[Illustration]

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT NO. 421

NEW YORK, JANUARY 26, 1884

Scientific American Supplement. Vol. XVII. , No. 421. 

Scientific American established 1845

Scientific American Supplement, $5 a year. 

Scientific American and Supplement, $7 a year. 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. ENGINEERING AND MECHANICS. --Furcot's Six Horse Power Steam Engine. --With several figures. 6714

 Foot Lathes. --With engraving. 6715

 Endless Trough Conveyer. --2 engravings. 6715

 Railroad Grades of Trunk Lines. 6715

 English Express Trains. --Average speed, long runs, etc. 6715

 Apparatus for Separating Substances Contained in the Waste Waters of Paper Mills, etc. --2 figures. 6717

II. TECHNOLOGY. --An English Adaptation of the American Oil Mill. --Description of the apparatus, and of the old and new processes. --Several engravings. 6716

 Large Blue Prints. --By W. B. Parsons, Jr. 6717

III. ELECTRICITY, ETC. --Electrical Apparatus for Measuring and for Demonstration at the Munich Exhibition. --With descriptions and numerous illustrations of the different machines. 6711

 A New Oxide of Copper Battery. --By F. De Lalande and S. Chaperon. --With description and three illustrations. 6714

IV. MATHEMATICS, ETC. --To Find the Time of Twilight. --1 figure. 6720

 A New Rule for Division in Arithmetic. 6725

 Experiments in Binary Arithmetic. 6726

V. ARCHÆOLOGY. --Grecian Antiquities. --With engravings of the Monument of Philopappus. --Tomb from the Ceramicus. --Tower of the winds. --The Acropolis. --Old Corinth. --Temple of Jupiter. --The Parthenon. --Temple of Theseus, etc. 6721

VI. NATURAL HISTORY, ETHNOLOGY, ETC. --Poisonous Serpents and their Venom. --By Dr. Archie Stockwell. --A serpent's mouth, fangs, and poison gland. --Manner of attack. --Nature of the venom. --Action of venom. --Remedies. 6719

 Ethnological Notes. --Papuans. --Negritos. 6720

VII. HORTICULTURE, BOTANY, ETC. --The Hornbeams. --Uses to which the tree is put. --Wood for manufactures. --For fuel. --Different varieties. --With engravings of the tree as a whole, and of its leaves, fruit, flowers, etc. 6724

 Fruit of Camellia Japonica. --1 engraving. 6725

VIII. MEDICINE. SANITATION, ETC. --House Drainage and Refuse. Abstract of a lecture by Capt. Douglas Galton. --Treating of the removal of the refuse from camps, small towns, and houses. --Conditions to observe in house drains, etc. 6717

 Pasteur's New Method of Attenuation. 6718

 Convenient Vaults. 6719

IX. MISCELLANEOUS. --Spanish Fisheries. --Noticeable objects in the Spanish Court at the late Fisheries Exhibition. 6722

 Duck Shooting at Montauk. 6723

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ELECTRICAL APPARATUS FOR MEASURING AND FOR DEMONSTRATION AT THE MUNICHEXHIBITION. 

Apparatus for use in laboratories and cabinets of physics were quitenumerous at the Munich Exhibition of Electricity, and very naturally alarge number was to be seen there that presented little differencewith present models. Several of them, however, merit citation. Amongthe galvanometers, we remarked an apparatus that was exhibited byProf. Zenger, of Prague. The construction of this reminded us of thatof other galvanometers, but it was interesting in that its inventorhad combined in it a series of arrangements that permitted of varyingits sensitiveness within very wide limits. This apparatus, which Prof. Zenger calls a "Universal Rheometer" (Fig. 1), consists of a bobbinwhose interior is formed of a piece of copper, whose edges do notmeet, and which is connected by strips of copper with two terminals. This internal shell is capable of serving for currents of quantity, and, when the two terminals are united by a wire, it may serve as adeadener. Above this copper shell there are two identical coils ofwire which may, according to circumstances, be coupled in tension orin series, or be employed differentially. Reading is performed eitherby the aid of a needle moving over a dial, or by means of a mirror, which is not shown in the figure. Finally, there is a lateral scale, R, which carries a magnetized bar, A, that may be slid toward thegalvanometer. This magnet is capable of rendering the needle lesssensitive or of making it astatic. In order to facilitate thisoperation, the magnet carries at its extremity a tube which contains abar of soft iron that may be moved slightly so as to vary the lengthof the magnet. Prof. Zenger calls this arrangement a magnetic vernier. It will be seen that, upon combining all the elements of theapparatus, we can obtain very different combinations; and, accordingto the inventor, his rheometer is a substitute for a dozengalvanometers of various degrees of sensitiveness, and permits ofmeasuring currents of from 20 amperes down to 1/50000000 an ampere. The apparatus may even be employed for measuring magnetic forces, asit constitutes a very sensitive magnetometer. 

[Illustration: FIG. 1. --ZENGER'S UNIVERSAL RHEOMETER. ]

Prof. Zenger likewise had on exhibition a "Universal Electrometer"(Fig. 2), in which the fine wire that served as an electrometricneedle was of magnetized steel suspended by a cotton thread. In thisinstrument, a silver wire, t, terminating in a ball, is fixed to asupport, C, hanging from a brass disk, P, placed upon the glass caseof the apparatus. It will be seen that if we bring an electrified bodynear the disk, P, a deviation of the needle will occur. Thesensitiveness of the latter may be regulated by a magnetic system likethat of the galvanometer. Finally, a disk, P', which may be slid upand down its support, permits of the instrument being used as acondensing electrometer, by giving it, according to the distance ofthe disks, different degrees of sensitiveness. One constructor whofurnished much to this part of the exhibition was Mr. Th. Edelmann ofMunich, whose apparatus are represented in a group in Fig. 3. Amongthem we remark the following: A quadrant electrometer (Fig. 4), inwhich the horizontal 8-shaped needle is replaced by two connectedcylindrical surfaces that move in a cylinder formed of four parts; aVon Beetz commutator; spyglasses with scale for reading measuringinstruments (Fig. 3); apparatus for the study of magnetic variations, of Lamont (Fig. 3) and of Wild (Fig. 5); different types of theWiedemann galvanometer; an electrometer for atmospheric observations(Fig. 6); a dropping apparatus (Fig. 7), in which the iron ball opensone current at a time at the moment it leaves the electro-magnet andwhen it reaches the foot of the support, these two breakages producingtwo induction sparks that exactly limit the length to be taken inorder to measure the time upon the tracing of the chronoscopetuning-fork; an absolute galvanometer; a bifilar galvanometer (Fig. 8)for absolute measurements, in which the helix is carried by twovertical steel wires stretched from o to u, and which is renderedcomplete by a mirror for the reading, and a second and fixed helix, sothat an electro-dynamometer may be made of it; and, finally, agalvanometer for strong currents, having a horseshoe magnet pivotedupon a vertically divided column which is traversed by the current, and a plug that may be arranged at different heights between the twoparts of the column so as to render the apparatus more sensitive (Fig. 9). 

[Illustration: FIG. 2. --ZENGER'S UNIVERSAL ELECTROMETER. ]

We may likewise cite the exhibit of Mr. Eugene Hartmann of Wurtzburg, which comprised a series of apparatus of the same class as those thatwe have just enumerated--spyglasses for the reading of apparatus, galvanometers, magnetometers, etc. 

[Illustration: FIG. 3. --EXHIBIT OF TH. EDELMANN. ]

Specially worthy of remark were the apparatus of Mr. Kohlrausch formeasuring resistances by means of induction currents, and a wholeseries of accessory instruments. 

Among the objects shown by other exhibitors must be mentioned Prof. Von Waltenhofen's differential electromagnetic balance. In this, twoiron cylinders are suspended from the extremities of a balance. One ofthem is of solid iron, and the other is of thin sheet iron and oflarger diameter and is balanced by an additional weight. Both of thementer, up to their center, two solenoids. If a strong current bepassed into these latter, the solid cylinder will be attracted; butif, on the contrary, the current be weak, the hollow cylinder will beattracted. If the change in the current's intensity occur gradually, there will be a moment in which the cylinders will remain inequilibrium. 

[Illustration: FIG. 4. --EDELMANN'S QUADRANT ELECTROMETER. ]

Prof. Zenger's differential photometer that we shall finally cite isan improvement upon Bunsen's. In the latter the position of theobserver's eye not being fixed, the aspect of the spot changesaccordingly, and errors are liable to result therefrom. Besides, because of the non-parallelism of the luminous rays, each of the twosurfaces is not lighted equally, and hence again there may occurdivergences. In order to avoid such inconveniences, Prof. Zenger giveshis apparatus (Fig. 10) the following form: The screen, D, iscontained in a cubical box capable of receiving, through apertures, light from sources placed upon the two rules, R and R'. A flaringtube, P, fixes the position of the eye very definitely. As for thescreen, this is painted with black varnish, and three verticalwindows, about an inch apart, are left in white upon its paper. Overone of the halves of these parts a solution of stearine is passed. Tooperate with the apparatus, in comparing two lights, the central spotis first brought to invisibility, and the distances of the sources aremeasured. A second determination is at once made by causing one of thetwo other spots to disappear, and the mean of the two results is thentaken. As, at a maximum, there is a difference corresponding to 3/100of a candle between the illumination of the two neighboring windows, in the given conditions of the apparatus, the error is thus limited toa half of this value, or 2 per cent. Of that of one candle. 

[Illustration: FIG. 5. --WILD'S APPARATUS FOR STUDYING MAGNETICVARIATIONS. ]

Among the apparatus designed for demonstration in lecture courses, weremarked a solenoid of Prof. Von Beetz for demonstrating theconstitution of magnets (Fig. 11), and in which eight magnetizedneedles, carrying mica disks painted half white and half black, moveunder the influence of the currents that are traversing the solenoid, or of magnets that are bought near to it externally. Another apparatusof the same inventor is the lecture-course galvanometer (Fig. 3), inwhich the horizontal needle bends back vertically over the externalsurface of a cylinder that carries divisions that are plainly visibleto spectators at a distance. 

[Illustration: FIG. 6. --ELECTROMETER FOR ATMOSPHERIC OBSERVATIONS. ]

Finally, let us cite an instrument designed for demonstrating theprinciple of the Gramme machine. A circular magnet, AA', is insertedinto a bobbin, B, divided into two parts, and moves under theinfluence of a disk, L, actuated by a winch, M. This system permits ofstudying the currents developed in each portion of the bobbin duringthe revolution of the ring (Fig. 12). 

[Illustration: FIG. 7. --WIEDEMANN'S CURRENT BREAKER. ]

To end our review of the scientific apparatus at the exhibition weshall merely mention Mr. Van Rysselberghe's registeringthermometrograph (shown in Figs. 13 and 14), and shall then say a fewwords concerning two types of registering apparatus--Mr. Harlacher'swater-current register and Prof. Von Beetz's chronograph. 

[Illustration: FIG. 8. --WIEDEMANN'S BIFILAR GALVANOMETER. ]

Mr. Harlacher's apparatus was devised by him for studying the deepcurrents of the Elbe. It is carried (Fig. 15) by a long, vertical, hollow rod which is plunged into the river. A cord that passes over apulley, P, allows of the apparatus, properly so called, being let downto a certain depth in the water. What is registered is the velocity ofthe vanes that are set in action by the current, and to effect suchregistry each revolution of the helix produces in the box, C, anelectric contact that closes the circuit in the cable, F, attached tothe terminals, B. This cable forms part of a circuit that includes apile and a registering apparatus that is seen at L, outside of the boxin which it is usually inclosed. In certain cases, a bell whose soundindicates the velocity of the current to the ear is substituted forthe registering apparatus. 

[Illustration: FIG. 9. --WIEDEMANN'S GALVANOMETER FOR STRONG CURRENTS. ]

Fig. 16 represents another type of the same apparatus in which themechanism of the contact is uncovered. The supporting rod is likewisein this type utilized as a current conductor. 

[Illustration: FIG. 10. --ZENGER'S DIFFERENTIAL PHOTOMETER. ]

It now remains to say a few words about Prof. Von Beetz's chronograph. This instrument (Fig. 17) is designed for determining the duration ofcombustion of different powders, the velocity of projectiles, etc. Theregistering drum, T, is revolved by hand through a winch, L, and thetime is inscribed thereon by an electric tuning fork, S, set in motionby the large electro-magnet, E F. Each undulation of the curvescorresponds to a hundredth of a second. The tuning-fork and theregistering electro-magnets, G and H, are placed upon a regulatablesupport, C, by means of which they may be given any position desired. 

[Illustration: FIG. 11. --VON BEETZ'S SOLENOID FOR DEMONSTRATING THECONSTITUTION OF MAGNETS. ]

The style, c, of the magnet, C, traces a point every second in orderto facilitate the reading. The style, b, of the electro-magnet, H, registers the beginning and end of the phenomena that are beingstudied. 

[Illustration: FIG. 12. --APPARATUS FOR DEMONSTRATING THE PRINCIPLE OFTHE GRAMME MACHINE. ]

The apparatus is arranged in such a way that indications may thus beobtained upon the drum by means of induction sparks jumping betweenthe style and the surface of the cylinder. To the left of the figureis seen the apparatus constructed by Lieutenant Ziegler forexperimenting on the duration of combustion of bomb fuses. 

[Illustration: FIG. 13. --VAN RYSSELBERGHE'S REGISTERINGTHERMOMETROGRAPH. ]

Shortly after the drum has commenced revolving, the contact, K, opensa current which supports the heavy armature, P, of an electro-magnet, M. This weight, P, falls upon the rod, d, and inflames the fuse, Z, atthat very instant. At this precise moment the electro-magnet, H, inscribes a point, and renews it only when the cartridge at theextremity of the fuse explodes. 

[Illustration: FIG. 14. --VAN RYSSELBERGHE'S REGISTERINGTHERMOMETROGRAPH. ]

This apparatus perhaps offers the inconvenience that the drum must berevolved by hand, and it would certainly be more convenient could itbe put in movement at different velocities by means of a clockworkmovement that would merely have to be thrown into gear at the desiredmoment. As it is, however, it presents valuable qualities, and, although it has already been employed in Germany for some time, itwill be called upon to render still more extensive services. 

[Illustration: FIG. 15. --HARLACHER'S APPARATUS FOR STUDYING DEEPCURRENTS IN RIVERS. ]

We have now exhausted the subject of the apparatus of precision thatwere comprised in the Munich Exhibition. In general, it may be saidthat this class of instruments was very well represented there asregards numbers, and, on another hand, the manufacturers are to becongratulated for the care bestowed on their construction. --_LaLumiere Electrique_. 

[Illustration: FIG. 16. --HARLACHER'S APPARATUS FOR STUDYING DEEPCURRENTS IN RIVERS. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 17. --VON BEETZ'S CHRONOGRAPH. ]

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COPPER VOLTAMETER. 

Dr. Hammerl, of the Vienna Academy of Sciences, has made someexperiments upon the disturbing influences on the correct indicationsof a copper voltameter. He investigated the effects of the intensityof the current, the distance apart of the plates, and theirpreparation before weighing. The main conclusion which he arrives atis this: That in order that the deposit should be proportional to theintensity of the current, the latter ought not to exceed seven ampèresper square decimeter of area of the cathode. 

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Speaking of steel ropes as transmitters of power, Professor OsborneReynolds says these have a great advantage over shafts, for the stresson the section will be uniform, the velocity will be uniform, and maybe at least ten to fifteen times as great as with shafts--say 100 ft. Per second; the rope is carried on friction pulleys, which may be atdistances 500 ft. Or 600 ft. So that the coefficient of friction willnot be more than 0. 015, instead of 0. 04. 

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A NEW OXIDE OF COPPER BATTERY. 

By MM. F. DE LALANDE and G. CHAPERON. 

We have succeeded in forming a new battery with a single liquid andwith a solid depolarizing element by associating oxide of copper, caustic potash, and zinc. 

This battery possesses remarkable properties. Depolarizing electrodesare easily formed of oxide of copper. It is enough to keep it incontact with a plate or a cell of iron or copper constituting thepositive pole of the element. 

Fig. 1 represents a very simple arrangement. At the bottom of a glassjar, V, we place a box of sheet iron, A, containing oxide of copper, B. To this box is attached a copper wire insulated from the zinc by apiece of India rubber tube. The zinc is formed of a thick wire of thismetal coiled in the form of a flat spiral, D, and suspended from acover, E, which carries a terminal, F, connected with the zinc; anIndia-rubber tube, G, covers the zinc at the place where it dips intothe liquid, to prevent its being eaten away at this level. 

The jar is filled with a solution containing 30 or 40 per cent. Ofpotash. This arrangement is similar to that of a Callaud element, withthis difference--that the depolarizing element is solid and insoluble. 

[Illustration: FIG. 1. ]

To prevent the inconveniences of the manipulation of the potash, weinclose a quantity of this substance in the solid state necessary foran element in the box which receives the oxide of copper, and furnishit with a cover supported by a ring of caoutchouc. It suffices thenfor working the battery to open the box of potash, to place it at thebottom of the jar, and to add water to dissolve the potash; we thenpour in the copper oxide inclosed in a bag. 

We also form the oxide of copper very conveniently into blocks. Amongthe various means which might be employed, we prefer the following:

We mix with the oxide of copper oxychloride of magnesium in the formof paste so as to convert the whole into a thick mass, which weintroduce into metal boxes. 

The mass sets in a short time, or very rapidly by the action of heat, and gives porous blocks of a solidity increasing with the quantity ofcement employed (5 to 10 per cent. ). 

[Illustration: FIG. 2. ]

Fig. 2 represents an arrangement with blocks. The jar V, is providedwith a cover of copper, E, screwing into the glass. This cover carriestwo vertical plates of sheet-iron, A, A', against which are fixed theprismatic blocks, B, B, by means of India rubber bands. The terminal, C, carried by the cover constitutes the positive pole. The zinc isformed of a single pencil, D, passing into a tube fixed to the centerof the cover. The India rubber, G, is folded back upon this tube so asto make an air-tight joint. 

The cover carries, besides, another tube, H, covered by a splitIndia-rubber tube, which forms a safety valve. 

The closing is made hermetical by means of an India rubber tube, K, which presses against the glass and the cover. The potash to chargethe element is in pieces, and is contained either in the glass jaritself or in a separate box of sheet-iron. 

Applying the same arrangement, we form hermetically sealed elementswith a single plate of a very small size. 

The employment of cells of iron, cast-iron, or copper, which are notattacked by the exciting liquid, allows us to easily constructelements exposing a large surface (Fig. 3). 

[Illustration: FIG. 3. ]

The cell, A, forming the positive pole of the battery is of iron platebrazed upon vertical supports; it is 40 centimeters long by 20centimeters wide, and about 10 centimeters high. 

We cover the bottom with a layer of oxide of copper, and place in thefour corners porcelain insulators, L, which support a horizontal plateof zinc, D, D', raised at one end and kept at a distance from theoxide of copper and from the metal walls of the cell; three-quartersof this is filled with a solution of potash. The terminals, C and M, fixed respectively to the iron cell and to the zinc, serve to attachthe leading wires. To avoid the too rapid absorption of the carbonicacid of the air by the large exposed surface, we cover it with a thinlayer of heavy petroleum (a substance uninflammable and withoutsmell), or better still, we furnish the battery with a cover. Theseelements are easily packed so as to occupy little space. 

We shall not discuss further the arrangements which may be variedinfinitely, but point out the principal properties of the oxide ofcopper, zinc, and potash battery. As a battery with a soliddepolarizing element, the new battery presents the advantage of onlyconsuming its element, in proportion to its working; amalgamated zincand copper are, in fact, not attacked by the alkaline solution, it is, therefore, durable. 

Its electromotive force is very nearly one volt. Its internalresistance is very low. We may estimate it at 1/3 or 1/4 of an ohm forpolar surfaces one decimeter square, separated by a distance of fivecentimeters. 

The rendering of these couples is considerable; the small cells shownin Figs. 1 and 2 give about two amperes in short circuit; the largeone gives 16 to 20 amperes. Two of these elements can replace a largeBunsen cell. They are remarkably constant. We may say that with adepolarizing surface double that of the zinc the battery will workwithout notable polarization, and almost until completely exhausted, even under the most unfavorable conditions. The transformation of theproducts, the change of the alkali into an alkaline salt of zinc, doesnot perceptibly vary the internal resistance. This great constancy ischiefly due to the progressive reduction of the depolarizing electrodeto the state of very conductive metal, which augments its conductivityand its depolarizing power. 

The peroxide of manganese, which forms the base of an excellentbattery for giving a small rendering, possesses at first betterconductivity than oxide of copper, but this property is lost byreduction and transformation into lower oxides. It follows that thecopper battery will give a very large quantity of electricity workingthrough low resistances, while under these conditions manganesebatteries are rapidly polarized. 

The energy contained in an oxide of copper and potash battery is verygreat, and far superior to that stored by an accumulator of the sameweight, but the rendering is much less rapid. Potash may be employedin concentrated solution at 30, 40, 60 per cent. ; solid potash candissolve the oxide of zinc furnished by a weight of zinc more thanone-third of its own weight. The quantity of oxide of copper to beemployed exceeds by nearly one-quarter the weight of zinc which entersinto action. These data allow of the reduction of the necessarysubstances to a very small relative weight. 

The oxide of copper batteries have given interesting results in theirapplication to telephones. For theatrical purposes the same batterymay be employed during the whole performance, instead of four or fivebatteries. Their durability is considerable; three elements will workcontinuously, night and day, Edison's carbon microphones for more thanfour months without sensible loss of power. 

Our elements will work for a hundred hours through low resistances, and can be worked at any moment, after several months, for example. Itis only necessary to protect them by a cover from the action of thecarbonic acid of the atmosphere. 

We prefer potash to soda for ordinary batteries, notwithstanding itsprice and its higher equivalent, because it does not produce, likesoda, creeping salts. Various modes of regeneration render thisbattery very economical. The deposited copper absorbs oxygen prettyreadily by simple exposure to damp air, and can be used again. Anoxidizing flame produces the same result very rapidly. 

Lastly, by treating the exhausted battery as an accumulator, that isto say, by passing a current through it in the opposite direction, werestore the various products to their original condition; the copperabsorbs oxygen, and the alkali is restored, while the zinc isdeposited; but the spongy state of the deposited zinc necessitates itsbeing submitted to a process, or to its being received upon a mercurysupport. Again, the oxide of copper which we employ, being a wasteproduct of brazing and plate works, unless it be reduced, losesnothing of its value by its reduction in the battery; thedepolarization may therefore be considered as costing scarcelyanything. The oxide of copper battery is a durable and valuablebattery, which by its special properties seems likely to replaceadvantageously in a great number of applications the batteries atpresent in use. 

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FARCOT'S SIX HORSE POWER STEAM ENGINE. 

This horizontal steam engine, recently constructed by Mr. E. D. Farcotfor actuating a Cance dynamo-electric machine, consists of a cast ironbed frame, A, upon which are mounted all the parts. The two jacketed, cylinders, B and C, of different diameters, each contains asimple-acting piston. The two pistons are connected by one rod incommon, which is fixed at its extremity to a cross-head, D, running inslides, E and F, and is connected with the connecting rod, G. The headof the latter is provided with a bearing of large diameter whichembraces the journal of the driving shaft, H. 

The steam enters the valve-box through the orifice, J, which isprovided with a throttle-valve, L, that is connected with a governorplaced upon the large cylinder. The steam, as shown in Fig. 2 (whichrepresents the piston at one end of its travel), is first admittedagainst the right surface of the small piston, which it causes toeffect an entire stroke corresponding to a half-revolution of thefly-wheel. The stroke completed, the slide-valve, actuated by aneccentric keyed to the driving shaft, returns backward and puts thecylinders, B and C, in communication. The steam then expands anddrives the large piston to the right, so as to effect the second halfof the fly-wheel's revolution. The exhaust occurs through the valvechamber, which, at each stroke, puts the large cylinder in connectionwith the eduction port, M. 

The volume of air included between the two pistons is displaced atevery stroke, so that, according to the position occupied by thepistons, it is held either by the large or small cylinder. Thenecessary result of this is that a compression of the air, andconsequently a resistance, is brought about. In order to obviate thisinconvenience, the constructor has connected the space between the twopistons at the part, A', of the frame by a bent pipe. The air, beingalternately driven into and sucked out of this chamber, A', ofrelatively large dimensions, no longer produces but an insignificantresistance. 

[Illustration: FARCOT'S SIX H. P. STEAM ENGINE. Fig. 1. --Longitudinal Section (Scale 0. 10 to 1). Fig. 2. --Horizontal Section (Scale 0. 10 to 1). Fig. 3. --Section across the Small Cylinder (Scale 0. 10 to 1). Fig. 4. --Section through the Cross Head (Scale 0. 10 to 1). Fig. 5. --Application for a Variable Expanion (Scale 0. 10 to 1). ]

As shown in Fig. 5, there may be applied to this engine a variableexpansion of the Farcot type. The motor being a single acting one, asingle valve-plate suffices. This latter is, during its travel, arrested at one end by a stop and at the other by a cam actuated bythe governor. Upon the axis of this cam there is keyed a gear wheel, with an endless screw, which permits of regulating it by hand. 

This engine, which runs at a pressure of from 5 to 6 kilogrammes, makes 150 revolutions per minute and weighs 2, 000 kilogrammes. --_Annales Industrielles_. 

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FOOT LATHES. 

We illustrate a foot lathe constructed by the Britannia ManufacturingCompany, of Colchester, and specially designed for use on board ships. These lathes, says _Engineering_, are treble geared, in order thatwork which cannot usually be done without steam power may beaccomplished by foot. For instance, they will turn a 24 inch wheel orplate, or take a half-inch cut off a 3 inch shaft, much heavier workthan can ordinarily be done by such tools. They have 6 inch centers, gaps 7½ inches wide and 6½ inches deep, beds 4 feet 6 inches long by8¾ inches on the face and 6 inches in depth, and weigh 14 cwt. Thereare three speeds on the cone pulley, 9 inches, 6 inches, and 4 inchesin diameter and 1½ inches wide. The gear wheels are 9/16 inch pitchand 1½ inches wide on face. The steel leading screw is 1½ inches indiameter by ¼ inch pitch. Smaller sizes are made for torpedo boats andfor places where space is limited. 

[Illustration: LATHE FOR USE ON SHIPBOARD. ]

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ENDLESS TROUGH CONVEYER. 

[Illustration]

The endless trough conveyer is one of the latest applications oflink-belting, consisting primarily of a heavy chain belt carried overa pair of wheels, and in the intermediate space a truck on which thetrain runs. This chain or belt is provided with pans which, as theyoverlap, form an endless trough. Power being applied to revolve one ofthe wheels, the whole belt is thereby set in motion and at oncebecomes an endless trough conveyer. The accompanying engravingillustrates a section of this conveyer. A few of the pans are removed, to show the construction of the links; and above this a link andcoupler are shown on a larger scale. As will be seen, the link isprovided with wings, to form a rigid support for the pan to be rivetedto it. To reduce friction each link is provided with three rollers, aswill be seen in the engraving. This outfit makes a fireproof conveyerwhich will handle hot ore from roasting kiln to crusher, and conveycoal, broken stone, or other gritty and coarse material. The Link BeltMachinery Company, of Chicago, is now erecting for Mr. Charles E. Coffin, of Muirkirk, Md. , about 450 ft. Of this conveyer, which is tocarry the hot roasted iron ore from the kilns on an incline of aboutone foot in twelve up to the crusher. This dispenses with thebarrow-men, and at an expenditure of a few more horsepower becomes afaithful servant, ready for work in all weather and at all times ofday or night. This company also manufactures ore elevators of anycapacity, which, used in connection with this apparatus, will handleperfectly anything in the shape of coarse, gritty material. It mightbe added that the endless trough conveyer is no experiment. Althoughcomparatively new in this country, the American _Engineering andMining Journal_ says it has been in successful operation for some timein England, the English manufacturers of link-belting having had greatsuccess with it. 

[Illustration: ENDLESS TROUGH CONVEYER. ]

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RAILROAD GRADES OF TRUNK LINES. 

On the West Shore and Buffalo road its limit of grade is 30 feet tothe mile going west and north, and 20 feet to the mile going east andsouth. Next for easy grades comes the New York Central and HudsonRiver road. From New York to Albany, then up the valley of the Mohawk, till it gradually reaches the elevation of Lake Erie, it is all thetime within the 500 foot level, and this is maintained by itsconnections on the lake borders to Chicago, by the "Nickel Plate, " theLake Shore and Michigan Southern, and the Canada Southern and MichiganCentral. 

The Erie, the Pennsylvania, and the Baltimore and Ohio roads passthrough a country so mountainous that, much as they have expended toimprove their grades, it is practically impossible for them to attainthe easy grades so much more readily obtained by the trunk linesfollowing the great natural waterways originally extending almost fromChicago to New York. 

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ENGLISH EXPRESS TRAINS. 

The _Journal of the Statistical Society_ for September contains anelaborate paper by Mr. E. Foxwell on "English Express Trains; theirAverage Speed, etc. With Notes on Gradients, Long Runs, etc. " Theauthor takes great pains to explain his definition of the term"express trains, " which he finally classifies thus: (a) The generalrule; those which run under ordinary conditions, and attain ajourney-speed of 40 and upward. These are about 85 per cent. Of thewhole. (b) Equally good trains, which, running against exceptionaldifficulties, only attain, perhaps, a journey speed as low as 36 or37. These are about 5 per cent. Of the whole. (c) Trains which shouldcome under (a), but which, through unusually long stoppages or similarcauses, only reach a journey speed of 39. These are about 10 percent. [1] of the whole. 

 [Footnote 1: 10 per cent. Of the number, but not of the mileage, of the whole; for most of this class run short journeys. ]

He next explains that by "running average" is meant: The average speedper hour while actually in motion from platform to platform, i. E. , theaverage speed obtained by deducting stoppages. Thus the 9-hour (up)Great Northern "Scotchman" stops 49 minutes on its journey fromEdinburgh to King's Cross, and occupies 8 hours 11 minutes in actualmotion; its "running average" is therefore 48 miles an hour, or, briefly, "r. A. =48. " The statement for this train will thus appear:Distance in miles between Edinburgh and King's Cross, 392½; time, 9 h. 0 m. ; journey-speed, 43. 6; minutes stopped, 49; running average, 48. 

Mr. Foxwell then proceeds to describe in detail the performances ofthe express trains of the leading English and Scottish railways--inIreland there are no trains which come under his definition of"express"--giving the times of journey, the journey-speeds, minutesstopped on way, and running averages, with the gradients and othercircumstances bearing on these performances. He sums up the resultsfor the United Kingdom, omitting fractions, as follows:

 ========================================================================= Extent of| | | Average | | | System | | Distinct | Journey- | Running | Express | in Miles. | | Expresses. | speed. | Average. | Mileage. | ---------+-------------------+-----------+----------+---------+---------+ 1773 | North-Western | {54} 82 | 40 | 43 | 10, 400 | | | {28} | | | | 1260 | Midland | 66 | 41 | 45 | 8, 860 | 928 | Great Northern | {48} 67 | 43 | 46 | 6, 780 | | | {19} | | | | 907 | Great Eastern | 34 | 41 | 43 | 3, 040 | 2267 | Great Western | 18 | 42 | 46 | 2, 600 | 1519 | North-Eastern | 19 | 40 | 43 | 2, 110 | 290 | Manch. , Sheffield, | 49 | 43 | 44 | 2, 318 | | and Lincoln | | | | | 767 | Caledonian | 16 | 40 | 42 | 1, 155 | 435 | Brighton | 13 | 41 | 41 | 1, 155 | 382 | South-Eastern | 12 | 41 | 41 | 940 | 329 | Glasgow and | 8 | 41 | 43 | 920 | | South-Western | | | | | 796 | London and | 3 | 41 | 44 | 890 | | South-Western | | | | | 984 | North British | 11 | 39 | 41 | 830 | 153 | Chatham and Dover | 9 | 42 | 43 | 690 | +-----------+----------+---------+---------+ | 407 | 41 | 44 | 42, 683 | =========================================================================

A total of 407 express trains, whose average journey-speed is 41. 6, and which run 42, 680 miles at an average "running average" of 44. 3miles per hour. 

If we arrange the companies according to their speed instead of theirmileage, the order is:

 Average r. A. Miles Great Northern. 46 6, 780 Great Western. 46 [2]2, 600 Midland. 45 8, 860 Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincoln 44 2, 318 London and South-Western. 44 890 North-Western. 43 10, 400 Glasgow and South-Western. 43 920 Great Eastern. 43 3, 040 North-Eastern. 43 2, 110 Chatham and Dover. 43 690 Caledonian. 42 1, 155 South-Eastern. 41 940 Brighton. 41 1, 155 North British. 31 825

 [Footnote 2: Not reckoning mileage west of Exeter. ]

EXPRESS ROUTES ARRANGED IN ORDER OF DIFFICULTY OF GRADIENTS, ETC. 

 North British, Caledonian, Manch. , Sheffield & Lincoln, Midland, Glasgow and South-Western, Chatham and Dover, South-Eastern, Great Northern, South-Western, Great Eastern, Brighton, North-Western, North-Eastern, Great Western. 

LONG RUNS IN ENGLAND. 

 ======================================================================= | Number of | Average | Running | Trains. | Speed. | Averages. ------------------------------------+-----------+---------+------------ | | Miles. | Miles. Midland. | 104 | 53 | 46 (5, 512) North-Western. | 98 | 60 | 45 (5, 880) Great Northern. | 49 | 73 | 50 (3, 616) Great Western. | 24 | 56 | 48 (1, 344) Great Eastern. | 24 | 56 | 42 (1, 362) Brighton. | 23 | 45 | 42 (1, 047) North-Eastern. | 20 | 56 | 44 (1, 120) South-Western. | 13 | 47 | 44 (615) South-Eastern. | 12 | 66 | 42 (795) Chatham and Dover. | 8 | 63 | 45 (504) Caledonian. | 8 | 59 | 45 (476) Glasgow and South-Western | 8 | 58 | 44 (468) Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincoln. | 8 | 48 | 43 (390) North British. | 7 | 60 | 40 (423) ------------------------------------+-----------+---------+------------ Total. | 406 | 58 | 45 (23, 550) =======================================================================

From this it will be seen that the three great companies run 61 percent. Of the whole express mileage, and 62 per cent. Of the wholenumber of long runs. 

 * * * * *

IMPROVED OIL MILL. 

The old and cumbersome methods of crushing oil seeds by mechanicalmeans have during the last few years undergone a complete revolution. By the old process, the seed, having been flattened between a pair ofstones, was afterward ground by edge stones, weighing in some cases asmuch as 20 tons, and working at about eighteen revolutions per minute. Having been sufficiently ground, the seed was taken to a kettle orsteam jacketed vessel, where it was heated, and thence drawn--inquantities sufficient for a cake--in woollen bags, which were placedin a hydraulic press. From four to six bags was the utmost that couldbe got into the press at one time, and the cakes were pressed betweenwrappers of horsehair on similar material. All this involved a gooddeal of manual labor, a cumberstone plant, and a considerable expensein the frequent replacing of the horsehair wrappers, each of whichinvolved a cost of about £4. The modern requirements of trade have inevery branch of industry ruthlessly compelled the abandonment of theslow, easy-going methods which satisfied the times when competitionwas less keen. Automatic mechanical arrangements, almost at everyturn, more effectually and at greatly increased speed, completemanufacturing operations previously performed by hand, and oil-seedcrushing machinery has been no exception to the general rule. Theillustrations we give represent the latest developments in improvedoil-mill machinery introduced by Rose, Downs & Thompson, named the"Colonial" mill, and recently we had an opportunity of inspecting themachinery complete before shipment to Calcutta, where it is being sentfor the approaching exhibition. As compared with the old system ofoil-seed crushing, Messrs. Rose, Downs & Thompson claim for theirmethod, among other advantages, a great saving in driving power, economy of space, a more perfect extraction of the oil, an improvedbranding of the cakes, a saving of 50 per cent. In the labor employedin the press-room, with also a great saving in wear and tear, whilethe process is equally applicable to linseed, cottonseed, rapeseed, orsimilar seeds. In addition to these improvements in the system, the"Colonial" mill has been specially designed in structural arrangementto meet the requirements of exporters. The machinery and engine areself-contained on an iron foundation, so that there is no need ofskilled mechanics to erect the mill, nor of expensive stonefoundations, while the building covering the mill can, if desired, beof the lightest possible description, as no wall support is required. The mill consists of the following machinery: A vertical steel boiler, 3 ft. 7 in. Diameter, 8 ft. 1½ in. High, with three cross tubes 7½ in. Diameter, shell 5/16 in. Thick, crown 3/8 in. Thick, uptake 9 in. Diameter, with all necessary fittings, and where wood fuel is usedextra grate area can be provided. This boiler supplies the steam notonly for the engine, but also for heating and damping the seed in thekettle. The engine is vertical, with 8 in. Cylinder and 12 in. Stroke, with high speed governors, and stands on the cast iron bed-plate ofthe mill. This bed-plate, which is in three sections, is about 30 ft. Long, and is planed and shaped to receive the various machines, which, when the top is leveled, can be fixed in their respective places byany intelligent man, and when the machines are in position they form asupport for the shafting. The seed to be crushed is stored in a woodenbin, placed above and behind the roll frame hopper. The roll frame hasfour chilled cast iron rolls, 15 in. Face, 12 in. Diameter, soarranged as to subject the seed to three rollings, with patentpressure giving apparatus. These rolls are driven by fast and loosepulleys by the shaft above. After the last rolling the seed fallsthrough an opening in the foundation plate in a screen driven from thebottom roll shaft by a belt. This conveys the seed in a trough to aset of elevators, which supply it continuously to the kettle. Thiskettle, which is 3 ft. 6 in. Internal diameter and 20 in. Deep, ismade of cast iron and of specially strong construction. There is onlyone steam joint in it, and to reduce the liability of leakage thisjoint is faced in a lathe. The inside furnishings of the kettle are adamping apparatus with perforated boss, upright shaft, stirrer, anddelivery plate, and patent slide. The kettle body is fitted with awood frame and covered with felt, which is inclosed within ironsheeting. The crushed seed is heated in the kettle to the requiredtemperature by steam from the boiler, and it is also damped by a jetof steam which is regulated by a wheel valve with indicating plate. When the required temperature has been obtained, the seed is withdrawnby a measuring box through a self-acting shuttle in the kettle bottom, and evenly distributed over a strip of bagging supported on a steeltray in a Virtue patent moulding machine, where it undergoes acompression sufficient to reduce it to the size that can be taken inby the presses, but not sufficient to cause any extraction of the oil. The seed leaves the moulding machine in the form of a thick cake fromnine to eleven pounds in weight, and each press is constructed to takein twelve of these cakes at once. The press cylinders are 12 in. Diameter and are of crucible cast steel. To insure strength ofconstruction and even distribution of strain throughout the press, allthe columns, cylinders, rams, and heads are planed and turnedaccurately to gauges, and the pockets that take the columns, in theplace of being cast, as is sometimes usual, with fitting strips topand bottom, are solid throughout, and are planed or slotted out of thesolid to gauges. The pressure is given by a set of hydraulic pumpsmade of crucible cast steel and bored out of the solid. One of thepump rams is 2½ in. Diameter, and has a stroke of 7 in. This ram givesonly a limited pressure, and the arrangements are such as to obtainthis pressure upon each press in about fourteen seconds. This pumpthen automatically ceases running, and the work is taken up by asecond plunger, having a ram 1 in. Diameter and stroke of 7 in. , thesecond pump continuing its work until a gross pressure of two tons persquare inch is attained, which is the maximum, and is arrived at inless than two minutes. For shutting off the communication between thepresses, the stop valves are so arranged that either press may be letdown, or set to work without in the smallest degree affecting theother. The oil from the presses is caught in an oil tank behind, fromwhich an oil pump, worked by an eccentric, forces it in any desireddirection. The cakes, on being withdrawn from the press, are strippedof the bagging and cut to size in a specially arranged paring machine, which is placed off the bed-plate behind the kettle, and is driven bythe pulley shown on the main shaft. The paring machine is also fittedwith an arrangement for reducing the parings to meal, which isreturned to the kettle, and again made up into cakes. The pressesshown have corrugated press plates of Messrs. Rose, Downs & Thompson'slatest type, but the cakes produced by this process can have anydesired name or brand in block letters put upon them. The edges on theupper plate, it may be added, are found of great use in crushing someclasses of green or moist seed. The plant, of which we giveillustrations opposite, is constructed to crush about four tons ofseed per day of eleven hours, and the manual labor has been so reducedto a minimum that it is intended to be worked by one man, who mouldsand puts the twenty-four cakes into the presses, and while they areunder pressure is engaged paring the cakes that have been previouslypressed. In crushing castor-oil seed, a decorticating machine orseparator can be combined with the mill, but in such a case the engineand boiler would require to be made larger. --_The Engineer_. 

[Illustration: AN ENGLISH ADAPTATION OF THE AMERICAN OIL MILL. ]

 * * * * *

APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING SUBSTANCES CONTAINED IN THE WASTE WATERS OFPAPER MILLS, ETC. 

For extracting such useful materials as are contained in the wastewaters of paper mills, cloth manufactories, etc. , and, at the sametime, for purifying such waters, Mr. Schuricht, of Siebenlehn, employsa sort of filter like that shown in the annexed Figs. 1 and 2, andunderneath which he effects a vacuum. 

[Illustration: SCHURICHTS FILTERING APPARATUS. Fig. 1. ]

The apparatus, A, is divided into two compartments, which areseparated by a longitudinal partition. Above the stationary bottom, a, there is arranged a lattice-work grating or a strong wire cloth, b, upon which rests the filtering material, c, properly so called. Thereservoir is divided transversely by several partitions, d, ofdifferent heights. The liquor entering through the leader, f, traverses the apparatus slowly, as a consequence of the somewhat widesection of the layer. But, in order that it may traverse the filteringmaterial, it is necessary that, in addition to this horizontal motion, it shall have a downward one. As far as to the top of the partitions, d, there form in front of the latter certain layers which do notparticipate in the horizontal motion, but which can only movedownward, as a consequence of the permeability of the bottom. Itresults from this that the heaviest solid particles deposit in thefirst compartment, while the others run over the first partition, d, and fall into one of the succeeding compartments, according to theirdegree of fineness, while the clarified water makes its exit throughthe spout, g. When the filtering layer, c, has become graduallyimpermeable, the cock, i, of a jet apparatus, k, is opened, in orderto suck out the clarified water through the pipe, r. --_Dingler'sPolytech. Journ. , after Bull. Musée de l'Industrie_. 

[Illustration: SCHURICHTS FILTERING APPARATUS. Fig. 2. ]

 * * * * *

LARGE BLUE PRINTS. 

By W. B. PARSONS, JR. , C. E. 

I send you a description of a device that I got up for the N. Y. , L. E. , and W. R. R. Division office at Port Jervis, by which I overcame thedifficulties incident to large glasses. The glass was 58 inches long, 84 inches wide, and 3/8 inch thick. It was heavily framed with ash. Inorder to keep the back from warping out of shape, I had it made ofthoroughly seasoned ash strips 1" x 1". Each strip was carefullyplaned, and then they were glued and screwed together, while acrossthe ends were fastened strips with their grain running transversely. This back was then covered on side next to the glass with fourthicknesses of common gray blanketing. Instead of applying the holdingpressure by thumb cleats at the periphery, it was effected by two longpressure strips running across the back placed at about one quarterthe length of the frame from the ends, and held by a screw at thecenter. The ends of these strips were made so as to fit in slots inthe frame at a slight angle, so that as the pressure strips wereturned it gave them a binding pressure at the same time. In otherwords, it is the same principle as is commonly used to keep backs insmall picture frames. This arrangement, instead of holding the back atthe edges only, and so allowing the center to fall away from theglass, distributed it evenly over the whole surface and always kept itin position. The frame was run in and out of the printing room on alittle railway on which it rested on four grooved brass sheaves, onepair being at one end, while the other was just beyond the center, sothe frame could be revolved in direction of its length withouttrouble. In order to raise the heavy back, I had a pulley-wheelfastened to the ceiling, through which a rope passed, with a ring thatcould be attached to a corresponding hook at the side of the back, inorder to hoist it or lower it. Although that is an extremely largeapparatus, yet by means of the above device it was worked easily andrapidly, and gave every satisfaction. 

The solution used was of the same proportions as had been adopted inthe other engineering offices of the road:

 Citrate iron and ammonium 1-7/8 oz. Red prussiate potash (C. P. ) 1-1/4 oz. 

Dissolve separately in 4 oz. Distilled water each, and mix when readyto use. But by putting mixture in dark bottle, and that in a tight boximpervious to light, it can be kept two or three weeks. 

In some frames used at the School of Mines for making large blueprints a similar device has been in use for several years. Instead, however, of the heavy and cumbrous back used by Mr. Parsons, a light, somewhat flexible back of one-quarter inch pine is employed, coveredwith heavy Canton flannel and several thicknesses of newspaper. Thepressure is applied by light pressure strips of ash somewhat thickerat the middle than at the ends, which give a fairly uniform pressureacross the width of the frame sufficient to hold the back firmlyagainst the glass at all points. This system has been used withsuccess for frames twenty-seven by forty-two inches, about half aslarge as the one described by Mr. Parsons. A frame of this size can beeasily handled without mechanical aids. Care should be taken to avoidtoo great thickness and too much spring in the pressure strips, or theplate glass may be broken by excessive pressure. The strips used areabout five-eighths of an inch thick at the middle, and taper to aboutthree-eighths of an inch at the ends. 

The formulæ for the solution given by Whittaker, Laudy, and Parsonsare practically identical so far as the proportions of citrate of ironand ammonia and of red prussiate of potash, 3 of the former to 2 ofthe latter, but differ in the amount of water. Laudy's formula callsfor about 5 parts of water to 1 of the salts, Whittaker's for 4 parts, and Parson's for a little more than 2 parts. The stronger the solutionthe longer the exposure required. With very strong solutions a largeportion of the Prussian blue formed comes off in the washwater, andwhen printing from glass negatives the fine lines and lighter tintsare apt to suffer. The blue color, however, will be deep and thewhites clear. With weak solutions the blues will be fainter and thewhites bluish. Heavily sized paper gives the best results. Theaddition of a little mucilage to the solution is sometimes anadvantage, producing the same results as strength of solution, byincreasing the amount adhering to the paper. With paper deficient insizing the mucilage also makes the whites clearer. --_H. S. M. , Sch. OfM. Quarterly. _

 * * * * *

HOUSE DRAINAGE AND REFUSE. 

A course of lectures on sanitary engineering has been delivered duringthe past few weeks before the officers of the Royal Engineersstationed at Chatham, by Captain Douglas Galton, C. B. , D. C. L. , F. R. S. 

The refuse which has to be dealt with, observed Captain Galton, whether in towns or in barracks or in camp, falls under the followingfive heads: 1, ashes; 2, kitchen refuse; 3, stable manure; 4, solid orliquid ejections; and 5, rainwater and domestic waste water, includingwater from personal ablutions, kitchen washing up, washings ofpassages, stables, yards, and pavements. In a camp you have thesimplest form of dealing with these matters. The water supply islimited. Waste water and liquid ejection are absorbed by the ground;but a camp unprovided with latrines would always be in a state ofdanger from epidemic disease. One of the most frequent causes of anunhealthy condition of the air of a camp in former times has beeneither neglecting to provide latrines, so that the ground outside thecamp becomes covered with filth, or constructing the latrines tooshallow, and exposing too large a surface to rain, sun, and air. TheQuartermaster-General's regulations provide against thesecontingencies; but I may as well here recapitulate the generalprinciples which govern camp latrines. Latrines should be so managedthat no smell from them should ever reach the men's tents. To insurethis very simple precautions only are required:

1. The latrines should be placed to leeward with respect to prevailingwinds, and at as great a distance from the tents as is compatible withconvenience. 2. They should be dug narrow and deep, and their contentscovered over every evening with at least a foot of fresh earth. Acertain bulk and thickness of earth are required to absorb theputrescent gas, otherwise it will disperse itself and pollute the airto a considerable distance round. 3. When the latrine is filled towithin 2 ft. 6 in. Or 3 ft. Of the surface, earth should be throwninto it, and heaped over it like a grave to mark its site. 4. Greatcare should be taken not to place latrines near existing wells, nor todig wells near where latrines have been placed. The necessity of theseprecautions to prevent wells becoming polluted is obvious. Screensmade out of any available material are, of course, required forlatrines. This arrangement applies to a temporary camp, and is onlyadmissible under such conditions. 

A deep trench saves labor, and places the refuse in the mostimmediately safe position, but a buried mass of refuse will take along time to decay; it should not be disturbed, and will taint theadjacent soil for a long time. This is of less consequence in a merelytemporary encampment, while it might entail serious evils inlocalities continuously inhabited. The following plan of trench hasbeen adopted as a more permanent arrangement in Indian villages, withthe object of checking the frightful evil of surface pollution of thewhole country, from the people habitually fouling the fields, roads, streets, and watercourses. Long trenches are dug, at about one foot orless in depth, at a spot set apart, about 200 or 300 yards fromdwellings. Matting screens are placed round for decency. Each day thetrench, which has received the excreta of the preceding day, is filledup, the excreta being covered with fresh earth obtained by digging anew trench adjoining, which, when it has been used, is treated in thesame manner. Thus the trenches are gradually extended, untilsufficient ground has been utilized, when they are plowed up and thesite used for cultivation. The Indian plow does not penetrate morethan eight inches; consequently, if the trench is too deep, the lowerstratum is left unmixed with earth, forming a permanent cesspool, andbecomes a source of future trouble. It is to be observed, however, that in the wet season these trenches cannot be used, and in sandysoil they do not answer. This system, although it is preferable towhat formerly prevailed--viz. , the surface defilement of the groundall round villages and of the adjacent water courses--is fraught withdanger unless subsequent cultivation of the site be strictly enforced, because it would otherwise retain large and increasing masses ofputrefying matter in the soil, in a condition somewhat unfavorable torapid absorption. These arrangements are applicable only to very roughlife or very poor communities. 

The question of the removal of kitchen refuse, manure, etc. , frombarracks next calls for notice. The great principle to be observed inremoving the solid refuse from barracks is that every decomposablesubstance should be taken away at once. This principle appliesespecially in warm climates. Even the daily removal of refuse entailsthe necessity of places for the deposit of the refuse, and thereforethis principle must be applied in various ways to suit localconvenience. In open situations, exposed to cool winds, there is lessdanger of injury to health from decomposing matters than there wouldbe in hot, moist, or close positions. In the country generally thereis less risk of injury than in close parts of towns. Theseconsiderations show that the same stringency is not necessarilyrequired everywhere. Position by itself affords a certain degree ofprotection from nuisance. The amount of decomposing matter usuallyproduced is also another point to be considered. A small daily productis not, of course, so injurious as a large product. Even the manner ofaccumulating decomposing substances influences their effect on health. There is less risk from a dung heap to the leeward than to thewindward of a barrack. The receptacles in which refuse is temporarilyplaced, such as ash pits and manure pits, should never be below thelevel of the ground. If a deep pit is dug in the ground, into whichthe refuse is thrown in the intervals between times of removal, rainand surface water will mix with the refuse and hasten itsdecomposition, and generally the lowest part of the filth will not beremoved, but will be left to fester and produce malaria. In all placeswhere the occupation is permanent the following conditions should beattended to:

1. That the places of deposit be sufficiently removed from inhabitedbuildings to prevent any smell being perceived by the occupants. 2. That the places of deposit be above the level of the ground--never dugout of the ground. The floor of the ash pit or dung pit should be atleast six inches above the surface level. 3. That the floor be pavedwith square sets, or flagged and drained. 4. That ash pits be covered. 5. That a space should be paved in front, so as to provide that thetraffic which takes place in depositing the refuse or in removing itshall not produce a polluted surface. 

In towns those parts of the refuse which cannot be utilized for manureor otherwise are burned. But this is an operation which, if doneunskillfully, without a properly constructed kiln, may give rise tonuisance. One of the best forms of kiln is one now in operation atEaling, which could be easily visited from London. 

_The removal of excreta from houses. _--The chief object of a perfectsystem of house drainage is the immediate and complete removal fromthe house of all foul and effete matter directly it is produced. Thefirst object--viz. , removal of foul matter, can be attained either bythe water closet system, when carried out in this integrity; but itcould, of course, be attained without drains if there was labor enoughalways available; and the earth closet or the pail system aremodifications of immediate removal which are safe. Cesspools in ahouse do not fulfill this condition of immediate removal. They servefor the retention of excremental and other matters. In a porous soilit endangers the purity of the wells. The Indian cities affordnumerous examples of subsoil pollution. The Delhi ulcer was traced tothe pollution of the wells from the contaminated subsoil; and the soilin many cities and villages is loaded with niter and salt, thechemical results of animal and vegetable refuse left to decay for manygenerations, from the presence of which the well water is impure. There are many factories of saltpeter in India whose supplies arederived from this source; and during the great French wars, whenEngland blockaded all the seaports of Europe, the First Napoleonobtained saltpeter for gunpowder from the cesspits in Paris. Cesspoolsare inadmissible where complete removal can be effected. Cesspits may, however, be a necessity in some special cases, as, for instance, indetached houses or a small detached barrack. Where they cannot beavoided, the following conditions as to their use should be enforced:

1st. A cesspit should never be located under a dwelling. It should beplaced outside, and as far removed from the immediate neighborhood ofthe dwelling as circumstances will allow. There should be a ventilatedtrap placed on the pipe leading from the watercloset to the cesspit. 2d. It should be formed of impervious material so as to permit of noleakage. 3d. It should be ventilated. 4th. No overflow should bepermitted from it. 5th. When full it should be thoroughly emptied andcleaned out; for the matter left at the bottom of a cesspit is liableto be in a highly putrescible condition. 

Where a cesspit is unavoidable, perhaps the best and least offensivesystem for emptying it is the pneumatic system. This is applicable tothe water closet refuse alone. The pneumatic system acts as follows: Alarge air-tight cylinder on wheels, or, what answers equally, a seriesof air-tight barrels connected together by tubes about 3 in. Diameter, placed on a cart, brought as near to the cesspit as is convenient; atube of about the same diameter is led from them to the cesspit; theair is then exhausted in the barrels or cylinder either by means of anair pump or by means of steam injected into it, which, oncondensation, forms a vacuum; and the contents of the cesspit aredrawn through the tube by the atmospheric pressure into the cylinderor barrels. A plan which is practically an extension of this systemhas been introduced by Captain Liernur in Holland. He removes thefæcal matter from water closets and the sedimentary production ofkitchen sinks by pneumatic agency. He places large air-tight tanks ina suitable part of the town, to which he leads pipes from all houses. He creates a vacuum in the tanks, and thus sucks into one center thefæcal matter from all the houses. Various substitutes have been triedfor the cesspit, which retain the principle of the hand removal ofexcreta. The first was the combination of the privy with an ashpitabove the surface of the ground, the ashes and excreta being mixedtogether, and both being removed periodically. The next improvementwas the provision of a movable receptacle. Of this type the simplestarrangement is a box placed under the seat, which is taken out, thecontents emptied into the scavenger's cart, and the box replaced. Thedifficulty of cleansing the angles of the boxes led to the adoption ofoval or round pails. The pail is placed under the seat, and removed atstated intervals, or when full, and replaced by a clean pail. InMarseilles and Nice a somewhat similar system is in use. They employcylindrical metal vessels furnished with a lid which closeshermetically, each capable of holding 11 gallons. The household isfurnished with three or four of these vessels, and when one is fullthe lid is closed hermetically, the vessel thus remaining in aharmless condition in the house till taken away by the authorities andreplaced by a clean one. The contents are converted into manure. Inconsequence of the offensiveness of the open pail, the nextimprovement was to throw in some form of deodorizing material daily. In the north of England the arrangement generally is that the ashesshall be passed through a shoot, on which they are sifted--the finerfall into the pail to deodorize it, the coarser pass into a box, whence they can be taken to be again burned--while a separate shoot isprovided for kitchen refuse, which falls into another pail adjacent. 

Probably the best known contrivance for deodorizing the excreta is thedry earth system as applied in the earth closet, in which advantage istaken of the deodorizing properties of earth. Dry earth is a gooddeodorizer; 1½ lb. Of dry earth of good garden ground or clay willdeodorize such excretion. A larger quantity is required of sand orgravel. If the earth after use is dried, it can be applied again, andit is stated that the deodorizing powers of earth are not destroyeduntil it has been used ten or twelve times. This system requires closeattention, or the dry earth closet will get out of order; as comparedwith water closets, it is cheaper in first construction, and is notliable to injury by frost; and it has this advantage over any form ofcesspit--that it necessitates the daily removal of refuse. The cost ofthe dry earth system per 1, 000 persons may be assumed as follows: Costof closet, say, £500; expense of ovens, carts, horses, etc. , £250;total capital, £750, at 6 per cent. £37 10_s. _ interest. Wages of twomen and a boy per week, £1 12_s. _; keep of horses, stables, etc. , 18_s. _;fuel for drying earth, 1_s. _ 6_d. _ per ton dried daily, £1 10_s. _; cost ofearth and repairs, etc. , 14_s. _; weekly expenses, £4 14_s. _ Yearlyexpenses, £247 (equal to 4_s. _ 11_d. _ per ton per annum); interest, £3710_s. _--total, £284 10_s. _, against which should be put the value of themanure. But the value of the manure is simply a question of carriage. If the manure is highly concentrated, like guano, it can stand a highcarriage. If the manuring elements are diffused through a large bulkof passive substances, the cost of the carriage of the extra, ornon-manuring, elements absorbs all profit. If a town, therefore, byadding deodorants to the contents of pails produces a large quantityof manure, containing much besides the actual manuring elements--suchas is generally the case with dry earth--as soon as the districtsimmediately around have been fully supplied, a point is soon reachedat which it is impossible to continue to find purchasers. The dryearth system is applicable to separate houses, or to institutionswhere much attention can be given to it, but it is inapplicable tolarge towns from the practical difficulties connected with procuring, carting, and storing the dry earth. 

With the idea that if the solid part of the excreta could be separatedfrom the liquid and kept comparatively dry the offensiveness would bemuch diminished, and deodorization be unnecessary, a method forgetting rid of the liquid portion by what is termed the Goux systemhas been in use at Halifax. This system consists in lining the pailwith a composition formed from the ashes and all the dry refuse whichcan be conveniently collected, together with some clay to give itadhesion. The lining is adjusted and kept in position by a means of acore or mould, which is allowed to remain in the pails until justbefore they are about to be placed under the seat; the core is thenwithdrawn, and the pail is left ready for use. The liquid which passesinto the pail soaks into this lining, which thus forms the deodorizingmedium. The proportion of absorbents in a lining 3 in. Thick to thecentral space in a tub of the above dimensions would be about two toone; but unless the absorbents are dry, this proportion would beinsufficient to produce a dry mass in the tubs when used for a week, and experience has shown that after being in use for several days theabsorbing power of the lining is already exceeded, and the wholecontents have remained liquid. There would appear to be little gain bythe use of the Goux lining as regards freedom from nuisance, andthough it removes the risk of splashing and does away with much of theunsightliness of the contents, the absorbent, inasmuch as it addsextra weight which has to be carried to and from the houses, is rathera disadvantage than otherwise from the manurial point of view. 

The simple pail system, which is in use in various ways in thenorthern towns of England, and in the permanent camps to some extentat least, and of which the French "tinette" is an improved form, ismore economically convenient than the dry earth system or the Goux orother deodorizing system, where a large amount of removal of refusehas to be accomplished, because by the pail system the liquid andsolid ejections may be collected with a very small, or even withoutany, admixture of foreign substances; and, according to theory, themanurial value of dejections per head per annum ought to be from 8_s. _to 10_s. _ The great superiority, in a sanitary point of view, of all thepail or pan systems over the best forms over the old cesspits or eventhe middens is due to the fact that the interval of collection isreduced to a minimum, the changing or emptying of the receptaclesbeing sometimes effected daily, and the period never exceeding a week. The excrementitious matter is removed without soaking in the ground orputrefying in the midst of a population. 

These plans for the removal of excreta do not deal with the equallyimportant refuse liquid--viz. , the waste water from washing andstables, etc. As it is necessary to have drains for the purpose ofremoving the waste water, it is more economical to allow this wastewater to carry away the excreta. In any case, you must have drains forremoving the fouled water. Down these drains it is evident that muchof the liquid excreta will be poured, and thus you must takeprecautions to prevent the gases of decomposition which the drains areliable to contain from passing into your houses. 

There is a method which you might find useful on a small scale towhich I will now draw your attention, as it is applicable to detachedhouses or small barracks--viz. , the plan of applying the domesticwater to land through underground drains, or what is called subsoilirrigation. This system affords peculiar facilities for disposing ofsewage matter without nuisance. There are many cases where openirrigation in close contiguity to mansions or dwellings might beexceedingly objectionable, and in such cases subsoil irrigationsupplies a means of dealing with a very difficult question. Thissystem was applied some years ago by Mr. Waring in Newport, in theUnited States. It has recently been introduced into this country. 

The system is briefly as follows: The water from the house is carriedthrough a water-tight drain to the ground where the irrigation is tobe applied. It is there passed through ordinary drain pipes, placed 1ft. Below the surface, with open joints, by means of which itpercolates into the soil. Land drains, 4 ft. Deep, should be laidintermediately between the subsoil drains to remove the water from thesoil. The difficulty of subsoil irrigation is to prevent deposit, which chokes the drains; and if the foul domestic water is allowed totrickle through the drains as it passes away from the house it soonchokes the drains. It is, therefore, necessary to pass it in flushesthrough the drains, and this can be best managed by running the waterfrom the house into one of Field's automatic flush tanks, which runsoff in a body when full. 

When you have water closet and drainage, the great object to beattained in house drainage is to prevent the sewer gas from passingfrom the main sewer into the house drain. It was the custom to place aflap at the junction of the house drain with the sewer; but this flapis useless for preventing sewer gas from passing up the house drain. The plan was therefore adopted of placing a water trap under the watercloset basin or the sink, etc. , in direct communication with thedrain. The capacity of water to absorb sewer gas is very great, consequently the water in the trap would absorb this gas. When thewater became warm from increase of temperature, it would give out thegas into the house; when it cooled down at night, it would againabsorb more gas from the soil pipe, and frequent change of temperaturewould cause it to give out and reabsorb the gas continually. 

These objections have led to the present recognized system--viz. , 1st, to place a water trap on the drain to cut off the sewer gases from thefoot of the soil pipe; and, next, to place an opening to the outer airon the soil pipe between the trap and the house to secure efficientdisconnection between the sewer and the house. It is, moreover, necessary to produce a movement of air and ventilation in the housedrain pipes to aerate the pipe and to oxidize any putrescible productswhich may be in it. To do this, we must insure that a current of airshall be continually passing through the drains; both an inlet and anoutlet for fresh air must be provided in the portions of the housedrain which are cut off from the main sewer, for without an inlet andoutlet there can be no efficient ventilation. This outlet and inletcan be obtained in the following manner: In the first place, an outletmay be formed by prolonging the soil pipe at its full diameter, andwith an open top to above the roof, in a position away from thewindows, skylights, or chimneys. And, secondly, an inlet may beobtained by an opening into the house drain, on the dwelling side ofand close to the trap, by means of the disconnecting manhole orbranch-pipe before mentioned, or where necessary by carrying up theinlet by means of a ventilating pipe to above the roof. The inletshould be equal in area to the drain pipe, and not in any case lessthan 4 in. In diameter. If it were not for appearance and thedifficulty of conveying the excreta without lodgments, an open gutterwould be preferable to a closed pipe in the house. This arrangement isbased on the principle that there should be no deposit in the housedrains. Therefore the utmost care should be taken to lay the housedrains in straight lines, both in plan and gradient, and to give theadequate inclination. 

The following are desirable conditions to observe in house drains: 1. As to material of pipes. House drains should be made either of glazedstoneware pipes or fireclay pipes with cement joints, or preferably ofcast iron pipes jointed with carefully-made lead joints, or withturned joints and bored sockets. I say preferably of cast iron. In NewYork the iron soilpipe, with joints made with lead, is now required bythe municipal regulations. It is a stronger pipe than a rainwaterpipe. The latter will often be found to have holes. A lead jointcannot be made properly in a weak pipe, therefore the lead joint is tosome extent a guarantee of soundness. Lead pipes will be eaten away bywater containing free oxygen without carbonic acid, therefore purerainwater injures lead pipes. An excess of carbonic acid in water willalso eat away lead. You will find that in many cases pinholes appearin a soilpipe, and when inside a house that allows sewer gas to passinto the house. Moreover, lead is a soft material; it is subject toindentations, to injury from nails, to sagging. A cast-iron pipe, whencoated with sewage matter, does not appear to be subject to decay; andif of sufficient substance it is not liable to injury. When once wellfixed, it has no tendency to move. I would, therefore, advocate castiron in lieu of lead soilpipes. In fixing the soilpipe which is toreceive a water-closet, the trap should form part of the fixed pipe;so that if there is any sinking the down pipe will not sink away fromthe trap. It is, however, not sufficient to provide good material. There is nothing which is more important in a sanitary point of viewthan good workmanship in house drainage. In this matter, it is ondetails that all depends. Just consider; the drain pipes under thebest conditions of aeration contain elements of danger, and thosepipes are composed of a number of parts, at the point of junction ofany one of which the poison may escape into the house. You thusperceive how necessary it is first to reduce the poison to a minimumby cutting off the sewer gas which might otherwise pass from thestreet sewer to the house drain, and in the next place being mostcareful in the workmanship of every part of your house drains andsoilpipes. Reduce your danger where you can by putting your pipesoutside. But you cannot always do that--for instance, at New York andin Canada they would freeze. 

All drain pipes should be proved to be watertight by plugging up thelower end of the drain pipe and filling it with water. In no caseshould a soilpipe be built inside a wall. It should be so placed as tobe always accessible. 2. The pipes should be generally 4 in. Diameter. In no instance need a drain pipe inside a house exceed 6 in. Indiameter. 3. Every drain of a house or building should be laid withtrue gradients, in no case less than 1/100, but much steeper would bepreferable. When from circumstances the drain is laid at a smallerinclination, a flush tank should be provided. They should be laid instraight lines from point to point. At every change of direction thereshould be reserved a means of access to the drain. 4. No drain shouldbe constructed so as to pass under a dwelling house, except inparticular cases when absolutely necessary. In such cases the pipeshould be of cast iron, and the length of drain laid under the houseshould be laid perfectly straight--a means of access should beprovided at each end; it should have a free air current passingthrough it from end to end, and a flush tank should be placed at theupper end. 5. Every house drain should be arranged so as to beflushed, and kept at all times free from deposit. 6. Every house drainshould be ventilated by at least two suitable openings, one at eachend, so as to afford a current of air through the drain, and no pipeor opening should be used for ventilation unless the same be carriedupward without angles or horizontal lengths, and with tight joints. The size of such pipes or openings should be fully equal to that ofthe drain pipe ventilated. 7. The upper extremities of ventilatingpipes should be at a distance from any windows or openings, so thatthere will be no danger of the escape of the foul air into theinterior of the house from such pipes. The soilpipe should terminateat its lower end in a properly ventilating disconnecting trap, so thata current of air would be constantly maintained through the pipe. 8. No rainwater pipe and no overflow or waste pipe from any cistern orrainwater tank, or from any sink (other than a slop sink for urine), or from any bath or lavatory, should pass directly to the soilpipe;but every such pipe should be disconnected therefrom by passingthrough the wall to the outside of the house, and discharging with anend open to the air. I may mention here that the drainage arrangementsof this Parkes Museum in which we are assembled were very defectivewhen the building was first taken. Mr. Rogers Field, one of thecommittee, was requested to drain it properly, and it has been verysuccessfully accomplished. 

I would now draw your attention to some points of detail in thefittings for carrying away waste water. 

First, with regard to lavatories. As already mentioned, every wastepipe from the sink should deliver in the open air, but it should havean opening at its upper end as well as at its lower end, to permit acurrent of air to pass through it; and it should be trapped close tothe sink, so as to prevent the air being drawn through it into thehouse; otherwise you will have an offensive smell from it. I will giveyou an instance: At the University College Hospital there are somefire tanks on the several landings. The water flows in every day, andsome flows away through the waste pipes; these pipes, which carry awaynothing but fresh London water to empty in the yard, got mostoffensive simply from the decomposition of the sediment left in themby the London water passing through them day after day. A small wastepipe from a bath or a basin is a great inconvenience. It should be ofa size to empty rapidly--for a bath 2 inches, a basin 1½, inches. There are other points connected with fittings to which I would callyour attention. The great inventive powers which have been applied tothe w. C. Pan are an evidence of how unsatisfactory they all are. Manykinds of water-closet apparatus and of so-called "traps" have atendency to retain foul matter in the house, and therefore, inreality, partake more or less of the nature of small cesspools, andnuisances are frequently attributed to the ingress of "sewer gas"which have nothing whatever to do with the sewers, but arise from foulair generated in the house drains and internal fittings. The old formwas always made with what is called a D-trap. Avoid the D-trap. It issimply a small cesspool which cannot be cleaned out. Any trap in whichrefuse remains is an objectionable cesspool. It is a receptacle forputrescrible matter. In a lead pipe your trap should always be smoothand without corners. The depth of dip of a trap should depend on thefrequency of use of the trap. It varies from ½ inch to 3½ inches. Whena trap is rarely used, the dip should be deeper than when frequentlyused, to allow of evaporation. In the section of a w. C. Pan, theobject to be attained is to take that form in which all the parts ofthe trap can be easily examined and cleaned, in which both the pan andthe trap will be washed clean by the water at each discharge, and inwhich the lever movement of the handle will not allow of the passageof sewer gas. 

And now just a few personal remarks in conclusion. I have had muchpleasure in giving to my old brother officers in these lectures theresult of my experience in sanitary science. In doing so, I desiredespecially to impress on you who are just entering your profession theimportance of giving effect to those principles of sanitary sciencewhich were left very much in abeyance until after the Crimean war. Ihave not desired to fetter you with dogmatic rules, but I have sought, by general illustrations, to show you the principles on which sanitaryscience rests. That science is embodied in the words, pure earth, pureair, pure water. In nature that purity is insured by increasingmovement. Neither ought we to stagnate. In the application of theseprinciples your goal of to-day should be your starting-post forto-morrow. If I have fulfilled my object, I shall have interested yousufficiently to induce some of you at least to seize and carry forwardto a more advanced position the torch of sanitary science. 

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PASTEUR'S NEW METHOD OF ATTENUATION. 

The view that vaccinia is attenuated variola is well known, and hasbeen extensively adopted by English physicians. If the opinion meansanything, it signifies that the two diseases are in essence one andthe same, differing only in degree. M. Pasteur has recently found thatby passing the bacillus of "rouget" of pigs through rabbits, he caneffect a considerable attenuation of the "rouget" virus. He has shownthat rabbits inoculated with the bacillus of rouget become very illand die, but if the inoculations be carried through a series ofrabbits, a notable modification results in the bacillus. As regardsthe rabbits themselves, no favorable change occurs--they are all madevery ill, or die. But if inoculation be made on pigs from thoserabbits, at the end of the series it is found that the pigs have thedisease in a mild form, and, moreover, that they enjoy immunity fromfurther attacks of "rouget. " This simply means that the rabbits haveeffected, or the bacillus has undergone while in them, an attenuationof virulence. So the pigs may be "vaccinated" with the modified virus, have the disease in a mild form, and thereafter be protected from thedisease. The analogy between this process and the accepted view ofvaccinia is very close. The variolous virus is believed to passthrough the cow, and there to become attenuated, so that inoculationsfrom the cow-pox no longer produce variola in the human subject, butcow-pox (vaccinia). As an allied process, though of very differentresult, mention may be made of some collateral experiments of Pasteur, also performed recently. Briefly, it has been discovered that thebacillus of the "rouget" of pigs undergoes an increase of virulence bybeing cultivated through a series of pigeons. Inoculations from thelast of the series of pigeons give rise to a most intense form of thedisease. It will be remembered that the discovery of the bacillus of"rouget" of pigs was due to the late Dr. Thuillier. --_Lancet. _

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Very few persons realize the necessity of cultivating an equabletemper and of avoiding passion. Many persons have met with suddendeath, the result of a weak heart and passionate nature. 

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CONVENIENT VAULTS. 

This is a subject which will bear line upon line and precept uponprecept. Many persons have availed themselves of the cheap and easymeans which we have formerly recommended in the shape of the daily useof absorbents, but a larger number strangely neglect these means, andfoul air and impure drainage are followed by disease and death. Siftedcoal ashes and road dust are the remedy, kept in barrels till neededfor use. A neat cask, filled with these absorbents, with along-handled dipper, is placed in the closet, and a conspicuousplacard directs every occupant to throw down a dipper full beforeleaving. The vaults, made to open on the outside, are then as easilycleaned twice a year as sand is shoveled from a pit. No drainage bysecret, underground seams in the soil can then poison the water ofwells; and no effluvia can arise to taint the air and create fevers. On this account, this arrangement is safer and better thanwater-closets. It is far cheaper and simpler, and need never get outof order. There being no odor whatever, if properly attended to, itmay be contiguous to the dwelling. An illustration of the way in whichthe latter is accomplished is shown by Fig. 1, which represents a neataddition to a kitchen wing, with hip-roof, the entrance being eitherfrom the kichen through an entry, or from the outside as shown by thesteps. Fig. 2 is a plan, showing the double walls with interposedsolid earth, to exclude any possible impurity from the cellar in caseof neglect. The vaults may be reached from the outside opening, forremoving the contents. In the whole arrangement there is not a vestigeof impure air, and it is as neat as a parlor; and the man who cleansout the vaults say it is no more unpleasant than to shovel sand from apit. 

[Illustration: Fig. 1. ]

Those who prefer may place the closet at a short distance from thehouse, provided the walk is flanked on both sides with evergreentrees; for no person should be compelled to encounter drifting snowsto reach it--an exposure often resulting in colds and sickness. A fewdollars are the whole cost, and civilization and humanity demand asmuch. --_Country Gentleman_. 

[Illustration: Fig. 2. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 3. ]

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POISONOUS SERPENTS AND THEIR VENOM. 

By Dr. G. ARCHIE STOCKWELL. 

Chemistry has made astounding strides since the days of the sixteenthcentury, when Italian malice and intrigue swayed all Europe, andpoisons and poisoners stalked forth unblushingly from cottage andpalace; when crowned and mitered heads, prelates, noblemen, beneficedclergymen, courtiers, and burghers became Borgias and De Medicis inhideous infamy in their greed for power and affluence; and when thecivilized world feared to retire to rest, partake of the daily repast, inhale the odors of flower or perfume, light a wax taper, or evenapproach the waters of the holy font. These horrors have been laidbare, their cause and effect explained, and tests discovered wherebythey may be detected, providing the law with a shield that protectseven the humblest individual. Great as the science is, however, it isyet far removed from perfection; and there are substances somysterious, subtle, and dangerous as to set the most delicate testsand powerful lenses at naught, while carrying death most horrible intheir train; and chief of these are the products of Nature'slaboratory, that provides some sixty species of serpents with theirdeadly venom, enabling them in spite of sluggish forms and retiringhabits to secure abundant prey and resent mischievous molestation. Thehideous _trigonocephalus_ has forced the introduction and acclimationof the mongoose to the cane fields of the Western tropics; the tigersnake (_Heplocephalus curtus_) is the terror of Australian plains; thefer de lance (_Craspedocephalus lanceolatus_) renders the paradise ofMartinique almost uninhabitable; the tic paloonga (_Daboii russelli_)is the scourge of Cinghalese coffee estates; the giant ehlouhlo ofNatal (unclassified) by its presence secures a forbidding waste formiles about; the far famed cobra de capello (_Naja tripudians_)ravages British India in a death ratio of one-seventh of one per cent. Of the dense population, annually, and is the more dangerous in thatan assumed sacred character secures it largely from molestation andretributive justice; and in Europe and America we have vipers, rattlesnakes, copperheads, and moccasins (_viperinæ_ and _crotalidæ_), that if a less degree fatal, are still a source of dread andannoyance. All these forms exhibit in general like ways and likehabits, and if the venom of all be not generically identical, thephysiological and toxicological phenomena arising therefrom renderthem practically and specifically so. Indeed, their attributes appearto be mere modifications arising from difference in age, size, development, climate, latitude, seasons, and enforced habits, aidedperhaps by idiosyncrasies and the incidents and accidents of life. 

In delicacy of organism and perfection in mechanism and precision, theinoculatory apparatus of the venomous reptile excels the mostexquisite appliances devised by the surgical implement maker's art, and it is doubtful whether it can ever be rivaled by the hand of man. The mouth of the serpent is an object for the closest study, presenting as it does a series of independent actions, whereby thebones composing the upper jaw and palate are loosely articulated, orrather attached, to one another by elastic and expansive ligaments, whereby the aperture is made conformatory, or enlarged at will--anyone part being untrammeled and unimpeded in its action by its fellows. The recurved, hook-like teeth are thus isolated in application, andeach venom fang independent of its rival when so desired, and itbecomes possible to reach points and recesses seemingly inaccessible. 

The fangs proper, those formidable weapons whose threatening presencequails the boldest opponent, inspires the fear of man, and puts toflight the entire animal kingdom--lions, tigers, and leopards, all butthe restless and plucky mongoose--and whose slightest scratch isattended with such dire results, are two in number, one in each upperjaw, and placed anteriorly to all other teeth, which they exceed byfive or six times in point of size. Situated just within the lips, recurved, slender, and exceeding in keenness even the finest ofcambric needles, they are penetrated in their longitudinal diameter bya delicate, hair-like canal opening into a groove at the apex, terminating on the anterior surface in an elongated fissure. As thecanal is straight, and the tooth falciform, a like groove orlongitudinal fissure is formed at the base, where it is inclosed bythe aperture of the duct that communicates with the poison apparatus. 

At the base of each fang, and extending from a point just beneath thenostril, backward two-thirds the distance to the commissure of themouth, is the poison gland, analogous to the salivary glands of man, that secretes a pure, mucous saliva, and also a pale straw-colored, half-oleaginous fluid, the venom proper. Within the gland, venom andsaliva are mingled in varying proportions coincidently withcircumstances; but the former slowly distills away and finds lodgmentin the central portion of the excretory duct, that along its middle isdilated to form a bulb-like receptacle, and where only it may beobtained in perfect purity. 

When the reptile is passive, the fangs are arranged to lie backwardalong the jaw, concealed by the membrane of the mouth, and thus offerno impediment to deglutition. Close inspection, however, at oncereveals not only their presence, but also several rudimentary ones tosupply their place in case of injury or accident. The bulb of theduct, too, is surrounded by a double aponeurotic capsule, of which theoutermost and strongest layer is in connection with a muscle by whoseaction both duct and gland are compressed at will, conveying thesecretion into the basal aperture of the fang, at the same timerefilling the bulb. 

When enraged and assuming the offensive and defensive, the reptiledraws the posterior portion of its body into a coil or spiral, wherebythe act of straightening, in which it hurls itself forward to nearlyits full length, lends force to the blow, and at the same instant thefangs are erected, drawn forward in a reverse plane, permitting thepoints to look outward beyond the lips. The action of the compressormuscles is contemporaneous with the blow inflicted, the venom beinginjected with considerable violence through the apical outlets of thefangs, and into the bottom of the wound. If the object is notattained, the venom may be thrown to considerable distances, fallingin drops; and Sir Arthur Cunynghame in a recent work on South Africarelates that he was cautioned not to approach a huge cobra of six feetor more in length in its death agony, lest it should hurl venom in hiseyes and create blindness; he afterward found that an officer of HerMajesty's XV. Regiment had been thus injured at a distance of_forty-five feet_, and did not recover his eyesight for more than aweek. [1]

 [Footnote 1: Presumably the Natal ombozi, or spitting cobra, _Naja hæmachites_, who is fully equal to the feat described. ]

With the infliction of the stroke and expression of its venom, thecreature usually attempts to reverse its fangs in the wound, therebydragging through and lacerating the flesh; an ingenious bit ofdevilishness hardly to be expected from so low a form of organism; butits frequent neglect proves it by no means mechanical, and itfrequently occurs that the animal bitten drags the reptile after it ashort distance, or causes it to leave its fangs in the wound. Someserpents also, as the fer de lance, black mamba, and water moccasin, are apparently actuated by most vindictive motives, and coilthemselves about the part bitten, clinging with leech-like tenacityand resisting all attempts at removal. Two gentlemen of San Antonio, Texas, [2] who were bitten by rattlesnakes, subsequently asserted thatafter having inflicted all possible injury, the reptiles scamperedaway with unmistakable manifestations of pleasure. "Snakes, " remarkedone of the victims, "usually glide smoothly away with the entire bodyprone to the ground; but the fellow I encountered traveled off with anup and down wave-like motion, as if thrilled with delight, and then, getting under a large rock where he was safe from pursuit, he turned, and raising his head aloft waved it to and fro, as if saying. 'Don'tyou feel good now?' It would require but a brief stretch of theimagination to constitute that serpent a veritable descendant of theold Devil himself. "

 [Footnote 2: On the authority of N. A. Taylor and H. F. McDaniels. ]

As the first blow commonly exhausts the receptacle of the duct, asecond (the venom being more or less mingled and diluted by thesalivary secretion) is comparatively less fatal in results; and eachsuccessive repetition correspondingly inoffensive until finallynothing but pure mucus is ejected. Nevertheless, when thoroughlyaroused, the reptile is enabled to constantly hurl a secretion, sinceboth rage and hunger swell the glands to enormous size, and stimulateto extraordinary activity--a fortuitous circumstance to which many anunfortunate is doubtless indebted for his life. The removal of a fang, however, affects its gland to a degree that it becomes almostinoperative, until such a time as a new tooth is grown, and againcalls it into action, which is commonly but a few weeks at most; and aperson purchasing a poisonous serpent under the supposition that ithas been rendered innocuous, will do well to keep watch of its mouthlest he be some time taken unaware. It may be rendered permanentlyharmless, however, by first removing the fang, and then cauterizingthe duct by means of a needle or wire, heated to redness; when forexperimental purposes the gland may be stimulated, and the virus drawnoff by means of a fine-pointed syringe. 

In what the venom consists more than has already been described, weare not permitted to know. It dries under exposure to air in smallscales, is soluble in water but not in alcohol, slightly reddenslitmus paper, and long retains its noxious properties. It has no acridor burning taste, and but little if any odor; the tongue pronounces itinoffensive, and the mucous surface of the alimentary track is proofagainst it, and it has been swallowed in considerable quantitieswithout deleterious result--all the poison that could be extractedfrom a half dozen of the largest and most virile reptiles waspowerless in any way to affect an unfledged bird when poured into itsopen beak. Chemistry is not only powerless to solve the enigma of itsaction, and the microscope to detect its presence, but pathology is atfault to explain the reason of its deadly effect; and all that we knowis that when introduced even in most minute quantities into an openwound, the blood is dissolved, so to speak, and the stream of lifeparalyzed with an almost incredible rapidity. Without test orantidote, terror has led to blind, fanatical empiricism, necessarilyattended with no little injury in the search for specifics, and it maybe reasonably asserted that no substance can be named so inert andworthless as not to have been recommended, or so disgusting as not tohave been employed; nor is any practice too absurd to find favor andadherents even among the most enlightened of the medical profession, who have rung all the changes of the therapeutical gamut fromserpentaria[3] and boneset to guaco, cimicifugia, and _AristolochiaIndia_ to curare, alum, chalk, and mercury to arsenic; and in the wayof surgical dressings and appliances everything from poultices ofhuman fæces, [4] burying the part bitten in fresh earth, [5] orthrusting the member or entire person into the entrails of livinganimals, to cupping, ligatures, escharotics, and the moxa. 

 [Footnote 3: Serpentaria derives its name from its supposed antidotal properties, and guaco and _Aristolochia India_ enjoyed widely heralded but rapidly fleeting popularity in the two Indias for a season. Tanjore pill (black pepper and arsenic) is still extensively lauded in districts whose serpents possess little vitality, but is every way inferior to iodine. ]

 [Footnote 4: A Chinese remedy--as might be imagined. ]

 [Footnote 5: Still extensively practiced, the first in Michigan, the latter in Missouri and Arkansas, and inasmuch as one is cooling and soothing, and the other slightly provocative of perspiration in the part, are not altogether devoid of plausibility. ]

Although the wounds of venomous serpents are frequently attended withfatal results, such are not necessarily invariable. There are timesand seasons when all reptiles are sluggish and inactive, and when theyinflict comparatively trifling injuries; and the poison is much lessvirulent at certain periods than others--during chilling weather forinstance, or when exhausted by repeated bites in securing sustenance. Young and small serpents, too, are less virile than large and moreaged specimens, and it has likewise been observed that death is moreapt to follow when the poison is received at the beginning or duringthe continuance of the heated term. 

The action of the venom is commonly so swift that its effects aremanifested almost immediately after inoculation, being at onceconveyed by the circulatory system to the great nervous centers of thebody, resulting in rapid paralysis of such organs as are supplied withmotive power from these sources; its physiological and toxicologicalrealizations being more or less speedy accordingly as it is appliednear or remote from these centers, or infused into the capillary orthe venous circulation. Usually, too, an unfortunate experiences, perhaps instantaneously, an intense burning pain in the memberlacerated, which is succeeded by vertigo, nausea, retching, fainting, coldness, and collapse; the part bitten swells, becomes discolored, orspotted over its surface with livid blotches, that may, ultimately, extend to the greater portion of the body, while the poison appears toeffect a greater or less disorganization of the blood, not bycoagulating its fibrine as Fontana surmised, but in dissolving, attenuating, and altering the form of its corpuscles, whose integrityis so essential to life, causing them to adhere to one another, and tothe walls of the vessels by which they are conveyed; being no longerable to traverse the capillaries, oedema is produced, followed by thepeculiar livid blush. Shakespeare would appear to have had intuitiveperception of the nature of such subtle poison, when he caused theghost to describe to Hamlet

 "The leprous distillment whose effect Bears such an enmity to the blood of man That swift as quicksilver, it courses through The natural gates and alleys of the body And with sudden vigor it doth posset And curd like eager droppings into milk, The thin and wholesome blood: so did it mine And a most instant tetter marked about Most lazar like, with vile and loathsome crust All my smooth body. "

It is not to be supposed, however, that all or even a major portion ofthe blood disks require to be changed or destroyed to produce a fatalresult, since death may supervene long before such a consummation canbe realized. It is the capillary circulation that suffers chiefly, since the very size and caliber of the heart cavities and trunkvessels afford them comparative immunity. But of the greatly dissolvedand disorganized condition of the blood that may occur secondarily, wehave evidences in the passive hæmorrhages that attack those that haverecovered from the immediate effects of serpent poisoning, followingor coincident with subsidence of swelling and induration; and, as withscurvy, bleeding may occur from the mouth, throat, lungs, nose, andbowels, or from ulcerated surfaces and superficial wounds, or alltogether, defying all styptics and hæmastatics. In a case occurringunder the care of Dr. David Brainerd in the Illinois GeneralHospital, [6] blood flowed from the gums in great profusion, and onexamination was found destitute, even under the microscope, of thefaintest indications of fibrine--the principle upon which coagulationdepends. The breath, moreover, gave most sickening exhalations, indicative of decomposition, producing serious illness in thoseexposed for any length of time to its influence. We may add, amongother sequelæ, aside from death produced through primary and secondaryeffects, paralysis, loss of nerve power, impotence, hæmorrhage, evenmortification or gangrene. 

 [Footnote 6: _Medical Independent_, 1855. ]

The failure in myotic power of the heart and in the muscles ofrespiration through reflex influence of par vagum and greatsympathetic nerves, whereby pulmonary circulation is impeded, areamong the earliest of phenomena. Breathing becoming retarded andlaborious, the necessary supply of oxygen is no longer received, andblood still venous, in that it is not relieved of its carbon, isreturned through the arteries, whereby the capillaries of the brainare gorged with a doubly poisoned circulation, poisoned by both venomand carbon. In this we have ample cause for the attending train ofsymptoms that, beginning with drowsiness, rapidly passes into stuporfollowed by profound coma and ultimate dissolution--marked evidence ofthe fact that a chemical agent or poison may produce a mechanicaldisease; and autopsical research reveals absolutely nothing save thegeneral disorganization of blood corpuscles, as already noted. 

Taking circumstantial and pathological evidences into consideration, the hope of the person thus poisoned rests solely upon lack ofvitality in the serpent and its venom, and in his personalidiosyncrasies, habits of life, condition of health, etc. , and thevaried chapters of accidents. _To look for a specific, in any sense ofthe word, is the utmost folly!_ The action of the poison and its trainof results follow inoculation in too swift succession to be overtakenand counteracted by any antidote, supposing such to be a possibleproduct, even if administered hypodermically. We have evidence of thisin iodic preparations, iodine being the nearest approach to a perfectantidote that can be secured by mortal skill, inasmuch, if quicklyinjected into the circulation, it retards and restrains thedisorganizing process whereby the continuity of the blood corpusclesis lost; moreover, it is a marked antiseptic, favors the production ofadhesive inflammation, whereby lymph is effused and coagulated aboutthe bitten part, and absorption checked, and the poison rendered lessdiffusible. But when a remedy is demanded that shall restore thepristine form, functions, and energy of the disorganized globules, manarrogates to himself supernal attributes whereby it becomes possiblenot only to save and renew, _but to create life_; and we can scarceexpect science or even accident (as some expect) to even rival Natureand set at defiance her most secret and subtle laws. Such, however, isthe natural outcropping of an ignorant teaching and vulgar prejudicethat feeds and clothes the charlatan and ascribes to savage anduncultured races an occult familiarity with pathological, physiological, and remedial effect unattainable by the most advancedsciences; and whereby the Negro, Malay, Hindoo, South Sea Islander, and red man are granted an innate knowledge of poisons and theirantidotes more than miraculous. A reward of more than a quarter of acentury's standing, and amounting to several thousand pounds, isoffered by the East India Government for the discovery of a specificfor the bite of the cobra, and for which no claims have ever beenadvanced; and the "snake charmers" or jugglers in whom this superiorknowledge is supposed to center are so well aware of the futility ofspecifics, and the risk to which they are subjected, that few ventureto ply their calling without a broad-bladed, keen-edged knifeconcealed about the person as a means of instant amputation in case ofaccident. Medical and scientific associations of various classes, inEurope, Australia, America, even Africa, and the East and West Indies, have repeatedly held out the most tempting lures, and indulged inexhaustive and costly experimentation in search of specifics for thewounds of vipers, cobras, rattlesnakes, and the general horde ofvenomous reptiles; and all in vain. Even the saliva of man, as well ascertain other secretions, is at times so modified by anger as to rivalthe venom of the serpent in fatality, and it has no specific; and acareful analysis of the pathological relations of such poison provesthat further experimentation and expectation is as irrational as thepursuit of the "philosopher's stone. "

It is an indisputable fact, however, that there are individuals whosenatural or acquired idiosyncrasies permit them to be inoculated by themost venomous of reptiles without deleterious or unpleasant results, and Colonel Matthews Taylor[7] knew several persons of this characterin India, and who regarded the bite of the cobra or tic paloonga withnearly as much indifference as the sting of a gnat or mosquito. Again, in 1868, Mr. Drummond, a prominent magistrate of Melbourne, Australia, [8] met with untimely death under circumstances thatattracted no little attention. An itinerant vender of nostrums had onexhibition a number of venomous reptiles, by which he caused himselfto be successively bitten, professing to secure immunity by reason ofa secret compound which he offered for sale at a round figure. Convinced that the fellow was an imposter, and his wares valuable onlyas a means of depleting the pockets of the credulous, Mr. Drummondloudly asserted the inefficacy of the nostrum, as well as theinnocuousness of the reptiles, which he assumed to be either naturallyharmless, or rendered so by being deprived of their fangs; and inproof thereof insisted upon being himself bitten. To this experimentthe charlatan was extremely averse, offering strenuous objections, andfinally conveyed a point blank refusal. But Mr. Drummond's demandsbecoming more imperative, and observing that his hesitancy impressedthe audience as a tacit acknowledgment of the allegations, he finallyconsented, and placed in the hands of the magistrate a tiger snake, which he deemed least dangerous, and which instantly struck thegentleman in the wrist. The usual symptoms of serpent poisoningrapidly manifested themselves, followed by swelling and lividity ofthe part, obstructed circulation and respiration, and coma; and inspite of the use of the vaunted remedy and the attentions ofphysicians the result was most fatal. The vender subsequently concededthe worthless character of his nostrum, declaring that be enjoyedexemption from the effects of of serpent poison by virtue of recoveryfrom a severe inoculation in early life; and he further added he knew"some people who were born so, " who put him "up to this dodge" as ameans of gaining a livelihood. 

 [Footnote 7: _Vide_ report to Prof. J. Henry Bennett. ]

 [Footnote 8: London _Times_. ]

It is a general supposition that such immunity, when congenital, isacquired _in utero_ by the inoculation of the parent, and OliverWendell Holmes' fascinating tale of "Elsie Venner" embodies manyinteresting features in this connection. Admitting such inoculationmay secure immunity, recent experiments in the action of this as wellas kindred poisons give no grounds for believing it at all universalor even common, but as depending upon occult physiological oraccidental phenomena. For instance, the writer and his father areequally proof against the contagion and inoculation of vaccination andvariola, in spite of repeated attempts to secure both, while theirrespective mothers suffered terribly with smallpox at periodssubsequent to the birth of their children; and it is well understoodthat there are striking analogies between the poisons of certaincontagious fevers and those of venomous serpents, inasmuch as oneattack conveys exemption from future ones of like character. In otherwords, many animal poisons, as well as the pathological ones ofsmallpox, measles, scarlatina, whooping cough, etc. , have the power ofso modifying the animal economy, when it does not succumb to theirprimary influence, as to ever after render it all but proof againstthem. Witness, for instance, the ravages of the mosquito, that incertain districts punishes most terribly all new comers, and who aftera brief residence suffer little, the bite no longer producing pain orswelling. 

Regarding the supposed correlation of serpent poison and the septicferments of certain tropical and infectious fevers, they are notnecessarily always contagious. It may be interesting to note that oneDoctor Humboldt in 1852, [9] in an essay read before the Royal Academyof Medical Sciences at Havana, assumed their proximate identity, andadvocated the inoculation of the poison of one as a prophylactic ofthe other. He claimed to have personally inoculated numberless personsin New Orleans, Vera Cruz, and Cuba with exceedingly dilute venom, thereby securing them perfect immunity from yellow fever. Aside fromthe extraordinary nature of the statement, the fact that the doctoraffirmed, he had never used the virus to an extent sufficient toproduce any of its toxic symptoms, cast discredit over the whole, andproofs were demanded and promised. This was the last of the subject, however, which soon passed into oblivion, though whether from failureon the part of the medico to substantiate his assertions, or from theinanition of his colleagues, it is difficult to determine, though thepresumption is largely in favor of the former. Nevertheless, it isworthy of consideration and exhaustive experimentation, since it is noless plausible than the theory which rendered the name of Jennerfamous. 

 [Footnote 9: London _Lancet_. ]

Outside of the transfusion of blood, for which there are strongreasons for believing would be attended with happy results, the soleremedies available in serpent poisoning are measures looking to theprompt cutting off of the circulation of the affected part, and thedirect stimulation of the heart's action and the respiratory organs, until such a time as Nature shall have eliminated all toxicalevidences; and these must necessarily be mechanical. Alcoholicstimulants are available only as they act mechanically in sustainingcardiac and pulmonary activity, and where their free use is prolongedefficacy is quickly exhausted, and they tend rather to hasten a fatalresult. They are devoid of the slightest antidotal properties, and inno way modify the activity of the venom; and an intoxicated person, sofar from enjoying the immunity with which he is popularly credited, isfar more apt to succumb to the virus than him of unfuddled intellect. The reasons are obvious. Theoretically, for purely physiological andtherapeutic reasons _amyl nitrite_ should be of incalculable value, though I have no knowledge of its use in this connection, since itsvapor when inhaled is a most powerful stimulator of cardiac action, and when administered by the mouth it is unapproached in its controlof spasmodically contracted vessels and muscles. The relief its vaporaffords in the collapse of chloroform anæsthesia, in which dissolutionis imminent from paralyzed heart's action, is instantaneous, and itseffect upon the spasmodic and suffocative sensations of hydrophobiaare equally prompt. Moreover, without further discussing itsphysiological functions, it is the nearest approach to an antidote tocertain zymotic poisons, and especially valuable in warding off andaborting the action of the ferment that gives rise to pertussis, orwhooping cough. _Iodide of ethyl_ is another therapeutical measurethat is worthy of consideration; and _iodoform_ in the treatment ofthe sequelæ incident to recovery. 

The native population of India, in spite of the contrary acceptedopinion, are remarkably free from resort to nostrums that lay claim tobeing antidotes. The person inoculated by the cobra is at once seizedby his friends, and constant and violent exercise enforced, ifnecessary at the point of stick, and severe and cruel (butnevertheless truly merciful) beatings are often a result. In this wesee a direct application, without in the least understanding them, ofthe rules laid down to secure certain physiological results, as forthe relief of opium and morphia narcosis, which serpent poisoningalmost exactly resembles. The late Doctor Spillsbury (Physician-Generalof Calcutta), [10] while stationed at Jubulpore, Central India, wasinformed late one evening that his favorite horse keeper had just beendangerously bitten by a cobra of unusual size, and therefore more thanordinarily venomous. He at once ordered his gig, and in spite of thewails and protestations of the sufferer and his friends, with whom afatal result was already a foregone conclusion, the doctor caused hiswrists to be bound firmly and inextricably to the back of the vehicle;then assuring the man if he did not keep up he would most certainly bedragged to death, he mounted to his seat and drove rapidly away. Threehours later, or a little more, he returned, having covered nearlythirty miles without cessation or once drawing rein. The horse keeperwas found bathed in profuse perspiration, and almost powerless fromexcessive fatigue. _Eau de luce_, an aromatic preparation of ammonia, was now administered at frequent and regular intervals as a diffusiblestimulant, and moderate though constant exercise enforced until neardawn, when the sufferer was found to be completely recovered. 

 [Footnote 10: London _Lancet_. ]

The value of violent and profuse cutaneous transpiration, therebysecuring a rapidly eliminating channel for discharging poison from thesystem, is well known; in no other way can action be had so thorough, speedy, and prompt. Captain Maxwell[11] tells us it was formerly thecustom among the Irish peasantry of Connaught, when one manifestedunmistakable evidences of hydrophobia, to procure the death of theunfortunate by smothering between two feather beds. In one instance, after undergoing this treatment, the supposed corpse was seen, to thehorror and surprise of all who witnessed it, to crawl from between thebolsters, when he was found to be entirely free from his disorder; thebeds, however, were saturated through and through with theperspiration that escaped the body in the intensity of his mortalagony. More recently a French physician, [12] recognizing the incubatorystage of rabies in his own person, resolved upon suicide rather thanundergo its attendant horrors. The hot bath was selected for thepurpose, with a view of gradually increasing its temperature untilsyncope should be induced, which he hoped would be succeeded by death. To his surprise, however, as the temperature of the water rose, hissensations of distress improved; and the very means chosen forterminating life became instead his salvation, restoring to perfecthealth. Again, Dr. Peter Hood[13] relates that a blacksmith residing inthe neighborhood of his country house was in high repute for milesabout by reason of his cures of rabies. His remedy consisted simply inforcing the person bitten to accompany him in a rapid walk or trot fortwenty miles or more, after which he administered copious draughts ofa hot decoction of broom tops, as much for its moral effect as for itsvalue in sustaining and prolonging established diaphoresis. 

 [Footnote 11: Wild Sports or the West. ]

 [Footnote 12: _L'Union Medicale_--name withheld by request of the gentleman. ]

 [Footnote 13: London _Lancet_. ]

Though the pathological conditions of hydrophobia and serpentpoisoning are by no means parallel, the _rationale_ of the methodsemployed in opening the emunctories of the skin are the same; and wereit not for its powerful protracting effect and depressing action uponthe heart, we might perhaps secure valuable aid from jaborandi(_pilocarpus_), since it stimulates profusely all the secretions; asit is, more is to be hoped for in the former disorder than in thelatter. It would be desirable also to know what influence the Turkishbath might exert, and it would seem worthy at least of trial. 

 * * * * *

TO FIND THE TIME OF TWILIGHT. 

_To the Editor of the Scientific American_:

Given latitude N. 40° 51', declination N. 20° 25', sun 18° below thehorizon. To find the time of twilight at that place. In theaccompanying diagram, E Q = equinoctial, D D = parallel ofdeclination, Z S N a vertical circle, H O = the horizon, P = Northpole, Z = zenith, and S = the sun, 18° below the horizon, H O, measured on a vertical circle. It is seen that we have here given usthe three sides of a spherical triangle, viz. , the co-latitude 49° 9', the co declination 69° 35', and the zenith distance 108°, with whichto compute the angle Z P S. This angle is found to be 139° 16' 5. 6". Dividing this by 15 we have 9 h. 16 m. 24. 4 s. , from noon to thebeginning or termination of twilight. Now, in the given latitude anddeclination, the sun's center coincides with the horizon at sunset(allowance being made for refraction), at 7 h. 18 m. 29. 3 s. Fromapparent noon. Then if we subtract 7 h. 18 m. 29. 3 s. From 9 h. 16 m. 24. 4 s. , we shall have 1 h. 57 m. 55. 1 s. As the duration of twilight. But the real time of sunset must be computed when the sun hasdescended about 50' below the horizon, at which point the sun's upperlimb coincides with the line, H O, of the horizon. This takes place 7h. 16 m. 30. 8 s. Mean time. It is hoped the above will be a sufficientanswer to L. N. (See SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN of Dec. 1, 1883, p. 346. )

B. W. H. 

[Illustration]

 * * * * *

ETHNOLOGICAL NOTES. 

The distinguished anthropologist M. De Quatrefages has recently spokenbefore the Academy of Sciences in Paris, and we extract from hisdiscourse on "Fossil Man and Savages" some notes reported in the_Journal d'Hygiene_: "It is in Oceanica and above all in Melanesia andin Polynesia where I have looked for examples of savage races. I havescarcely spoken of the Malays except to bring to the surface thefeatures which distinguish them among the ethnic groups which they attimes touch, and which in turn frequently mingle with them. I haveespecially studied the Papuans and Negritos. The Papuans are anexclusively Pelasgic race, that many anthropologists consider asalmost confined to New Guinea and the neighboring archipelago. But itbecomes more and more manifest that they have had also periods ofexpansion and of dissemination. 

"On one side they appear as conquerors in some islands of Micronesia;on the other we have shown--M. Hamy and myself--that to them alone canbe assigned the skulls found in Easter Island and in New Zealand. Theyhave hence touched the east and south, the extremities of the maritimeworld. 

"The Negritos, scarcely known a few years ago, and to-day confoundedwith the Papuans by some anthropologists, have spread to the west andnorthwest. 

"They have left unmistakable traces in Japan; we find them yet in thePhilippines and in many of the islands of the Malay archipelago; theyconstitute the indigenous population of the Andaman Islands, in theGulf of Bengal. Indeed, they have formerly occupied a great part ofthe two peninsulas of India, and I have elsewhere shown that we canfollow their steps to the foot of the Himalayas, and beyond the Industo Lake Zerah. I have only sketched here the history of this race, whose representatives in the past have been the type of the Asiaticpygmies of whom Pliny and Ctesias speak, and whose _creoles_ werethose Ethiopians, black and with smooth hair, who figured in the armyof Xerxes. 

"I have devoted two long examinations to another black race much lessimportant in numbers and in the extent of their domain, but whichpossess for the anthropologist a very peculiar interest and a sad one. It exists no more; its last representative, a woman, died in 1877. Irefer to the Tasmanians. 

"The documents gathered by various English writers, and above all byBouwick, give numerous facts upon the intellectual and moral characterof the Tasmanians. The complete destruction of the Tasmanians, accomplished in at most 72 years over a territory measuring 4, 400square leagues, raises a sorrowful and difficult question. Theirextinction has been explained by the barbarity of the civilizedEuropeans, and which, often conspicuous, has never been moredestructively present than in their dealings with the Tasmanians. ButI am convinced that this is an error. I certainly do not wish toapologize for or extenuate the crimes of the convicts and colonists, against which the most vigorous protests have been raised both inEngland and in the colony itself, but neither war nor social disastershave been the principal cause of the disappearance of the Tasmanians. They have perished from that strange malady which Europeans haveeverywhere transplanted in the maritime world, and which strikes downthe most flourishing populations. 

"Consumption is certainly one of the elements of this evil. But if itexplains the increase of the death rate, it does not explain thediminution of births. Both these phenomena are apparent. Captain Juanhas seen at the Marquesas, in the island of Taio-Hahe, the populationfall in three years from 400 souls to 250. To offset this death-rate, we find only 3 or 4 births. It is evident that at this ratepopulations rapidly disappear, and it is the principal cause of thedisappearance of the Tasmanians. "

The lecturer, after alluding to his studies in Polynesia, speaks ofhis interest in the western representatives of these races and hisspecial studies in New Zealand, and referring to the latter continues:

"One of the most important results of the labors in this direction hasbeen to establish the serious value of the historical songs preserved, among the Maoris, by the _Tohungus_, or _wise men_, who represent the_Aiepas_ of Tahiti. Thanks to these living archives, we have been ableto reconstruct a history of the natives, to fix almost the epoch ofthe first arrival of the Polynesians in that land, so distant fromtheir other centers of population, and to determine their point ofdeparture. "

Other studies refer to peoples far removed from the preceding. One isdevoted to the Todas, a very small tribe of the Nilgherie Hills, whoby their physical, intellectual, and social characteristics differfrom all the other races of India. "The Todas burn their dead, and wepossess none of their skulls. But thanks to M. Janssen, who has livedamong them, I have been able to fill up this gap. "

The last subject referred to by the lecturer was the Finns of Finland, whose study reveals the fact that they embrace two ethnic types, oneof which, the _Tavastlanda_, belongs without doubt to the greatFinnish family, spread over Asia as well as in Europe, and a second, the Karelien, whose representatives possessed the poetic instinct, which causes M. Quatrefages to ally them with the Aryan race, "to whomwe owe all our epics, from the Ramayana, Iliad, and Eneas to the poemsof to-day. "

 * * * * *

GRECIAN ANTIQUITIES. 

[Illustration: MONUMENT OF PHILOPAPPUS, ATHENS. ]

Although so much has been written about Athens, there is one strikingfeature which has been little noticed. This is the beautiful colors ofthe Parthenon and Erectheum, the soft mellow yellow which is due toage, and which gives these buildings when lighted by the setting sun, and framed by the purple hills beyond, the appearance of temples ofgold. 

[Illustration: TOMB FROM THE CERAMICUS, ATHENS. ]

Until A. D. 1687 the Parthenon remained almost perfect, and then notage but a shell from the Venetians falling upon Turkish powder, made arent which, when seen from below, makes it look like two temples. 

[Illustration: TOWER OF THE WINDS, ATHENS. ]

The Temple of Theseus is the best preserved and one of the oldest ofthe buildings of ancient Athens. It was founded in B. C. 469, and is asmall, graceful, and perfect Doric temple. Having served as aChristian church, dedicated to St. George, it escaped injury. Itcontains the beautiful and celebrated tombstone of Aristion, thewarrior of Marathon. 

[Illustration: THE ACROPOLIS, ATHENS. ]

All that remains of Hadrian's great Temple to Zeus (A. D. 132) are afew standing columns in an open space, which are imposing from theirisolated position. 

[Illustration: OLD CORINTH AND THE ACROCORINTHUS. ]

The monument of Philopappus is thought to have been begun A. D. 110, and for a king in Asia Minor. 

[Illustration: TEMPLE OF JUPITER, ATHENS. ]

The Tower of the Winds, erected by Andronicus Cyrrhestes about B. C. 100, contained a weathercock, a sun dial, and a water clock. It is anoctagonal building, with reliefs on the frieze, representing byappropriate figures the eight winds into which the Athenian compasswas divided. 

[Illustration: THE PANTHENON, ATHENS. ]

In the Street of Tombs the monuments are lying or standing as theywere found; each year shows many changes in Athens, a tomb last yearin the Ceramicus may be this year in a museum. There is a greatsimilarity in all these tombstones; no doubt they were madebeforehand, as they seldom suggest the idea of a portrait. Theygenerally represent an almost heroic leave-taking. The friendsstanding in the act of saying farewell are receiving presents from thedead; often in the corner is a crouching slave, and frequently a dog. 

[Illustration: ERECTEUM, ATHENS. ]

Beyond the river Kephiesus, the hill of Colonus, and the groves of theAcademy, is the Pass of Daphne, which was the road to Eleusis, andalong which passed the annual sacred processions in the days of theMysteries. Cut there in the rock are the niches for the votiveofferings. This dark Daphne Pass seems still to possess an air ofmystery which is truly in keeping with the rites which were onceobserved there. 

[Illustration: NICHES FOR VOTIVE OFFERINGS ON THE SACRED WAY TOELEUSIS. ]

[Illustration: TEMPLE OF CORINTH, FROM THE MONUMENT OF PHILOPAPPUS. ]

From several points in Athens, on very clear days, may be seen thegreat rock fort Acrocorinthus, which is directly above the site ofancient Corinth. It is now a deserted fort; the Turkish drawbridge andgate stand open and unused. There are on it remains of a Turkish town;at one time it was one of the strongest and most important citadels inGreece. In the middle of the almost deserted, wretched, stragglingvillage of Old Corinth stand seven enormous massive columns. These areall that remain of the Temple, and indeed of ancient Corinth. Thepillars, of the Doric order, are of a brown limestone, not of thecountry. The Turks and earthquakes have destroyed Old Corinth, anddriven the inhabitants to New Corinth, about one hour and a half'sdrive from the Gulf. --_London Graphic_. 

[Illustration: TEMPLE OF THESEUS, ATHENS. ]

[Illustration: TOMBSTONE IN THE CERAMICUS, ATHENS. ]

 * * * * *

SPANISH FISHERIES. 

The Spanish Court at the late Fisheries Exhibition was large and wellfurnished, there being several characteristic models of vessels. Nocertain figures can be obtained of the results of the whole fishingindustry of Spain. It is, however, estimated that 14, 202 boats, with atonnage of 51, 397 tons, were employed during the year 1882. They gaveoccupation to 59, 974 men, and took about 78, 000 tons of fish. TheGovernment interfere in the fishing industry only to the extent ofcollecting and distributing information to the fishermen on subjectsthat are most likely to be of use to them in their calling. Inconsequence, principally no doubt of this wise policy, we find inSpain a vigorous and self-reliant class of men engaged in thefisheries. Some of the most interesting features in the Spanish Courtwere the contributions sent by the different fishermen's associations, and although the Naval Museum of Madrid supplied a collection ofarticles that would have formed a good basis in itself for anexhibition, yet in no other foreign court was the fishing industry ofthe nation better illustrated by private enterprise than in that ofSpain. The fishing associations referred to are half benefit societiesand half trading communities. That of Lequeito has issued a smallpamphlet, from which we learn that this body consists of 600 membersdivided into three classes, viz. , owners of vessels, patrons or men incharge, and ordinary fishermen. A board of directors, consisting of 22owners, and 24 masters of boats or ordinary fishermen, has the solecontrol of the affairs of the society. The meetings are presided overby a majordomo elected triennially, and who must be the owner of aboat over 40 ft. Long. This functionary receives a stipend of 8, 000reales a year, a sum which sounds more modest when expressed as 80_l_. He has two clerks, who are on the permanent staff, to help him. Hisduties are to keep the books with the assistance of the two clerks, totake charge of the sales of all fish, recover moneys, and makenecessary payments. In stormy weather he gets up in a watch tower andguides boats entering the harbor. The _atalayero_ is an official ofthe society, whose duty it is to station himself on the heights andsignal by means of smoke, to the boats at sea, the movements ofschools of sardines and anchovies or probable changes of weather. Itis also the duty of this officer to weigh all the bream caught fromthe 1st November to the 31st of March, for which he receives a"gratuity" of 100 pesetas, or say 4_l. _, sterling. Two other señeros, or signalmen, are told off to keep all boats in port during badweather, and to call together the crews when circumstances appearfavorable for sailing. Should there be a difference of opinion betweenthese experts as to the meteorological probabilities, the patrons, orskippers of the fishing-boats, are summoned in council and theiropinion taken by "secret vote with black and white balls. " Thedecision so arrived at is irrevocable, and all are bound to sailshould it be so decided; those who do not do so paying a fine to thefunds of the association. The boats carrying the señeros fly a colorby means of which they signal orders for sailing to the other vessels. These señeros appear to be the Spanish equivalent to the Englishadmiral of a trawling fleet. 

The boats used by these fishermen are fine craft; one or two models ofthem were shown in the Exhibition. A first-class boat will be of aboutthe following dimensions: Length over all, 45 ft. To 50 ft. ; breadth(extreme), 9 ft. To 10 ft. 3 in. ; depth (inside), 3 ft. 10 in. To 4ft. The keel is of oak 6 in. By 3½ in. The stem and stern posts arealso of oak. The planking is generally of oak or walnut--the latterpreferred--and is 3 in. Thick, the width of the planks being 4½ in. Many boats are now constructed of hard wood to the water line andNorway pine above. 

The fastenings are galvanized nails 4½ in. Long. The mast-partners andall the thwarts are of oak 1½ in. Thick and 8 in. Wide; the latter arefastened in with iron knees. Lee-board and rudder are of oak, walnut, or chestnut; the rudder extends 3½ ft. To 4 ft. Below the keel, and, in giving lateral resistance, balances the lee-board, which is thrustdown forward under the lee-bow. The rig consists of two lags, thesmaller one forward right in the eyes of the boat; the mainmast beingamidships. The lug sails are set on long yards, the fair-weather rigconsisting of a fore lug with 120 square yards, and a main lug of 200square yards. There are six shifts of sail, the main being substitutedfor the fore lug in turn as the weather increases, in a manner similarto that in which our own Mounts Bay boats reduce canvas. The fairweather rig requires two masts 42 ft. And 36 ft. Long, and yards 28ft. And 30 ft. Long, respectively. The oars are 16 ft. Long, and arepulled double-banked. Such a boat will cost 90_l. _ to 100_l. _ fitted forsea, of which sum the hull will represent rather more than half. Thesevessels generally remain at sea for twelve hours, from about three tofour in the morning until the same time in the evening. Tunny, merluza(a species of cod), and bream are the principal fish taken. Thefirst-named are caught by hook and line operated by means of polesrigged out from the boat much in the same way, apparently, as we drailfor mackerel on the southwest coast. A filament of maize straw is usedfor bait. The boat sails to a distance of about 90 miles off the landand run back before the prevailing wind, until they are about ninemiles from the shore or until they lose the fish. When the fishermangets a bite the wind is spilled out of the sail so as to deaden theboat's way. The fish is then got alongside, promptly gaffed, and goton board. Tunny sells for about three halfpence a pound in Lequeito. The season extends from June to November. Bream are taken in thewinter and spring, 9 to 12 miles off the coast. They are caught byhook and line in two ways. The first is worth describing. A line 50fathoms long has bent to it snoods with hooks attached, 16 in. Apart. Each man handles three lines. On reaching the fishing ground the line, to the end of which a stone is attached, is gradually paid out untilsoundings are taken; then another stone is attached and the operationrepeated. If a bite is felt the line is slacked away freely, and thisgoes on until about 500 fathoms are overboard. When, by the lively andcontinuous jerking of the line, the fisherman concludes that he has agood number of fish on the hooks, he will haul aboard and then prepareto shoot again. 

The second method of taking the bream is by long lining; fifty of thelines we have just described being bent together and duly anchored andbuoyed. Spaniards do not much care for this way of fishing, as it iscostly in bait and the gear is often lost in bad weather. Bream sellsat about 3½d. A pound. Cod are taken during the first six months ofthe year, about 9 miles off shore, by hand lines. Sold fresh the priceis about 6_d. _ per lb. A small quantity is preserved in tins. Anchovy orcuttlefish is the bait used; sometimes the two are placed on one hook. 

A smaller description of boat, called traineras, is built especiallyfor taking sardine and anchovy, although in fine weather they oftenengage in the same fishery as the larger boats. The traineras arelight and shapely vessels, with a graceful sheer and curved stem andstern posts. The keel is much cambered, and the bottom is flat and hasconsiderable hollow. The usual dimensions vary between: Length, 38feet to 42 feet; beam, 7 feet to 7 feet 6 inches; depth, 2 feet 6inches to 2 feet 10 inches. The sails and gear are much the same as inthe larger boats, excepting that there are only four shifts in placeof six. The largest main lug has an area of about 90 square yards andthe fore lug about 50 square yards. The other sails for heavierweather are naturally smaller. The largest masts for fine weather arerespectively 36 feet and 22 feet, long. The average cost of one ofthese boats and gear is about £122, made up as follows: Hull, £32;sails, gear, and oars, £30; nets and gear attached, £60. The seasonfor anchovy fishing commences on the 1st of March and ends 30th ofJune; it begins again on the 15th of September, and continues untilthe end of the year. Most fish are taken at a distance of about 9miles from the land, although they often come in much closer. Anchovies are sold fresh, or are salted to be sent away, some are usedfor bait, and in times of great plenty quantities are put on the landfor manure. The greater part are, however, preserved in barrels ortins, and are exported to France or England. 

The net used in the capture of anchovies is called _traina_ or _copo_. It is in principle like the celebrated purse seine of the UnitedStates, but in place of being 200 fathoms long, as are many of thenets, which, in American waters, will inclose a whole school ofmackerel, it is but 32 to 40 fathoms long. The depth is 7 to 10fathoms, and the mesh ¾ inch. Sardine fishing commences on the 1st ofJuly and lasts until December. The principal ground is 2 to 10 milesoff shore. The price of sardines on the coast is about 2½d. Per pound. When the sardines appear in shoals they are taken with the traina inthe same way as anchovies, a net of ½-inch mesh being used. Sardinesare also taken by gill nets about 200 feet long and 18 feet wide. Whenused in the daytime the fish are tolled up by a bait consisting of theliver of cod. When the sardines have been attracted to theneighborhood of the net, bait is thrown on the other side of it. Thefish in their rush for the bait become entangled in the mesh. Thesenets are sometimes anchored out all night, in which case no bait isused. 

A third class of boats of much the same character are of about thefollowing dimensions: Length, 28 feet to 35 feet; beam, 7 feet 6inches to 8 feet; depth, 2 feet 6 inches to 2 feet 8 inches. The twolugs will contain 16 and 30 square yards of canvas respectively. Theyare used for sardine catching, when they will carry a crew of fourmen, or for taking conger and cod, in which case they will be mannedby eight hands. 

Their cost will average approximately as follows: Hull, £15; gear andsail, £10; nets and lines, £13; about £40. The conger season extendsfrom March to June, and from October to November. The fish are takenby hook and line; sardine and fish known as berdel (which in turn istaken by a hook covered with a feather) are used as bait. 

There are other smaller fishing boats, among which may be noticed the_bateler_, a powerful little vessel, 13 feet to 16 ft. Long, about 5½ft. Wide, and 2 ft. Deep. They are sailed by one man, set a goodspread of canvas, and are fast and handy. They are used for taking aspecies of cuttlefish which supplies a bait, and is caught by hook andline, the fishes being attracted by colored threads, at which theyrush, when the hook will catch in their tentacles. There is a smallwell in the middle of the boat for keeping the fish alive. None of theboats on the northern coast of Spain carry ballast. They have flathollow floors, and set a large area of of canvas on a shallow draught. Lobster fishing is pursued in much the same manner as in England, butoften four or five miles from land, and in very deep water. 

One of the most noticeable objects in the Spanish court was afull-sized boat about 25 ft. Long, which had a square hole cut in thebottom amidships. Through this hole was let down a glass frame inwhich was placed a powerful paraffine lamp. The object of this was toattract the fish. It is said that tunny will be drawn from a distanceof over a hundred yards, and will follow the boat so that they may beenticed into the nets. Sardines and other fish will follow the lightin shoals. It is claimed that the boat will be useful in divingoperations, for pearl or coral fishing, or for ascertaining thedirection of submarine currents, which can be seen at night by a lampto a depth to 25 to 30 fathoms. --_Engineering_. 

 * * * * *

DUCK SHOOTING AT MONTAUK. 

Montauk Point, Long Island, is the most isolated and desolate spotimaginable during this weather. The frigid monotony of winter hassettled down upon that region, and now it is haunted only by sea fowl. The bleak, barren promontory whereon stands the light is swept cleanof its summer dust by the violent raking of cold hurricanes across it, and coated with ice from the wind-dashed spume of the great breakershurled against the narrow sand spit which makes the eastern terminusof the island. The tall, white towered light and its black lantern, now writhing in frosty northern blizzards, and again shivering ineasterly gales, now glistening with ice from the tempest tossed seasall about it, and now varnished with wreaths of fog, is the onlyhabitation worthy of the name for many miles around. Keeper Clark andhis family and assistants are almost perpetually fenced in from theoutside world by the cold weather, and have to hug closely the roaringfires that protect them in that desolation. 

But for ducks and the duck hunter the lighthouse family would die ofinanition. With the cold weather comes the ducks, and they continue tocome till the warmer blasts of spring drive them to the northward. Montauk Point is a favorite haunt for this sort of wild fowl. It is agood feeding ground, is isolated, and there is nearly always a weathershore for the flocks to gather under. But year by year the point isbeing more and more frequented by sportsmen, and the reports of theirsuccesses increase the applicants for lodgings at the light. Some 20gunners were out there last week with the most improved paraphernaliafor the sport, and did telling work. Flight shooting is the favoritemethod of taking them. The light stands very near the end of thepoint, about a sixteenth of a mile to the west, and all migratorybirds in passing south seem to have it down in their log-book thatthey must not only sight this structure, but must also fly over it asnearly as possible. Hence the variety and extent of the flocks whichare continually passing is a matter of interest and wonder to astudent of natural history as well as to the sportsman. Coots, whistlers, soft bills, old squaws, black ducks, cranes, belated wildgeese, and, in fact, all sorts of northern birds make up this long andstrange procession, and the air is frequently so densely packed withthem as to be actually darkened, while the keen, whistling music oftheir whizzing wings makes a melody that comparatively few landsmenever hear. Millions of the birds never hesitate at this point in theirflight, although thousands of them do. These latter make theneighboring waters their home for the rest of the winter. Great flocksof ducks are continually sailing about the rugged shores, and thefrozen cranberry marshes of Fort Pond Bay, lying to the westward, aretheir favorite feeding-grounds. The birds are always as fat as butterwhen making their flight, and their piquant, spicy flavor leads totheir being barbecued by the wholesale at the seat of shootingoperations. One of the gunner's cabins has nailed up in it the headsof 345 ducks that have been roasted on the Point this winter. 

Early morning is the favorite time for shooting. At daybreak theflights are heavy, and from that time until seven o'clock in themorning they increase until it seems as though all the flocks whichhad spent the night in the caves and ponds on the Connecticut shorewere on the wing and away for the south. By ten o'clock in theforenoon the flights grow rarer, and the rest of the day onlystragglers come along. A good gunner can take five dozen of thesebirds easily in a morning's work, provided he can and will withstandthe inclemency of the weather. 

Keeper Clark never shoots ducks. Scarcely a morning has dawned for twomonths but that several of the poor birds have been picked up at thefoot of the light house tower with the broken necks which have mutelytold the story of death, reached by plunging headlong against thecrystal walls of the dazzling lantern overhead the night before. Thereis a tendency with such migratory birds as are on the wing at night tofly very high. But the great, glaring, piercing, single eye of Montauklight seems to draw into it by dozens, as a loadstone pulls a magnet, its feathered victims, and they swerve in their course and makestraight for it. As they flash nearer and nearer, the light, ofcourse, grows brighter and brighter, and at length they dash into whatappears a sea of fire, to be crushed lifeless by the heavy glass, andthey fall to the ground below, ready to be plucked for the oven. Inside the lantern the thud made by these birds when they strike isreadily felt. Although they are comparatively small, yet so great istheir velocity that the impact creates a perceptible jar, and thelantern is disfigured with plashes of their blood. Upon stormy andfoggy nights the destruction of birds is found to be greatest. Whenthe weather is clear and fair many smaller birds, like robins, sparrows, doves, cuckoos, rail, snipe, etc. , will circle about thelight all night long, leaving only when the light is extinguished inthe morning. Large cranes show themselves to be almost dangerousvisitors. Recently one of these weighing 40 pounds struck the wroughtiron guard railing about the lantern with such force as to bend theiron slats and to completely sever his long neck from his body. --_N. Y. Times_. 

 * * * * *

[THE GARDEN. ]

THE HORNBEAMS. 

The genus Carpinis is widely distributed throughout the temperateregions of the northern hemisphere. There are nine species known tobotanists, most of them being middle-sized trees. In addition to thosementioned below, figures of which are herewith given, there are fourspecies from Japan and one from the Himalayan region which do not yetseem to have found their way to this country; these five are thereforeomitted. All are deciduous trees, and every one is thoroughlydeserving of cultivation. The origin of the English name is quaintlyexplained by Gerard in his "Herbal" as follows: "The wood, " he says, "in time, waxeth so hard, that the toughness and hardness of it may berather compared to horn than unto wood, and therefore it was calledhorne-beam or hardbeam. "

[Illustration: CARPINUS ORIENTALIS. ]

_Carpinus Betulus_, [1] the common hornbeam, as is the case with somany of our native or widely cultivated trees, exhibits considerablevariation in habit, and also in foliage characters. Some of the morestriking of these, those which have received names in nurseries, etc. , and are propagated on account of their distinctive peculiarities, aredescribed below. In a wild state C. Betulus occurs in Europe fromGothland southward, and extends also into West Asia. Althoughapparently an undoubted native in the southern counties of England, itappears to have no claim to be considered indigenous as far as thenorthern counties are concerned; it has also been planted wherever itoccurs in Ireland. 

 [Footnote 1: IDENTIFICATION. --Carpinus Betulus, L. , Loudon, "Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum, " vol. Iii. , p. 2004; Encycl. Of Trees and Shrubs, 917. Boswell Syme, "English Botany, " vol. Viii. , p. 176, tab. 1293; Koch, "Dendrologie, " zweit. Theil. Zweit. Abtheil. , p. 2: Hooker, "Student's Flora of the British Islands, " ed. 2, p. 365. C. Carpinizza, Host. , "Flora Austriaca, " ii. , p. 626. C. Intermedia. Wierbitzsky in Reichb Ic. Fl. Germ. Et Helvet. , xxii. Fig. 1297. ]

[Illustration: CARPINUS AMERICANA. ]

Few trees bear cutting so well as the hornbeam, and for this reason, during the reign of the topiarist, it was held in high repute for theformation of the "close alleys, " "covert alleys, " or the"thick-pleached alleys, " frequently mentioned in Shakespeare and inthe works of other authors about three centuries ago. In the sixteenthcentury the topiary art had reached its highest point of development, and was looked upon as the perfection of gardening; the hornbeam--andindeed almost every other tree--was cut and tortured into everyimaginable shape. The "picturesque style, " however, soon drove thetopiarist and his art out of the field, yet even now places stillremain in England where the old and once much-belauded fashion stillexists on a large scale--a fact by no means to be deplored from anarchæological point of view. Dense, quaintly-shaped hornbeam hedgesare not unfrequent in the gardens of many old English mansions, and insome old country farmhouses the sixteenth century craze is stillperpetuated on a smaller scale. 

[Illustration: CARPINUS BETULUS, LEAF, CATKINS, AND FRUIT. ]

Sir J. E. Smith, in his "English Flora, " after enumerating the virtuesof the hornbeam as a hedge plant, gives it as his opinion that "whenstanding by itself and allowed to take its natural form, the hornbeammakes a much more handsome tree than most people are aware of. " Thosewho are familiar with the fine specimens which exist at Studley Parkand elsewhere will have no hesitation in confirming Sir J. E. Smith'sstatement. The Hornbeam Walk in Richmond Park, from Pembroke Lodgetoward the Ham Gate, will recur to many Southerners as a good instanceof the fitness of the hornbeam for avenues. In the walk in questionthere are many fine trees, which afford a thorough and agreeable shadeduring the summer months. 

[Illustration: CARPINUS VIMINEA. ]

In any soil or position the hornbeam will grow readily, exceptexceedingly dry or too marshy spots. On chalky hillsides it does notgrow so freely as on clayey plains. Under the latter conditions, however, the wood is not so good. In mountainous regions the hornbeamoccupies a zone lower than that appropriated by the beech, rarelyascending more than 1, 200 yards above sea level. It is not injured byfrost, and in Germany is often seen fringing the edges of the beechforests along the bottom of the valleys where the beech would suffer. Scarcely any tree coppices more vigorously or makes more usefulpollards on dry grass land. 

[Illustration: BRANCH OF CARPINUS BETULUS. ]

On account of its great toughness the wood of the hornbeam is employedin engineering work for cogs in machinery. When subjected to verticalpressure it cannot be completely destroyed; its fibers, instead ofbreaking off short, double up like threads, a conclusive proof of itsflexibility and fitness for service in machinery (Laslett's "Timberand Timber Trees"). According to the same recent authority, thevertical or crushing strain on cubes of 2 inches average 14. 844 tons, while that on cubes of 1 inch is 3. 711 tons. 

[Illustration: LEAVES OF CARPINUS BETULUS QUERCOFOLIA. ]

A few years ago an English firm required a large quantity of hornbeamwood for the manufacture of lasts, but failed to procure it inEngland. They succeeded, however, in obtaining a supply from France, where large quantities of this timber are used for that purpose. Itmay be interesting to state that in England at any rate lasts are nolonger made to any extent by hand, but are rapidly turned in enormousnumbers by machinery. In France _sabots_ are also made of hornbeamwood, but the difficulty in working it and its weight render it lessvaluable for _sabotage_ than beech. For turnery generally, cabinetmaking, and also for agricultural implements, etc. , this wood ishighly valued; in some of the French winegrowing districts, viz. , Côted'Or and Yonne, hoops for the wine barrels are largely made from thistree. It makes the best fuel and it is preferred to every other forapartments, as it lights easily, makes a bright flame, which burnsequally, continues a long time, and gives out an abundance of heat. "Its charcoal is highly esteemed, and in France and Switzerland it ispreferred to most others, not only for forges and for cooking by, butfor making gunpowder, the workmen at the great gunpowder manufactoryat Berne rarely using any other. The inner bark, according to Linnæus, is used for dyeing yellow. The leaves, when dried in the sun, are usedin France as fodder; and when wanted for use in water, the youngbranches are cut off in the middle of summer, between the first andsecond growth, and strewed or spread out in some place which iscompletely sheltered from the rain to dry without the tree being inthe slightest degree injured by the operation. " (Dict. Des Eaux etForêts, art. Charme, as quoted by London). 

[Illustration: LEAVES OF CARPINUS BETULUS INCISA. ]

It hardly seems necessary to dwell upon the value of the hornbeam as ahedge or shelter plant. In many nurseries it is largely used for thesepurposes, the russet-brown leaves remaining on the twigs untildisplaced by the new growths in spring. 

_Var. Incisa_ (Aiton, "Hortus Kewensis, " v. , 301; C. Asplenifolia, Hort. ; C. Laciniata, Hort. ). --These three names represent two forms, which are, however, so near each other, that for all practicalpurposes they are identical. A glance at the accompanying figure willshow how distinct and ornamental this variety is. 

[Illustration: HORNBEAMS (ONE WITH INOSCULATED TRUNK). ]

_Var. Quercifolia_ (Desf. Tabl. De l'ecol. De bot. Du Mus. D'hist. Nat. , 213; Ostrya quercifolia, Hort. ; Carpinus heterophylla, Hort. )--This form, as will be seen by the figure, is thoroughlydistinct from the common hornbeam; it has very much smaller leavesthan the type, their outline, as implied by the varietal name, resembling that of the foliage of the oak. It frequently reverts tothe type, and, as far as my experience goes, appears to be much lessfixed than the variety incisa. 

_Var. Purpurea_ (Hort. ). --The young leaves of this are brownish red;it is well worth growing for the pleasing color effect produced by theyoung growths in spring. Apart from color it does not differ from thetype. 

_Var. Fastigiata_ (Hort. ). --In this variety the branches are moreascending and the habit altogether more erect; indeed, among thehornbeams this is a counterpart of the fastigiate varieties of thecommon oak. 

_Var. Variegata_, aureo-variegata, albo-variegata(albo-marmorata). --These names represent forms differing so slightlyfrom each other, that it is not worth while to notice them separately, or even to treat them as distinct. In no case that I have seen is thevariegation at all striking, and, except in tree collections, variegated hornbeams are hardly worth growing. 

[Illustration: FULL GROWN HORNBEAM IN WINTER. CARPINUS BETULUS (Fullgrown tree at Chiswick, 45 ft. High in 1844). ]

_Carpinus orientalis_[2] (the Oriental hornbeam) principally differsfrom our native species in its smaller size, the lesser leaves withdowny petioles, and the green, much-lacerated bractlets. It is anative of the south of Europe, whence it extends to the Caucasus, andprobably also to China; the Carpinus Turczaninovi of Hance scarcelyseems to differ, in any material point at any rate, from westernexamples of C. Orientalis. According to Loudon, it was introduced tothis country by Philip Miller in 1739, and there is no doubt that itis far from common even now. It is, however, well worth growing; theshort twiggy branches, densely clothed with dark green leaves, form athoroughly efficient screen. The plant bears cutting quite as well asthe common hornbeam, and wherever the latter will grow this will alsosucceed. In that very interesting compilation, "Hortus Collinsonianus, "the following memorandum occurs: "The Eastern hornbeam was raised fromseed sent me from Persia, procured by Dr. Mounsey, physician to theCzarina. Received it August 2, 1751, and sowed it directly; next year(1752) the hornbeam came up, which was the original of all in England. Mr. Gordon soon increased it, and so it came into the gardens of thecurious. At the same time, from the same source, were raised a newacacia, a quince, and a bermudiana, the former very different from anyin our gardens. " This memorandum was probably written from recollectionlong afterward, with an error in the dates, and the species was firstentered in the catalogue as follows: "Azad, arbor persica carpinusfolio, Persian hornbeam, raised from seed, anno 1747; not in Englandbefore. " It appears, however, from Rand's "Index" that there was aplant of it in the Chelsea Garden in 1739. The name duinensis was givenby Scopoli, because of his having first found it wild at Duino. As, however, Miller had previously described it under the name orientalis, that one is adopted in accordance with the rule of priority, by whichmust be decided all such questions in nomenclature. 

 [Footnote 2: IDENTIFICATION. --Carpinus orientalis. Miller, "Gardener's Dictionary, " ed. 6 1771; La Marck, Dict, i. , 107; Watson, "Dendrologia Britannica, " ii. , tab. 98; Reich. Ic. Fl. Germ. Et Helvet. , xxii. , fig, 1298; Tenore, "Flora Neapolitana, " v. , 264; Loudon, Arb. Et Fruticet. Brit. , iii. , 2014, Encycl. Trees and Shrubs, p. 918; Koch, "Dendrologie. " zweit, theil zweit, abtheil, p. 4. C. Duinensis, Scopoli, "Flora Carniolica, " 2 ed. , ii. , 243, tab. 60; Bertoloni, "Flora Italica, " x. , 233; Alph. De Candolle in Prodr. , xvi. (ii. ), 126. ]

_The American Hornbeam_ [3] also known under the names of blue beech, water beech, and iron wood, although a less tree than our nativespecies, which it resembles a good deal in size of foliage and generalaspect, is nevertheless a most desirable one for the park or pleasureground, on account of the gorgeous tint assumed by the decaying leavesin autumn. Emerson, in his "Trees and Shrubs of Massachusetts, " pays ajust tribute to this tree from a decorative standpoint. He says: "Thecrimson, scarlet, and orange of its autumnal colors, mingling into arich purplish red, as seen at a distance, make it rank in splendoralmost with the tupelo and the scarlet oak. It is easily cultivated, and should have a corner in every collection of trees. " It haspointed, ovate oblong, sharply double serrate, nearly smooth leaves. The acute bractlets are three-lobed, halberd-shaped, sparinglycut-toothed on one side. Professor C. S. Sargent, in his catalogue ofthe "Forest Trees-of North America, " gives the distribution, etc. , ofthe American hornbeam as follows: "Northern Nova Scotia and NewBrunswick, through the valley of St. Lawrence and Lower Ottawa Rivers, along the northern shores of Lake Huron to Northern Wisconsin andMinnesota; south to Florida and Eastern Texas. Wood resembling that ofostrya (hop hornbeam). At the north generally a shrub or small tree, but becoming, in the Southern Alleghany Mountains, a tree sometimes 50feet in height, with a trunk 2 feet to 3 feet in diameter. " It willalmost grow in any soil or exposition in this country. 

 [Footnote 3: IDENTIFICATION. --Carpinius caroliniana, Walter, "Flora Caroliniana, " 236; C. Americana, Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer. , ii. , 201; Mich. F. Hist. Des. Arbres Forestiers de l'Amerique Septentrionale, iii. , 57, tab. 8; Watson, "Dendrologia Britannica, " ii. , 157; Gray, "Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States, " p. 457. ]

_Carpinus viminea_[4] is a rather striking species with long-pointedleaves; the accompanying figure scarcely gives a sufficiently clearrepresentation of their long, tail-like prolongations. Judging fromthe height at which it grows, it would probably prove hardy in thiscountry, and, if so, the distinct aspect and graceful habit of thetree would render it a decided acquisition. It is a moderate-sizedtree, with thin gray bark, and slender, drooping warted branches. Theblade of the smooth leave measures from 3 inches to 4 inches inlength, the hairy leaf-stalk being about half an inch long. It is anative of Himalaya, where it occurs at elevations of from 5000 to 7000feet above sea-level. As in our common hornbeam, the male catkinsappear before the leaves, and the female flowers develop in spring atthe same time as the leaves. The hard, yellowish white wood--a cubicfoot of which weighs 50 lb. --is used for ordinary building purposes bythe natives of Nepaul. 

 [Footnote 4: IDENTIFICATION. --Carpinus viminea, Lindl. In Wall. Plant. Asiat. Rar. , ii. , p. 4, t. 106; D. C. Prodr. , xvi. , ii. , 127. Loudon, "Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum, " iii. , p. 2014; Encycl. Of Trees and Shrubs, p. 919. Brandis, "Forest Flora, " 492. ]

GEORGE NICHOLSON. Royal Gardens, Kew. 

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FRUIT OF CAMELLIA JAPONICA. 

The fruiting of the camellia in this country being rather uncommon, wehave taken the opportunity of illustrating one of three sent to us afortnight ago by Mr. J. Menzies, South Lytchett, who says: "The fruitsare from a large plant of the single red, grown out of doors against awall with an east aspect, and protected by a glazed coping 4 feetwide. The double, semi-double, and single varieties have from time totime borne fruit out of doors here, from which I have raisedseedlings, but have hitherto failed to get any variety worth sendingout or naming. "

In the annexed woodcut the fruit is represented natural size. Itsappearance is somewhat singular. It is very hard, and has a glazedappearance like that of porcelain. The color is pale green, except onthe exposed side, which is dull red. It is furrowed like a tomato, andon the day after we received it the furrows opened and exposed threeor four large mahogany-brown seeds embedded in hard pulp. --_TheGarden. _

[Illustration: FRUIT OF CAMELLILA JAPONICA. ]

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[SCIENCE. ]

A NEW RULE FOR DIVISION IN ARITHMETIC. 

The ordinary process of long division is rather difficult, owing tothe necessity of guessing at the successive figures which form thedivisor. In case the repeating decimal expressing the _exact_ quotientis required, the following method will be found convenient:

_Rule for division_. 

_First. _ Treat the divisor as follows:

 If its last figure is a 0, strike this off, and treat what is left as the divisor. 

 If its last figure is a 5, multiply the whole by 2, and treat the product as the divisor. 

 If its last figure is an even number, multiply the whole by 5, and treat the product as a divisor. 

Repeat this treatment until these precepts cease to be applicable. Call the result the _prepared divisor_. 

_Second. _ From the prepared divisor cut off the last figure: and, ifthis be a 9, change it to a 1, or if it be a 1, change it to a 9;otherwise keep it unchanged. Call this figure the _extraneousmultiplier_. 

Multiply the extraneous multiplier into the divisor thus truncated, and increase the product by 1, unless the extraneous multiplier be 7, when increase the product by 5. Call the result the _currentmultiplier_. 

_Third. _ Multiply together the extraneous multiplier and all themultipliers used in the process of obtaining the prepared divisor. Usethe product to multiply the dividend, calling the result the _prepareddividend_. 

_Fourth. _ From the prepared dividend cut off the last figure, multiplythis by the current multiplier, and add the product to the truncateddividend. Call the sum the _modified dividend_, and treat this in thesame way. Continue this process until a modified dividend is reachedwhich equals the original prepared dividend or some previous modifieddividend; so that, were the process continued, the same figures wouldrecur. 

_Fifth. _ Consider the series of last figures which have beensuccessively cut off from the prepared dividend and from the modifieddividends as constituting a number, the figure first cut off being inthe units' place, the next in the tens' place, and so on. Call thisthe _first infinite number_, because its left-hand portion consists ofa series of figures repeating itself indefinitely toward the left. Imagine another infinite number, identical with the first in therepeating part of the latter, but differing from this in that the sameseries is repeated uninterruptedly and indefinitely toward the rightinto the decimal places. 

Subtract the first infinite number from the second, and shift thedecimal point as many places to the left as there were zeros droppedin the process of obtaining the prepared divisor. 

The result is the quotient sought. 

_Examples. _

1. The following is taken at random. Divide 1883 by 365. 

_First. _ The divisor, since it ends in 5, must be multiplied by 2, giving 730. Dropping the O, we have 73 for the prepared divisor. 

_Second. _ The last figure of the prepared divisor being 3, this is theextraneous multiplier. Multiplying the truncated divisor, 7, by theextraneous multiplier, 3, and adding 1, we have 22 for the currentmultiplier. 

_Third. _ The dividend, 1883, has now to be multiplied by the productof 3, the extraneous multiplier, and 2, the multiplier used inpreparing the divisor. The product, 11298, is the prepared dividend. 

_Fourth. _ From the prepared dividend, 11298, we cut off the lastfigure 8, and multiply this by the current multiplier, 22. Theproduct, 176, is added to the truncated dividend, 1129, and gives 1305for the first modified divisor. The whole operation is shown thus:

 1 8 8 3 6 ------- 1 1 2 9|8 1 7 6 - ----- 1 3 0|5 1 1 0 - ----- 2|4 0 8 8 --- --- |9 0 ----- 1 9|8 1 7 6 - ----- 1 9|5 1 1 0 - ----- 1 2|9 1 9 8 - ----- 2|1 0 2 2 --- 2 4

We stop at this point because 24 was a previous modified dividend, written under the form 240 above. Our two infinite numbers (which neednot in practice be written down) are, with their difference:

 . . 10, 958, 904, 058 . . 10, 958, 904, 109. 5890410958904 ---------------------------- . . 51. 5890410958904 . . Hence the quotient sought is 5. 158904109. 

_Example 2. _ Find the reciprocal of 333667. 

The whole work is here given:

 3 3 3 6 6|7 |7 2 3 3 5 6 7 - 1 6 3 4 9 6|9 2 1 0 2 1 0 3 - ------------- 2 2 6 5 5 9|9 2 1 0 2 1 0 3 - ------------- 2 3 2 8 6 6|2 4 6 7 1 3 4 - ----------- 7 0 0 0 0 0

 . . _Answer_, 0. 000002997. 

_Example 3. _ Find the reciprocal of 41. 

_Solution. _--

 4|1 |9 ----- ----- 3 7|9 3 3|3 - 1 1 1 - ----- 1 4|4 1 4 8 - ----- 1 6|2 7 4 - --- 9 0 . . _Answer_, 0. 02439. 

C. S. PEIRCE. 

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[SCIENCE. ]

EXPERIMENTS IN BINARY ARITHMETIC. 

Those who can perform in that most necessary of all mathematicaloperations, simple addition, any great number of successive examplesor any single extensive example without consciousness of a severemental strain, followed by corresponding mental fatigue, areexceptions to a general rule. These troubles are due to the quantityand complexity of the matter with which the mind has to be occupied atthe same time that the figures are recognized. The sums of pairs ofnumbers from zero up to nine form fifty-five distinct propositionsthat must be borne in memory, and the "carrying" is a furthercomplication. The strain and consequent weariness are not only felt, but seen, in the mistakes in addition that they cause. They are, ingreat part, the tax exacted of us by our decimal system of arithmetic. Were only quantities of the same value, in any one column, to beadded, our memory would be burdened with nothing more than thesuccession of numbers in simple counting, or that of multiples of two, three, or four, if the counting is by groups. 

It is easy to prove that the most economical way of reducing additionto counting similar quantities is by the binary arithmetic ofLeibnitz, which appears in an altered dress, with most of the zerosigns suppressed, in the example below. Opposite each number in theusual figures is here set the same according to a scheme in which thesigns of powers of two repeat themselves in periods of four; a verysmall circle, like a degree mark, being used to express any fourthpower in the series; a long loop, like a narrow 0, any square not afourth power; a curve upward and to the right, like a phonographic_l_, any double fourth power; and a curve to the right and downward, like a phonographic _r_, any half of a fourth power; with a verticalbar to denote the absence of three successive powers not fourthpowers. Thus the equivalent for one million, shown in the exampleslightly below the middle, is 2^{16} (represented by a degree-mark inthe fifth row of these marks, counting from the right) plus 2^{17} +2^{9} (two _l_-curves in the fifth and third places of _l_-curves)plus 2^{18} + 2^{14} + 2^{6} (three loops) plus 2^{19} (the _r_-curveat the extreme left); while the absence of 2^{3}, 2^{2}, and 2^{1} isshown by the vertical stroke at the right. This equivalent expressionmay be verified, if desired, either by adding the designated powers oftwo from 524, 288 down to 64, or by successive multiplications by two, adding one when necessary. The form of characters here exhibited wasthought to be the best of nearly three hundred that were devised andconsidered and in about sixty cases tested for economic value byactual additions. 

In order to add them, the object for which these forty numbers arehere presented in two notations, it is not necessary to know just_why_ the figures on the right are equal to those on the left, or toknow anything more than the order in which the different forms are tobe taken, and the fact that any one has twice the value of one in thecolumn next succeeding it on the right. The addition may be made fromthe printed page, first covering over the answer with a paper heldfast by a weight, to have a place for the figures of the new answer assuccessively obtained. The fingers will be found a great assistance, especially if one of each hand be used, to point off similar marks intwos, or threes, or fours--as many together as can be certainlycomprehended in a glance of the eye. Counting by fours, if it can bedone safely, is preferable because most rapid. The eye can catch themarks for even powers more easily in going up and those for odd powers(the _l_ and _r_ curves) in going down the columns. Beginning at thelower right hand corner, we count the right hand column of smallcircles, or degree marks, upward; they are twenty-three in number. Half of twenty-three is eleven and one over; one of these marks hastherefore to be entered as part of the answer, and eleven carried tothe next column, the first one of _l_-curves. But since the curves aremost advantageously added downward, it is best, when the first columnis finished, simply to remember the remainder from it, and not to setdown anything until the bottom is reached in the addition of thesecond column, when the remainders, if any, from both columns can beset down together. In this case, starting with the eleven carried andcounting the number of the _l_-curves, we find ourselves at the bottomwith twenty-four--twelve to carry, and nothing to set down except thedegree mark from the first column. With the twelve we go up theadjoining loop column, and the sum must be even, as this place isvacant in the answer; the _r_-curve column next, downward, and thenanother row of degree marks. The succession must be obvious by thistime. When the last column, the one in loops to the extreme left, isadded, the sum has to be reduced to unity by successive halvings. Herewe seem to have eleven; hence we enter one loop, and carry five to thenext place, which, it must be remembered, is of _r_-curves. Halvingfive we express the remainder by entering one of these curves, andcarry the quotient, two, to the degree mark place. Halving again givesone in the next place, that of _l_-curves; and the work is complete. 

It is recommended that this work be gone over several times forpractice, until the appearance and order of the characters and thedetails of the method become familiar; that, when the work can be donemechanically and without hesitation, the time occupied in a completeaddition of the example, and the mistakes made in it, be carefullynoted; that this be done several times, with an interval of some daysbetween the trials, and the result of each trial kept separate; thatthe time and mistakes by the ordinary figures in the same example, inseveral trials, be observed for comparison. Please pay particularattention to the difference in the kind of work required by the twomethods in its bearing on two questions--which of them would be easierto work by for hours together, supposing both equally well learned?and in which of them could a reasonable degree of skill be morereadily acquired by a beginner? The answer to these questions, if thecomparison be a fair one, is as little to be doubted as is their highimportance. 

_Example in addition by two notations_

 77, 823, 876 14, 348, 907 8, 654, 912 5, 764, 801 4, 635, 857 1, 594, 323 6, 417, 728 4, 782, 969 83, 886, 075 34, 012, 224 2, 903, 111 48, 828, 125 1, 724, 826 7, 529, 536 43, 344, 817 10, 000, 000 8, 334, 712 1, 953, 125 11, 308, 417 759, 375 21, 180, 840 9, 765, 625 18, 643, 788 1, 000, 000 44, 739, 243 1, 889, 568 2, 517, 471 40, 353, 607 4, 438, 414 1, 679, 616 23, 708, 715 11, 890, 625 945, 754 823, 543 15, 308, 805 60, 466, 176 30, 685, 377 10, 077, 696 19, 416, 381 43, 046, 721 =========== 740, 685, 681

[Illustration]

Eight volunteer observers to whom this example has already beensubmitted showed wide difference in arithmetical skill. One of themtook but a few seconds over two minutes, in the best of six trials, toadd by the usual figures, and set down the sum, but one figure in allthe six additions being wrong; another added once in ten minutesfifty-seven seconds, and once in eleven minutes seven seconds, withhalf the figures wrong each time. The last-mentioned observer had hadvery little training in arithmetical work, but perhaps that gave afairer comparison. In the binary figures she made three additions inbetween seven and eight minutes, with but one place wrong in thethree. With four of the observers the binary notation required nearlydouble the time. These observers were all well practiced incomputation. Their best record, five minutes eighteen seconds, wasmade by one whose best record was two minutes forty seconds inordinary figures. The author's own best results were two minutesthirty-eight seconds binary, and three minutes twenty-three secondsusual. He thus proved himself inferior to the last observer, as anadder, by a system in which both were equally well trained; but agreater familiarity (extending over a few weeks instead of a fewhours) with methods in binary addition enabled him to work twice asfast with them. Of the author's nine additions by the usual figures, four were wrong in one figure each; of his thirty-two additions bydifferent forms of binary notation, five were wrong, one of them intwo places. One observer found that he required one minutethirty-three seconds to add a single column (average of five tried) bythe usual figures, and fifteen seconds to count the characters in one(average of six tried) by the binary. Though these additions wererather slow, the results are interesting. They show, making allowancefor the greater number of columns (three and a third times as many)required by the binary plan, a saving of nearly half; but they alsoillustrate the necessity of practice. This observer succeeded with thebinary arithmetic by avoiding the sources of delay that particularlyembarrass the beginner, by contenting himself with counting only, andnot stopping to divide by two, to set down an unfamiliar character, orto recognize the mark by which he must distinguish his next column. One well-known member of the Washington Philosophical Society and ofthe American Association for the Advancement of Science, who declinedthe actual trial as too severe a task, estimated his probable timewith ordinary figures at twenty minutes, with strong chances of awrong result, after all. 

These statistics prove the existence of a class of persons who can dofaster and more reliable work by the binary reckoning. But too muchshould not be made of them. Let them serve as specimens of facts ofwhich a great many more are to be desired, bearing on a question ofgrave importance. Is it not worth our while to know, if we can, byimpartial tests, whether the tax imposed on our working brains by thesystem of arithmetic in daily use is the necessary price of a blessingenjoyed, or an oppression? If the strain produced by greatercomplexity and intensity of mental labor is compensated by acorrespondingly greater rapidity in dealing with figures, the formermay be the case. If, on the contrary, a little practice suffices toturn the balance of rapidity, for all but a small body of highlydrilled experts, in favor of an easier system, the latter must be. This is the question that the readers of _Science_ are invited to helpin deciding. The difficulties attending a complete revolution in theprevalent system of reckoning are confessedly stupendous; but they donot render undesirable the knowledge that experiment alone can give, whether or not the cost of that system is unreasonably high; norshould they prevent those who accord them the fullest recognition fromassisting to furnish the necessary facts. 

Those who are willing to undertake the addition on the plan proposedor on any better plan, or who will submit it to such acquaintances, skilled or unskilled, as may be persuaded to take the trouble to learnthe mechanism of binary adding, will confer a great favor by informingthe writer of the time occupied, and number of mistakes made, in eachaddition. All observations and suggestions relating to the subjectwill be most gratefully received. 

Henry Farquhar. 

Office of U. S. Coast Survey, Washington, D. C. 

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