The conditions under this head are:1. Absence of steam.2. Absence of smoke and cinders.3. Absence, more or less complete, of noise.4. Elegance of aspect.5. The facility with which the motor can be separatedfrom the carriage itself.6. Capacity of the brake for acting upon the greatestpossible number of wheels of the vehicle or vehicles.7. The degree to which the outside covering of themotor conceals the machinery from the public, whileallowing it to be visible and accessible in all parts tothe engineer.8. Facility of communication between the engineerand the conductor of the train.
In deciding upon the relative merits of the several motors, so far as the eight points included under this heading are concerned, it is clear that, except possibly as regards absence of noise, the electrical car surpassed all the others.
The compressed air car followed, in its superiority in respect of the first three points, viz., absence of steam, absence of smoke, and absence of noise; but the Rowan was considered superior in respect of the other points included in this class.
Under the letter B have been classed considerations of maintenance and construction.
9. Protection, more or less complete, of the machinery against theaction of dust and mud.10. Regularity and smoothness of motion.11. Capacity for passing over curves of small radius.12. The simplest and most rational construction.13. Facility for inspecting and cleaning the interior of the boilers.14. Dead weight of the train compared with the number of places.15. Effective power of traction when the carriages are completely full.16. Rapidity with which the motor can be taken out of the shed andmade ready for running.17. The longest daily service without stops other than thosecompatible with the requirements of the service.18. Cost of maintenance per kilometer. (It was assumed, for thepurposes of this sub-heading, that the motor or carriage whichgave the best results under the conditions relating toparagraphs 9, 10, 12, and 13 would be least costly for repairs.)
As regards the first of these, viz., protection of the machinery against dirt, the machinery of the electrical car had no protection. It was not found in the experiments at Antwerp that inconvenience resulted from this; but it is a question whether in very dusty localities, and especially in a locality where there is metallic dust, the absence of protection might not entail serious difficulties, and even cause the destruction of parts of the machinery.
In respect to the smoothness of motion and facility of passing curves, the cars did not present vary material differences, except that the cars in which the motor formed part of the car had the preference.
In the case of simplicity of construction, it is evident that the simplest and most rational construction is that of a car which depends on itself for its movement, which can move in either direction with equal facility, which can be applied to any existing tramway without expense for altering the road, and the use of which will not throw out of employment vehicles already used on the lines; the electric car fulfilled this condition best, as also the condition numbered 13, as it possessed no boiler.
In respect to No. 14, viz., the ratio of the dead weight of the train to passengers, if we assume 154 lb. as the average weight per passenger, the following is the result in respect of the three cars in which the power formed part of the car:
9,350 lb.Electric car. --------- = 1.78154 × 3415,950 lb.Rowan. ---------- = 2.30154 × 4522,000 lb.Compressed air. ---------- = 2.55154 × 56
The detached engines gave, of course, less favorable results under this head.
Under head No. 15 the tractive power of all the motors was sufficient during the trials, but the line was practically level, therefore this question could only be resolved theoretically, so far as these trials were concerned, and the table before given affords all the necessary data for the theoretical calculation.
As regards the rapidity with which the motors could be brought into use from standing empty in the shed, the electric car could receive its accumulators more rapidly than could the boiler for heating the exhaust of the compressed-air car be brought into use.
As regards the steam motors, the following were the results from the time of lighting the fires:
The Rowan—In 34 minutes 3 atmospheres." 36 " 4 "At this pressure the vehicle could move—In 40 minutes 8 atmospheres.The Wilkinson—In 35 minutes 2 atmospheres." 40 " 4 "" 44 " 6 "" 47 " 8 "
The Krauss machine required two hours to give 6 atmospheres, which was the lowest pressure at which it could be worked.
The results under No. 17, viz., the fewest interruptions to the daily service, class the motors in the following order: Krauss, electric, Rowan, Wilkinson, compressed air. The chief cause of injury to the compressed air motor arose from the carelessness of the drivers, who allowed the steam boiler to be burnt out. Unfortunately, these drivers were new to the work.
Under the letter C are classed considerations of economy in the consumption of materials used for generating the power necessary for working.
19. Minimum consumption of fuel (either coke or coal),in proportion to the number of kilometers run, andto the number of places, assuming for the seats awidth of at least sixteen inches for each person seated.
It must be borne in mind that the conditions of the competition required that a second car should be periodically drawn by the motor, and that the calculations which follow include the total number of miles run, the total amount of fuel, etc., consumed, and the total number of passengers which could be conveyed by each motor, during the total time that the experiments were being carried on.
TABLE II.TotalDescription of motor. number of Total No. of lb.train miles Consumption perrun. of fuel. train mile.lb.Electric. 2,358.9 14 786 6.16Rowan. 2,616.9 14,498 5.42Wilkinson. 2,473.3 22,000 8.82Krauss. 2,457.8 22,726 9.10Compressed air. 2,259.1 90,420 39.48TABLE III.No. of places No. of lb. ofDescription of motor. indicated on fuel consumedthe cars, per Consumption per placesmile run. of fuel. indicatedper mile run.lb.Electric 80,203.5 14,786 0.18Rowan 148,399.6 14,498 0.09Wilkinson 119,085.1 22,000 0.18Krauss 108,983.9 22,726 0.20Compressed air 128,189.3 90,420 0.69TABLE IV.Description of motor. No. of seats per No, of lb. ofmile run. Consumption fuel consumedof fuel. per seatper mile run.lb.Electric 61,591.2 14,786 0.23Rowan 135,928.8 14,498 0.10Wilkinson 93,965.6 22,000 0.23Krauss 86,039.9 22,726 0.25Compressed air 132,732.7 90,420 0.66
As regards the figures in these tables, it is to be observed that the consumption of fuel for the electric car is, to a certain extent, an estimate; because the engine which furnished the electricity to the motor also supplied electricity for electric lights, as well as for an experimental electric motor which was running on the lines of tramway, but was not brought into competition.
20. Minimum consumption of oil, of grease, tallow, etc. (the same conditions as in No. 19).
TABLE V.Total ConsumptionTotal consumption of oil, tallow,Description of number of of etc.,motor. miles run. oil, tallow, per train mileetc. run.lb.Electric 2,358.9 99.0 0.038Rowan, steam 2,616.9 106.7 0.038Krauss, steam 2,457.8 188.5 0.073Wilkinson, steam 2,473.3 255.4 0.101Compressed air 2,259.1 585.2 0.255
In addition to these considerations, it was thought useful to investigate the quantity of water consumed in the case of those engines which used steam. The experiments made on this point showed as the consumption of water:
Gallons per mile.Rowan 0.75Compressed air 1.06Wilkinson 5.89Krauss 6.52
Thus, owing to the large proportion of water returned from the condenser to the tanks, the Rowan actually used less water than the compressed air engine.
The general conclusion to which these experiments bring us is that, undoubtedly, if it could certainly be relied upon, the electric car would be the preferable form of tramway motor in towns, because it is simply a self-contained ordinary tram-car, and in a town the service requires a number of separate cars, occupying as small a space each as is compatible with accommodating the passengers, and which follow each other at rapid intervals.
But the practicability and the economy of a system of electric tram-cars has yet to be proved; for the experiments at Antwerp, while they show the perfection of the electric car as a means of conveyance, have not yet finally determined all the questions which arise in the consideration of the subject. For instance, with regard to economy, the engine employed to generate the electricity was not in thoroughly good order, and from its being used to do other work than charging the accumulators of the tram-car, the consumption of fuel had to be to some extent estimated. In the next place, the durability of the accumulators is still to be ascertained; upon this much of the economy would depend. And in addition to this question, there is also that of the durability of parts of the machinery if exposed to dust and mud.
After the electric car, there is no question but that at the Antwerp Exhibition the most taking of the tramway motors was the Rowan, which was very economical in fuel, quite free from the appearance of steam, and very convenient and manageable.
The economy of the Rowan motor arises in a large degree from the extent of its condensing power, by means of which a considerable supply of warm water is constantly supplied for use in the boiler, and consequently the quantity of water which has to be carried is lessened, and the fuel is economized.
Independently, however, of its convenience as a motor for tramways in towns, the Rowan machine has been adapted on the Continent to the conveyance of goods as well as passenger traffic on light branch railways, and fitted to pass over curves of 50 feet radius, and up gradients of 1:10.
In England, with our depressed trade and agriculture, there is a great want in many parts of the country of a cheap means of conveyance from the railway stations into the surrounding districts; such a means of conveyance might be afforded by light railways along or near the road-side, the cost of which would be comparatively small, provided that the expensive methods of construction, of signaling, and of working which have been required for main lines, and which are perfectly unnecessary for such light railways, were dispensed with.
It is certain that this question will acquire prominence as soon as a system of local government has been adopted, in which the wants of the several communities have full opportunity of asserting themselves, and in which each local authority shall have power to decide on those measures which are essential to the development of the resources of its own district, without interference from a centralized bureaucracy.
The first point to be studied in this theory is theroleperformed by the iron or steel diaphragm of the telephone, both as regards the nature of the movements that it effects through elasticity and the conversion of mechanical into magnetic energy as a result of its motions.
I. When we produce simple or complex vibratory motions in the air in front of the diaphragm, like those that result from articulate speech, either the fundamental and harmonic sounds of the diaphragm are not produced, or else they play but a secondaryrole.
(1.) In fact, diaphragms are never set in vibration, as is supposed, when we desire to determine the series of harmonics and nodal lines, since we do not leave them to themselves until they have been set in motion, and we do not allow a free play to the action of elastic forces; in a word, the vibrations that they are capable of effecting are constantlyforcedones.
(2.) When a disk is set into a groove, and its edges are fixed, theory indicates that the first harmonics of the free disk should only rise a little. Let us take steel disks 4 inches in diameter and but 0.08 inch in thickness, and of which the fundamental sound in a free state is aboutut5, and which the setting only further increases. It is impossible to see how this fundamental and the harmonics can be set in play when a continuous series of sounds or accords belowut5, are produced before the disk; and yet these sounds are produced perfectly (with feeble intensity, it is true, in an ordinary telephone) with their pitch and quality. They produce, then, in the transmitting diaphragm other motions than those of the fundamental sound and of its peculiar harmonics.
(3.) It is true that in practice the edges of the telephone diaphragm are in nowise fixed, but merely set into a groove, or rather clamped between wooden or metallic rings, whose mass is comparable to their own; and they are, therefore, as regards elasticity, in an ill ascertained state. Yet a diaphragm of the usual diameter (from 2 to 4 inches), and very thin (from 0.001 to 0.02 inch), clamped in this way by its edges, is capable of vibrating when a continuous series of sounds are produced near it, by means, for example, of a series of organ pipes. But the series of sounds that it clearly re-enforces, in exhibiting a kind of complex nodal lines, is plainlydiscontinuous; and how, therefore, would the existence of such series suffice to explain the production of acontinuousscale of isolated or superposed sounds, the chief property of the telephone?
(4.) The interposition of a plate of any substance whatever between the diaphragm and the source of the vibratory motions in nowise alters the telephonic qualities of the diaphragm, and consequently thenatureof the motions that it effects—a fact that would be very astonishing if the motions were those that corresponded to the peculiar sounds of the diaphragm. This fact is already known, and I have verified it with mica, glass, zinc, copper, cork, wood, paper, cotton, a feather, soft wax, sand, and water, even in taking thicknesses of from 5 to 8 inches of these substances.
(5.) We can put a diaphragm manifestly out of condition to effect its peculiar scale of harmonics by placing small, unequal, and irregularly distributed bodies upon its surface, by cutting it out in the form of a wheel, and by punching a sufficient number of holes in it to reduce it half in bulk. None of these modifications removes its telephonic qualities.
(6.) We can go still further, and employ diaphragms of scarcely any stiffness and elasticity without altering their essential telephonic properties, the reproduction of a continuous series of sounds, accords, and timbres. Such is the case with a sheet iron diaphragm. It is very difficult, then, to imagine a fundamental sound and its harmonics.
The conclusion from all this appears to me to be that the mechanism by virtue of which telephone diaphragms perform their motions is at least analogous to, if not identical with, that through which solid bodies of any form whatever (a wall, for example) transmit to all of their surfaces all the simple or complex successive or simultaneous vibratory motions, of periods varying in a continuous or discontinuous manner, that are produced in the air in contact with the other surface. In a word, we have here a phenomenon ofresonance. In diaphragms of sufficient thickness this kind of motion would exist alone. In thin diaphragms the motions that correspond to their special sounds might become superposed upon the preceding, and this would be prejudicial rather than useful, since, in such a case, if there resulted a re-enforcement of the effects produced, it would be at the expense of the reproduction of the timbre, the harmonics of the diaphragm being capable of coinciding only through the merest accident with those of the sounds that were setting in play the fundamental sound of the diaphragm. This is what experiment clearly demonstrates.
II. Let us now pass to themagnetic roleof the telephone diaphragm. Suchrolecan be clearly enough defined by the following facts:
(1.) The presence of the magnetic field of the telephone in nowise changes the preceding conclusions.
(2.) Upon farther and farther diminishing the stiffness and elasticity of the diaphragm, I have succeeded in suppressing it entirely. In fact, it is only necessary to substitute for it, in any telephone whatever, a few grains of iron filings, thrown upon the pole of the magnet, covered with a bit of paper or cardboard, in order to render it possible to reproduce all sounds, and articulate speech with its characteristic quality, although, it is true, with very feeble intensity.
(3.) In order to increase the intensity of the effect produced, it suffices to substitute for the iron diaphragm a thin disk of any sort of slightly flexible substance, metallic or otherwise, cardboard, for example, and through the aperture of the usual cover of the instrument to scatter over it from 1½ to 3 grains of iron filings. In this way we obtain an iron filings telephone. By properly increasing the intensity of the magnetic field, I have been able to form telephones of this kind that produced in an ordinary receiver as intense effects as those given by the usual transmitters with stiff disks, and which, too, were reversible. But for a field of given intensity, there is a weight of iron filings that produces a maximum of effect.
We thus see that the advantage of the iron diaphragm over filings is truly reduced to the presentation of a much larger number of magnetic molecules to the action of the field and to external actions, within the same volume. It increases theintensityof the telephonic effects, although forthe productionof the latter with all their variety, fineness, and perfection it is nowise indispensable. It suffices, after a manner, to materialize the lines of force with iron filings, and to act mechanically upon them, and consequently upon the field itself.
[1]
Note presented to the Academy of Sciences, Oct. 19, 1885.
On a former occasion I described some experiments that had led me to a theory of the telephone transmitter; a few words will suffice to expose that of the receiver.
Such theory gave rise during the first years succeeding the invention of the telephone to a considerable number of investigations, the principal results of which may be summed up in the two following points:
1. All the parts of a telephone receiver—core, helix, disk, handle, etc.—vibrate simultaneously (Boudet, Laborde, Breguet, Ader, Du Moncel, and others). But there is no doubt that by far the most energetic effects are those of the disk. It has been possible to put the vibrations of the core and helix beyond a doubt only by employing very energetic transmitter currents, or very simplified and special arrangements of the receiver (Ader, Du Moncel, and others).
2. In telephone receivers we may employ disks or diaphragms of any thickness up to six inches (Bell, Breguet, and others).
From the first point it had already resulted that the diaphragm was no more indispensable in the receiver than it was in the transmitter, as I have already shown (Comptes Rendus, t. ci., p. 944); and, from the second point, that there were other effects in a receiver than those that could result from the transverse vibrations corresponding to the fundamental sound and to the harmonics of the diaphragm.
So Du Moncel, basing a theory upon these two categories of facts, asserted that the effects of the telephone receiver were principally due to the molecular vibrations of the core of the electro-magnet (analogous to those that had been studied by Page, De la Rive, Wetheim, Reis, and others), super-excited and re-enforced by the iron diaphragm operating as an armature.
This theory has certainly truth for a basis; but it is incomplete, in that the molecular vibrations of the core are but a very feeble accessory phenomenon, and not a prominent one. At all events, I believe that we can, in a few words, and very simply, present the theory of the telephone receiver by going back to the facts that served me as a basis for the theory of the transmitter, and that result from studies made with telephones of ordinary forms.
In fact, it is enough to remark that the iron filings telephone transmitter described in a preceding article (1. c.) is reversible and capable of serving as a receiver—not a very intense one, it is true, but here it is a question of thenatureof the phenomena, and not of their intensity. It at once results that in receivers, as in transmitters, the rigidity of the iron diaphragm is in nowise indispensable for telephonic effects, such as the production of continuous series of successive or simultaneous sounds and of articulate speech.
The diaphragm serves but to increase the intensity of these effects, as in the transmitter, by concentrating the lines of force of the field, and by presenting a greater surface to the air—the necessary vehicle of sound. When it is thick, the internal motions that it takes on in consequence of variations in the field, and which are transmitted to the surrounding air and the ear, are solely those of resonance. When it is very thin, the peculiar motions resulting from its geometric form and its structure may become superposed upon the preceding, because it may then happen that the corresponding sounds remain within the limits of the pitch wherein the human voice usually moves (fromut2to ut5); but then, also, as the harmonics of the voice in nowise coincide with the proper sounds of the diaphragm, the intensity of the effects is obtained at the expense of a good reproduction of the timbre. This is certainly one of the causes of the nasal timbre of most thin-diaphragmed telephones. By diminishing their thickness, we lose in quality what we gain in intensity.
But even in this latter respect there is a maximum for receivers, as I have already pointed out that there is for iron filings transmitters. For a magnetic field of given intensity, there is, all things equal, a diaphragm thickness that gives a maximum telephonic result. Such result, which is analogous to those that occur in other electro-magnetic phenomena, may explain the want of success of many tentatives made somewhat at haphazard, with a view to increasing the intensity of telephonic effects.
[2]
Note presented to the Academy of Sciences, November 16, 1885.
Dr. F. Hueppe, who has paid great attention to this subject, describes five distinct organisms which he finds to be invariable accompaniments of lactic fermentation. One of these he isolated on nutrient gelatine in the form of white, shining, flat, minute beads. This organism has the power of transforming milk sugar and other saccharoses into lactic acid, with evolution of carbonic acid gas. It is rarely found in the saliva or mucilage of the teeth. In these are two micrococci, both of which cause the production of lactic acid, but which manifest differences in their development under cultivation. There are also two pigment forming bacteria,Micrococcus prodigiosus,which produces intensely red spots, and the yellow micrococcus of osteomyelitis. These five bacteria are so different and so constant in their properties that they must, in Dr. Hueppe's opinion, be regarded as distinct species. In addition to them there is in milk an organism resemblingMycoderma aceti, which transforms milk sugar into gluconic acid.
At last the new "Burgtheater" in Vienna is completed. We say "at last," for work was begun on this new theater more than ten years ago. One after another, monumental architectural works have been erected, which are no less grand and beautiful than this. They were finished long ago, and given over to their respective uses—the Parliament buildings, the "Rathhaus," the University; but Baron Hasenauer, who had charge of the construction of this building, as well as of many others, could not bring himself to the quickertempoof Messrs Hansen, Schmid, and Ferstel. The citizens of Vienna were naturally impatient to see their beautiful "Ringstrasse" completed, and only the Hasenauer buildings were needed to make it perfect.
THE NEW IMPERIAL PALACE THEATRE, VIENNA. ORIGINAL DESIGN BY J.J. KIRCHNER.
THE NEW IMPERIAL PALACE THEATRE, VIENNA. ORIGINAL DESIGN BY J.J. KIRCHNER.
The building was built according to the plans of Semper and Hasenauer; for, as in the other great buildings erected by Hasenauer, the new palace and the museums, Semper's plans served as a foundation. All the modern improvements in the architecture of theaters have been embodied in the new theater, for the terrible catastrophe at the Ringtheater taught a lesson which has not been forgotten, and the greatest care has been taken to guard against fire.
The new "Burgtheater" stands directly opposite the imposing "Rathhaus" (senate-house), and is separated from the same by a charming park; to the right stands the University, and to the left the Houses of Parliament. In order to be worthy of such company, and not be overshadowed by these buildings, it was necessary that the theater should be very grand. The most important requirements have been perfectly fulfilled; beauty, elegance, appropriateness, and security against fire, nothing has been neglected.
The principal part of the building stands out strongly, and is flanked on either side by a pavilion-like wing. The audience room will accommodate about two thousand people.
The public and the actors alike rejoice in the new Burgtheater, for which they have waited so long.
It seems strange that book-printing and the book trade in general should have developed so slowly in the busy city of Leipzig, where a university was established as early as the beginning of the fifteenth century. The first honorable mention of the printing of Leipzig was made during the first decade of the sixteenth century, but it was not until the end of the seventeenth century that the printing and publishing of books received a notable impulse, which was given it by Messrs. J.F. Gleditsch and Thomas Fritsche and Profs. Carpzov and Mericke, who published many works of great typographical beauty.
From 1682 to 1700 ninety-one papers and periodicals appeared in Leipzig, of which theActa eruditorumwas the oldest, being the first German scientific paper. At this time there were seventeen printing establishments in Leipzig, and the seventy presses in use printed, on an average, 2,000 bales of paper yearly.
One of the leading bookdealers, Philipp Emanuel Reich, won the approbation of his fellow citizens by establishing the first Bookdealers' Association at the time of the Easter Fair in Leipzig, in 1764, and it was through his efforts that the Book Exchange or Fair was founded, which has placed Leipzig at the head of the book trade; but several years passed before this private undertaking become a public association. About 1834 a building was erected specially for a book exchange or bourse, but this building was soon outgrown, and it was decided to build a new one which should be adequate to the requirements of the institution.
A competition for designs for the new building was opened, and five designs were presented, from which the plan of Messrs. Kayser and Von. Grossheim, of Berlin, was selected. This design, which is shown in the accompanying cut, taken from theIllustrirte Zeitung,presents a picturesque grouping of the different parts of the building, the main building being on one street and the adjoining building on another street. The roof, which forms a beautiful sky-line, is ornamented with dormer-windows and little towers, there being a large tower on the main building.
PRIZE PLAN FOR THE NEW BOOK EXCHANGE IN LEIPZIG, BY MESSRS. KAYSER AND VON GROSSHEIM, ARCHITECTS.
PRIZE PLAN FOR THE NEW BOOK EXCHANGE IN LEIPZIG, BY MESSRS. KAYSER AND VON GROSSHEIM, ARCHITECTS.
To the left of the principal hall in the main building, which has three large ornamental windows, there is a little hall, the central office, and committee rooms, while the restaurant and the assembly rooms are on the right. In the smaller building, through which there is a central corridor, are the order rooms, assorting rooms, editorial sanctum of theBorsenblat(Bourse journal), and the post office, with telegraph offices.
A low building runs almost the entire length of the main building, to which it is joined at the right and left by side wings, thus inclosing an open court. In this low building the exhibition rooms are arranged, and in the middle is a vestibule through which these exhibition rooms, the wardrobes, and the great hall can be reached. Over the vestibule is a cupola.
The arrangements for lighting, heating, and ventilation are excellent. Steam heat is used, and the large hall is ventilated by the pulsation system.
The building, which is of red brick and sandstone, is worthy of holding a place among the numerous beautiful buildings which have been erected in Leipzig during the last few years. The cost of the building was limited to 700,000 M., or about $160,000.
A correspondent has transmitted to the editor ofL'Union Pharmaceutiquethe prospectus of an oyster dealer who, besides dealing in the ordinary bivalves, advertises specialties in medicinal oysters, such as "huitres ferrugineuses" and "huitres au goudron." The "huitres ferrugineuses" are recommended to anæmic persons, and the "huitres au goudron" are said to replace with advantage all other means of administering tar, while of both it is alleged that analyses made by "distinguishedsavants" leave no doubt as to their valuable qualities.
Notwithstanding the unprecedented progress of the coal-tar dyestuff industry during the past few decades, the time-honored indigo, logwood, fustic, etc., have been only partly displaced by the coal-tar products in wool dyeing. The cause is that, though the dyer handled many aniline dyestuffs which dyed as fast against light as logwood or fustic, the dye proved unsatisfactory for fulling goods, because it bled in the treatment with soap and soda, and often more or less changed its tone. We intend to render a service to our readers by calling their special attention to some products of the coal-tar industry which are free from these defects of aniline dyestuffs, and for which it is claimed that they far surpass logwood, fustic, cudbear, etc., as to fastness against light, and excellently stand fulling. We allude to the alizarine dyestuffs, which have long since been introduced and are largely employed in cotton dyeing and printing.
Alizarine, which has been extensively discussed in various articles in our journal, is the coloring matter contained in the madder root. In 1869, two German chemists, Graebe and Liebermann, succeeded in artificially producing this dyestuff from anthracene, a component of coal-tar. The artificial dyestuff being perfectly pure and free from those contaminations which render the use of madder difficult, it soon was preferred to the latter, which it has at present nearly completely displaced.
The discovery of alizarine red was soon followed by those of alizarine orange, galleine, coeruleine, and, in 1878, of alizarine blue.
The slow adoption of these dyestuffs in the wool-dyeing industry is principally attributable to the deep-rooted distrust of wool dyers against any innovation. This resistance, however, is speedily disappearing, as every manufacturer and dyer trying the new dyestuffs invariably finds that they are in no respect inferior to his fastest dyes produced with indigo and madder, but are simpler to apply and more advantageous for wool.
The alizarine colors are dyed after an old method which is known to every wool dyer. The wool is first boiled for 1½ hours with chromate of potash and tartar, then dyed upon a fresh bath by 2½ to 3 hours' boiling. All alizarine colors (such as those of the Badische Anilin und Soda Fabrik, of Ludwigshafen and Stuttgart; Wm. Pickhardt & Kuttroff, New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, viz.):
Alizarine orange W, for brown orange,Alizarine red WR, for yellow touch ponceau or scarlet,Alizarine red WB, for blue touch yellow or scarlet,Alizarine blue WX and SW, for bright blue,Alizarine blue WR SRW, for dark reddish blue,Coeruleine W and SW, for green, andGalleine W, for dahlia,
are dyed after the same method, which offers the great advantage that all these colors can be dyed upon one bath, and that by their mixture numerous fast colors can be produced. On the ground of numerous careful experiments, the writer recommends the following method, which gives well developed and well fixed colors, viz.:
For 100 kil.—The scoured and washed wool is mordanted by boiling for 1½ hours in a bath containing 3 kil. chromate of potash and 2½ kil. tartar, and lightly rinsed; when it can immediately be dyed. For 1,000 lit. water, 1 lit. acetic acid of about 7° Be. is added to the bath. If the water is very hard, double the quantity of acetic acid, which is indispensable, is added. Then the required quantity of dyestuff is added, well stirred, the wool entered, and the temperature raised to boiling, which is continued for 2½ to 3 hours, that is, until a sample taken does no longer surrender any color to a hot solution of soap. Loose wool and worsted slubbing can be entered at 60° C. (140° F.). In dyeing yarn and piece-goods, however, it is advisable to enter the bath cold, work for about 1/4 hour in the cold, and then slowly to raise the temperature in about one hour to the boiling point. With this precaution, level and thoroughly dyed goods are always obtained. If the wool is entered in a hot bath, or if it is rapidly brought to a boil, the dyestuff is too rapidly fixed by the mordant and is liable to run up unevenly, and, with piece-goods, more superficially. For the same reason the goods must always be well wetted out before entering the bath.
We add some special recipes for the various colors, the mordant for all of them being of 3 per cent. chromate of potash and 2½ per cent. tartar for 100 by weight of dry wool.
1.Orange, Brown Touch.
20 kil. wool, mordant with 600 grm. chromate of potash and 500 grm. tartar, dye with 3 kil. alizarine orange W.
2.Ponceau, Yellow Touch.
20 kil. wool, mordant as for No. 1, dye with 2 kil. alizarine red WR 20 per cent.
3.Ponceau, Blue Touch.
20 kil. wool, mordant like No. 1, dye with 2 kil. alizarine red WB 20 per cent.
4.Dahlia.
20 kil. wool, mordant like No. 1, dye with 5 kil. galleine W.
5.Green.
20 kil. wool, mordant like No. 1, dye with 6 kil. coeruleine W.
For Piece-goods.
20 kil cloth, mordant the same, dye with 1 kil. 200 grm. coeruleine SW.
6.Blue, Bright.
20 kil. wool, mordant the same, dye with 6 kil. alizarine blue WX.
For Piece-goods.
20 kil. cloth, mordant the same, dye with 1 kil. 200 grm. alizarine blue SW.
7.Blue, Dark and Red Touch.
20 kil. wool, mordant like No. 1, dye with 6 kil. alizarine blue WR.
For Piece-goods.
20 kil. cloth, mordant the same, dye with 1 kil. 200 grm. alizarine blue SRW.
Particular stress is to be laid upon the great fastness of the alizarine dyes against light and fulling. Besides, these dyestuffs contain nothing whatever injurious to the wool fiber. Sanders, which very much tenders the wool, as every dyer knows, can in all cases be replaced by alizarine red and alizarine orange, making an end to the spinners' frequent complaints about too much waste.
Alizarine blue in particular seems to be destined to replace indigo in the majority of its applications, having at least the same power of resisting light and acids, and relieving the dyer of the troublesome, protracted rinsings required for indigo dyed goods. Every piece-dyer knows that the medium and dark indigo blue goods still rub off, even after eight hours' rinsing; but alizarine blue pieces are perfectly dyed through and clean after one hour of rinsing. Another advantage of alizarine blue and the other alizarine dyestuffs is that they unite with all wood colors, as well as with indigo carmine and all aniline dyestuffs. A fine and cheap dark blue, for instance, is obtained by mordanting the wool as above stated and dyeing (20 kil.) in the second bath with 6 kil. alizarine WX and 2 kil. logwood chips; the wood is added to the bath together with the alizarine blue WX, and the best method is to put it into a bag which is hung in the bath.—D. Woll.-Gew.; Tex. Colorist.
Papier maché has come of late to be largely used in the manufacture of theatrical properties, and nearly all the magnificent vases, the handsome plaques, the graceful statues, and the superb gold and silver plate seen to-day on the stage are made of that material.
The streets of "Old London" at the recent Inventions Exhibition at South Kensington were paved with a material in imitation of old, worn bowlder stones and red, herring-boned brickwork, all in one piece from one side of the street to the other. The composition is made by Wilkes' Metallic Flooring Company, out of a mixture consisting chiefly of iron slag and Portland cement, a compound possessing properties which won the only gold medal given for paving at that Exhibition. At the present time the colonnade in Pall Mall, near Her Majesty's Theater, is being laid with this paving, which is also being extensively used in London and the provinces for roads, tramways, and flooring; the composition is likewise sometimes cast into artistic forms for the ornamentation of buildings, or into slabs for roofing, facing, and other purposes. The subway from the Exhibition to the District Railway is laid with the same material.
The works of the Wilkes Metallic Flooring Company are in the goods yard of the Midland Railway Company at West Kensington. The Portland cement, before it is accepted at the works, is tested by means of an Aidie's machine. The general strain the set cement is required to bear is 750 lb. to the square inch. All samples which will not bear a strain of 500 lb. are rejected. The various iron slags are carefully selected, and rejected when too soft, and at the works a small percentage of black slag, rich in iron, is mixed in with them. The lumps of slag are first crushed in a Mason & Co.'s stone breaker, and then sifted through 1/8 in., 1/4 in., and 1/16 in. wire meshes into these three sizes for mixing. Next the granulated substance is thoroughly well washed with water to remove soluble matter and impalpable dust, and afterward placed where it is protected from the access of dust and dirt. The washing waters carry off some sulphides, as well as mechanical impurities. The Portland cement is not used just as it, comes from the works, but is exposed to the air in a drying room for about fourteen days, and turned over two or three times during that period. The slag is also turned over three times dry and three times wet, and mixed with the Portland cement by means of water containing 5 per cent. of "Reekie" cement to make the whole mass set quickly. The mixture is then turned over twice and put into moulds; each mould is first half filled, and the mixture then hammered down with iron beaters. The rest of the composition is then poured in, beaten down, and the whole mould violently jolted by machinery to shake down the mixture and to get rid of air holes. While it is still wet the casting is taken out of the mould, its edges are cleaned, and after the lapse of one day it is placed in a bath, of silicate of soda. Should the casting be allowed to get dry before it is placed in this bath, no good results would be obtained; it is left in the bath for seven days. When delicate stone carvings have to be copied, the moulds are of a compound of gelatine, from the flexible nature of which material designs much undercut can be reproduced. For the foregoing particulars we are indebted to Mr. William Millar, the working manager at West Kensington. Sometimes the composition is cast in large, heavy slabs, moulded on the top to resemble the surface of roads of granite blocks. A feature of the invention is the rapidity with which the composition sets. For instance, the manager states that a roadway was finished at the Inventions Exhibition at seven o'clock one night, and at six o'clock next morning four or five tons of paper in vans passed over it into the building, without doing any harm to the new road. In laying down roads, much of the preparation of the material is done on the spot, and the composition after being put down unsilicated in a large layer has the required design stamped upon its wet surface by means of wooden or gutta-percha moulds. As regards the durability of the composition, Mr. T. Grover, one of the directors, says that the company guarantees its paving work for ten years, and that the paving, the whole of the ornamental tracings, and some of the other work at Upton Church, Forest Gate, Essex, were executed by means of Wilkes' metallic cement three years ago, and will now bear examination as to its resistance to the action of weather. Some of this paving has been down in Oxford Street, London, for more than six years. Mr. A.R. Robinson, C.E., London agent of the company, states that the North Metropolitan Tramway Company has about 25,000 yards of it in use at the present time, and that the paving is largely used by the War Office for cavalry stables. The latter is a good test, for paving for stables must be non-slippery and have good power of resisting chemical action.
In the Wm. Millar and Christian Fair Nichols patent for "Improvements in the means of accelerating the setting and hardening of cements," they take advantage of the hydraulicity of certain of the salts of magnesia, by which the cements set hard and quickly while wet. For accelerating the setting of cements they use carbonate of soda, alum, and carbonate of ammonia; for indurating or increasing the hardening properties of cements they use chloride of calcium, oxide of magnesia, and chloride of magnesia or bittern water; for obtaining an intense hardness they use oxychloride of magnesia. The inventors do not bind themselves to any fixed proportions, but give the following as the best within their knowledge. For colored concretes for casts or other purposes they use Carbonate of soda, 8.41; carbonate of ammonia, 1.12; chloride of magnesia, 0.28; borax, 0.56; water, 89.63; total, 100.00. For gray concrete for any purpose they use: Alum, 8.46; caustic soda, 0.28; whitening or chalk, 0.56; borax, 0.56; water, 90.14; total, 100.00. For floors or slabsin situthey add to cement, well mixed and incorporated with any required proportion of agglomerate for a base, liquid composition of the following proportions: Oxide of magnesia, 0.29; chloride of magnesia, 0.29; carbonate of soda or alum, 4.74; water, 94.68; total, 100.00. Articles manufactured by the invention are afterward wetted with chloride of calcium and placed in a bath containing a solution of silicate of soda or chloride of calcium. The strength of the chloride of calcium is equal to about 20 deg. specific gravity.
C.A. Wilkes and William Millar's improved "metallic compound for flooring, paving, and other purposes," has for its object to provide a paving compound which is not slippery or liable to soften in hot weather, which sets rapidly, and is durable. To three parts of blast furnace slag are added one part of hydraulic cement and enough water to give the proper consistency. To each gallon of water used is added one part of bittern water—the dregs from the manufacture of sea salt—or one part of brine, or about 5 per cent. of carbonate of soda, and 2½ per cent. of carbonate of ammonia. In the compound they sometimes use potash in the proportion of about 5 per cent. of the carbonate of ammonia and carbonate of soda, and when potash is used with bittern water or brine, the proportion of the latter is correspondingly reduced. The compound is of a blue gray color; but when a more striking color is desired, red or yellow oxide of iron may be added. When more speedy induration is necessary, they add about 1 oz. of copperas to every gallon of compound used. The claim is the admixture of bittern water, carbonate of soda, and carbonate of ammonia with the washed slag and cement.
Another improvement, by C.A. Wilkes, relates, in layingin situany metallic or other materials for street roadways, to completing the convenience thereof by roughening or grooving the surfaces. The concrete is laid in a plastic condition upon a bed of hard core, broken stone, or preferably rough concrete. For footpaths the material may be laid in convenient sections, say 4 ft. to 8 ft. square and 2 in. to 4 in. thick; and in order to allow for the expansion of the material during the setting of the sections or subsequent variations in temperature, he packs the joints between the sections with a layer of felting cloth or other compressible material, thus forming expansion joints. Sometimes he slightly roughens the surface of the material, to give better foothold to pedestrians. Sometimes the grooving is made in imitation of ordinary granite paving sets. In tramway pavement there are grooves to give a grip to the horses' feet, and a slight camber between the rails. He states that a great advantage in laying a pavement by the method is that, when any repairs are necessary, a piece of the exact size can be manufactured at the works, and stamped to the same pattern as the adjoining pavement, then placed at once in position on the removal of the worn portion, thus saving the time necessary for the setting of the concrete on the spot.—The Engineer.