ENGLISH SCIENTIFIC NEWS.

New Zealander, Volume XX, Issue 2130, 2 June 1864, Page 3

ENGLISH SCIENTIFIC NEWS.

London, February 26. The authorities at Woolwich Arsenal have received orders from the War Department to prepare foTtiW immediate manufacture of fifty gnus, each to weigh seven tons ten cwt., with a bore of seven inches. These weapons will be constructed with thick inner tubes ot tempered steel; they are also to have solid ends and the other recent improvements which were introduced into the construction of the four experimental guns made in the Royal factories, with a view to^ enabling the Ordnance Select Committee to est the best known systems of rifling. The new rifled guns are wanted with all despatch, as (on dlt) " the Armstrong weapon has proved untrustworthy in warfare. We have, at last, one 300-pounder gun m the Navy. It is enough to swear by, if the authorities in the House of Commons are asked awkward questions. Mr Lvnall Thomas, a few days ago, declared that both for short, as well as long distances, rifled ordnance had been proved supsrior to muzzle loaders, and he condemns the course of the Government, after such proof, in ordering gigantic muzzle-loaders. Any .vav, the nation is bent on not relaxing in armaments". In small arms, Colt's revolver seems most approved-the pattern which can be reset an 1 cocked for a fresh cartridge by a movement of the finger. Prussia seems to have beaten off a Dan-sh iron-clad with rifled 24-pounders, but, if they are Krupp s guns, that is quite likely. Brown and Co.'s great armourplate and other iron and steel factory, at Sheffield is to ba incorporated in a company, with a capital of a million sterling. In your New Zealand war light steel field-pieces, good revolvers, Norton's shells, &c, shoald prove of service. , A letter from La Rochelle contains some further details relative to the submarine boat Plongeur. She draws eight feet of water; engine eighty horse power Steam is replaced by compressed air, and her craw of twelve men are quite protected. The Plongeur is intended to be a formidable agent of destruction. Her spur is hollow, tube-like, and an incendiary shell may be placed in it. Should an enemy's fleet bo at anchor the Plougeur will drive her spur into the nearest ship and then retract, unrolling at the same time a metallic wire When at a safe distance, an electric spark will cause a "great explosion." the enemy's ship being blown up It may be parenthetically, and perhaps patheticaliv, addad, that should this ingenious, but not very novel scheme fail, La Plongeur, will stand a very good chance of diving like a whale and forgetting to come up a<ain; and this with our French friends, or any others inside. . In the competition between the rival gunraakers, instituted by the National Rifle Association, and which came off at Woolwich, at the 500 yards ra>i K e, Henry took the lead, being closely followed by Whitworth and Storm. The Whitworth regulation bore rifle (a new rifle), seems destined to play an important part in the future history of military weapons. Its figure of merit has been nearly twice that of the ordinary regulation Enfield. If other trials with this weapon bear out the character it has thus gained, it will be a most important matter, as no obstacle exists to its being immediately introduced as a military weapon. The ordinary Enfield ammunition can be used with it, with abetter result than with the ordinary Enfield arm. To bring out its full merits, however it is necessary to use Mr. Whitworth's ammunition,'consisting of eighty-five grains of powder, and a bullet of peculiar construction. This b diet, which has just been patented by Mr. Whitworth, is of, the usual hexagonal, or rather " dodecagonal" form, and differs from the ordinary bullet in having a hole made in its conical end, of such a size as to throw the centre of gravity into the exact centre of the bullet, a wooden plug being inserted in the front cavity, and trimmed off carefully so as to afford no resistance to the atmosphere. The performances of the storm-breech-loaders were good. The manufacture of steel tubes by hydraulic pressure is now being carried on at some London works. The steel is drawn over a mandril, and, according fo the strength of the press, any size can be done. The patentees aver that tubes eight or ten inches in diameter can be done. Bearing in mind that my friends give 600 tons on a cotton bale by the hydraulic at Bombav, I have no doubt of the value of this invention. Steel tubes are now urgently wanted for Artillery, for for lining the Enfield and other rifles, for boiler tubes, and other manifest uses. Indeed the demand would be enormous. The getting rid of the weld is most important. The steel drawn down in tube on the hydraulic svstera, is diminished a sixteenth of an inch at each draw. By altering the shape of the dies, hexagon and other shapes can be drawn. Experiments have been made in England on the staep inclines of the Cromford and High Peak railway, the object of which is to prove the practicability Of working locomotive engines and trains on a proposed railway over the pass of the Mont Cenis. Those trials were made in the presence of the Chevalier Biglin, delegate of the Italian Government, and many Englishmen and foreigners of distinction. The experimental line is about halt-a-mile, on ascents of on in twelve and one in thirteen, and curves o' two and ahsdf and three and a-half chains-radius. The adhesion for obtaining these ascents is caused by the pressure of horizontal wheels on a central rail, these wheels being worked by separate cylinders. The experimental engine tooU loads up these inclines and curves of twentyfour to thirty tons at a speed of seven to eight miles an hour. The" central rail serves also as a guide, nnd gives safety to the train. It is estimated tlmt it may take eleven and a-half years to complete the Mount Cenis tunnel, so here is an invention which will serve to connect France and Italy, as well as the north aud west of Europe, and in time may prove valuable in other parts of the world. It-is to be hoped the French Emperor will sanction the project. An impression has been created in the minds of the public, that the use of the oil of petroleum, now so largely prepared for the purposes of illumination, is attended with danger. Such an impression rests upon insufficient grounds, as regards most of the oil made from petroleum in this country, supposing it to be used with ordinary care, whi< !i it must be confessed many servants lack in English and doubtless in colonial households. Mr. James Young, of Bathgue, declares that the bulk of the oil of commerce is quite unsafe. Petroleum, and the coal oil which Mr. ioung was first to call Paraffin, are essentially identical in every respect save that of origin. They both contain p <raffin, and are both mixtures of oils which possess many of the general characters of paraffin. Coal oil, as well as petroleum, contain-! a very volatile and veryinflammable oil, which, at a moderate temperature, evolves a vapour that becomes explosive in the open air. It is to the presence of this volatile oil in the material used domestically for burning, that is to be ascribed any danger that may attend the use of either coal oil or petroleum for that purpose. During the last two years, the most respectable manufacturers and dealers in this country have regarded it as an indispensable condition of this commodity, that, when heated to 130 degrees Fahrenheit, it should not give off vapour which becomes explosive when mixed with air. The subject is of much importance, as the trade is increasing at a rate almost unprecedented in the annals of commerce. As Dr. Marcer, F.R.S , last night gave a lecture on Petroleum, at the Society of Arts, I may add that he stated, that it gives off less carbonic acid than any other illuminating material. Dr. Marcet gives a decided preference to the lamp with a flat wick of six eights in width. The experiments with petroleum on board the War ior frigate worth (£480,000). were severely condemned, and justly so. Dr. Bachoffer thinks all volatile oils, such as petroleum, coal oil &c, are dangerous to ». certain extent. M. Bardonx, a manufacturer of Poitiers, is said to have made a discovery which will " i.-ffect a revolution" in the the manufacture of paper. He has succeeded in manufacturing paper from various descriptions of timber, such as oak, walnut, pine, chesnut, and from vegetable productions not hitherto used, and this without the use of rags. Samples of various kinds of paper are exhibited at the office of the Journal- des Aventeurs. M. Bard >ux asserts thai his invention wi'l cause a reduction of from sixty to eighty per cent in the price of paper. I mention this, bee mse some interest has been created in the scientific world, as well as commercial circles, by the establishment ot a firm at Christchurch, New Zealand, for the manufacture of paper from New Zealand flax, pJiormium tenix. Mr. Riddle, C.E., has patented improvements in fire-proof buildings, and it|is understood that the improvements are under the consideration of a warehouse Company in India. All the columns are fire-proofed on the Viilner-safe principle. All the doors and windows can be shuttered up from outside in case of fire. On this being cone, the floor on fire can be flooded with carbonic acid gas from simple but effectual apparatus built up to the building.