NOTES ON SCIENCE, MECHANICAL INVENTIONS, ETC.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9034, 21 April 1888, Page 4 (Supplement)

NOTES ON SCIENCE, MECHANICAL INVENTIONS, ETC.

ANALYSIS OF METEORIC IRON.

After the violent thunderstorm which burst over London on August 17 last year, a small mass of meteoric iron, commonly known as a thunderbolt, was found in a garden at The mass had tho form of an oblato spheroid, and measured about two inches across its major diameter. The substance, has been carefully analysed by Mr. J. James Morgan, analytical chemist. of Ebbw Vale, who rinds it to contain the following substances : —Silica, 0*566; nickel, 1*375 ; iron, 46*276; sulphur, 46 - 0o3; lime, 6-478 : total, 99*748. The deficiency of *252 in the 100 parts is accounted for as being duo either to experimental error, or to the presenco of very minute quantities of some metal or metals which the analyst failed to discover. Tho results above given are the mean of a duplicate analysis, and are interesting inasmuch as Mr. Morgan is unablo to find any analyses of meteoric iron of which tho composition is similar to tho one under notice. The only analysis that approaches it is that of an impure triolite, given by Crookes in his " Select Methods of Chemical Analysis," 1886, which contained : —Iron, 02 38 ; "nickel, 0*62 ; copper, a trace ; lime, 008 ; silica, o\>6 ; and sulphur, 35*67 : total, 99-31.

CURIOUS GEOLOGICAL r-HEXOMKNA.

The Cordillera of the Andes has for some time been exhibiting a curious phenomenon. It results from observation made upon tho altitudes of the most important points, that their height is gradually diminishing. Quito, which in 171."> was 9596 feet above the level of the sea, was only !)«">7O foot in 1803, 9567 in 1831, and scarcely 9520 in 1567. The altitude of Quito has therefore diminished by 7ti feet in the space of I*2*2 years. Another peak, the Pichincha, has diminished by *21S foot during the same period, and its crater has descended 4*2,") feet in the last '25 years. That of Artisana has sunk loi> feet in b"4 years. ELECTRIC RAILWAYS. It will surprise many to learn that there are now running in the States eleven electric railways, equipped with 68 motors and motor ears. It is estimated that they are now carrying at the rate of 3J million passengers a year, and when the roads now under contract are completed, twice that number will be carried. It is undoubtedly a tact that considerable progress is being made in this country in tlic use of electric motors, both for tramways and for furnishing small power in factories. There has been a superabundance of smoke about the matter of making and introducing electric motors and engines, and we are glad that there has been some tire.

a NEW DANCES.

A dozen yews ago one had, indeed, a potent, though very rarely effective, source of danger in" the overhead telegraph wires of our largo cities. Now there are in .some towns not. only this but two other kindred powers at work in the telephone and the electric lighting communications. The fact that these are not always for the public mere mutters of convenience has been repeatedly demonstrated by such accidents as that which was lately reported from New York. In this instance a broken telephone wire, coming in contact with one charged with electricity for lighting purposes, became itv-elf a conducting medium, and was wound in its fall round the fore-quarters of a passing horse, with, of course, fatal consequences. It is also said that the driver, in his ignorant endeavours to free the animal, was barely prevented from handling the fatal wire. This «nd similar accidents which have occurred from time to time, while they counsel, on tho one hand, the most perfect insulation of the conducting wires, must also give weight to an argument in favour of the partly adopted and most rational practice of carrying tho wires underground instead of over the housetops, as is now too much the rule.

A T.NEUMATIC TOOL. An ingenious application of the principle of the rock-drilling machine, but in a highly advanced degree of perfection, has, the Times says, been made by Mr. James S. Mac Coy, in conjunction with others, in what is termed a pneumatic tool. This toolconsists of a rapidly reciprocating piston, working within a small cylinder, and driving by impact through a cushion of compressed air, the working chisel or other cutting device. The tool is held in the hand of the workman, and is connected by tubing with a supply of air under pressure. It is started and stopped instantly by the operator, and a tool with a cylinder of one inch internal diameter, and working at an air-pressure of 40lb per square inch, is driven at the rate of 15,000 strokes per minute. In fact, so rapidly are the blows delivered that the noise of working is simply a buzz, nor is that noise by any means excessive. A demonstration of the powers of this tool was recently given at the sculpture works of Messrs.- Farmer and Brindley, 67, Westminster Bridge Road, London, where both stone and wood were successfully operated upon, although Mr. Mac Coy does not consider it so applicable to wood as to stone. The tool, which is readily handled, is made in various sizes, and is adapted for working in all kinds of stono and metal, and for caulking steam-boilers and iron tanks. It is already in considerable use in America, from which country its inventors hail, and where it is recognised as a useful labour-saving appliance, giving a high finish to work. LUSTRELESS SURFACE OS STEEL. A finely polished lustreless surface on tempered steel can be procured by either of the following operations :—After the steel article has Been tempered, it should be rubbed on a smooth iron surface with some pulverised oilstone until it is perfectly smooth and even, then laid upon a sheet of white. paper, and rubbed back and forth until it acquires a fine dead polish. Any screw holes or depressions in the steel must be cleaned and polished beforehand with a piece of wood and oilstone. This delicate. lustreless surface is quite sensitive, and should be rinsed with pure soft water only. A more durable polish is obtained by first smoothing the steel surface with an iron polisher and some powdered oilstone, carefully washing and rinsing. Then mix in a small vessel some fresh oil and powdered oilstone; dip into the end of this mixture: the end of a piece of elder pith, and polish the steel surface with a gentle pressure, cutting ofT the end of the pith as ii commences to become toiled. In conclusion, it should be thoroughly cleansed in s-.oft water, when the article will bo found to have a fine white, lustreless polish! MISCELLANEOUS. It is suggested that the lead ballast need in the large yachts could be utilised in the shapeof electricity accumulators, which could thus be made to carry several horse-power, that with the invention of a motor, could be utilised in working the windlass, hauling in the main sheet, &c, and furnishing light as well. It would be a novelty to have the ballast weighing the anchor or hauling at the ropes ; but stranger things have been done before.

A trial has been made in Boston of another electric motor. This time it is one called the " Hewirw," and is said to run up certain steep grades at the rate of three miles an hour, with the expenditure of 10-horse power. The first recorded photograph of a rainbow has been exhibited to the Photographic Association of London. The arch lias the appearance of something solid—like an arch of wood.

It is stated that one of the most startling important inventions of the day with regard to the propelling of st.eiun vessels is now under consideration. Should it prove successful, and meet the expectations of the inventors, it will entirely revolutionise the steamer service of this country. One eminent firm of engineers have offered £100,000 for the patent. Among the novelties recently patented is one which is ingenious in idea, namely, an arrangement for bankers' cheques, or similar documents, in which the position of the signature indicates approximately the amount drawn for.

Colonel Lay has recently invented a torpedo which is said to be of a very deadly description. It consists of a brass tube 21 feet long and 18 inches in diameter, the charge being composed of roburite, the new explosive. It can be launched either from a ship or from the shore, and explodes by impact or by electricity. If we may believe Nature, a French chemist, M. Moissan, has at last succeeded in separating what is, perhaps, the most active chemical substance known—nninely, fiourine. Its intense activity had previously resisted all efforts to produce it in a pure state ; but the difficulties have, we are told, now been overcome.