AMERICAN CHEMICAL JOURNAL.
Vol. X., No. 4, July, 1888.
E. H. Keiser has determined the atomic weight of oxygen by combustion of hydrogen occluded by palladium. He obtains the figures 15.949. H. N. Morse and W. M. burton have determined the atomic weight of zinc by conversion to oxide of zinc distilled in vacuo. They find the atomic weight to be 65.269 (O =16).
No. 5, September.
S. U. Newbury and W. P. Cutter, having found that the oil in modern lamps often reaches a temperature of 110°-112° F., i. e. above the legal flash-point (100°F.), have determined the relation of the flashing point of oils to their capability of giving violent explosions with air. They show that an oil heated above its flashing point is dangerous, and recommend the raising of the legal flash-point to 120° F. C. R. S.
ANNALEN HER HYDROGRAPHIE UND MARITIMEN METEOROLOGIE.
16th Annual Series, No. 6. Meteorological observations in Cumberland Sound, by Dr. Franz Boas, of New York. Contribution to the sailing directions for the west coast of. Africa, by Commander von Schuckmann. Geographical position of several places on the east coast of Australia. Quarterly weather review of the German Naval' Observatory, summer 1884. Minor notices: Earthquakes at sea. On the use of oil to quiet the water. Notices in regard to Pernambuco. Anchorage at Rio Janeiro. Navigation of Hainan Straits. The harbor of Tandjong Privok, near Batavia.
No. 7. The daily and annual force and direction of the wind on the island of Lesina. Report of Capt. W. Hoftrnan, of the German bark Spica, on his voyages from Liverpool to Chittagong, and from Rangoon to Falmouth. Soundings on the east and west coast of South America, U. S. S. Albatross. The northerly gales on the German Baltic coasts on March 12 and 13 and October 24 and 25, 1887. Report on chronometers tested in the Imperial Observatory at Wilhelmshaven during the winter 1886-7. Minor notices: Earthquakes at sea. Description of the harbor of Estero Balza Arriba, St. Domingo, Nanusa, and Meangis islands. Battle post.
No. 8. Investigation of the influence of the dynamos and wires necessary for electric lighting, on the compass at the Imperial Observatory in Wilhelmshaven, by Dr. Eschenhagen. Remarks about Bibundi, west coast of Africa, by Commander Schneider, of H. I. M. S. Cyclop. Tocopilla and Duendes: report by Capt. Le Moult, of the German bark Oscar. Deep soundings and temperatures in the Indian Ocean. Method of deducing true daily meteorological averages, from observations taken at the hours 8 A. M., 2 P. M., and 8 P. M., by Dr. W. Koppen. Quarterly weather review. Report on the 11th competitive trial of chronometers held at the Naval Observatory during the winter 1887-8. Minor notices: Remarks on Angra Pequefia and Walfish Bay. Remarks on the river Maul-main. West coast of India, Bay of Bengal. Oil rockets and oil bombs. E. H. C. L.
THE ENGINEER, NEW YORK.
August 25, 1888. Suppose this was an American steamer!
The first excursion—it can hardly be called a trip—of the City of New York continues to excite a good deal of comment among engineers and constructors on this side, by reason of the singular course adopted in stopping the ship when one set of engines was intact and capable, as has been asserted, of driving the ship at four fifths of her speed. During the run to Queenstown a joint blew out of the main steam pipe; this was so situated that only two men could get at it to work, and it took them ten hours, it is stated, to renew the joint. No information can be had on the ship herself, and those in a position to know decline to say anything. It is impossible to say to what extent the ship was really put to work. Captain Watkins said lie could not tell, but the engineer might. Chief Engineer McDougal said that the vessel being now in port the engine was out of his jurisdiction. Resident Engineer Clark consulted with other officials of the company and declined to give any facts, while the guards on the passage leading to the engine-room were doubled. Meanwhile machinists by the score were busy passing in and out with tools, and making no end of noise. . . . . The City of New York is to make twenty knots per hour and is under
heavy penalties to do it. Her best effort was eighteen and one-half knots with 18,500 I. H. P. and engines making eighty revolutions per minute. She will have to increase her power to more than 20,000 I. H. P. to get the additional knot and a half, and to get 20,000 H. P. she has to increase her best efforts in the engine-room over eight per cent. . . . . There are on the City of New York sixteen Worthington steam pumps for feeding boilers and other service. These worked perfectly throughout the voyage, giving no trouble whatever. The pump which gave out was of foreign make and was a circulating pump. We take some pains to note this fact, as the bare announcement that a pump gave out might lead some to think it was of American make.
October 6. Facts about the City of New York.
We have taken some pains to get the facts in regard to the trouble with the City of New York, the latest English steamer, and we derive what follows from an American engineer who came over in the ship on her last voyage. This gentleman is well known in both England and America and does not wish his name mentioned. In the opinion of our informant, the ship was put on the line too quickly and before the proper adjustments and supervision could be had, with the usual results. A very great disadvantage to the engineers is the noise in the engine-room, arising from the presence of dynamos, electric-light engines and auxiliaries generally. Our informant said that it only needed looms to rival a cotton mill in full blast. As a result, the action of the main engines cannot be heard, and any cutting or grunting of the cylinders is drowned out by the racket aforesaid. In view of the fact that the piston valves on the high-pressure cylinder gave out (caused by the rings seizing and pulling the follower-flange off), which accident was followed soon after by a similar one to the valve of the second cylinder, the noise of the auxiliary engines seems to be a decided disadvantage, for under ordinary circumstances the piston valves should have given warning by their grunting that they were running dry. In addition to this primary cause of annoyance, to use a mild term for it, the bearings are said to have given trouble by heating. This latter we have no positive knowledge of, but assume it upon circumstantial evidence satisfactory to an engineer. The circulating pump failure, concerning which so much was said, is believed to be a bluff to satisfy the curious who know nothing about engines and to whom one reason is as good as another. There is nothing about a circulating pump to give constant trouble, and it is rather unjust to the makers, Tangye & Co., to make them the scapegoat for others’ sins. A serious disadvantage is the main steam-pipe and its design. This, if we are correctly informed, is common to all the boilers in one main pipe, from which it diverges in a V to the port and starboard engines. The throttle on the engine which broke down would not shut tight, so that the bonnet of the defective valve could be removed; therefore the main stop-valve had to be closed on both boilers; even then such a volume of steam found its way into the main, that the boilers had to be blown off before it was safe to open the chest. . . . . The City of New York is still in the hands of her builders,
not having been accepted by the owners, and engineers generally will sincerely sympathize with the builders' engineer, Mr. McDougall, in his arduous task. His lot is not a happy one, and he must be a man of extraordinary qualities to carry through all the trials and worries he has already experienced and which have been made public, to say nothing of others known to him personally only, which have not been made public.
Why old engineers dislike new ships.
The engineer who is assigned to a new ship just out of the shop has not a happy lot. Old engineers shun such jobs. Young engineers aspire to them; but after a few weeks they wish they had not. The reason is that there is too much work, anxiety and general worry, for which there is no pay beyond the ordinary salary, which could be earned much easier on an old ship. An engineer on a new ship falls heir to all the mistakes of the shop, bad jobs, bad fits, leaky valves, badly set valves, etc., etc., and he is made responsible for them. If the engines do not turn up as fast as they should, the chief engineer is interviewed at once; if they give out, he is called upon; if a valve-stem breaks, or a feed-pipe leaks so as to stop the ship almost; if the boilers do not steam, and the bearings get hot all over; if the vacuum is poor and everything out of sorts generally, the first man looked for is the chief engineer, and he is asked to explain why these firings are so. He has to keep the peace between the builders and the owners, and he has to steer clear of falling foul of both. If he says the engines were not fit to leave the shop, the builders are down on him forevermore; and if he does not make the ship go, whether the engines are fit or not, the owners do not like him. This is why old engineers do not like new ships, and no one will wonder at them after reading the reasons above given. Where it is possible, the chief engineer should be assigned to the ship when the bed-plate is put in, and thereafter haunt it like a shadow. He could then follow the pipes from start to finish, and could sec every job as it was before one part covered up another. In many cases this is done, and the builders, if they arc sensible men and the chief engineer is like unto them, can assist each other very greatly. Engine-builders arc always desirous of having their work go off successfully from the start, and will spare no pains to insure such performance where possible. A new ship is a good school for young engineers.
W. F. W.
THE ENGINEER, LONDON.
July 27, 1888. The City of New York.
It would be difficult, if not impossible, to find more admirable examples of the highest type of mechanical engineering than is supplied by the splendid main engines. They have been constructed throughout from the designs of Mr. J. Parker, who also designed the very different but equally admirable engines of H. M. S. Aurora, which we illustrate this week. Mr. Parker has brought to bear on his task a life-long experience. He was for some years second engineer of the great paddle-steamer Persia, with side-lever engines. . . . . Mr. Parker’s familiarity with all the difficulties and trials which beset the sea-going engineer has stood him in good stead. . . . . Nothing finer can be imagined than the working of these gigantic engines, with a piston speed of 800 feet per minute, certainly the greatest velocity ever attained by pistons 9 feet 5 inches in diameter. During the whole run around Ireland, lasting nearly 46 hours, not a drop of water was needed on a bearing, nor was there the least symptom of heating.
Triple expansion engines of H. M. S. Aurora (illustrated).
"The valves are of the piston type and are worked on a novel system invented by Mr. J. Parker, by whom the engines were designed. It is well known that heavy piston valves when worked at high speeds require to be fitted with cushioning pistons, to take up momentum at the end of the stroke and to prevent shock and jar in the eccentrics and link motion. Mr. Parker utilizes these balance pistons to work the valves, the link motion having nothing to do but control and regulate the action of the valves. To this end, what is known as ‘kicker gear’ is provided. When a piston valve approaches the end of its stroke, the ‘kicker gear’ opens a slide valve which admits steam to a cylinder in which is a piston on the same spindle as the piston valve. The effort of the steam would at once reverse the main valve, which would continue to reciprocate independently without reference to the action of the crank-shaft. This the link motion and eccentrics prevent. The result is that the eccentrics have very little to do, and the whole valve gear works without stress or heating even at the very high speeds adopted. This is a very valuable improvement in steam engineering.”
August 10. Copper steam pipes for modern high-pressure engines.
Paper read before the Institution of Naval Architects.
August 17. On the steam trials of the Royal Italian ironclad Lepanto.
Paper read before the Institution of Naval Architects. The power developed was 16,150 I. H. P., which gave a speed of 18.38 knots; the displacement of the vessel at the time being 14,860 tons, and the mean draft 30 feet 4 inches.
Marine engines in the navy.
Editorial on the numerous and great failings shown at the naval manoeuvres. August 24. Bagshaw’s diagram meter.
This is an instrument resembling a pair of compasses, with a small dial attached at the joint, and is used to get the mean pressure from indicator diagrams.
September 14. Locomotive boilers at sea (editorial).
The reason why the type has failed hitherto at sea is, we think, easily explained. . . . . The lines on which it must be proportioned, constructed and used are very sharply defined. If we go outside them we shall be quickly reminded of the fact. But hitherto the locomotive boiler used at sea has not been like the locomotive boiler on land. The differences between the two are apparently trifling, but they are really essential. It is only necessary to have one prominent defect manifested at sea to render this clear. There is practically no difficulty in keeping the tubes of a railway locomotive tight. . . . . But at sea the leakage of the tube ends has been fatal to success. . . . . Why is this? . . . . In the railway boiler the grate is kept well below the level of the tubes and a fire-brick arch is thrown across the fire-box. In the marine type the grate is high and there is no brick arch. There is nothing but a low brick bridge. The consequence is that every time the fire-door is opened a current of cold air impinges on the tube plate. Leakage is the immediate or ultimate result. In the railway boiler the white hot brick arch protects the tube ends. . . . . The boilers of the Lepanto are all fitted with a high hanging inclined baffle-brick bridge, as usual in railway practice, in each furnace.
Major Goliani states that “from the very beginning of the preliminary trials, which took place towards the end of last year, the locomotive boilers gave evidence of their good working, which went on trial after trial, so as now to be an established fact. They never primed or gave any trouble whatever.”
September 28. Fire-room practice.
Editorial pointing out the importance of treating firemen with consideration, and providing for their physical comfort to enable them to work well.
October 12. Marine engines in the navy.
Editorial criticising Mr. Marshall’s attempted defense of the naval engines’ performance during the manoeuvres. Mr. Marshall is quoted as saying: “So much depends on the ‘human factor’ in all questions of this nature that it is very doubtful if the present system of running war-ships at their most economical rate, which is very slow when on their passage from port to port, is at all a wise one. Clearly what is wanted is that the engineer officers of all grades should be made as efficient as possible, and the most advantageous course to this end, even from an economic point of view, seeing that frequent manoeuvres are very costly to the country, would be that all our war-ships should make their passages at full speed, so as to accustom the engine-room and boiler-room staffs to all the exigencies and requirements of working their engines and boilers at full power and speed.”
October 19. Marine engines in the navy (letter to the editor).
The failure of war-ships to maintain their trial speeds is nearly always due to inability of the stokers to keep steam. . . . . In the trial trips in the navy, first-class stokers are always employed in the stoke-holes, generally in the proportion of one man to three furnaces; and this is, I believe, the rule in the merchant service. I do not believe that there is a single war-ship in which this can be done with the ordinary complement; in fact, it is nearly always necessary to go into two watches, even with coal-trimmers supplied from the deck; besides which, at any rate in the recent manoeuvres, about 40 per cent of the stokers were second class—that is, boys about eighteen who had never before been to sea, many of them fresh from the plow. . . . . In the case of ships fitted with forced draft, not only will the boilers not stand a long course of it, but the engine-room staff must be increased considerably if it is intended to keep on for more than twelve hours, as the intense heat soon renders the men incapable of much work. With regard to its effects on the boilers, the chief lesson learnt is that if there is a moderate amount of scale in the boilers it is almost a certainty that some of the furnaces will bulge, owing to pieces of loose scale dropping on them. With regard to naval engines, the very fact that so much power is got out of so small a weight means that greatly increased care in adjusting bearings and watchfulness, when running, is necessary; in fact, I know of more than one contractor’s trial in which all the men in the engine-room—and there were plenty of them—held certificates and had been to sea as engineers in the merchant service. And yet with all this care there are ships in the navy whose machinery has been accepted although the metal has been run and pins scored badly during these trials. . . . . But perhaps the chief cause
of hot bearings in the navy is that ships only steam full speed at such rare intervals that no opportunity is given to get the right adjustments for full speed. . . . . As perhaps you know, owing to the small number of engineers in each ship, a great deal of watch-keeping is done by artificers. Now, some of these are very good men; still it is rather strong to have, out of a complement of ten, five who have never been to sea before. . . . . In many ships in the manoeuvres there were not two men in the whole staff who had ever seen the ship steam before. . . . . If our war-ships are to go their trial speeds, the stokers must be trained, as seamen are in the Excellent; there must be more of them j the engine-room artificers should also be trained, and should be chosen from other trades than shipwrights, as some have been, and the men should not be changed from ship to ship as they are now.
On the construction of furnaces for burning liquid fuel. Summary of the advantages of liquid fuel.
The Snark.
Letter from the owner of a Zephyr launch built by Yarrow, praising this style of engine.
Note.—In the last number of the Proceedings of the U. S. Naval Institute, by a typographical error, the spirit vapor was stated to be “exploded in the cylinder” instead of “expanded in the cylinder.”—Eds. W. F. W.
THE JOURNAL OF THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE.
June, 1888. Pilot chart of the North Atlantic Ocean.
The conclusion of Mr. Everett Hayden’s lecture. Description of the red data on chart—sunken wrecks—charts published and cancelled—notices recommending the use of oil to lessen the effects of heavy seas—brief weather review of the preceding month—derelict vessels, wrecks and drifting buoys. Oceanic circulation in the North Atlantic. Investigations by Lieutenant J. E. Fills-bury, U. S. N., of the Gulf Stream. Drift of derelicts, icebergs, etc.
Electrical distribution of time described, by Commander Allan D. Brown, U. S. N.
July. Electrical distribution of time (continued).
August. Fuel oil; how to burn it; where it is being used; advantages; kind of oil to burn.
September. Influence of aluminium upon cast iron.
A presentation of the remarkable effects of aluminium upon cast iron, giving an idea of the great benefit to iron-founders promised by the rapidly falling price of aluminium.
October. Inquiry into the relative value of aluminium and its alloys in the arts. Methods of production, uses and costs.
R. W.
JOURNAL DU MATELOT.
June 16, 1888. A report of the Minister of Marine, and a decree by the President of the Republic, creating new duties and privileges in the superior grade of warrant officers (Premiers maitres). New pay-table of the Pilotes-majors.
June 23. A decree by the President regulating herring fishery (a matter of local interest).
June 28. The Oriolle steam boiler for torpedo-boats.
Experiments made at Nantes last June, in the presence of distinguished naval engineers and others, gave very flattering results, and will henceforth render France independent of English industries for the construction of this class of steam generators.
September 15. Violation of the laws of navigation and ocean fisheries, and measures of repression.
September 22, 29, October 20. Continuation of the article on violations of the navigation and fishery laws, and their mode of repression. The French fleet in 1889 (a list of new vessels building and to be built). J. L.
MÉMOIRES DE LA SOClÉTÉ DES INGÉNIEURS CIVILS.
May, 1888.
This number contains a very interesting article on accidents to crown sheets in steam boilers, by M. S. Périssé, C. E., vice-president of the Association of Civil Engineers. The memoir, with the discussions thereon, take up the greater portion of the volume; also a proposed scheme to supply Paris with water from the lake of Neufchâtel.
August, 1888. Proposed plans for supplying Paris with water from the Swiss Jura lakes. The necessity of giving Paris an abundant supply of pure drinking water has for some time engaged the attention of French engineers, and several propositions have been made of tapping the lakes of Switzerland for that purpose. The undertaking presents great difficulties, one of which is lack of capital, the estimated cost being no less than 355,000,000 francs. The article is supplemented with descriptive illustrations. Another interesting paper is a memoir on a new generator for the instantaneous production of steam (with drawings). Also an article on elastic deformations. A new theory with applications to arc calculation. J. L.
MITTHEILUNGEN AUS DEM GEBIETE DES SEEWESENS.
Volume XVI., Nos. 7 and 8, 1888. A new life-boat.
Messrs. Gray & Hughes, of Liverpool, have constructed a new style of lifeboat for use on board ship. Its length is 16 feet, breadth 5 feet 6 inches, depth 2 feet 6 inches. It is built of thin galvanized steel plates, and is divided by transverse bulkheads into twenty water-tight compartments. When the boat is not in use it may serve as a bench on deck. If it is launched while in this form it folds itself into the shape of a boat, and is held in this shape by two hoops placed in the extremities. Its capacity is twenty-five or thirty people, and besides this, it is furnished with life-lines, secured outboard, for the assistance of persons in the water. The water-tight compartments can be used for stowing provisions, etc. The boat is fitted for two masts and sails and is supplied with eight life-buoys. On trial it was found that as soon as the chest-shape deck bench touched the water it was at once converted into a perfectly seaworthy life-boat, fully equipped, and that upon hoisting it on board it resumed its original form.
Automatic closure for ventilator openings in water-tight bulkheads.
According to a short notice in the Army and Navy Gazette, it is stated that on the Trafalgar and Nile the ventilator openings in the water tight bulkheads are fitted with an automatic closure, the invention of Mr. Beck, a foreman in the Portsmouth Arsenal. It consists of a wooden piston and a vertical cylinder, the upper end of which is open and in communication with the compartments on both sides of the bulkhead. The piston is moved when any water which has entered either compartment rises to a certain height; the motion of the piston releases a weighted lever which closes the opening by means of a water-tight slide. This ingenious invention is reported to be very simple and to act with perfect certainty.
Japanese lacquer as paint for ships’ bottoms.
Le Yacht states that a Japanese has succeeded in lacquering the bottom of a ship. A wooden steamer, the Fuso-Kan, whose bottom was partly painted with this lacquer, was in service for full eighteen months. At the end of this time it was found that the lacquer had remained perfectly good, and the entire bottom was then lacquered.
This lacquer is said to be equally good for iron ships. It is reported that a portion of the bottom of the Russian cruiser Dimitri-Donskoi, at present in Japanese waters, is painted with this material.
Captive balloons in the French navy.
During the second part of the summer exercises of the Squadron of Evolution, it is said that the practicability of captive balloons was tried on board a steam tug. In addition to this, several people of the navy have been sent from Toulon for a course of instruction in the Central Aeronaut School at Calais-Meudon.
Heavy Krupp guns for Italy.
Krupp has built for the Italian Government a gun weighing 139 tons, which is intended for the first-class battle ship Sardegna. This gun is 52 feet 6 inches long, and has a caliber of 15.75 inches. The projectiles are steel shell of two descriptions; one light, the other heavy. The first is 3 feet 5 inches long, and weighs 1625,8 pounds; the second is 5 feet 2 inches long, and weighs 2310 pounds. The charge will weigh 1067 pounds, and the calculated I. V. of the heavy shell is 2099 f. s.
100-pounder R. F. G.
According to “Broad Arrow,” a 100-pounder R. F. G. (trial gun) is designed, and by this time completed for H. B. M. ships Blake and Blenheim, it will first be mounted on board the artillery schoolship Excellent, and then by way of experiment on the battle-ship of the second class Hero. It is superfluous to add that this is the heaviest rapid-fire gun up to the present time.
An improved sea-water distilling apparatus.
The application of high steam pressures in marine boilers, a consequence in some measure of surface condensation, becomes more dangerous as the pressure rises on account of the salt water feed. It therefore becomes necessary to devise some way of producing fresh water to supply the deficiency of the feed.
The firm of E. Mouraille & Co., of Toulon, which has for years manufactured the Perroy system of distillers, have recently so improved their apparatus that the feed water furnished by it, in addition to the drinking water, can be used in a very simple manner to replace the lost feed. By this method the distillate is obtained under a partial vacuum, and the efficiency of the distiller increased 75 per cent without greater consumption of coal. The boiler feed-water furnished by the apparatus is to a certain extent a residue formed in the production of drinking water.
The essential improvement consists in the employment of a second or auxiliary generator which is used in connection with the main condenser and main hot well, and can be disconnected when desired. It is to be especially observed that when the auxiliary generator is disconnected, as for instance when the engines are not working, the operation of the distilling apparatus still continues in the usual way.
The auxiliary generator, by assisting the action of the coolers, causes a forced production of drinking water, provided that it is disconnected from the main engine, and that the main generator is adequate to this increased supply.
Mouraille & Co. have also improved the main generator by a device which not only has for its object a gain of the return feed-water, but also causes a livelier circulation of salt water through the tubes of the generator to be maintained. Steam is thus more quickly and easily formed, and the tubes remain longer clean. This last circumstance is one of much importance, as the scale that is deposited on the heating surface largely influences the efficiency of the generator, and necessitates frequent scaling.
The principal advantages claimed for the improvements are:
1st. A gain of about 75 per cent of distilled water.
2d. Greater efficiency of the generators, due to the circulation of water inside of them. A. G.
No. 9. On the methods and means of nautical instruction, by E. Geleich (concluded). Marine engines capable of being partially disconnected. On the maritime defense of England. Yarrow’s Zephyr type of engine. The Maxim rapid-firing gun. French barbette cruisers. The new French torpedo-boat Coureur. American armored cruiser. Launching of the dispatch-vessel Jagd, of the German navy. Russian navy. Elimination of the schooner Polarnaja Zwjazda from the list of the Russian fleet and laying on the stocks of a yacht of the same name. Launching of the partially armored frigate Pamjatj Azowa. New orders of examination for officers of the Austrian mercantile marine. Tests of compound and steel armor plates. German dynamite gun. The Perekop Canal. Torpedo-boat for the U. S. of America. Experiments with a new composition paint upon the hull of the Sultan. Literature. Geonomy (mathematical geography) based on observation and elementary calculation, by Th. Epstein. Report of tests of the 7.5 mm. and 8 mm. Rubin rifle-barrels at Berndorf, February, 1888. The nature and treatment of explosives. Weapons of war. Magnetic observations on the southeastern coast of Austria. Manual of the Russian language for the army. Bibliography and official notes (supplement).
Carrier-pigeon stations in France.
The recent experiments with carrier-pigeons, by Vice-Admiral Bergasse du Petit Thouars and the “Société Forteresse,” at Toulon (mentioned in our last number) having been successful, the Minister of the French Marine will demand an appropriation for the establishment of maritime carrier-pigeon posts along the coast at the semaphore stations and on board of the men-of-war stationed at the five principal ports of France.
Similar posts of carrier-pigeons could be established in this country at a trifling expense, at our principal seaports and on some of our men-of-war, and would render great service. We suggest the establishment of some experimental stations at Fortress Monroe and Annapolis, communicating with a central post at Washington.
No. 10. The game of naval blockade (paper read by Lieutenant N. Chamberlain, before the Royal United Service Institution). Process of manufacturing the cellulose in France, by Fred. Jedliczka, engineer in the Austrian navy. Study of the physical condition of the Black and Azoff seas, from translations by Professor A. Kaspurek. Krupp’s tests with armor-plates. Swedish cast-steel guns. The Nordenfelt torpedo. Aluminium bronze for screw propellers. A dynamite gun for the Italian navy, manufactured in the United States. A Swedish rapid-firing gun. Two recent inventions concerning submarine torpedo-boats. Reducing the powder charge for English guns. Improvements of screw propellers made of steel. Experiments with captive balloons on French men-of-war. Process of “hardening” armor-plates in a lead bath. Stepherd’s folding life-saving boat. Bisson’s compensated compass. Report of estimates and proposed stations of the French navy for 1889. The English torpedo store-ship Vulcan. The American armor-clad Texas. The English armored cruiser Orlando. Launching of the English cruiser Medea. Construction of cruisers for the U. S. of America. American monitors. Building of new vessels for Turkey. Experimental firing of projectiles filled with melinite. Rapid passage across the Atlantic ocean. Literature: Manual of laws and regulations of marine insurance in force in the principal European countries, by T. Anderson. Official notes, etc. H. M.
MITTHEILUNGEN DES VEREINS FÜR ERDKUNDE ZU LEIPZIG. 1887.
Communications in regard to the Society (Vereins).
Scientific communications: 1. Extracts from the papers of the late Eduard Pöppig. Biography. Paper on vines and parasitical plants. Lecture on the character of the inhabitants of tropical South America. Extract about the Indians of Maynas and the missionaries. The winter and spring 1824-1825 in Pennsylvania. 2. Equatorial limits of snow, by Dr. Hans Fischer. 3. The conditions of the snow on Kilimandscharo during the summer of 1887, by Dr. Hans Meyer.
E. H. C. L.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES.
Volume XXIII., Part I, May, 1887, to May, 1888.
John Trowbridge and C. C. Hutchins have investigated the question of oxygen in the sun by photographic comparison of the spectrum of air with the solar spectrum. They find that there is not sufficient coincidence of the lines to warrant the conclusion heretofore drawn that oxygen exists in the sun. A similar investigation by the same authors establishes the presence of carbon vapor in the sun.
C. C. Hutchins and E. L. Holden have discovered platinum in the sun, and have compared with the solar spectrum the spectra of other metals, the existence of which in the sun is doubtful.
O. W. Huntington has compiled a catalogue of all recorded meteorites.
C. R. S.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE.
April, 1888.
Dr. J. H. Gamier gives the following remedy for snake bites, and cites cases in which it has been efficacious in poisoning from rattlesnake bites: one dram iodide of potash dissolved in two ounces of water, repeated in ten minutes. Then in five minutes an ounce of spirits of nitre is taken, dissolved in water. The theory is that the iodine, freed by the nitrous ether, neutralizes the poison. C. R. S.
RKVISTA MILITAR DE CHILE.
Volume VI., No. 1, August, 1888. War considered as a social necessity, by Lieutenant-Colonel J. C. Salvo. The Comblain rifle, by Lieutenant-Colonel B. Silva Gonzalez. Reformed infantry tactics for quick manoeuvring, by Colonel Jorje Wood. Necessary reforms in the infantry branch of the service, by Captain Don Anibal Fuenzalida. Territorial defense, by Captain Don Benjamin Villareal.
J. B. B.
September. The military mont-de-piété law. Concerning the organization of the Chilean army. Compulsory military service. A new practical school of military engineering in Portugal. Fundamental principles of the efficiency of small-arm firing on the field of instruction and before the enemy. The pay of the navy, army, and national guard. A discussion concerning the different methods of firing. The defense of states. Foreign chronicle. W. E. S.
REVUE DU CERCLE MILITAIRE.
June 17, 18S8. Various stages in the history of the torpedo-boat. The sanitary corps of the Swiss army. Instruction in temporary field fortifications in the Russian army (sketches). French and foreign military notes.
June 24. Organization of the active army (infantry): ternary system. Instruction in temporary field fortifications in the Russian army (ended). Physical training in the English army. The German Generals: I. Von Pape; II. Von Kleist.
July 1. Civil versus military workmanship (this is an answer to articles published in the Review of January 3 and March 11, 1888). Increase of the corps of cadets in Germany. The new school of cadets at Carlsruhe. Report of Lieutenant-General Pallovicini on the manoeuvres executed in the province of Emilia in 1887. Foreign military notes.
July 8. Organization of the territorial army: ternary system. The Austro-Russian frontier: the theater of military operations. Considerations upon the defensive organization of Italy, as presented by an Italian. The new school of cadets at Carlsruhe (ended).
July 15. Changes in the regulations touching the interior routine in the corps of artillery and ammunition train. The plan of defense of the Jura mountains. Eventuality of a concentration of German and Italian forces in the upper plains of Switzerland. The German Generals (continued): III. Von der Burg; IV. Von Wartensleben. Military chronicle.
July 21. Defense of Cherbourg by means of torpedoes (with illustrations). The Austro-Russian frontier: the theater of military operations. The beginning of a conquest. Algeria from 1830 to 1840. Military chronicles.
July 29. Mounted infantry: their use in the southern division of the regency (Africa). Military pensions in Italy.
August 5. Plan of a target with automatic shot-recorder (with illustrations). The army of Morocco. Reorganization of the school of war in Vienna. Imaginary battles: the battle of Belfort. England’s death-throes. Rome and Berlin.
August 12. Plan of a target, etc. (see August 5). Fighting on foot in the Russian cavalry. The German Generals (continued): V. Von Grolman; VI. Von Meerscheidt-Hüllessem.
August 19. Changes in the composition of military bands. Plan of a target with automatic shot-recorder (ended). By-laws of the German officers’ association. Recent photographic works; proofs from balloon or at a distance.
August 26. A study on recruiting and mobilization. The English soldier at Gibraltar. Night attacks. Recent photographic works; photography without object-glass.
September 2. Defensive organizations of the coasts of England. Fire regulations for infantry in the German army, approved February 22, 1887: analysis and criticisms. A study on recruiting duty and mobilization. German Generals (continued): VII. Von Bolin. Emperor Nicholas and the Cosaks. Foreign military chronicle.
September 9. Neutrality of Switzerland. Fire regulations for infantry in the German army, etc. (continued). A study on recruiting duty and mobilization (ended). Foreign military chronicle. Three considered as a tactical unit.
September 16. Neutrality of Switzerland (end). Comparative study of the French engineer corps and those of the principal European armies. Regulations for infantry firing in the German army. Foreign military chronicle.
September 23. The army exhibition in 1889. Comparative study of the Engineer Corps in France and in the principal European armies (ended). The military future of China.
September 30. The Italian naval manoeuvres of 1888: report of Vice-Admiral Acton. Military bread-making. The army of Persia.
October 7. Necessity of reducing the weight carried by the infantry soldier during a campaign. The native army of India: 1. The Bengal troops. Italian naval manoeuvres (ended). Horse batteries of the Russian cavalry divisions. English experiments in the use of luminous compounds during night operations.
October 14. A study of the composition and distribution of the French fleet. The Russian army in the field. The corps of military cadets in Switzerland. The magazine rifle question in England and in the principal European states.
October 21. A study of the composition and distribution of the French fleet (ended). The Russian army in the field (continued). Casualties in battle. The army exhibition in Paris, 1889. Notes on the causes of differences in the number of revolutions of independent twin-screws and the means of correcting them. Scientific mission to Cape Horn (1882-3); history of the voyage (continued). A night patrol recorder. Eastern affairs (1839, 1840, 1841); diary of an officer on the naval station of the Levant. Historical studies of the French navy. Chronicle—English navy. Naval manoeuvres. General orders of Vice-Admiral Baird. Conclusions drawn from the naval manoeuvres. Certificates of specialty to navy lieutenants. The Mediterranean squadron. Armament of the armored ship Hector. The German pneumatic gun. Construction of new torpedo cruisers and rapid advice boats. New Spanish cruisers. Launch of the English cruisers Medusa and Marathon, and Italian cruiser Piemonte. Trials of the first-class English gunboat Pheasant, Spanish armored ship Pelayo, and Italian armored ship Lepanto. Fortifications of the Caprera and Maddalena islands. Bombardment of sea-coast open cities. The Howell torpedo. Folding life-saving boats.
J. L.
REVUE MARITIME ET COLONIALE.
July, 1888. Elements of international maritime law (continued). General report on the sardine fishery by the chairman of the committee on ocean fisheries (ended). The Rio Janeiro expedition of 1711 (see preceding number). Violation of the regulations concerning navigation and ocean fishery, and measures of repression. A memoir on public education in some of the states of South America. Foreign chronicle—English navy; Transportation of an army across the Channel; Naval defenses; The naval reserve; The coming great naval manoeuvres; Protection of the merchant marine; Reception of stores and supplies in arsenals; Spanish navy; The centenary of the Marquis of Santa Cruz artillery; Experiments on armor plates at Portsmouth; New experiments with high explosive shells against the Résistance; The steel-wire wound gun; The guns of the Collingwood and Téméraire; Petroleum navigation in the Caspian Sea; Establishment of a large dockyard at Bilbao; The game of blockade; New Italian torpedo-boats.
August. Elements of international maritime law (continued). A memoir on public education in some of the states of South America (ended). Scientific mission to Cape Horn (1882-1883). The Shamrock’s mishap and its temporary repair. Newfoundland. The cod and lobster fishery. Prizes awarded for the best articles published in the Revue Maritime et Coloniale. Foreign military chronicle—Opinion of an American admiral in regard to a successful invasion of England; Responsibilities of the Board of Admiralty; The medical service of the fleet; The speed of cruisers; The defenses of coaling stations; The great manoeuvres of the Italian fleet; The new Maxim gun; First experiment with an Italian pneumatic gun; Bellite; Smokeless powder, etc.
September. A trip to the lakes of Cambodia.
The writer, a lieutenant in the French navy, gives a graphic account of his voyage up the Cambodia river, on a mission to study the numerous fisheries established by the Asiatics on the lakes of the ancient kingdom of Khmer.
A scientific mission to Cape Horn (1882-1883); history of the voyage (continued). Comet perceived at Papute in January, 1S87; observations made by M. de Kerillis, lieutenant French navy. Foreign chronicle—State of protection of the English dockyards; Appropriations for the construction and armament of new gunboats in United States; Purchase of auxiliary cruisers by the Italian Government; Review of the Black Sea squadron (Russia); Experimenting with melinite shells at Portsmouth, England; Coast defense artillery in England and Russia; Launch of the Charleston, U. S. A.; Disappearance of Sable Island; The Berdon torpedo before the Senate Naval Committee; Mémoires et Compte rendu des travaux de la Société des Ingenieurs Civils.
July, 1888. A visit to the establishment of the Parisian Compressed Air Company. Portable economical bridges, Eiffel system; their use in Cochin China and Tonkin, and in repairing railroads. Memoir on the Garabit viaduct—the latter article takes up the larger portion of the volume (drawings). J. L.
RIVISTA DI ARTTGLIERIA E GENIO.
May, 1888. Field-hospitals at the Antwerp exposition, 1885 (with numerous plates), by F. Baroffio and C. Marzocchi. On the Bénier hot-air motor (with plate and description), by G. Ninci, captain of artillery. Italian field artillery (historical), by Carmine Siracusa, captain of artillery.
June, 1888. Repeating arms. Study on the repeating arms of Germany, by I. V. (with plates). The Dreyse model of 1879—magazine along the barrel. The Bornmüller, Simson, and Luck model of 1882—magazine in the butt. Also model of 1884. Sporen and Marl model of 1882. Harl, Schmidbauer and Löwi (simplification of the preceding). Bertoldo model of 1885, with magazine under the breech. Adaptation of the Mauser model of 1871-84—supply tube in fore-end of stock.
July-August. Iron in fortifications (àpropos of a new book by General Brialmont), by F. Le Forte, major of engineers. J. B. B.
RIVISTA MARITTIMA.
June, 1888. The arrangement of torpedo-launching apparatus on men-of-war, by L. Armani, captain Italian navy.
A brief historical sketch, followed by conclusions as to the best position for the apparatus, and the conditions for successful launching from bow, beam, and stern.
July-August. Trieste and its port, by E. Borgatti, C. E.
An interesting description of the city, with its commercial improvements; illustrated.
Shells charged with gun-cotton against fortifications (translation from Engineering). Melinite against forts (translation from Le Genie Civil).
September. The war in Cyprus (a historical essay of events during the 15th century), by Vice-Admiral L. Fincati. Repairing the broken shaft of the steamer Perseo in mid-ocean (account by Chief Engineer Grillo Salvatore). Naval mobilization in the United Kingdom, Rear-Admiral P. H. Colomb. The pilot chart of the North Atlantic ocean (issued by the Hydrographic Office, Washington), description of, by A. G. Discussion of naval affairs in the U. S. Senate. Propulsion by hydrocarbon vapor. J.B. B.
ROYAL ARTILLERY INSTITUTION.
Volume XVI., No. 8. The pneumatic dynamite cannon.
This paper contains a description of Mr. Medford’s dynamite gun, and claims advantages for this arm over Zalinski’s which may be classed as follows:
- Construction of gun, giving greater strength. '
- No angles in the channels connecting reservoir and barrel, thus transmitting an undiminished pressure from reservoir to base of projectile.
- The use of powder in connection with compressed air, thereby doubling the initial velocity and driving back the air to reservoir.
- Dispensing with mechanical devices to keep projectile steady, by rifling
the bore. M. K. E.
ROYAL UNITED SERVICE INSTITUTION.
Volume XXXII., No. 144. Naval mobilization. The game of naval blockade.
A simple game. If introduced aboard ship, might be found interesting and instructive.
The position of the torpedo in naval warfare.
Compares gun and locomotive torpedo, to the detriment of the latter. Discussion of this paper by the members brings out many valuable points.
M. K. E.
TEKNISK TIDSKRIFT.
18th Annual Series, Vols. II. and III. Competitive designs for the new Royal Theater at Stockholm. Masonry during cold weather. Development of telephone service in Christiania. Latest progress in the science of graphic statics. Coal-yard and harbor of the Stockholm gas works. Statistics in regard to mineral productions in Sweden in 1886. E. H. C. L.
UNITED SERVICE GAZETTE.
June 16. Account of experiments with smoke-burning apparatus on H. M. S. Orlando.
June 23. Experiments with Nordenfelt electrically controlled torpedo. Faulty English gun-construction.
July 7. Maritime dangers and defenses.
July 14. Naval defenses.
July 21. Programme of British naval manoeuvres.
July 28. Views of Admiral Hornby on the number of ironclads necessary to blockade an enemy’s fleet. Naval manoeuvres.
August 4. Naval manoeuvres.
August 11. Naval manoeuvres.
August 18. Naval manoeuvres.
August 25. Result of naval manoeuvres.
Account of rifle fire at night by electric light; range 400 meters. Nine shots out of ten struck the target.
Naval defenses.
September 1. Machine guns in future warfare. Maxim gun and new army rifle. .
September 8. The new rifle. English small-arms.
Committee convinced that small-bore rifle is superior to large.
September 8. French submarine boats invented to dive under ironclads, fasten torpedoes to her sides and explode them by electric cables.
September 15. 36-pounder Armstrong gun.
Caliber 4½ inches, has been found fit for service. Eleven projectiles per minute. Penetration at 1000 yards, 6-inch wrought-iron armor plating.
Lessons taught by recent British naval manoeuvres. Russian naval manoeuvres.
September 29. Noiseless and smokeless gunpowder.
Experiments about to be made with “safety” gun, discharged by steam, pressure 200 pounds per square inch.
October 6. Pneumatic dynamite cannon.
Rapid-firing guns, recommended by Lord Armstrong, firing twelve shots per minute. Considers the Piemonte, just launched for the Italian Government, best armored ship afloat.
New torpedo-boats.
October 13. New paint for ships.
October 20. Preliminary trials with new small-bore rifle successful. British national defenses and commerce, I. M. K. E.
LE YACHT.
June 16, 1888. A study on fighting ships (continued). Barbette cruisers in course of construction.
June 23. The question of cruisers in the House of Commons. The Yacht Club of France at the Exposition of 1889. A study on fighting ships (continued). Review of the merchant navy.
June 30. Mobilization of the fleet. A study on war ships (ended). Paris a seaport. This question has again received an important impetus, die Chamber of Deputies having, through a resolution, invited the Government to take active steps in regard to the proposed ship canal between Paris and Rouen.
July 7. Inefficiency of torpedo-boats on the high seas. Collisions at sea. Formation in Paris of the Society of Engineers and Naval Constructors. The greyhounds of the North Atlantic. Manoeuvres of the Mediterranean squadron.
July 14. Collisions at sea (continued). Siriux’ compensated compass (diagrams).
July 21. Mobilization of the English fleet. New petroleum steam motor.
July 28. Strengthening the defenses of the military ports of France. Trial of the armored ship Pclayo.
August 4. French naval appropriations for 1889. Second-class fast cruisers in England. The Life-Saving Service and Hygiene Exhibition at the Industrial Palace, Paris.
August 11. Manoeuvres of the English squadrons. Use of balloons in the navy.
August 18. Manoeuvres of the English squadrons. Mobilization of the French fleet. Naval schools of England and scientific education of English officers.
August 25, The summer manoeuvres—England, France, Italy. Official trial of the armored ship Pelayo.
September i. The mobilization at Toulon. Instantaneous steam generator, Serpollet system. Review of the merchant navies of France, Spain, United States, Japan, Austro-Hungary, Germany, England.
September 8. The mobilization at Toulon. Twin-screw torpedo boat built by M. Normand, Havre. Electricity on board the armored ship Pelayo. Trials of the Italian armored ship Lepanto. Instructions in regard to the use of the Belleville boilers.
September 15. More about the English naval manoeuvres. The defenses of the dockyards and military ports of France. The armored division of the Channel at Cherbourg and Havre. New formula for calculating the action of the rudder. Foreign military chronicle.
September 22. From Toulon to Cherbourg (E. Weyl). Keel or centerboard? (L. Moore). Considerations of tactics to be adopted in case of war with a great naval power. K . . .
September 29. The navy budget in the French Naval Committee. Considerations of tactics . . . (ended). Life-Saving Service Exhibition: Horticulture on board ships (L. C.). Torpedo boats built in France for the Roumanian Government. The new marine engines.
October 6. Considerations of the different types of modern war ships (G. Rebard). Trials of the engines of the Victoria and Sans-Pareil. Maritime jurisprudence; collisions at sea. Modern naval improvements: to Gibraltar and back.
October 13. Reforms in the naval budget. The German armored corvette Irene. Life-Saving Service Exhibition at the Palais de l’Industrie, Paris. Considerations of the different types of modern war-ships (continuation of a very valuable article). Keel and centerboard.
October 20. About the naval review at Naples (E. Weyl). End of the article on the different types of modern war-ships. Transportation by Decauville railway of the gunboat Farcy (with illustrations).
J. L.
REVIEWERS AND TRANSLATORS.
Lieut. E. H. C. Leutze, Ensign W. E. Safford,
Lieut. J. B. Briggs, Prof. Jules Leroux,
Ensign M. K. Eyre, Prof. H. Marion,
Lieut. A. Gleaves, Prof. C. R. Sanger,
P. A. Engr. W. F. Worthington.