. By the proper application of these results it is believed that special transmit- | ters can be built for landing stations which | 2Canadian— DYw PVUuUises New York-Halifax~Quebec The Palatial Twin-Screw Ss. 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SCIENTIFIC Investigating Unknown Forces (Continued from page 30) magnetic phenomena are distinctly different from the “vital” magnetism on which mag- netopathie treatment is said to be based, there is a striking connection between the two, for each time the subject has imparted such a treatment (with its obvious loss of vital energy), his ferro-magnetism is reduced in intensity. Remarkable results have also been obtained in connection with balance tests. In one ease there were recorded negative and posi- tive changes in the weight of the person (medium) experimented on—reductions up to 25 kilograms and increases up to 10 kilo- grams, the normal weight being 60 kilograms. In addition to Grunewald and the medium, these s€ances were attended by a third per- likewise endowed with “clairvoyant” faculties. gentleman mediumistiec and Whenever the medium was undergoing any change in weight, this gentleman (without knowing anything thereof) would invariably state the appearance of some phantom-like materialization Levitations of the medium balance were said to be produced simply by the phantom seizing the medium by his arms and lifting him. Whenever, on the other hand, the weight of the medium underwent mn inerease, the “elairvoyant” gentleman would announce that the medium was being pressed down or that the phantom-like for mation was mounting on the balance. While these assertions, being merely subjective, must be taken at their face-value, the fact that they not only account in a _ plausible manner for those changes in weight objee tively recorded, but with absolute accuracy coincide with balance records, is, to say the least, highly remarkable. In one case the ‘medium”™” was placed on one of the balances and the “clairvoyant” gentleman on the other (generally used as “phantom” balance). A striking between the deflections if the two balances was then noted, the two connection deflections always being equal (though of opposite directions) and oceurring at the same moment. Flashlight photographs in cases such as these supplement visual obser- and weighing records. vation A remarkable series of tests has just been econeluded at Copenhagen. Though the ex periments of Schrenck-Notzing, Geley and others, to say nothing of earlier experi- menters, by the evidence not only of the senses, but of photographie plate, already afforded practically absolute proof of the reality of materialization phenomena, some super-seeptical erities still would find fault with the conditions under which these ex- periments had been made. Grunewald, there- fore, in connection with his recent work on Ejner Nielsen, further sharpened the condi- | tions of control by not only submitting the medium before each s¢ance to a_ thorough medical examination, but sewing the man | (perfectly stripped beforehand) into tights and inelosing him in a eage with muslin walls through which the phenomena of ma- terialization could be watched. In spite of such rigorous conditions positive results were obtained, of which a detailed account is shortly to be published in the continental press. The Statistics of Climate (Continued from page 21) dispose of in a given time. Their capacity should not exceed this amount beyond a reasonable margin of safety; otherwise cost of construction would be unnecessarily great. This list of examples might be extended almost indefinitely. It will suffice, however, to show how wide a range of climatic in- formation is required to meet all possible demands. The different branches of science, art and industry are concerned with dif- ferent sets of climatic data. One set helps determine the best location for a railroad; another the kind of that will be shipped over it and the way in which they will need to be packed and cared for during shipment. The climatic conditions that must be considered in planning a military cam- paign are quite unlike those that engage the attention of a hydrological engineer in lay- ing out a system of irrigation. Climatic statistics of interest to aviators are not iden- tical with those that bear upon ‘the prob- lems of ecology or forestry or sanitation. In short, climate very different things to different people. Even if all parts of the amply provided with meteorological stations at which observations had been maintained for many years, it would be a colossal task to prepare climatic statistics for the globe comparable in fullness to the : gooUs means earth’s surface were

AMERICA existing statistics of population, natural re- sources, agriculture, commerce, and various other things. The magnitude of the task is not, however, the only reason why it has been so imperfectly carried out. In spite of the efforts of certain international confer- ences, there is a conspicuous lack of uni- formity in the methods of climatographers as practiced in different parts of the world. Important data easily obtainable for one re- gion are wholly lacking for others. For in- stance, one would seek in vain to gather sta- tistics of snowfall for all the important cities of the temperate zones. Diversity in the use of technical terms leads to constant misun- derstandings on the part of those who con- sult climatic tables for the different coun- tries. Thanks to these discrepancies, added to differences in conventional methods of tabulation, a multiplicity of languages, and a variety of units, it is probably no exag- geration to say that there are not a dozen persons in the United States who are well qualified for the supposedly simple task of extracting from the published data the statis- of climate that are daily needed for one purpose or another. Lastly, the literature of climatography is very poorly represented in the average scien- tifie or general library, and is therefore at the disposal of but few inquirers. In this coun- try the only approximately complete collee- tion of such literature is that in the Weather Bureau Library, at Washington. As to handy digests of the more important climatie statistics for the world at large, the one and only work of this character is Hann’s “Handbuch der Klimatologie,” no complete translation of which has ever been made into English or any other language. <A sized encyclopedia of climate is one of the greatest outstanding needs in scientific liter- ties good- ature. The Business of Broadcasting (Continued from page 9) enclosed in a sealed ease, be used at the receiving end. Then, at the expiration of the sub- scription term, the wave-changing mechan- ism would have to be returned to the subscription office and a new sealed case pro- cured upon the payment for the new sub- scription term. The only technical difficulty in the way of this scheme is that of absolute synchroniza- mechanism, which could tion. It stands to reason that unless the wave-changing devices at the transmitting and the receiving end are in perfect step, queer results will be obtained. Again, there are many ingenious persons who could possibly construct a wave-changing device and obtain but this would call for such a degree of in- genuity that only a small proportion of the the service without subscribing, | radio-phone audience would be able to “get in free,” so to speak. In telephony various so-called voice dis- torting systems have been worked out. In- deed, in connection with the radio link—a | radio-phone span introduced in a_ regular wire telephone system—some form of voice distorting device is almost certain to be used in the near future in order to insure privacy. The same idea might be applied to paid broadeasting, although the mechanism is apt to be considerably more complicated than would be permissible for such an applica- tion. For the time being, various radio men whom the writer has interrogated along these general lines are of the opinion that the simplest method is to form a radio asso- ciation and issue licenses and certain dis- tinetive labels or seals to its members. It is estimated that each member would have to set aside only a very small per cent of his annual turnover as a contribution to a broadeasting fund. Then, by a _ cleverly handled publicity campaign, the public could be impressed with the fact that all apparatus bearing the seal of the association had con- tributed its quota towards the broadcasting expenses. Of course, such a plan would not prevent anyone from listening in with any apparatus whatsoever, but the American sense of fair play would certainly compel a buyer to purchase licensed equipment in pre- ference to unlicensed equipment, if price and quality were the same. Then again, it has been suggested that the Government could tax all radio receiving sets a very small annual fee, and use the moneys received from this source for the operation | of high-grade broadeasting stations, which could well afford to pay for the leading musi- cians and lecturers of the Nation and of the world. However, whether this comes within the province of the Government or not is a much mooted question. Another suggestion is that certain philanthropical gentlemen | JULY, 1922

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JUL mig! from easti wi ser At out hea‘ espec for t ing ph incre rec i fe: u broad pel St unde! mente book more elares were acter relati spirit existe metho handv years, such 1 quirec ability tests | detail, writte and t hours’ the la more liaritis gained with satisfi pre COE Since standi to mal Briefly (1). respon writer, were { (2). to run scripts but ar could ¢€ this te hundre percent istics differer (3). mediun the sar to be percent charact found i was de these s writing of hapy In a ployed, speech writing happen on the sitters, finding, Society most id ing two man wi tall hat of long from hi by diffe different All this belongec side une (n e! us abor English have cor does not S, Joan know th its way. as sayil spirit p with the their re shown §

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122 JuLy, 1922 might well divert some of their donations from the present normal courses to a broad- foundation, in order that moneys easting would be available for free broadcasting ces of the highest order. ser At any rate, some method must be worked out in the near future in order to defray the heavy expenses of high-grade broadcasting, especially when it becomes necessary to pay for the talent. Meanwhile, other broadcast- ing services which furnish news, talks, phonographie music and so on, are bound to increase in numbers, so that the radio-phone receiving set must have more and more features te select from as time goes on. Broadeasting is here to stay: it is indis- pensable: someone will always be ready to undertake gratuitous broadcasting. The Psychic Detective (Continued from page 7) mented with this medium, produced a book illustrated with the seripts of fifty or more purported spirits. In this book he de- elared that these scripts in many instances were recognized by him as having the char- acteristies of the actual life writing of his relutives and friends whom the communicant spirits claimed to be. If this similarity existed, it could be tested by well-known methods; and the investigator, having made handwriting one of his studies for many years, requested the privilege of carrying out such tests. Properly enough, the lawyer re- quired a demonstration of the investigator's ability in this line of work; and one of the tests proposed and accepted was a proof, in detail, that the lawyer himself had not written the seripts. The lawyer’s writing and the spirit messages were given a two hours’ examination and the results put before the lawyer. On the lawyer’s own admission, more knowledge was adduced of the pecu- liarities of his writing than he himself had gained in forty years. Other tests were met with equal satisfaction; the lewyer was satisfied with the investigator’s ability to proceed, and furnished all necessary material. Since this particular medium is so out- standing a figure, it was thought worth while to make the investigation an exhaustive one. Briefly summarized, these are the results: (1). In no ease did the spirit script cor- | respond with the life script of the purported writer, and in every case multiplied reasons were given for this judgment. (2). Common characteristics were found to run through the entire series of “spirit” scripts, and this assertion was not only made but amply demonstrated, so that any tyro could easily test it for himself. One part of this test was to use a random set of one hundred life scripts and to ascertain the percentages by which the several character- appeared in this actually different scripts. (3). With some difficulty, samples of the medium’s own writing were procured and the same characteristics were demonstrated to be found therein. On the basis of the percentages according to which six selected characteristics of the “spirit” scripts were found in the letters of the hundred group, it istics series of was demonstrated that a finding of simply | these six peculiarities in the medium’s own writing had less than one chance in 200,000 of happening by mere coincidence. In addition, certain other tests were em- ployed, such as the finding of mannerisms of speech running through the purported spirit writings to a degree far beyond what could happen by chance. Also a peculiar tendency on the part of the spirits, with sitters, to draw forget-me-nots. And the finding, upon slates sent to the American Society for Psychical Research, of four al- most identical infantile drawings represent- ing two men engaged in fisticuffs, one a tall man with traces of a beard and wearing a tall hat, the other a short man with traces | of long hair whose derby hat had fallen from his head. These drawings were made by different “spirits,” for different sitters, at different dates ranging eleven years apart. All this seems to imply that the four artists belonged to one family if they did not re- side under one hat. \{n eminent lecturer, who has been telling us about the work of William Hope, the English spirit-photographer, is reported to have complained that the (English) S. P. R. does not investigate him. Yet he knows the S. P. R. has tried to do so know the difficulties which have been put in | The lecturer is himself on record | its way. as saying in print, “Consider the case of spirit photography. I entirely sympathize with the mediums in their refusal to submit their results to men who have continually shown an unfair and insulting attitude to- SCIENTIFIC ward them.” And the unfair and insulting attitude consists in the desire to have ex- periments under test conditions and in mak- ing true remarks about the pictures. The American investigator committed the blas- phemy of printing in the Journal of the A. 8. P. R. some queer facts which he dis- covered regarding quotations from foreign languages found on some of the photographic plates. The most of these quotations were stock phrases easy to find in printed lists. One set apparently had been copied out in alphabetical order. One phrase (0b mort-es nostr-orum fratr-um) had been hyphenated, just as it is hyphenated in elementary Latin text-books to exhibit the case- and _ tense- endings. Is it insult to point out that this is just what a photographer, profoundly ignorant of Latin and working from such a text, might do? This investigator would probably be denied sittings because of the different | and he must} offense of calling attention to unwelcome facts. Sut in spite of frauds culpable, the auto- matie impostures of hysteria, and _ self-de- | ception and blunders of inference, there re- mains a wide field worthy of investigation. If all the spurious phenomena of mercenary | professional mediums and others were an- | nihilated, the brushwood would be swept away from the real problems, which all the | skill and experience gained have not ex- | plained by normal causes. Of course we can | hypothesize a telepathy which works by | relays all over the world, peeps into books }and whispers to the embryo all that ever | happened since Adam. We can suppose a | Cosmie Reservoir where the thoughts of all the ages are slopping about and where the psychic can draw up exactly such fish as |}she needs. Or that the vibrations of all | thoughts ever thought in a building are in its walls ready to impinge on a sensitive brain and convey information. Or that Deity is | operating a great wireless station expressly in order to supply data. All these hypo- theses, however, are speculations flying loose, | without the standing room of any ascertained | facts, and simply testify to the ingenuity |}of imagination. And granting that any of them is true, it simply lets us fall from the | frying-pan into the fire of the supernormal. The Antigonish Ghost OR the benefit of readers who were un- able to follow the course of this “spook” through the newspapers of early March, we give here the essential features of the case. For some time mysterious fires had been occurring in the farm-house of Alexander MacDonald, in Caledonia Mills, Antigonish County, Nova Scotia. These were for the most part in the wall-paper; as many as | 38 occurred in a single night. Cattle were turned loose and occasionally killed; horses’ | tails were braided in their stalls; articles | were moved about in the house; in fact, the antics of the traditional poltergeist were fol- lowed closely. Several attempts at investigation were abortive. In one instance, a detective and a ; reporter were mysteriously slapped as they slept in the house, and heard footsteps above them. Mrs. MacDonald finally underwent a | nervous collapse and the family, consisting of | herself, her husband, and an adopted daugh- ter in her “teens, Mary Ellen, vacated the house. No further damage occurring in their absence, Mrs. MacDonald became con- vineed that the house was haunted; and that having driven the humans away, the spirits | were content. | The A. S. P. R. became interested in the ease and Dr. Prince undertook an investi- gation. He went to Caledonia Mills and spent a week in the house. In the absence of the family nothing occurred; they were moved back into the house and still nothing occurred. Dr. Prince was accordingly re- duced to a critical study of the premises, the traces of old fires, and the old testimony. The most significant bits of direct evidence were the finding of a burnt match in a little used transom above which one of the old fires had oceurred; and the turning up of the “ghost’s” supply of a very material liquid fuel, kept in an equally prosaic glass bottle. On the basis of previous cases of the same sort—which are plentiful—it was to be alto- gether expected that the “spirits” would thus refuse to perform in the presence of a com- petent observer. It was equally to be pre- sumed that Mary Ellen would turn out to be |a hysterie of some sort, and to have played the tricks while in a state of more or less altered consciousness. No evidence was found indicating that she could not have done | everything that had been done; much was found indicating that she could. Dr. Prince accordingly reported that she was the AMERICAN 71 Make Your Own Radio-Phone Without Do you want to enjoy the wonders of radio at home at a saving of 60% to 85% on the cost of your outfit? You can, thanks to the remarkable course which has just been completed by seven noted Professors and Radio Engineers, and which we now offer What You Get Lesson 1.—The Underlying Prin- ciples of Radio Communication. By Waldemar Kaempffert, Vice-Presi- dent and Director of Engineering Service. A glimpse into a new and fascinating world. p Lesson 2.—The Vacuum Tube. By to you. No matter where you may rof. J. M. Morcroft, of Columbi j 7e i 91 ahi ; ritry University. The Aladdin's lame of liv In mountain cabin, mn city Radio—the marvelous vacuum: tube apartment or country farmhouse, which the Government spent mil- lions to perfect and which acts as sender, receiver and magnifier of sound, every man, woman and child may now enjoy the marvelous entertain- ments, the music, the instruction and the news items that are daily being sent out by wireless. The Easy Course In Home Radio Edited and Approved by Maj.-Gen. Squier, Chief of Signal Corps, U.S.A. You don’t need to buy an expensive outfit. This simple, complete, amazingly easy course will show you not only how to operate any set you may buy, but how to build your own—a good one, too, the equal, if you care to spend a little time and money, of the best $300 set. In seven easy lessons you are given all the information you need. You don’t have to be a carpenter, or a mechanic, or even a “natural-born tinkerer.” These lessons are for everyone—for those who already know something of radio, and for those who know nothing. The amateur will find in them the answers to all those problems that have troubled him, written by electrical geniuses. The beginner will get from them, in plain A B C language, just what to do, step by step, and how best to do it. The Government Spent Millions to Give You This Until a short time ago, wireless was the hobby of rich men and electrical geniuses. And even they didn’t have the equipment that you can now get at a minimum expense. This is due to the U. S. Government, which spent literally millions of dollars to perfect wireless apparatus during the war. The result is that now you, or anybody who is shown the way, can have for a few dollars the delights that were formerly limited to the privileged few. You can listen to the finest 7 concerts, enjoy the most popular musical programs, get the latest news bulletins on baseball, on sports, on the events of the world at large. Every Day You Are Missing Something Good— Get Busy Now! The air is full of wireless messages every hour of the day. Lesson 3.—Tuning. By John V. L. Hogan, former President of Insti- tute of Radio Engineers. A simple, clearly worded lesson on the princi- ples of tuning, comprising the very heart of the series. Lesson 4.—The Principles of Re ception. By a noted electrical au- thority. The relation of Radio Phone to the telephone; General Squier’s system of using ordinary electric light or telephone wires for receiving. Lesson 5.—How to Make Your Own Radio Set. By Raymond Francis Yates, Radio Editor of the New York Evening Mail. How with bits picked from the ash barrel or junk pile you can make most of the parts for a Radio set; precise instructions for making each part; which ones are so cheap that they can be bought more easily than made. Lesson 6.—How to Set Up Your Own Radio-Phone. By Pierre Boucheron, member of Institute of Radio Engineers. Installing the Radio in the home; the principal hook-ups; how aerials and loops are set up; instructions for wiring and methods of testing; precautions against lightning; regulations of fire underwriters. Lesson 7.—Miscellaneous Infor- mation. By Abby Johnson, In- structor in Radio at Y. W. C. A. Glossary of Radio terms; list of private and Government broadcast- ing stations; laws governing Radio, etc., ete. The whole edited and approved by Major-General Squier, Chief of the Signal Corps of the U. S. Army. Se, Am. f 4-22 F Review of In 7 K eviews Co. the evening, particularly, there are treats which no one ought to / 30 Irving Place miss. 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Letting | us select the best from all publications tto you in What Others Say: ; le a cheek to pay for | You need not con business present the and En | the m: sider this subscript n conditional | oe we Know enough about the | the efficient LEFAX form magazine thru Mr E. Sheldon, | saves your time. Andtime | of the Utilities Enare.Co., Inc., | ig money. | to fee! satisfied of re se! ~ You do not need to send | + wie oS , taco | @ny money to try out this jee . -Albany,N.¥. | service. Thecard will start If the first copy does not come up to your expecta- tions you can cancel the subscription and you will owe us nothing. LEFAX, Inc. 121 S. 9th Street PHILADELPHIA, PA. | Electric Supply Co Lef te cortaint agem end ie ateax Tor 4. 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Rings, Capacity 140 Sheets (290 pages re eo #1.50; if wanted check here Desk Filefor mae szine Articles, Cloth Covered Cardboard with 10 Guide Cards, Capacity 1000 Sheets (2000 pages) Price 81.00; if wanted check here you with the next issue. | Firm — SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN “ghost,” but that she was not necessarily in| frame that holds a number of turns of wire, any way culpable for what she had done. a negative character of the finding, since | ground connections for a receiving set. these turns serving both as the antenna and The | Mary Ellen was not actually caught in the | loop, as this arrangement is called, is a di- act, cannot be disputed ; but at the same time | 1 rectional affair. It receives best when point- it must be remembered that a finding of this| ing end on toward the transmitting station. character was all that could have been an-| By getting directional bearings on the clan- ticipated. Caution rather than bravado is characteristic of the hysteric who does pol- tergeist tricks; and the only hope of catch- ing one in the act is by keeping secret the investigator's presence. Extreme interest in the case was taken all over the country. Great numbers of com- munications were received from apparently hard-headed citizens suggesting electric dis- turbances, vagrant radio currents, ete., as the source of the disturbances. Dr. Prince, it is to be emphasized, found no evidence whatever of this; extraordinary radio wave that would untie knots, open stalls, braid the horses’ manes and tails, and move bed-cushions up and down stairs. Policing the Radio Highways and Byways R ADIO is unique in many ways, but in no other way is it so unique as in the fact that its followers insist on having laws and Government regulation to the utmost. The reason is simple enough: without laws and Government regulation, radio would become a free-for-all fight in the ether, with the most powerful transmitter predominating in its immediate vicinity, and with long-dis- tance work and uninterrupted reception a sheer impossibility. Of course, there is such a thing as too much Government regulation. In certain countries the radio amateur is required to secure a license for a receiving set as well as a transmitter, and the laws are so severe that amateur radio has made little, if any, progress. But our American laws and Government regulation pertaining to radio have been fair in the extreme, and under them amateur radio has thrived to the wonderment of the entire world, and radio- phone broadeasting has attained a vogue that revelation | | employed. and it would indeed be an | | letter from the is a to everyone. Laws and regulation must be formulated to maintain the ether or radio highways and byways in the most efficient condition for the great majority of radio amateur novices, commercial companies, and Government sta- tions. The ether is not a limitless medium so far as our present radio practice is con- cerned, and it is even now quite evident that with the ever-increasing number of radio- phone and radio telegraph stations in opera- | tion, stringent rules must be followed in order to reduce interference to a minimum. How are the laws enforced? Why does a person have to bother with a license for transmitting? Cannot the _ transmitting equipment be purchased and clandestinely installed and operated? These questions are often asked by persons not intimately fa- miliar with the way of things in radio. Under the present system any piece of radio equipment can be purchased without formality. It can be installed without for- mality. But when it comes to operating a obtained in faces» the charge of a license must be short order or the operator soon Government authorities on the violating certain laws of the land. Just how the unlicensed transmitter is run down to earth is a far simpler matter transmitter, than is apparent to the laity. In the first place, the present system of transmitting licenses makes it necessary for every trans- mitter to use a “eall”— combination of numerals and letters not unlike the automo- bile license, and serving virtually the same end. Therefore, since these “calls” are pub- lished in various forms and are in the pos- session of all amateurs, any unknown “call” or duplicated “call” immediately becomes the the | subject of much suspicion. Secondly, dyed-in-the-wool radio amateur is critically attentive to radio activities at all times. Nothing escapes him in his broad vicinity. Any infraction of the radio laws, such as transmitting on a wave length beyond the| allotted ame.teur range, he soon reports to the radio inspector of his district. Finally, | the radio inspectors, with the aid of ama- locate the unlicensed trans- teurs, can soon mitter within a small territory, and by a little detective work the station is finally discovered and visited. There is no such thing as hiding the radio transmitter indefinitely. Even if the aerial is inclosed in a chimney or strung in an attic, the offending transmitter can be found. If necessary, the radio inspector and staff can use the radio compass principle, as shown in our cover illustration. The his | destine transmitter at two different points and laying out the directional lines‘on a map, it beeomes possible to discover the exact location of the transmitting station, which is the point where the lines cross. During the war the radio compass was employed for locating hidden radio transmitters, but in normal times such an arrangement is rarely The mere fact that it is available should be sufficient to prevent transmitters from operating without licenses. As a whole, the radio amateur and radio novice are a most law-abiding folk, and a radio inspector, informing them that they are violating a law or regu- lation, is generally sufficient to correct vio- lations. Again, the radio inspectors are at all times ensured the watchful services of amateurs and novices in their respective territories, thus simplifying a task that would be well nigh impossible with the limited personnel now available for the radio inspection service. LIMITED COMMERCIAL (BROADCASTING) STATIONS (Continued from page 68) KDYQ Oregon Institute of Technology, Portland, re, KDYR Pasadena Star-News Publishing Co., Pasadena, Calif. KLX Tribune Publishing Co., Oakland, Calif. KNX Electric Lighting Supply Co., Los Ange- les, Calif. KQI University of California, Berkeley, Calif. | KYI Alfred Harrell, Bakersfield, Calif. | KZV Wenatchee Battery & Motor Co., Wen-| atchee, Wash. WAAD Ohio Mechanics Institute, Cincinnati, Ohio. WCAB Newburgh, News Printing and Publish- ing Co., Newburgh, N. Y. WCAC John Fink Jewelry Co., Fort Smith, Ark. WCAD St. Lawrence University, Canton, Ohio. WCAE Kaufman & Baer Co., Pittsburgh, Pa. WCAG Daily States Publishing Co., New Orleans, La. WCAJ Nebraska Wesleyan University, Univer- sity Place, Nebr. WCAK Alfred P. Daniel, Houston, Tex. WCAL St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn, WCAM Villanova College, Villanova, Pa. WCAN Southeastern Radio Telephone Co., Jack- sonville, Fla. WCAC Sanders & Stayman Co., Baltimore, Md. WCAP Central Radio Service, Decatur, III. WCAQ Tri-State Radio Manufacturing & Supply Co., Defiance, Ohio. WCAR — ~ Hy adio Electric Co., San Antonio, WCAS Willinas “Hood Dunwoody Industrial In- stitute, Minneapolis, Minn. WCAT South Dakota State School of Mines, Rapid City, South Dakota. WCAU Philadelphia Radiophone Co., Philadel- phia, Pa. WCX Detroit Free Press, Detroit, Mich. WHB Sweeney School Co., Kansas City, Mo. Distinguishing Characteristics of Mahogany NLY true mahogany from _ tropical America, “African mahogany,” and “Philippine mahogany” are commonly sold as mahogany in this country, but at various times over 60 different species of timber | have been sold under that name. Although resemble degrees, tropical American any and “African mahogany” possess one important characteristic in common. This is the occurrence of dark amber-colored gum in many of the pores. The gum does not fill the pores but is reeognized as dark specks or streaks in the pores as seen on end or side grain. This gum is barely visible to the naked eye, but is easily seen through a hand lens with a magnification of 10-15 diameters. In preparing the end grain of the wood for examination, a very sharp knife should be used to make a smooth cut. Some other woods have similar dark masses of gum in the pores, but none of these are commonly substituted for mahog- Among them are crabwood and sapeli, these all of varying species mahog- any. species imported from South America in small quantities only, and the Cedrelas (Spanish cedar, ete.), which are rarely sold as mahoganies, and are easily recog- nized by their odor. True mahogany has fine, continuous, con- centric lines on the cross section usually from \% to % inch apart, which distinguish it from “African mahogany” in which these lines never occur. “Philippine mahogany,” although not marked by the black masses of gum, is dis- tinguished from true mahogany and other so- ealled mahoganies by the presence of fine, white, tangential lines % inch to several inches apart, readily visible to the naked eye, and showing under a lens as rows of radio compass consists simply of a wooden | smal openings filled with white substance. JULY, 1922 Deo you know the stars? It’s easy with th- RADIUM STAR MAP It shines at night. 4 feet long, accurate, well mounted, Stars and connecting lines marked with guaranteed Radin»; compound. Used and endorsed by leading colleges, un versities, high schools, scouts, and amateur star student Price $8.50 postpaid. Sample Radium card of familiar sta:s free on request. E. W. SUNDELL, 225 N. Grove Ave., Dept. 10, Oak Park, |!!. FIND THE SCHOOL Consult SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES SCRIBNER’S MAGAZINE 597 Fifth Avenue, NEW YORK AT NEWS-STANDS, 35c. $4.00 PER ANNUM LATHES 9 to 18-inch Swing List price $150 and up a cording to size. Whe ready to buy send f Lathe Catalog and pric: W.F.&John Barnes Co. 1999 Ruby St, ROCKFORD, IL. ANOTHER REDUCTI( ION IN PRICES SOUTH BEND. yee of 14 - $150.00 + [athe - 187.00 13° Lathe. 249.00 15" Lathe. 306.00 16” Lathe . 357.00 South Bend | Tathe Works 421 Madison Sireet South Bend, Ind. COLD PIPE BENDERS Standard of the Worid Hand and Motor Operated 14 Sizes of Machines What it costs to bend pipe our way, per bend l-inch pipe - 6 cts t 2-inch pipe + - 4-inch pipe - - 2 6-inch pipe - © * B8-inch pipe - - $1. American Pipe Bending Machine Co 32 Pearl Street, Boston, Mass. Send for Catalogue each other in| GEARS All Hinds-Small The most accurate made and prices casonable We carry a complete of sou in stock for imme: ae shipme: Can gears of “il Kinds. quirie Write for Catalogue 20 CHICAGO STOCK GEAR WORKS 105 South Jefferson Street Chicago also quote on spe Send us your in- Ice Making and Refrigerating Machinery Corliss & Poppet Valve Engines Bulletins sent upon request THE VILTER MFG. CO. 899 Clinton Street Milwaukee, Wis. , STEEL STAMPS METAI CHECKS - mt ere —s INVENTIONS Perfected and Models Made. Can develop inventions make dies, tools, jigs, fixtures, manufacture and act a: your factory. MOORE & COMPANY, 301 W. Grand Ave., Chicago, III. Experimental and Model Work Fine Instruments and Fine — nventions Developed Special Tools, Dies, Gear Cutting, Ete. HENRY ZUHR, 489-93 Broome St., New York City SCRIBNER’S MAGAZINE INVESTMENT SERVICE BUREAU FREE SCRIBNER'S MA —_— she P:

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1922 ith the [AP mounted, Radiny: ges, un student liar stars Park, |\'. OL GES IE — = BS o28e § a tions uct a: ro, Il. Half-Price Introductory Offer ! $1.00 Read any two of the following interesting and helpful business articles at our expense: Simply send a dollar bill (or check) at our risk for a 16 weeks’ trial of Forbes Magazine—B. C. Forbes, Editor—and receive any two of the following recent numbers FREE, while they last. That makes ten 20c magazines (Forbes is issued every two weeks), $2.00 value, for only $1.00: January 7th The Favored Industries of 1922 Probable Course of Bond Prices in 1922 Franklin Simon’s Foresight Built Great Business Wanted: A Rediscount Policy for Federal Reserve Banks . Preparing College Men for Work January 21st Spillane’s Coast-to-Coast Business Survey How to Reduce Manufacturing Costs Practical Tips for Advertisers A Plan That Keeps Your Head Clear During Readjustment Can Executive Be Picked by Mental Tests? February 4th Our Neglected “Foreign Market’’ in U. S. A. How Will Copper Industry Fare? The Good in Trade Associations Making a “Safety First’ Record Buying for Seven Billion Dollar Trade February 18th Forbes Refuses to Join Pessimistic Chorus Now Coming from Bankers How to Cash in on Advertising Why Foreign Currency Inflation Hurts Us Have You a Little Wireless in Your Home? Business and the Stock Exchange March 4th The Worst Brake on Business Relaxes Who Pays for Wasteful Price-Wars? Will Business in 1922 Parallel 18187 Why Canada Pays Premium for U. S. Funds Mexico—Economic Eldorado March 18th How James H. McGraw Serves Business Men . Civility Enters Public Service Outlook for Wages—Up or Down? Labor Challenges Court Decision Which Rails to Buy op gore Oe Cte OF & 8 NS Aheorw = hm Co Do April Ist How Ward Became “Tip Top” Baker How’s Your Human Inventory? Is Political Unrest Growing? The Man Who Audited the A. E. F. Getting Sick Men Back to Work April 15th The Causes of Business Failures Will House Rents Come Down? Anthracite Reeks With Graft Which Business Books Have Helped Me Most? Where Our Goods Are Needed April 29th B. C. Forbes’ Interview with Herbert Hoover How Young Men Built National Business in Small Town Life-Size Trade Marks Capture Trade Are Coal Workers Overpaid The Omnibus Versus Street Car May 13th The Story Behind 187 Stores Loan Shark Still Flourishes Prospects of Dividend Resumption Brighten Outlook of Ten Preferred Stocks Building Business Is Booming Super-Power Will Aid Industry May 27th Are Spectacular Events Likely? Right Organization Essential, Says Thomas E. Wilson How Colors Put New Life and “Pull” Into Letters Which Business Books Have Helped Me Most What Cheap Money May Mean for Railroad Stocks June 10th How Rogers Peet & Co. Built Huge Retail Business Trend of Trade Association Activities Should American Seamen Man Our Merchant Marine? Casson’s Tips for Advertisers Working Basis for Satisfactory Solution of Problem of Eur- ope’s Debt to America FREE OFFER Any two of the above numbers of Forbes included FREE with a 16 weeks’ trial subscription at $1.00. OR any six of the above numbers included FREE with a full year’s subscription at $4.00. FORBES MAGAZINE B. C. FORBES, Editor 20c. a copy—Every two weeks—$4.00 a year 120 Fifth Avenue, New York City, N. Y. > She Oe core 1m Coto ne Who OL wre eo nd IF The President of a Big Railroad Said to You— “I have ordered twenty (20) yearly subscriptions to FORBES for my leading executives. The careful, ana- lytical way in which FORBES discusses the important business questions of the day gives officials of this company greater insight into present-day conditions and better qualifies them to handle their several duties.” | —and IF The Head of a Giant Manufacturing Plant Said to You— “Here is a copy of a bulletin which is a reproduction of an article from FORBES Magazine on the importance of hav- ing the right kind of foremen. We shall have this printed in our House Organ and will illustrate it. We are urging our people to read FORBES. We now have 574 subscrip- tions which go to our people’s homes and the magazine is also circulated through our library. I consider it a valu- able textbook on how to run a business and how to succeed.” —and IF The President of a Leading National Bank Said to You— “I have sent a list of the officers of our bank to whom I wish FORBES Magazine mailed regularly and billed to us. As it contains most important information, those con- nected with this institution should be thoroughly familiar with what FORBES is saying.” —and IF The Senior Partner of a Firm of Successful Merchants Said to You “We would rather allow ourselves to discontinue all the other magazines for which we subscribe, than to lose FORBES Magazine. FORBES’ prophecies regarding prob- able economic conditions have been wonderfully correct.” —WHAT Would You Say to Us? Say It On This Order Blank FORBES MAGAZINE, SN os 5 incase Sa hss toe hd seemene B. C. Forbes, Editor, 120 Fifth Ave., New York, N. Y. I want FORBES mailed to me regularly every two weeks from now on. I enclose $4.00 in full payment for a year’s subscription (C)R I will remit on receipt of bill). Canada, $4.50 a year; Foreign, $5.00 a year. MEE 5:86 S55 6040-0195 20ee Ten dass eveolsspedesdigunsehs aedbessn res FIRM, and POGITION «ooo .cccsciscescccced sosvcsevedecevcesesicccecsce oO P.S. Also please quote special group price on ............ ++. additional yearly FORBES subscriptions for our leading executives, including branch managers. $.A.—7-22 Printed in the United States, by ANprEw H. KELLocc Cd.

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Isn't this feeling about tires ‘pretty universal ey ‘A ST car-owners in- wa tend to have a car Mal a meceg the rest of their lives. Economical operation is getting more and more fashionable. How many men do you know who won’t expect tires todo their share of the saving? This is the year for tire merchants to study their cus- tomers closely. * * * The makers of U.S. Royal Cords have recently stated what is the biggest opportunity to serve in the tire business. U. S. Royal Cords cannot take care of all the people who want the upward quality in tires. Nor do they claim a monopoly of all good tire making methods. It is the things they refuse to The makers of United States Tires urge upon everybody — manufacturer and dealer alike—a new kind of competition. Let us compete for more and more public confidence. Let us compete for higher and higher quality. Let us compete for still more dependable public service. United States Tires are Good Tires leave undone that make U.S. Royal Cords the measure of all automo- bile tires. Not only what is put in but what is never left out—that reveals the Royal Cord practical ideal. os * » So Royal Cord makers feel free to say again what they have said before— ' Let us compete for higher and higher quality. For more and more public confidence. U.S. Rayal Cord Tires United States Rubber Compa Two hundred and The Oldest and Largest thirty-five Branches Rubber Organization in the World ES AZ y ar € ee ; .) es 3 ss . > Saw P 2ER s —— Lin * rs ~