Project Gutenberg's Scientific American Supplement No. 299, by Various This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: Scientific American Supplement No. 299 Author: Various Posting Date: October 10, 2012 [EBook #8408] Release Date: July, 2005 First Posted: July 9, 2003 Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPL., NO. 299 *** Produced by Olaf Voss, Don Kretz, Juliet Sutherland, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT NO. 299 NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 24, 1881 Scientific American Supplement. Vol. XII, No. 299. Scientific American established 1845 Scientific American Supplement, $5 a year. Scientific American and Supplement, $7 a year. TABLE OF CONTENTS. I. ENGINEERING AND MECHANICS.--On the Progress and development of the Marine Engine.--Marine engines.--The marine boiler.--Steel boilers.--Corrosion of boilers.--How the marine engine may be improved.--Consumption of fuel.--Evaporative efficiency of marine locomotive boilers.--Screw propellers Steam Ferry Boats of the Port of Marseilles.--2 figures.-- Transverse and longitudinal sections Opening of a New English Dock. 1 figure Improved Grain Elevator. 1 figure Improved Dredger. 1 figure.--Single bucket dipper dredger Railway Alarm Whistle Furnace for the Manufacture of Sulphide of Carbon. 1 figure Brouardel's Dry Inscribing Manometer. 1 figure.--Gas indication of manometer Centrifugal Apparatus for Casting Metals. 4 figures.--Centrifugal metal moulding apparatus Apparatus for the Manufacture of Wood Pulp. 2 figures.--Dresel's wood pulp apparatus Recent Progress of Industrial Science.--Presidential address, Convention of Mechanical Engineers The Hoboken Drainage Problem II. TECHNOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY--On some Recent Improvements in Lead Processes. By NORMAN C. COOKSON Apparatus Used in Berlin for the Preparation of Gelatine Plates.-- I. Mixing apparatus.--II. Digestive apparatus.--III. Triturating apparatus--IV. Washing apparatus--3 figures How To Make Emulsions In Hot Weather. By A. L. HENDERSON The Distillation and Rectification of Alcohols by the Rational Use of Low Temperatures. By RAOUL PICTET.--1 figure.--Pictet's apparatus for the rectification of alcohol by cold The Removal of Noxious Vapors from Roasting Furnace Gases New Gas Exhauster. 1 figure Advance in the Price of Glycerine Analysis of Oils or Mixtures of Oils Used for Lubricating Purposes Nitrate of Amyl III. ELECTRICITY, ETC.--The Electric Light in Earnock Colliery Lightning and Telephone Wires Conditions of Flames Under the Influence of Electricity The Electric Stop-Motion in the Cotton Mill Electrolytic Determinations and Separations. By ALEX, and M. A. VON REIS.--Determination of cobalt.--Nickel--Iron.--Zinc.-- Manganese.--Bismuth.--Lead.--Copper.--Cadmium.--Tin.-- Antimony.-- Arsenic.--Separation of iron from manganese.--Iron from Aluminum IV. MEDICINE, SURGERY, ETC.--Treatment of Acute Rheumatism. By ALFRED M. STILLE, M.D. Method in Madness Simple Methods to Staunch Accidental Hemorrhage. By EDWARD BORCK, M.D.--Bleeding from upper arm.--From arteries in the upper third of the arm.--From the thigh.--From the foot Hot Water Compresses in Tetanus and Trismus V. AGRICULTURE, ETC.--The Cultivation of Pyrethrum and Manufacture of Powder Trials of String Sheaf Binders at Derby, England The Culture of Strawberries.--Garden culture.--Field culture Some Hardy Flowers for Midsummer The Time Consuming Match VI. ARCHITECTURE, ART, ETC.--Suggestions in Decorative Art. 1 figure.--Silver ewer by Odiot, Paris Artists' Homes. No. l4.--Bent's Brook, Holmwood, Surrey, Eng.-- 6 figures.--Perspective, elevations, and plans VII. OBITUARY.--Achille Delesse, eminent as geologist and mineralogist ACHILLE DELESSE. The death of this distinguished man must be recorded. An interesting résumé of his labors by M. Daubree has appeared, from which we take the following facts. After a training in his native town at the Lyceum of Metz, which furnished so many scholars to the Polytechnic school, Delesse was admitted at the age of twenty to this school. In 1839 he left to enter the Corps des Mines. From the beginning of his career the student engineer applied himself with ardor to the sciences to which he was to devote his entire existence. The journeys which he undertook then, and continued later, in France, Germany, Poland, England, and Ireland, helped to confirm and develop the bent of his mind. He soon arrived at important scientific results, and was rewarded, in 1845, by having conferred to him by the university the course of mineralogy and geology in the Faculty at Besançon, where Delesse at the same time fulfilled the duties of engineer of mines. Five years later he returned to Paris, where he continued his university duties, at first as deputy of the course of geology at the Sorbonne, then as master of the conferences at the Superior Normal School. Besides this, he continued his profession of engineer of mines as inspector of the roads of Paris. The first original researches of the young savant concern pure mineralogy; he studied a certain number of species, of which the chemical nature was yet uncertain or altogether unknown, and his name was appended to one of the species which he defined. He studied also, and with success, the interesting modifications called pseudomorphism--the mode of association of minerals, as well as their magnetic properties. The attributes of a practical mineralogist aided him greatly in the culture of a branch of geology to which Delesse has rendered eminent services, in the recognition of rocks of igneous origin and of others allied to them. He studied in the field, as well as by investigations in the laboratory, for fifteen years, with an intelligent and indefatigable perseverance, and, aided by the results of hundreds of analyses, eruptive masses of the most varied kind, the knowledge derived from which threw light upon the principles of science, from granites and syenites to melaphyres and basalts. After thirty years of study and progress, other savants, without differing from him, progressed further in the intimate knowledge of rocks; but the historian of science will not forget that Delesse was the precursor of this order of research. His studies of metamorphism will long do him honor. The mineralogical modifications which the eruptive rocks have undergone in the mass are the permanent witnesses which attracted all his attention. The chemical comparison of the metamorphic with the normal rock pointed out distinctly the nature of the substances acquired or lost. One of the principal results of these analyses has been to lessen the importance attributed until then to heat alone, and to show in more than one case the intervention of thermal sources and of other emanations from below, to which the eruptive rocks have simply opened up tracks. It is not only upon subjects relating to the history of rocks that Delesse has touched. Witness his work on the infiltration of water, as well as his volume relating to the materials of construction, published on the occasion of the Exhibition of 1855. The nature of the deposits which operate continually at the bottom of the sea offers points of interest which well repay the labor of the geologist. He finds there, indeed, a precious field to be compared with stratified deposits; for in spite of the enormous depth to which they form a part of continents, they are of analogous origin. Delesse laboriously studied the products of the innumerable soundings taken in most of the seas. He arranged the results in a work which has become classical with the beautiful atlas of submarine drawings which accompany it. Though he never slackened in his own especial work, he made much of the work of others. The "Revue des Progrès de la Géologie," with which he enriched the "Annales des Mines" for twenty years, would have been sufficient to engross the time of a less active scientific man, and one less ready to grasp the opening of a discovery. This indefatigable theorist never neglected the applications of science: the nature and the changes of the layers which form the under earth; the course and the depth of the subterraneous sheets of water; the mineralogical composition of the earth's vegetation, were represented by him on several charts and plans drawn out in proper form. His maps which follow the route of many of the great French lines of railway explain the kind of soil upon which they are laid, and are of daily use. In the pursuit of his numerous scientific works, Delesse never failed in discharging his duties in the Corps des Mines. Having in 1864 quitted the service of the Government of Paris, which he had occupied for eighteen years, he was made professor of agriculture, of drainage, and irrigation, at the School of Mines, where he established instruction in these before being called to found the course of geology at the Agricultural Institution. Promoted to be Inspector-General of Mines in 1878, and charged with the division of the south east of France, he preserved to the end of his life these new duties, for which, to the regret of the School of Mines, he gave up his excellent lessons there. During the year of 1870 Delesse fulfilled his duties as a citizen, as engineer in preparation of cartridges in the department. His nomination to the Academy of Sciences, which took place on the 6th of January, 1879, satisfied the ambition of his life. He was for two years President of the Central Commission of the Geographical Society; he was also President of the Geological Society. He was not long to enjoy the noble position acquired by his intelligence and his work. He suffered from a serious malady, which, however, did not weaken his intellect, and he continued from his bed of suffering to prepare the reports for the Council- General of Mines, and that which recently he addressed to the Academy on the occasion of his election. The greatness and the rectitude of mind of Delesse, his astounding power of work, his profound knowledge of science, his sympathetic sweetness, which were associated with sterling modesty and loyalty of character, made him esteemed and cherished throughout his whole career. He died on the 24th of March.--The Engineer. SUGGESTIONS IN DECOTATIVE ART.--SILVER EWER, BY ODIOT, PARIS. (From The Workshop) THE ELECTRIC LIGHT AT EARNOCK COLLIERY. On the afternoon of August 9, Earnock Colliery, near Hamilton, belonging to Mr. John Watson, of Earnock, was the scene of an interesting ceremonial which may well be said to mark a new era in mining annals. In proceeding to win the rich mineral wealth of his estate, Mr. Watson determined that, in respect of fittings, machinery, and general appointments, it should be a model, and he has been highly successful in giving practical effect to his aims. Among other things, he early resolved to, if at all practicable, substitute the electric light for the ordinary mode of illuminating the workings, and after investigating the various systems, he decided on giving that of Mr. Swan a trial. Accordingly, since April last, Messrs. D. & E. Graham, electrical engineers, Glasgow, have been engaged fitting up the Swan incandescent lamp, with modifications, to adapt it for safe use in the mine, and on Tuesday the inauguration of the new light took place in presence of a large company of leading gentlemen from Glasgow, Hamilton, and the West. Arrived at the colliery about half-past one o'clock, the visitors were received by Mr. Watson, and after a brief space spent in inspecting the three magnificent winding and fan engines, the Guibal fan, and the framework for screening the coal, they were conducted by Mr. James Gilchrist, manager, down into the workings in the ell seam at a depth of 118 fathoms. Here at the pit bottom, in the roads and at the face, twenty-one Swan lamps were burning, giving forth a brilliant, steady flame, the luminosity of which, while sufficient to supply the desired light, had none of the disagreeable intensity associated with most systems of electric lighting. Besides the pear-shaped Swan lamp, in which the glowing or incandescence is carried on in vacuo, there is an outer lantern, the invention of Mr. David Graham, consisting of a strong glass globe, air-tight, protected with steel guards. Each lamp was also connected with two different forms of Graham's patent safety air tight contacts and switches for cutting off and letting on the current, the effect of which, it is believed, would be to render the lamps quite safe, even in the presence of explosive gas. At first the intention was to employ the fan-engine to drive the dynamo-electric machine or generator, but this was departed from, and an engine of 12 horse-power was erected in the workshops on the surface for the purpose. From the generator the electric cables, two in number, are conducted along the roof of the workshops over ordinary telegraph poles to the pit-head at No. 2 shaft, and thence down into the workings. From the ridge of the workshops to the pithead, a distance of several hundred yards, the cables consist of ordinary copper wire, three-eighths of an inch in diameter; inside the workshop and below ground, to allow of their safe handling, they are composed of insulated wires, while on the way down the shaft they are inclosed in a galvanized tube. Near the bottom of the shaft, branches are taken off to supply light to the principal roadways and to the haulage engine-room, the main cables being carried into one of the sections of the mine a distance of half-a-mile. After a careful inspection of the lamps at the pit bottom, the party were photographed in three groups, with the aid of the electric light, by Mr. Annan, of Glasgow, who may well be credited with the distinction of being the first to exercise his skill in the bowels of the earth. They were then led to the haulage engine-room and into the workings, where they witnessed the effects of the light. At the latter point, while, of course, the visitors were at a safe distance, a shot was fired, bringing down a large mass of coal. Having spent fully an hour below ground, the party returned to the surface.--Colliery Guardian. LIGHTNING AND TELEPHONE WIRES. M. Bede, of Brussels, has an article in L'Ingénieur-Conseil on the above subject. He considers that a system of such wires forms the best and most complete security against lightning with which a town can be provided, because they protect not only the buildings in which they terminate, but also those over which they pass. At each end they communicate with the earth, and thus carry off safely any surplus of electricity with which they may become charged. It is, however, important that they should be provided with lightning conductors of their own, to carry off such surplus directly from the transmission wire to the earth wire, without allowing it to pass through the fine wires of the induction coils, which it might fuse. Such lightning conductors usually consist of a toothed plate attached to one wire, close to another plate not toothed attached to the other wire. The copper even of such a conductor has been melted by the powerful current which it has carried away. In telephonic central offices, M. Bede has seen all the signals of one row of telephone wires fall at the same moment, proving that an electric discharge had fallen upon the wires, and been by them conveyed to earth. This fact shows that wires, even without points, are capable of attracting the atmospheric electricity; but it must be remembered that there are two points at every join in the wire. M. Bede insists strongly upon the uselessness of terminating lightning conductors in wells, or even larger pieces of water. The experiments of MM. Becquerel and Pouillet proved that the resistance of water to the passage of electricity is one thousand million times greater than that of iron; consequently, if the current conveyed by a wire one square mm. thick were to be carried off by water without increased resistance, a surface of contact between the wire and the water of not less than 1,000 square meters must be established. It is obvious that a wire let down into a well is simply useless. On the two-fluid theory, it offers no effectual way of escape to the terrestrial electricity; according to the older views, it would be absolutely dangerous, by attracting more electricity from the clouds than it could dispose of. The author advocates connecting lightning conductors with water or gas pipes, which have an immense surface of contact with the earth. CONDITION OF FLAMES UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ELECTRICITY. The experiments of the author have been principally directed to the alterations in shape and color produced in a flame when under the influence of positive or negative electricity. The flames were arranged so as to form one electrode of a frictional machine. When charged with positive electricity the flame became more blue, narrower, and pointed at the top, while little or nothing of the result was observed in negative flames. A peculiar result is that the end of a negative flame returns to its own conductor, and that, according to the intensity of the electricity, and also depending on the width of the burner, this turning back of the flame is either intermittent or constant. Most noticeable are these results: When the flame rises from a circular burner, or when burning round a metallic cylinder, in the latter case it returns to the metallic surface according to the intensity of electricity in an arc or angle, while the point of the flame divides into two branches, which separately perform more or less equal movements. If a body connected to the earth by a conducting wire is held opposite the flame at some distance, the flame will in all cases bend toward it; as the body is brought closer, the flame, if negative, will be repulsed, and, if positive, will be attracted, at least the upper luminous part of the flame, while the lower dark body of flame is also repulsed. This phenomenon explains why a positive flame will burn through wire gauze, while a negative flame remains below the gauze. The positive flame becoming pointed explains the fact that this will drive a small fan wheel, while a negative flame will only just move it. All these results are most prominently obtained with a pure gas flame, a stearine, wax, or tallow candle, very indifferently with a spirit flame, and least from a Bunsen flame rich in oxygen. They may not only be obtained with flames electrified direct, but also when placed under the influence of a long "Holtz" machine. A flame placed between two small disks on the machine bends toward the negative pole, becomes widened, and, at a certain point of electric intensity, commences to vibrate and oscillate, exhibiting a peculiar stratification. Since these phenomena are also least observed in flames rich in oxygen, it appears to be a general law that carbon and hydrogen are more strongly attracted by the negative pole, while oxygen is more attracted by the positive pole, probably like in all polar differentially attractions, in consequence of a peculiar unipolar conductivity of the substances. The return motion of the flame the author explains thus: The point of the flame loses more electricity by influence than it receives by conductivity. A paper strip fixed at one end to a large ball shows similar movements when its free end is pointed and made conductive. Why principally the negative flame returns may be explained in two ways--either the point of the flame loses much by radiation, or the base of the flame is a bad conductor. The former explanation would agree with the experiments made by Wiedemann and Ruhlmann, the latter with Erdman's theory of unipolar conductivity of flames. This theory is still further supported by the resistance on the negative electrodes noticed by Hittorf, which almost explains Erdman's experiments, because if negative electricity enters a flame with greater difficulty, then positive electricity must leave a flame with difficulty.--W. Holtz, in Wiedemanris Beiblätter to Poggendorfs Annalen. THE ELECTRIC STOP-MOTION IN THE COTTON MILL. The number of inventions for use as stop-motions in and about the various machines in the cotton mill has been to a certain extent something like the search after perpetual motion. Very available and quite satisfactory stop-motions have for a number of years been employed wherever the thread or sliver has been twisted so that strength was given it to resist a slight amount of friction, but the main trouble in the mill has been done after the sliver leaves the railway head and during its transit in the various processes employed between the railway head and the spinning frame or mule. Every carder or spinner knows that where an injury comes to the sliver because the sliver is soft, but partially condensed and very susceptible to injury, the injury is magnified and multiplied in every successive process. Virtually the field was long since abandoned for an accurate quick-working motion that should be applicable to any and all the machines and to every sliver or strand of the machine. This invention was solved practically about two years since, and is now being employed as applied to drawing frames, doublers, speeder, intermediate, and slubber. It is a very cunning mechanical appliance, too, and has found favor to a great extent in England, where several thousand heads of drawing and speeders are already supplied. This invention was exhibited at the Centennial in 1876, although in a somewhat crude state. Since that time it has been materially improved, and mechanically is very nearly perfect now. Many attempts have been made to apply a stop motion, which should be quick in its movement and accurate in its result, to carding engines or the card, not one of which, until the application of electricity, was worth the time spent in putting it on. With the electric motion, however, all this is changed, and the electric attachments are not of necessity so fragile as to be un-mechanical or to be not practical. The advantage has also been taken, in a mechanical way, of using cotton as one element, and, being non-conducting, so that no trouble shall arise from contact with the working parts of the electrical apparatus with the cotton itself. To take into consideration all the possibilities that exist from the railway can to the front of the fine speeder is not needed by the practical reader, and would be useless to any other. The principle of this invention is the supplying of a magneto-electric current from a small magneto-electric machine attached to the card, speeder, or whatever machine it may be applied to which generates the current, and this machine is driven by a small belt from the main driving shaft. The machine in itself weighs but a few pounds, and can be driven by a half-inch or three quarter-inch belt, and requires a little more power than a light-running sewing machine. One pole of the magneto-electric machine is connected by means of a rod or wire to the machine frame upon which it is to be used, and the other pole to the electromagnet in the ordinary way of conductivity of current, which means stretching the wire from one to the other. An armature is arranged so that when a thread is broken or a sliver or a strand of roving, the armature drops into a ratchet wheel; this ratchet wheel is made to revolve by the belt, and whenever it is impeded or stopped in its course it acts upon mechanism which throws the driving belt of the machine upon the loose pulley. Electrical contact is made by a very simple contrivance, and these attachments are only to act in the case of a breakage of a thread or strand. As applied to a card, the calender rolls are both connected, one with the negative and one with the positive pole; when the sliver of cotton is between the calender rolls there is no connection, but if the sheet breaks down between the cone and the calender roll, the moment the calender rolls come in contact the electrical attachment operates and a stoppage ensues; and in the case, as with the American system, where a number of cards are used in a railway, this electric contact may be used for either one of two purposes-to stop the feeding of cotton into the card, or to ring a bell sharply and continue ringing it until the sliver is put between the calender rolls again and the card set to delivering cotton. In drawing frames it may be attached so that, in the case of a breakage between the front roll and the calender roll, the electric machine acts; in the case of a lap upon one of the rolls or one end of the roll, or in case of breakage of the sliver at the back of the machine, in either case a stoppage would be instantly produced. In being applied to the slubber a breakage either at the front or back can be arranged for. Upon intermediates the breakage of either one of the strands, if the machine was running two into one, from the creel to the roller, would cause the stoppage of the machine, or the breaking or tangling of ends between the front roll and the nose of the flier. There are many other places where this motion can be applied. With mechanical means we require motion; with electricity we require simple contact of two differently arranged surfaces, and this can always be had by letting the cotton drop out from between the rollers; no radical changes are necessary, and we are glad to find that this electrical attachment is meeting with a very good success in England, France, and, so far, in the United States, and, undoubtedly, further and more extended opportunity will be found for this application.--Textile Record. ON THE PROGRESS AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE MARINE ENGINE. [Footnote: A paper recently read before the Society of Mechanical Engineers by F.C.Marshall.] The author began by referring to a paper read at the Liverpool meeting in 1872, by Mr. F. J. Bramwell, F.R.S., on "The Progress effected in Economy of Fuel in Steam Navigation, considered in Relation to Compound Cylinder Engines and High-pressure Steam;" then proceeded to continue the subject from the date of that meeting, to trace out whether any, and if so what, progress had been made; further, to consider whether or no we have reached the finality so strongly deprecated by Sir Frederick Bramwell in the discussion referred to, and, if not, then in what direction we are to look for further development. From a table it would seem that the steam pressures are now much higher, the boilers have less heating surface, and the cylinders are much smaller for the indicated horsepower developed than in 1872; and at the same time the average consumption of fuel is reduced from 2.11 lb. to 1.828 lb., or by 13.38 per cent. MARINE ENGINES. The author then briefly described the modern marine engine and boiler. The three great types of compound engines may be placed as follows in the order of their general acceptance by the shipowning community: (1) The two-cylinder intermediate-receiver compound engine, having cranks at right angles. (2) The Woolf engine in the tandem form, having generally the high-pressure and low-pressure cylinders in line with each other, but occasionally alongside, and always communicating their power to one crank. Such a pair of engines is used sometimes singly, oftener two pairs together, working side by side to cranks at right angles; recently three pairs together, working to cranks placed 120 deg. apart. The system affords the opportunity of adding yet more engines to the same propeller to an indefinite extent. (3) The three cylinder intermediate-receiver compound engine, with one high and two low-pressure cylinders, the steam passing from the high-pressure cylinder into the receiver, and thence into the two low-pressure cylinders respectively. The cranks are placed at equal angles apart round the crank shaft, so as to balance the forces exerted upon the shaft. These three types may be said to embrace all the engines now being manufactured in this country for the propulsion of steam vessels by the screw propeller. In their leading principles they also embrace nearly all paddle engines now being built, whether the cylinders be oscillating, fixed vertically, or inclined to the shaft. The compound engine, in fact, in one of these three forms, may now be said to be universally adopted in this country; and the question of the relative value of simple expansion in one cylinder, and of compound expansion in two or more cylinders, which agitated the minds of some of our leading engineers ten years ago, is now practically solved in favor of the latter. THE MARINE BOILER. The marine boiler of to-day is in all its main features the same as it was ten years ago. The single-ended boiler, made with two, three, and sometimes four furnaces, is the simplest form, and for all powers under 500 indicated horse power is the most generally adopted. The double-ended form is largely used. It has been found more economically efficient than the single-ended form, by as much as ten per cent, in the writer's own experience. It is generally adopted for engines of large power, but for small power is inconvenient, owing to its occupying more room lengthwise in the vessel, and also involving two stokeholds and therefore more supervision. At one time great difficulty was found in keeping the bottoms of boilers of this kind tight. Owing to their length, the unequal expansion due to different temperatures at the top and bottom caused severe racking strains on the bottom seams and riveting--so severe in some cases as to rend the plating for a large part of the bottom circumference of the shell. This difficulty has now been to a large extent got over, in consequence of the greater attention given to the form and direction of the water spaces in the boiler itself, so as to induce circulation of water; the introduction of the feed-water at the top instead of near the bottom; the more careful management now usual on the part of engineers; and lastly, the use of larger plates, welded horizontal seams, drilled rivet holes, and more perfect workmanship throughout. A modification of double-ended boiler is that introduced by Mr. Alfred Holt. It has many decided advantages, but is costly to make. The formation of the two ends into separate fire-boxes leaves the bottom of the boiler free to adapt itself to the variations of temperature to which it is exposed. The separation of the furnaces from the combustion chamber, excepting through the opening afforded by a connecting tube, is an advantage in the same direction, and avoids almost entirely the racking strains due to irregular furnace action. The weight of water carried is less, and that of the boiler may also be made less; while the elliptical form of the two ends gives greater steam space. A type of boiler largely used in her Majesty's Navy, somewhat like a locomotive boiler, is highly efficient in regard to weight and power developed. Many examples have yielded one indicated horse-power in the cylinders for every three square feet of heating surface, under natural draught and with a very moderate height of funnel; and this with a consumption of fuel not exceeding 2½ lb. per indicated horse- power per hour under a working pressure of 60 lb. With the aid of a steam jet in the funnel, the heating surface per indicated horse-power has fallen below 2½ square feet. The large water surface afforded for escape of steam secures almost entire freedom from priming, without the incumbrance of steam domes; and the large combustion chamber allows of the thorough combustion of the gases before their passage through the tubes. The locomotive type of boiler has lately occupied the writer's attention, with a view to its more definite introduction into marine work. The difficulties, however, which lie in the way of applying it to steamers going long voyages are very great. The principal difficulty lies in the necessity of burning a large quantity of fuel in a very limited space and time. This can only be done either by direct pressure or exhaust action applied at the furnace. In other words, we must either exhaust the funnel, which will absorb a large amount of power, but would be comparatively easy of application; or our stokers, as is the case with our miners, must work under a pressure of air. STEEL BOILERS. The writer stated that his experience in the manufacture and working of steel boilers was satisfactory. Many steel boilers of sizes varying from six feet diameter to fourteen feet six inches diameter have left the works at St. Peter's since 1877, when the first was made; and in no case has there been a failure of a plate after being put into a boiler, either in the process of manufacture or in working at sea. The mode of working is as follows: For shell plates, from five-eighths inch to seven-eighths inch thick, to warm each to a dark red heat before rolling, having previously drilled a few holes to template for bolting the strakes together; the longitudinal seams are usually lap joints treble riveted, requiring the corners to be thinned, which is done after rolling. The furnace plates are generally welded two plates in length, and flanged to form Adamson rings, and at the back end to meet the tube plate; the back flame-box plates are flanged, also the tube plates and front and back plates; and wherever work is put on to the plate it is annealed before going into the place. The rivet holes are drilled throughout. In the putting together the longitudinal seams of the thicker plates of the shells, great care is always taken to set the upper and under plates for the lap to their proper angle before they are bolted together, a point generally overlooked by the practical boilersmith. CORROSION OF BOILERS. The question of corrosion is one which is gradually being answered as time goes on; and so far very satisfactorily for steel. Some steel boilers were examined a few weeks ago which were among the first made; and the superintending engineer reports: "There is no sign of pitting or corrosion in any part of the boiler; the boilers are washed out very carefully every voyage, and very carefully examined, and I cannot trace anything either leaking or eating away. No zinc is used, only care in washing out, drying out, and managing the water." This is the evidence of an engineer with a large number of vessels in his charge. On the other hand, some of the most prominent Liverpool engineers always use zinc, and take care to apply it most strictly. The evidence of one of them is as follows: "We always fix slabs of zinc to most boilers, exposing not less than a surface of one square foot for every twenty indicated horse-power, and distributed throughout the boiler. This zinc we find to be in a state of oxide and crumbling away in about three months. We then renew the whole, and find this will last twelve months or more, when it is renewed again. Meanwhile we have no pitting and no corrosion; but on the contrary, the interior surfaces appear to have taken a coating of oxide of zinc all over, and we have no trouble with them." HOW THE MARINE ENGINE MAY BE IMPROVED. Then the writer considered our present marine engine as to its efficiency and capability of further improvement. The weight of machinery, water, and fuel carried for propelling ships has not had due attention in the general practice of engineers. By the best shipping authorities the writer is assured that every ton of dead weight capacity is worth on an average £10 per annum as earning freight. Assuming, therefore, the weight of the machinery and water of any ordinary vessel to be 300 tons, and that, by careful design and judicious use of materials, the engineer can reduce it by 100 tons, without increasing the cost of working, he makes the vessel worth £1,000 per annum more to her owners. That there is much room for improvement in this direction is shown by the following statement, giving, for various classes of ships, the average weight of machinery, including engines, boilers, water, and all fittings ready for sea, in pounds, per indicated horse power: Lb. per I. H. P. Merchant steamers.......................... 480 Royal Navy................................. 300 Engines specially designed for light draught vessels...................................280 Royal Navy, Polyphemus class (given by Mr. Wright).................................. 180 Modern locomotive.......................... 140 Torpedo vessels............................. 60 Ordinary marine boilers, including water... 196 Locomotive boilers, including water......... 60 The ordinary marine boiler, encumbered as it is by the regulations of the Board of Trade and of Lloyds' Committee, does not admit of much reduction in the weight of material or of water carried when working. The introduction of steel has reduced the weight by about one-tenth; but it will be the alteration of form to the locomotive, tubulous, or some other type, combined with some method of forced draught, to which we must look for such reductions in weight of material and water as will be of any great commercial value. The engine may be reduced in weight by reducing its size, and this can only be done by increasing the number of revolutions per minute. It has hitherto been the practice to treat the propeller as dependent upon the size of engines, draught of water, and speed required. This process should be reversed. The propeller's diameter depends on the column of water behind necessary to overcome the resistance in front of it due to the properties of the vessel. This fixed, the speed will then fix the number of revolutions, which will be found much greater than is usual in practice, and from this the size of the engines and boilers will be determined. Great saving in weight can be effected by careful design and judicious selection and adaptation of materials, also by the substitution of trussed framing and a proper mode of securing the engine to the structure of the vessel, as worked out in H.M.S. Nelson, by Mr. A. C. Kirk, of Glasgow, and in the beautifully designed engines by Mr. Thornycroft, in place of the massive cast-iron bedplates and columns of the ordinary engines of commerce. The same may be said of the moving parts. In fine, the hull and engines should be as much as possible one structure; rigidity in one place and elasticity in others are the cause of most of the accidents so costly to the ship-owner; under such conditions mass and solidity cease to be virtues, and the sooner their place is taken by careful design, and the use of the smallest weight of material--of the very best kind for the purpose--consistent with thorough efficiency, the better for all concerned. CONSUMPTION OF FUEL IN MARINE ENGINES. Coming to the question of the consumption of fuel, a considerable saving has been effected in nine years, as shown in the following table: Item. 1872. 1881. Working pressure, lb. per sq. in......... 52.5 77.4 Heating surface per I. H. P., sq. ft.... 4.64 3.919 Piston speed, feet per min.............. 376 467 Coal burnt per I. H. P., lb.............. 2.11 1.828 This shows a saving equal to 13.38 per cent, in quantity of fuel consumed. Mr. Marshall then read a letter from Mr. Alfred Holt, of Liverpool, bearing on this subject, in which Mr. Holt spoke favorably of the single-crank engine, and stated his belief that the compound system would ere long be abandoned for the simple engine. He is endeavoring to feel his way to using the steam in one cylinder only, and so far the results have been encouraging, and he is now fitting a 2,200-ton vessel on that system. He is also endeavoring to do without a crank shaft, the forward end of the screw shaft carrying an ordinary crank with overhung pin. This experiment also promises satisfactorily. In his opinion the great improvement of the immediate future is to increase the steam production of our boilers. A ton weight of a locomotive boiler produces as much steam as six tons of an ordinary steamboat boiler. Mr. Holt speaks of the coal account as one of the minor disbursements of a steamer. He does not give the ratio which coals bear to the total disbursements, but from other reliable sources Mr. Marshall found that, according to the direction of the voyage, it varies from 16 to 20 percent.--or, say, an average of 18 per cent.--of the total disbursements, in a vessel carrying a cargo of 2,500 tons. This will represent to- day about £3,000 per annum, and in 1872, at equal prices, the cost would have been £3,750--showing a saving of £750, equal to a dividend of, say, 3 per cent. on the value of the ship. Again, the cost of coal per mile run for such a vessel, in 1872, would have been at least 16½d.; to-day it does not exceed 13d. EVAPORATIVE EFFICIENCY OF MARINE BOILERS. The marine boiler as now made is very efficient, but if the quantity of steam used be considered in relation to the increased pressure, it will be seen that the boiler of to-day is little if anymore efficient than that of ten years ago. The present boiler has an evaporative efficiency of about 75 per cent., and cannot be much improved so long as air is supplied to the furnace by the natural draught. To increase the efficiency from 75 to 82.5 per cent. would require about double the heating surface, the weight of boiler and water being also doubled, while the gain would be only 10 per cent. Mr. Blechynden's formula, used in Mr. Marshall's works for weights of cylindrical marine boilers of the ordinary type, and for pressures varying from 50 lb. to 150 lb., is as follows: W = (P + 15) (S + D² L) / C or W = 2S (P + 15) / C when S = D² L, which is a common proportion. Here W = weight in tons. P = working pressure as on gauge. S = heating surface, in square feet. D = diameter, in feet. L = length, in feet. C = a constant divisor, depending on the class of riveting, etc. For boilers to Lloyds' rules, and with iron shells having 75 per cent. strength of solid plate, C = 13,200. This formula, if correct--and it is almost strictly so--would give the relative weight of boilers per sq. ft. of heating surface, for 105 lb. and 150 lb. total pressure, assuming we wish to increase the efficiency 10 per cent, as follows: Weight at 105 lb. = 105 x 1 / C Weight at 150 lb. = 150 x 1.75 / C = 263 / C Hence the ratio of weight = 263 / 105 = 2.5 In other words, the boiler with the higher efficiency would weigh two and a half times that with the lower efficiency. In the case of a vessel of 3,000 tons, with engines and boilers of 1,500 indicated horse power, the introduction of locomotive boilers with forced draught would place at the disposal of the owner 150 tons of cargo space, representing £1,500 per annum in addition to the present earnings of such a vessel. MARINE LOCOMOTIVE BOILERS. Mr. Thornycroft has for some years used the locomotive form of boiler for his steam launches, working them under an air pressure--produced by a fan discharging into a close stokehold--of from 1 in. to 6 in. of water, as may be required. The experiments made gave an evaporation of 7.61 lb. of water from 1 lb. of coal at 212° Fahr., with 2 in. of water pressure, and 6.41 lb. with 6 in. of pressure. These results are low, but it is to be remembered that the heating surface is necessarily small, in order to save weight, and the temperature of the funnel consequently high, ranging from 1,073° at the first pressure, and 1,444° at the 6 in. With the ordinary proportions of locomotive practice the efficiency can be made equal to the best marine boiler when working under the water pressure usual in locomotives, say from 3 in. to 4 in., including funnel draught. It has fallen to the lot of the writer to fit three vessels recently with boilers worked under pressure in closed stokeholds. The results, even under unfavorable conditions, were very satisfactory. The pressure of air would be represented by 2 in. of water, and the indicated horse power given out by the engines was 2,800, as against 1,875 when working by natural draught, or exactly 50 per cent. gain in power developed. Mr. Marshall then proceeded to refute the arguments which may be urged against the use of the locomotive boiler at sea, and which we need not reproduce. Coming to the engines, Mr. Marshall said that the total working pressure of to-day may be accepted as 105 lb., or equal to seven atmospheres. If it were boldly accepted that eleven atmospheres, or 165 lb., were to be the standard working pressure, the result would be a gain of 14.55 per cent., provided no counteracting influence came into play. Of course, there are forces which war against the attainment of the full extent of this advantage, viz., the greater condensation in the cylinders and loss in the receiver or passages. In regard to the former, it may be questioned whether by steamjacketing the high pressure cylinder, correctly proportioning the steam passages, and giving a due amount of compression in both cylinders, this may not be reduced far below the generally received notion; and the latter cause of loss may be considerably reduced in its effect by a more carefully chosen cylinder ratio. The ratio usually adopted, between 3.5 and 4 to 1, whether the pressure be 70 lb. or 90 lb., may well be questioned. With a cylinder ratio of 2.95 to 1, the economic performance is very good, and equal to any with the higher ratio. A lower cylinder ratio has another advantage of considerable value, viz., that the working pressure can be much reduced as the boilers get older, while by giving a greater amount of steam the power may be maintained--at an extra cost of steam, of course, but not so great a cost as with higher ratios. The cut-off in the high-pressure cylinder usually takes place at about 0.6, and the ratio of expansion has decided the ratio of cylinders. The use of separate starting valves in both cylinders obviates that necessity. The difficulties in the way of taking advantage of the higher economic properties of greater pressures than hitherto used on board ship, are, it is submitted, not insuperable, and it would be to the interest of all that they should be firmly and determinedly met. It may be accepted as an average result that the Woolf engine, as usually arranged, will use 10 per cent. more steam than the receiver engine for the same power. Of the three-cylinder receiver type the data are insufficient to form a definite opinion upon; but so far the general working of the Arizona is stated to be as good, economically, as any of the two-cylinder receiver class. The surface condenser remains as it was ten years ago, with scarcely a detail altered. In most engines it remains a portion of the framing, and as such adds greatly to the weight of the engine. It is a question seriously worth consideration whether or no the surface of tubes can be reduced. The practice at present is to make the surface one-half the boiler surface as a minimum, that is, equal to about 2 square feet per indicated horse power. In practice, the writer has found 1.4 square feet per indicated horse power to maintain a steady vacuum of 27½ inches. Mr. Marshall has just completed six pairs of engines for three twin screw ships, having steel shafts of 10 inches diameter, and has in each case run the engines at 120 revolutions per minute, while indicating 1,380 horse power from each pair for ten to fifteen hours without stopping; and in no case has a single bearing or crank pin warmed or had water applied, the surfaces on examination being perfect. In these engines all working bolts, pins, and rods, except the piston and connecting rods, are of steel, all rods in tension being loaded to 8,000 lb. per square inch. The boilers are of the Navy type, made throughout of Siemens-Martin steel plates, riveted with steel rivets, all holes drilled. Furnaces are welded and flanged; the tubes are of brass. In comparison with an ordinary merchant steamer's iron boilers of the double ended type, they weigh, including water and all appurtenances, as follows: Double ended Type. Navy Type. Weight, tons............ 135 ........... 146 I. H. P................. 1,400 .......... 2,760 Draught................ Natural ......... Forced. SCREW PROPELLERS. The screw propeller is still to a great extent an unsolved problem. We have no definite rule by which we can fix the most important factor of the whole, namely, the diameter. Mr. Froude has pointed out that by reducing the diameter, and thus the peripheral friction, we can increase the efficiency; and this is confirmed by cases--of Iris reduced 2 feet 3 inches, and the Arizona reduced 2 feet. This must, of course, be qualified by other considerations. The ship has by her form a definite resistance, and a certain speed is required; if the propeller be made too small in diameter, the ship will not be driven at the required speed, except at serious loss in other directions. This question was too large and complicated to be dealt with here, and should, in the first instance, be made the subject of careful and extended experiment, on which a separate paper should be written. To sum up the whole. Progress has been made during the past nine years, and in the following particulars: 1. The power of the engines made and making show a great increase. 2. Speeds hitherto unattainable are now seen to be possible i...