The Project Gutenberg EBook of Scientific American Supplement, No. 483, April 4, 1885, 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. 483, April 4, 1885 Author: Various Release Date: November 20, 2004 [EBook #14097] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN *** Produced by Don Kretz, Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks and the DP Team SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT NO. 483 NEW YORK, APRIL 4, 1885 Scientific American Supplement. Vol. XIX, No. 483. Scientific American established 1845 Scientific American Supplement, $5 a year. Scientific American and Supplement, $7 a year. TABLE OF CONTENTS. I. CHEMISTRY AND METALLURGY.—The Determination of Graphite in Minerals.—By J.B. MACKINTOSH. Sulphocyanide of Potassium. Sugar Nitro-glycerine. On Remelting of Cast Iron. The Hardness of Metals. II. ENGINEERING, ETC.—The Jet Ventilator. 4 figures. Feeding Boilers at the Bottom. 2 figures. The Honigmann Fireless Engine.—The fireless working of steam engines by means of a solution of hydrate of soda.—With several figures and diagrams. Simple Methods of Calculating Stress in Girders.—By CH. LEAN.—With full page of illustrations. A Spring Motor. Steam Yachts. III. TECHNOLOGY.—Foucault's Apparatus for Manufacturing Illuminating Gas and Hydrogen. 2 figures. The Circle Divider. Soluble Glass.—Process of manufacture.—Use. Iron Printing and Microscopic Photography.—Formulas for printing solutions.—Compound negatives. Practical Directions for Making Lantern Transparencies.—By T.N. ARMSTRONG. Casting Chilled Car Wheels. 6 figures. IV. ELECTRICITY, ETC.—Electricity and Prestidigitation. 2 figures. Portable Electric Safety Lamp. 6 figures. The Electric Discharge and Spark Photographed Directly without an Objective. 6 engravings. V. PHYSICS, ETC.—The True Constant of Gravity. Origin of Thunder Storms. Physics without Apparatus.—Manufacture of illuminating gas.—Elasticity of bodies. 2 figures. Scientific Amusements.—Dance of electrified puppets.—Silhouette portraits. 2 figures. A Sunshine Recorder. 2 figures. VI. MEDICINE, HYGIENE, ETC.—How Cholera is Spread. Sulphurous Acid and Sulphide of Carbon as Disinfecting Agents.—Methods of burning the same. VII. MISCELLANEOUS.—Improvised Toys.—With numerous illustrations. The Æolian Harp.—Kircher's harp, made in 1558.—Frost and Kastner's harp.—Manner of making the harps. 4 figures. How to Break a Cord with the Hands. 1 figure. An Aquatic Velocipede for Duck Hunting. 2 engravings. Skeleton of a Bear Found in a Cave in Styria, Austria. VIII. BIOGRAPHY.—Theodor Billroth, Prof, of Surgery at Vienna.—With portrait. ACKNOWLEDGMENT. The illustrations and descriptions we give this week, entitled "How to Break a Cord," "Prestidigitation," "Circle Divider," "Sulphurous Acid," "Production of Gas," "Aquatic Velocipede," "Several Toys," "Scientific Amusements," are from our excellent contemporary La Nature. THEODOR BILLROTH, PROFESSOR OF SURGERY AT VIENNA. The well known surgeon, Theodor Billroth, was born on the island of Rügen in 1829. He showed great talent and liking for music, and it was the wish of his father, who was a minister, that he should cultivate this taste and become an artist; but the great masters of medicine, Johannes Mueller, Meckel v. Hemsbach, R. Wagner, Traube, and Schönlein, who were Billroth's instructors at Greifswald, Göttingen, and Berlin, discovered his great talent for surgery and medicine, and induced him to adopt this profession. It was particularly the late Prof. Baum who influenced Billroth to make surgery a special study, and he was Billroth's first special instructor. In 1852 Billroth received his degree as doctor at the University of Berlin. After traveling for one year, and spending part of his time in Vienna and Paris, he was appointed assistant in the clinique of B. von Langenbeck, Berlin. At this time he published his works on pathological histology ("Microscopic Studies on the Structure of Diseased Human Tissues") which made him so well known that he was appointed a professor of pathology at Greifswald in 1858. Mr. Billroth did not accept that call, and was appointed professor of surgery at Zurich in 1860, and during that time his wonderful operations gave him a world-wide reputation. In 1867 the medical faculty of the Vienna University concluded to appoint Billroth as successor to Prof. Schuh, which position he still fills. THEODOR BILLROTH. Billroth is a master of surgical technique, and his courage and composure increase with the difficulty of the operation. He always makes use of the most simple apparatus and instruments, and follows a theoretically scientific course which he has never left since he adopted surgery as a profession, and by which he has directed surgery into entirely new channels. He has given special attention to the study of the healing of wounds, the development of swellings and tumors, and the treatment of wounds in relation to decomposition and the formation of proud flosh. He has had wonderful success in performing plastic operations on the face, such as the formation of new noses, lips, etc., from flesh taken from other parts of the body or from the face. Although Billroth devoted much of his time to the solution of theoretical problems, he has also been very successful as an operator. He has removed diseased larynxes, performed dangerous goiter operations, and successfully removed parts of the oesophagus, stomach, and intestines. Billroth has been very careful in the selection of his scholars, and many of them are now professors of surgery and medicine in Germany, Belgium, and Austria. They all honor and admire him, his courage, his character, his humane treatment of the sick and suffering, arid his amiability. The accompanying portrait is from the Illustrirte Zeitung. HOW CHOLERA IS SPREAD. DR. JOHN C. PETERS, of this city, in a recent contribution to the Medical Record, gives the following interesting particulars: I have read many brilliant essays of late on these topics, but not with unalloyed pleasure, for I believe that many writers have fallen into errors which it is important to correct. No really well informed person has believed for a long time that carbolic alcohol will destroy the cholera poison; but many fully and correctly believe that real germicides will. It has been known since 1872 that microbes, bacilli, and bacteria could live in very strong solutions of carbolic alcohol, and that the dilute mineral acids, tannin, chloride, corrosive sublimate, and others would kill them. In 1883 cholera did not arise alone in Egypt from filth, but from importation. It did not commence at Alexandria, but at Damietta, which is the nearest Nile port to Port Said, which is the outlet of the Suez Canal. There were 37,500 deaths from cholera in the Bombay Presidency in 1883. Bombay merchants came both to Port Said and Damietta to attend a great fair there, to which at least 15,000 people congregated, in addition to the 35,000 inhabitants. The barbers who shave and prepare the dead are the first registrars of vital statistics in many Egyptian towns, and the principal barber of Damietta was among the first to die of cholera; hence all the earliest records of deaths were lost, and the more fatal and infective diarrhoeal cases were never recorded. Next the principal European physician of Damietta had his attention called to the rumors of numerous deaths, and investigated the matter, to find that cases of cholera had occurred in May, whereas none had been reported publicly until June 21. A zadig, or canal, runs through Damietta from one branch of the Nile to another, and this is the principal source of the water supply. Mosques and many houses are on the banks of this canal, and their drainage goes into it. Every mosque has a public privy, and also a tank for the ablution, which all good Mohammedans must use before entering a holy place. There was, of course, great choleraic water contamination, and a sudden outburst of cholera took place. The 15,000 people who came to the fair were stampeded out of Damietta, together with about 10,000 of the inhabitants, who carried the disease with them back into Egypt. Then only was a rigid quarantine established, and a cordon put round Damietta to keep everybody in, and let no one go out, neither food, medicines, doctors, nor supplies of any kind. Such is nearly the history of every town attacked in Egypt in 1883. When the pestilence had been let out en masse, severe measures were taken to keep it in Cairo, for up the Nile was attacked long before Alexandria suffered. This cholera broke out, as it almost always does in Egypt, when the river Nile is low and the water unusually bad. It disappeared like magic, as it always does in Egypt, when the Nile rises and washes all impurities away. There had been little or no cholera in Egypt since 1865, and there had often been as much filth as in 1883. It has never become endemic there, as it is a rainless country and generally too dry for the cholera germ to thrive. Marseilles had a small outbreak of cholera in the fall of 1883, probably derived from Egypt, which she carefully concealed. In addition, cholera was also brought to Toulon from Tonquin by the Sarthe and other vessels. Toulon concealed her cholera for at least seventeen days, and did not confess it until it had got such headway that it could no longer be concealed. At least twenty thousand Italians fled from Toulon and Marseilles, and others were brought away in transports by the Italian government. Rome refused to receive any fugitives; Genoa and Naples welcomed them. There were at least three large importations into Naples. The outbreak in Genoa was connected with washing soiled cholera clothes in one of the principal water supplies of the city, and Naples has many privy pits and surface wells. These privies, or pozzis, in the poorer parts of many Italian towns, are in the yards or cellars, and are so arranged that when they overflow, the surplusage is carried through drains or gutters into the streets. In the lowest parts of Toulon there were no privies at all, and the people emptied their chamberpots into the streets every morning. This flowed down toward the harbor, which is almost tideless. Toulon always has much typhoid fever from this cause; but no cholera unless it is imported. The great outbreaks of cholera in Paris in 1832, 1848, 1854, and 1865 have been explained at last by Dr. Marcy. The canal de l'Ourcq is one of the principal water sources of Paris. The market boats or vessels upon it and at La Villette are so numerous that Marseilles and Havre alone outrank it in shipping. The parts of Paris which are always most severely attacked with cholera, and where the most typhoid fever prevails, are supplied with this water, into which not only all the filth of the boats goes, but many sewers empty. I agree with all that is generally said about civic filth favoring the spread of cholera, but it does not generate, but only supplies the pabulum for the germs. I believe as long as the Croton water is kept pure there can be no general outbreak of cholera in New York, only isolated cases, or at most a few in each house, and those only into which diarrhoeal cases come, or soiled clothes are brought; that it will not spread even to the next house, and that there are no pandemic waves of cholera. I think it impossible to pump New York dock water into the sewers, and that it would be very injurious if it could be done. Almost all our sewers empty into the docks, and the water there is of the foulest kind. I do not believe in a long quarantine, and think that of the Dutch is the best. They only detained the sick, but took the addresses of all who were let through, or kept back all their soiled clothing, which they had washed, disinfected, and sent after their owners in three days. St. Louis still has 20,000 privy pits and as many surface wells. The importation of cholera into St. Louis is well proved for 1832, 1848, 1849, 1854, 1866, and 1873. Those who used surface well water suffered much more than those who drank Mississippi water, however foul that may have been. The history of cholera in St. Louis has been better and more accurately written up quite lately by Mr. Robert Moore, civil engineer, than that of any city in this country. He has kindly given me maps of the city, with every case marked down, with street and number, for all the epidemic. Hypodermic injections of atropine and morphine have failed sadly in many cases. Subcutaneous injections of large quantities of salt and water, with some soda, and large rectal injections of tannin and laudanum have been very successful in Italy. If there is plenty of acid gastric juice in the stomach, the cholera poison and microbes may be swallowed with impunity. The worst cases of cholera are produced by drinking large quantities of cholera contaminated water, when the stomach is empty and alkaline. I think it probable that large quantities, as much as the thirst requires, of a weak acid water will prove very beneficial in cholera. Water slightly acidulated with sulphuric, nitric, or muriatic acid will probably be the best, but it is hoped that phosphoric, acetic, and lactic acids will prove equally good. Lemon juice and vinegar are merely acetates and citrates of potash, and are not as good. It seems that the offensive smells noticed in the English Houses of Parliament last session have been traced to their source. It is found that the main sewer of the House of Commons is very large and out of all proportion to the requirements, is of two different levels, and discharges into the street sewer within eighteen inches of the bottom of the latter drain. There is thus a constant backflow of sewage. Another revelation is that the drain connected with the open furnace in the Clock Tower, for the purpose of ventilation, is hermetically closed at its opposite end. SULPHUROUS ACID AND SULPHIDE OF CARBON. Much attention has been paid in recent times to disinfecting agents, and among these sulphurous acid and sulphide of carbon must be placed in the list of the most efficient. Mr. Alf. Riche has recently summed up in the Journal de Pharmacie et de Chimie the state of the question as regards these two agents, and we in turn shall furnish a few data on the subject in taking the above named scientist as a guide. Mr. Dujardin Beaumetz some time ago asked Messrs. Pasteur and Roux's aid in making some new experiments on the question, and has made known the result of these to the Academy of Medicine. At the Cochin Hospital he selected two rooms of 3,530 cubic feet capacity located in wooden sheds. The walls of these rooms, which were formed of boards, allowed the air to enter through numerous chinks, although care had been taken to close the largest of these with paper. In each of the rooms were placed a bed, different pieces of furniture, and fabrics of various colors. Bromine, chlorine and sulphate of nitrosyle were successively rejected. Three sources of sulphurous acid were then experimented with, viz., the burning of sulphur, liquefied sulphurous acid, and the burning of sulphide of carbon. The rooms were closed for twenty- four hours, and tubes containing different proto-organisms, and particularly the comma bacillus made known by Koch, were placed therein, along with other tubes containing vaccine lymph. After each experiment these tubes were carried to Mr. Pasteur's laboratory and compared with others. FIG. 1.—BURNER FOR SULPHUR. The process by combustion of sulphur is the simplest and cheapest. To effect such combustion, it suffices to place a piece of iron plate upon the floor of the room, and on this to place bricks connected with sand, or, what is better, to use a small refractory clay furnace (as advised by Mr. Pasteur), of oblong form, 8 inches in width by 10 in length, and having small apertures in the sides in order to quicken combustion. In order to obtain a complete combustion of the flowers of sulphur, it is necessary to see to it that the burning is effected equally over its entire surface, this being easily brought about by moistening the sulphur with alcohol and then setting fire to the latter. Through the use of this process a complete and absolute combustion has been obtained of much as from 18 to 20 grains of sulphur per cubic foot. In the proportion of 8 grains to the cubic foot, all the different culture broths under experiment were sterilized save the one containing the bacteria of charbon. As for the vaccine virus, its properties were destroyed. This economical process presents but two inconveniences, viz., the possibility of fire when the furnace is badly constructed, and the alteration of such metallic objects as may be in the room. In fact, the combustion of sulphur is attended with the projection of a few particles of the substance, which form a layer of metallic sulphide upon copper or iron objects. FIG. 2.—CKIANDI BEY'S APPARATUS FOR BURNING CARBON SULPHIDE. The use of liquid sulphurous acid in siphons does not offer the same inconveniences. These siphons contain about one and a half pounds of sulphurous acid. The proportion necessary to effect the sterilization of the culture broths is one siphon per 706 cubic feet. In such a case the modus operandi is as follows: In the middle of the room is placed a vessel, which is connected with the exterior by means a rubber tube that passes through a hole in the door. After the door has been closed, it is only necessary to place the nozzle of the siphon in the rubber tube, and to press upon the lever of the siphon valve, to cause the liquid to pass from the siphon to the interior of the vessel. The evaporation of the liquid sulphurous acid proceeds very rapidly in the free air. This process is an exceedingly convenient one; it does away with danger from fire, and it leaves the gildings and metallic objects that chance to be in the room absolutely intact. Finally, the acid's power of penetration appears to be still greater than that which is obtained by the combustion of sulphur. It has but one drawback, and that is its high price. Each siphon is sold to the public at the price of one dollar. To municipalities using sulphurous acid in this form the price would be reduced to just one-half that figure. It will be seen, then, that for a room of 3,530 cubic feet capacity the cost would be $5.00 or $2.50. The combustion of sulphide of carbon furnishes an abundance of sulphurous acid, but has hitherto been attended with danger. This, however, has recently been overcome by the invention of a new burner by Mr. Ckiandi Bey. The general arrangement of this new apparatus is shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Mr. Ckiandi's burner consists of an external vessel, A B C D. of tinned copper, containing a vessel, I H E F, to the sides of which are fixed three siphons, R, S. FIG. 3.—SECTION OF THE APPARATUS. To operate the burner, we place the cylindrical tube, K L M N, in the inner vessel, and pour sulphide of carbon into it up to the level aa. This done, we fill the external vessel with water up to the level bb. Thanks to the siphons, the water enters the inner vessel, presses the sulphide of carbon, which is the heavier, and causes it to rise in the tube up to the level a'a', where it saturates a cotton wick, which is then lighted. The upper end of the tube is surmounted with a chimney, PQ. which quickens the draught. The combustion may be retarded or quickened at will by causing the level bb of the water to rise or lower. The burner is placed in the room to be disinfected, which, after the wick has been lighted, is closed hermetically. When all the sulphide is burned it is replaced by water, and the lamp goes out of itself. The combustion proceeds with great regularity and without any danger. It takes about five and a half pounds for a room of 3,500 cubic feet capacity. The process is sure and quite economical, since sulphide of carbon is sold at about five cents per pound, which amounts to 25 cents for a room of 3,500 cubic feet capacity. The burner costs ten dollars, but may be used for an almost indefinite period. The process of producing sulphurous acid by the combustion of sulphide of carbon is, as may be seen, very practical and advantageous. It does not affect metallic objects, and it furnishes a disinfecting gas continuously, slowly, and regularly. Mr. Ckiandi's burner may also be applied in several industries. It is capable of rendering great services in the bleaching of silk and woolen goods, and it may also be used for bleaching sponges, straw hats, and a number of other objects.—La Nature. THE DETERMINATION OF GRAPHITE IN MINERALS. By J.B. MACKINTOSH. In many instances the accurate determination of the amount of graphite present in a rock has proved a rather troublesome problem. The first thought which naturally suggests itself is to burn the graphite and weigh the carbonic acid produced; but in the case of the sample which led me to seek for another method, this way could not be employed, for the specimen had been taken from the surface, and was covered and penetrated by vegetable growths which could not be entirely removed mechanically. Add to this the fact of the presence of iron pyrites and the probable occurrence of carbonates in the rock, and it will be at once seen that no reliance could be placed on the results obtained by this suggested method. As the problem thus resolved itself into finding a way by which all interfering substances could be destroyed without affecting the graphite, it at once occurred to me to try the effect of caustic potash. I melted a few pieces of potash in a silver crucible until it had stopped spitting and was in quiet fusion. I then transferred the weighed sample to the crucible, the melted potash in which readily wetted the graphite rock. The mass was then gently heated, and occasionally stirred with a piece of silver wire. The heat never need be much above the melting point of the potash, though toward the last I have been in the habit of raising the temperature slightly, to insure the complete decomposition of the melt. When the decomposition is complete, which can be known by the complete absence of gritty particles, the crucible is cooled and then soaked out in cold water. This is very quickly accomplished, and we then see that we have an insoluble residue of graphite and a flocculent precipitate of lime, magnesia, iron hydrate, etc., while the organic matters have disappeared. The sulphides of iron, etc., have given up their sulphur to the potash, and everything except the graphite has suffered some change. The solution is now filtered through a weighed Gooch crucible, the residue washed a few times with water, and then treated with dilute hydrochloric acid (followed by ammonia to remove any silver taken up from the crucible), which will dissolve all the constituents of the residue except the graphite, and after washing will leave the latter free and in a condition of great purity. As evidence of the accuracy of the method, I subjoin the results I obtained on a sample whose gangue was free from all organic and other impurities, consisting chiefly of quartz: New Method. Combustion in Oxygen, Weighing CO₂. 15.51 15.54 It is plain that such a result leaves nothing to be desired for the accuracy of the method, while, as regards time and trouble, the advantage lies on the side of the new method. I have completed a determination in less than two hours from the start, and did not hurry myself over it in any degree. Fine pulverization of the sample is not essential, and in fact is rather detrimental, as the graphite, when fine, is more difficult to wash without loss. When operating on a coarse sample more time is necessarily taken, but the resulting graphite shows the manner of occurrence better, whether in scales or in the amorphous form. In consulting the literature bearing on the subject, I cannot find any mention of this method employed as an analytical process; it has, however, been previously described as a commercial method for the purification of graphite,1 and I understand has been tried on a small scale in this country. The method, though inexpensive, yet seems to have been abandoned for some reason, and I am not aware that it is now employed anywhere. —Sch. Mines Quarterly. [1] Schloffel, Zeitschrift der K.K. geolog. Reichanstalt, 1866, p. 126 SULPHOCYANIDE OF POTASSIUM. The elements of cyanogen, combined with sulphur, form a salt radical, sulphocyanogen, C2NS2, which is expressed by the symbol Csy. The sulphocyanide of potassium, KCsy, is prepared by fusing ferrocyanide of potassium, deprived of its water of crystallization, intimately mixed with half its weight of sulphur and 17 parts of carbonate of potassa. The molten mass, after having cooled, is exhausted with water, the solution evaporated to dryness, and extracted with alcohol, from which the crystals of the salt are separated by evaporation. It is also made by melting the ferrocyanide of potassium with sulphide of potassium. It is a white, crystallizable salt of a taste resembling that of niter, soluble in water and alcohol, and extremely poisonous. It dissolves the chlorides, iodides, and bromides of silver, is, therefore, a fixing agent, but has not come in general use as such. Vogel speaks highly of it as an addition to the positive toning bath, although he prefers the analogous ammonium salt in the following formula: Chloride of gold solution.... (1:50) 3 c. cm. (46-1/5 grains). Sulphocyanide of ammonium ... 20 grammes (308 grains). Water........100 c. cm. (3 ounces 5 drachms 40 grains). Ferrocyanide of Potassium—K2Cfy+3HO, or K2C8N3Fe+3HO, is generally known by the name of yellow prussiate of potassa. It contains ferrocyanogen, a compound radical, consisting of 1 eq. of metallic iron and 3 eq. of the elements of cyanogen, and is designated by the symbol Cfy. The potassium salt is manufactured on a large scale from refuse animal matter, as old leather, chips of horn, woolen rags, hoofs, blood (hence its German name, "Blutlaugen salz"), greaves, and other substances rich in nitrogen, by fusing them with crude carbonate of potassa and iron scraps or filings to a red heat, the operation to go on in an iron pot or shell, with the exclusion of all air. Cyanide of potassium is generated in large quantities. The melted mass is afterward treated with hot water, which dissolves the cyanide and other salts, the cyanide being then quickly converted by the action of oxide of iron, formed during the operation of fusing, into ferrocyanide. The filtered solution is evaporated, crystallized, and recrystallized. The best temperature for making the solution is between 158 and 176 deg. F. The conversion of the cyanide into the ferrocyanide is greatly facilitated by the presence of finely divided sulphuret of iron and caustic potash. Some years ago this salt was manufactured by a process which dispensed with the use of animal matter, the necessary nitrogen being obtained by a current of atmospheric air. Fragments of charcoal, impregnated with carbonate of potassa, were exposed to a white heat in a clay cylinder, through which a current of air was drawn by a suction pump. The process succeeded in a chemical sense, but failed on the score of economy. Richard Brunquell passes ammonia through tubes filled with charcoal, and heated to redness so as to form cyanide of ammonium, which is converted into the ferrocyanide of potassium by contact with potash solution and suitable iron compounds. Ferrocyanide of potassium is in large beautiful transparent four-sided tabular crystals, of a lemon-yellow color, soluble in four parts of cold and two of boiling water, insoluble in alcohol. Exposed to heat it loses three eq. of water, and becomes anhydrous; at a high temperature it yields cyanide of potassium, carbide of iron, and various gases. This salt is said to have no poisonous properties, although the dangerous hydrocyanic acid is made from it. In large doses it occasions, however, vertigo, numbness, and coldness. It is used in various photographic processes. Newton employs it in combination with pyrogallol and soda in the development of bromo-gelatine plates. The ferri or ferrid cyanide of potassium discovered by Gmelin is often, but improperly, termed red prussiate of potash. It is formed by passing a current of chlorine gas through a solution of ferrocyanide of potassium until the liquid ceases to give a precipitate with a salt of sesquioxide of iron, and acquires a deep, reddish- green color. The solution is then evaporated, crystallized, and recrystallized. It forms regular prismatic or tabular crystals, of a beautiful ruby-red tint, permanent in the air, soluble in four parts of cold water. The crystals burn when introduced into the flame of a candle, and emit sparks. The theory of the formation of this salt is, that one eq. of chlorine withdraws from two eq. of the ferrocyanide of potassium, one eq. of potassium, forming chloride of potassium, which remains in the mother liquid. The reaction is explained by the following equation: 2(K2Cfy)+Cl=K3Cfy2+KCl. The radical ferridcyanogen, isomeric2 with ferrocyanogen, is supposed to be formed by the coalescence of two equivalents of ferrocyanogen, and is represented by the symbol Cfdy; accordingly the formula of ferridcyanide of potassium is K3Cfdy. Ferridcyanide of potassium has found extensive application in photographic processes for intensifying negatives; those of Eder, in combination with nitrate of lead, or Selle's, with nitrate of uranium; Ander's blue intensification of gelatine negatives, Farmer's process of reducing intensity, the coloring of diapositives, the very important blue printing, and various others, are daily practiced in our laboratories. The ferrocyanide of potassium is a chemical reagent of great value, giving rise to precipitates with the neutral or slightly acid solutions of metals, like the beautiful brown ferrocyanide of copper, and that of lead. When a ferrocyanide is added to a solution of a sesquioxide of iron, Prussian blue or ferrocyanide of iron is produced. The exact composition of this remarkable substance is not distinctly stated, as various blue compounds may be precipitated under different circumstances. Berzelius gives the following account: 3 eq. of ferrocyanide and 2 eq. of sesquioxide of iron are mutually decomposed, forming 1 eq. of Prussian blue and 6 eq. of the potassa salt, which remains in solution, or 3K2Cfy + 2(Fe2O33NO3) = Fe4Cfy3 + 6(KO,NO5). It forms a bulky precipitate of an intense blue, is quite insoluble in water or weak acids, with the exception of oxalic acid, with which it gives a deep blue liquid, occasionally used as blue ink. Ferridcyanide of potassium, added to a salt of the sesquioxide of iron, yields no precipitate, but merely darkens the reddish-brown solution; with protoxide of iron it gives a blue precipitate, containing Fe3Cfdy, which is of a brighter tint than that of Prussian blue, and is known by the name of Turnbull's blue. Hence, the ferridcyanide of potassium is as excellent a test for protoxide of iron as the yellow ferrocyanide is for the sesquioxide.—E., Photo. Times. [2] Isomeric bodies, or substances different in properties yet identical in composition, are of constant occurrence in organic chemistry, and stand among its most peculiar features. FOUCAULT'S APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING ILLUMINATING GAS AND HYDROGEN. The illuminating gas and hydrogen apparatus, illustrated herewith, is adapted to all cases in which it is desirable to manufacture gas upon a small scale. Through the use solely of oil or water, it produces illuminating gas or pure hydrogen for all the applications that may be required of them. It consists of three parts, viz., of a vaporizer, A, which converts the liquids into gas; of a distributer, B, which contains and distributes the liquids to be converted into gas, and of a regulator, C, which automatically regulates the flow of the liquids in proportion as they are used. FIG. 1.—FOUCAULT'S GAS APPARATUS. In the vaporizer Mr. Foucault, the inventor of the apparatus, obtains a perfectly regular combustion through the use of a central column, 15, charged with fuel, closed at the upper part, open beneath, and entering a furnace that is fed by it with regularity, the zone of combustion not being able to extend beyond the level of the draught. The grate, 16, is capable of revolving upon its axis in order to separate the cinders. It also oscillates, and is provided with jaws for crushing the fuel; and it may likewise be lowered so as to let the fire drop into the ash-pan when it is desired to stop operations. The vaporizer, properly so called, is not placed directly over the fire, and for this reason the production of a spheroidal state of the liquid is avoided. It consists of a vessel, 44, into which the liquid is led by a pipe, 43. The cast-iron evaporating vessel, 14, is provided with appendages, 14 bis, which dip into the liquid and bring about its evaporation. A refractory clay sleeve, 41, protects the lower part of the cylinder, 15, from the fire, and diminishes the smoke passages at 42. The vapor produced makes its way vertically through a layer of charcoal placed between the evaporating vessel, 14, and the receiver, 17, and serving to decompose the aqueous vapor formed. All clay and red and white lead joints are done away with in this part of the apparatus, as are also packing bolts. Thus, at the upper part the cover, 19, is provided with a rim that enters a cavity filled with lead, so, too, the lower part of the evaporating vessel, 14, rests in a channel containing lead. There is also at 30, a joint of the same character for the rim of the external cylindrical vessel, 18. Both this latter and the receiver, 17, dip beneath into a tank of water, 66. The distributer, B, is so arranged as to cause the water, and oil, and the liquids to be vaporized to flow with the greatest regularity, and proportionally to the consumption of the gas in cases where the latter is not stored up in a gas meter. The flow is controlled by cocks that are actuated by variations in the height of the regulator receiver. All the condensation that occurs in the various parts of the apparatus collects in a receptacle, 52, so arranged as to perform the office of a separator and set apart the oil at 20, and the water at 21, through the natural effect of their difference in density. This latter is likewise utilized for causing the oil to flow into the vaporizer through 26 and 27, instead of using a graduated cock that receives a variable pressure from the receiver. In this way every cause of obstruction is avoided. FIG. 2.—SECTION. We have stated that the regulator, C, serves to automatically regulate the flow of the liquids proportionally to the consumption of the gases produced. To effect this a communication is established between the regulator receiver, 59, and the aperture through which the liquids flow, and the flow is thus modified by the valves, 54 and 55. The water contained in the reservoir of the regulator serves to wash the gas which enters through a number of orifices in the disk, 60, this latter being fixed beneath the level of the water. The gas may be purified by dissolving metallic salts in the water. By means of the arrangement above described, there may be manufactured at will a rich gas from liquid hydrocarburets, hydrogen from water, and gas obtained by an admixture of two others simultaneously produced and combined in the apparatus.—Chronique Industrielle. SUGAR NITRO-GLYCERINE. A new explosive has been discovered by M. Roca, a French engineer, who communicates an account of it to Le Génie Civil. The discovery was due entirely to scientific induction from some experiments made upon different specimens of dynamite, with a view to the determination of the effect on the explosive force of the various inert or at least slowly combustible substances with which nitro-glycerine is mixed to produce the dynamite of commerce. Of late, in place of the infusorial earth which formed the solid portion of Nobel's dynamite, such substances as sawdust, powdered bark, and even gunpowder, have been used, probably for the sake of economy alone, without, except in the latter case, any reference to the influence which they might have upon the combustion of the nitro-glycerine; but M. Roca, in testing a variety of samples, was struck by the difference among them in regard to energy of explosion, and discovered that if a portion of free carbon, sufficient to combine with the oxygen disengaged from the nitro-glycerine, was present at the moment of detonation, the effect was greater than where, as in the case of gunpowder, the solid portion alone furnished oxygen enough to burn all the free carbon, without calling upon the nitro-glycerine for any. In fact, it appeared from experiment that the dose of carbon might with advantage be so great as not only to be itself oxidized into carbonic oxide by the oxygen of the nitro-glycerine, but to reduce the carbonic acid developed by the explosion of the latter itself into carbonic oxide. The limit of the advantageous effect of free carbon ceased here, and if more were added to the mixture, the cavities formed by the explosion in the lead cubes used for test were found simply lined with soot; but up to the limit necessary for converting all the carbon in the dynamite into carbonic oxide, the addition of a reducing agent was shown to be an important gain. This was confirmed by theory, which shows that pure nitro-glycerine, which is composed of six parts of carbon and two of hydrogen, combined with three times as much nitric acid and water, decomposes on explosion into six parts of carbonic acid, five of watery vapor, one of oxygen, and three of nitrogen, while the addition of seven more parts of free carbon to the mixture causes the development, by explosion, of thirteen volumes of carbonic oxide, five parts of watery vapor, and three of nitrogen, or twenty-one volumes of gas in place of fifteen. As the power of an explosive depends principally on the amount of gas which results from its sudden combustion, it was evident that the addition of pure or nearly pure carbon, in a condition to be readily combined with the other elements, ought to increase materially the force of nitro-glycerine, and M. Roca experimented accordingly with an admixture of sugar, as a highly carbonized body immediately available, and found that three parts of this, mixed with seven parts of nitro-glycerine, detonated with a force from thirty to thirty-five per cent. greater than that of pure nitro-glycerine. Many other organic carbonaceous substances may be employed in place of sugar, with various advantages. In comparing these simple compounds with the celebrated explosive gum, prepared by dissolving gun-cotton in nitro-glycerine, it is found that the latter is far inferior, having an energy very little superior to that of pure nitro-glycerine. THE CIRCLE-DIVIDER. This little apparatus, invented by Prof. Mora, of Senlis, permits of dividing circumferences or circles into equal or proportional parts. It consists (Fig. 2) of a rule, A, divided into equal or proportional parts, which pivots in the manner of a compass around a rod, T, that serves as a central rotary point. Along this rule moves a slide, R, provided with an aperture, C, which is made to coincide with one of the divisions. This division corresponds to the number of equal or proportional parts into which the circle is to be divided. The slide is provided with a wheel, E, that carries a point which serves at every revolution to trace the points that indicate the divisions of the circumference. FIG. 1.—MODE OF USING THE CIRCLE DIVIDER. The apparatus operates as follows: Suppose, for example, that it becomes necessary to divide a circumference into 19 equal parts: We make the aperture, C, coincide with the 19th division of the rule, and fix the point of the rod, T, in the center of the circumference, and cause the rule to revolve around it. The wheel, E, will revolve upon its axis, g, and, at every revolution, its point will make a mark which corresponds to the 19th part of the circumference— Circumf. c / Circumf. C = r / R It is always necessary that the extremity of the wheel, E, and the center-point, T, shall be at the same height in order to have the divisions very accurate. FIG. 2.—THE CIRCLE DIVIDER. SOLUBLE GLASS. Although the manufacture of soluble glass does not strictly belong to the glass maker's art, yet it is an allied process to that of manufacturing glass. Of late soluble glass has been used with good effect as a preservative coating for stones, a fire-proofing solution for wood and textile fabrics. Very thin gauze dipped in a solution of silicate of potash diluted with water, and dried, burns without flame, blackens, and carbonizes as if it were heated in a retort without contact of air. As a fire-proofing material it would be excellent were it not that the alkaline reaction of this glass very often changes the coloring matters of paintings and textile fabrics. Since soluble glass always remains somewhat deliquescent, even though the fabrics may have been thoroughly dried, the moisture of the atmosphere is attracted, and the goods remain damp. This is the reason why its use has been abandoned for preserving theater decorations and wearing apparel. Another application of soluble glass has been made by surgeons for forming a protecting coat of silicate around broken limbs as a substitute for plaster, starch, or dextrine. The only use where soluble glass has met with success is in the preservation of porous stones, building materials, paintings in distemper, and painting on glass. Before we describe these applications, we will give the processes used in making soluble glass. The following ingredients are heated in a reverberatory furnace until fusion becomes quieted: 1,260 pounds white sand, 660 pounds potash of 78°. This will produce 1,690 pounds of transparent, homogeneous glass, with a slight tinge of amber. This glass is but little soluble in hot water. To dissolve it, the broken fragments are introduced into a iron digester charged with a sufficient quantity of water, at a high pressure, to make a solution marking 33° to 35° Baume. Distilled or rain water should be used, as the calcareous salts contained in ordinary water would produce insoluble salts of lime, which would render the solution turbid and opalescent; this solution contains silica and potash combined together in the proportion of 70 to 30. Silicate of soda is made with 180 parts of sand, 100 parts carbonate of soda (0.91), and is to be melted in the same manner as indicated previously. Soluble glass may also be prepared by the following method: A mixture of sand with a solution of caustic potash or soda is introduced into an iron boiler, under 5 or 6 atmospheres of pressure, and heated for a few hours. The iron boiler contains an agitator, which is occasionally operated during the melting. The liquid is allowed to cool until it reaches 212°, and is drawn out after it has been allowed to clear by settling; it is then concentrated until it reaches a density of 1.25, or it may be evaporated to dryness in an iron kettle. The metal is not affected by alkaline liquors. The glass is soluble in boiling water; cold water dissolves but little of it. The solution is decomposed by all acids, even by carbonic acid. Soluble glass is apparently coagulated by the addition of an alkaline salt; mixed with powdered matters upon which alkalies have no effect, it becomes sticky and agglutinative, a sort of mineral glue. To apply soluble glass for the preservation of buildings and monuments of porous materials, take a solution of silicate of potash of 35° Baume, dilute it with twice its weight of water, paint with a brush, or inject with a pump; give several coats. Experience has shown that three coats applied on three successive days are sufficient to preserve the materials indefinitely, at a cost of about 15 cents per square yard. When applied upon old materials, it is necessary to wash them thoroughly with water. The degree of concentration of the solutions to be used varies with the materials. For hard stones, such as sand and free stones, rock, etc., the solution should mark 7° to 9° Baume; for soft stones with coarse grit, 5° to 7°; for calcareous stones of soft texture, 6° to 7°. The last coating should always be applied with a more dilute solution of 3° to 4° only. Authorities are divided upon the successful results of the preservation of stone by silicates. Some claim in the affirmative that the protection is permanent, while others assert that with time and the humidity of the atmosphere the beneficial effects gradually disappear. It might be worth while to experiment upon some of the porous sandstones, which, under the extreme influence of our climate, rapidly deteriorate; such, for instance, as the Connecticut sandstone, so popular at one time as a building material, but which is now generally discarded, owing to its tendency to crumble to pieces when exposed to the weather even for a few years. Soluble glass has also been used in Germany to a great extent for mural painting, known as stereochromy. The process consists in first laying a ground with a lime water; when this is thoroughly dry, it is soaked with a solution of silicate of soda. When this has completely solidified, the upper coating is applied to the thickness of about one-sixteenth of an inch, and should be put on very evenly. It is then rubbed with fine sandstone to roughen the surface. When thoroughly dry, the colors are applied with water; the wall is also frequently sprinkled with water. The colors are now set by using a mixture of silicate of potash completely saturated with silica, with a basic silicate of soda (a flint liquor with soda base, obtained by melting 2 parts sand with 3 parts of carbonate of soda). As the colors applied do not stand the action of the brush, the soluble glass is projected against the wall by means of a spray. After a few days the walls should be washed with alcohol to remove the dust and alkali liberated. The colors used for this style of painting are zinc white, green oxide of chrome, cobalt green, chromate of lead, colcothar, ochers, and ultramarine. Soluble glass has also been used in the manufacture of soaps made with palm and cocoanut oil; this body renders them more alkaline and harder. Interesting experiments have been made with soluble glass for coloring corals and shells. By plunging silicated shells into hot solutions of salts of chrome, nickel, cobalt, or copper, beautiful dyes in yellow, green, and blue are produced. Here seems to be a field for further application of this discovery. Soluble glass has also been applied to painting on glass in imitation of glass staining. By using sulphate of baryta, ultramarine, oxide of chrome, etc., mixed with silicate of potash, fast colors are obtained similar to the semi-transparent colors of painted windows. By this means a variety of cheap painted glass may be made. Should these colors be fired in a furnace, enameled surfaces would be produced. As a substitute for albumen for fixing colors in calico printing, soluble glass has been used with a certain degree of success; also as a sizing for thread previous to weaving textile fabrics. Thus it would seem that this substance has been used for many purposes, but since its application does not seem to have been extended to any great degree, the defects here pointed out in its use as a fire-proofing material perhaps also exist, to a certain degree, in its other applications. In painting upon glass, for instance, it is asserted that the brilliancy and finish of ordinary vitrified colors cannot be obtained.—Glassware Reporter. THE JET VENTILATOR. KORTING'S JET VENTILATOR. Messrs. Korting bros., of London, induced by the interest that has been directed to the separate ventilation of mines in which fire-damp is apt to form, have adopted for this purpose their jet ventilator. The instrument, which we illustrate in Fig. 1, has been, we understand, considerable simplified, and adapted for the special object in view. The ventilators are worked by compressed air, and are so arranged that, without stopping their action, the quantity of air they deliver can be rapidly increased or diminished. This ample power of control has been arranged for by the special wish of the mining authorities, who wish to regulate the ventilation according to the development of fire-damp or the greater or less number of men at work. Under circumstances of this kind the quantity of air taken into the mine can be changed instantly. The illustrations, Figs. 2, 3, and 4, show different modes of fixing the jet ventilator. In Fig. 2, it is arranged to blow the air forward; in Fig. 3, it is shown exhausting the air; and in Fig. 4, it is represented as exhausting and blowing simultaneously, the efficiency in each case being always the same. Any bends in the conduit affect the result to a very slight degree, and the ventilator may be used with advantage when the conduit is divided as in Fig. 4, in order to get the fresh air to different points. The ventilators are easily fixed to the air conduits. If they are to be connected to zinc air pipes, the pipe is simply slipped over the point, L. in Fig. 1, and if to wooden conduits the apparatus is simply pu...