ELECTRICITY.
SMITH'S CELEBRATED TORPEDO, OR VIBRATING ELECTRO MAGNETIC MACHINE--This instrument differs from those in ordinary use, by having a third connection with the battery, rendering them much more powerful and beneficial. As a curious Electrical Machine, they should be in the possession of every one, while their wonderful efficacy as a medical agent, renders them invaluable. They are used with extraordinary success, for the following maladies.
Rheumatism--Palsy, curvature of the Spine, Chronic Diseases, Tic-doloureaux, Paralysis, Tubercula of the brain, heart, liver, spleen, kidneys, sick-headache.
Toothache--St Vitus dance, Epilepsy, Fevers, diseases of the eye, nose, antrum, throat, muscles, cholera, all diseases of the skin, face, &c.
Deafness--Loss of voice, Bronchitis, Hooping cough.
These machines are perfectly simple and conveniently managed. The whole apparatus is contained in a little box 8 inches long, by 4 wide and deep. They may easily be sent to any part of the United States. To be had at the office of the Scientific Americcan, 128 Fulton st, 2nd floor, (Sun building) where they may be seen IN OPERATION, at all times of the day and evening.
[The Ball of the Bears.]
As Stanilaus Augustus, the last king of Poland, was a tool of Russia, and did not enjoy any consideration, the Polish grandees played him many tricks. Prince Radziwill came to court in a carriage drawn by six wild bears;--the horses of course, were extremely frightened; in consequence of which, some accidents happened. The king pointed out to the prince the impropriety of his conduct. Radziwill added, that the bears were not cross, as whip, gold, and patience can put in order every thing; He added also, that, sometimes the ace beats the king at cards, and paid liberally the damages. After some time, he gave a splendid party, to which he invited all the ambassadors, and all the leading personages in Poland, and displayed extraordinary luxury. The dancing was kept up in several drawing rooms. After the supper, he conducted a select parly to a separate apartment--where, to their astonishment, they found four girls of uncommon beauty, richly dressed, in company not with four gentlemen, but with four enormous bears!--which, after the first outbreak of music, began to dance with the girls all the figures of French quadrilles, with the utmost accuracy, and with as much ease as if they were highly educated gentlemen. At first the guests were alarmed; but, seeing the extra ordinary tameness of the beasts, struck with amazement, they seemed to have been pleased with this extraordinary sight. After the dance was over, their bear-ships conducted themselves with the utmost propriety, and, at a sign from the keeper, each of them made a bow to his lady, and withdrew to another room. For some time, nothing was talked of at Warsaw but that singular ball.
[All is not Gold that Glitters.]
A lady, at a ball lately given in Calcutta, attracted the attention of all, and excited the jealousy of many, in consequence of the splendor and brilliancy which her diamonds shed upon her person and all around her. At length that curiosity which is the moving spring of woman's actions, could be no longer resisted by her female admirers, who at the close of the ball, instituted a rigid examination of the nature of those incomparable brilliants, when, to their astonishment, they found that they were no more or less than so many fire flies, which the envy of the ball-room had secured in gauze bags, and which as she moved about, fluttered, and thus threw out their varied brilliant hues.
The Odd Fellows procession to the dedication of their new Hall at Philadelphia, says our exchanges "came off on Thursday". We suppose the procession "came off" this way, as we saw a part of it passing through this city.
A young lady by the name of Emma D. Tower, sixteen years of age, has been missing from her parents and home in Providence, R. I., since the 11th. Her parents are distressed with anxiety to find or hear of her.
[8]
[Painting In Imitation of Rose-Wood.]
(By the particular request of a "Mechanic" in Cherryfield, Me.)--In this art the process is various according to the circumstances, and the ground on subjects to which it is applied. In painting common chairs, the ground is prepared by a coat of paint composed of ivory black and rose-pink,--equal quantities, ground in a mixture of equal parts of linseed oil, drying japan and spirits of turpentine.--When this is dry, the graining color, consisting of three parts of rose-pink with one of vermillion, ground in a mixture of oil, japan and spirits of turpentine, is applied with a common flat graining brush. Fancy boxes and cabinet furniture are painted by a different process, by which a better imitation is produced. The ground is prepared by one or more coats of white lead changed two or three shades with yellow ochre. When dry, a thin staining of burnt terra-de-sienna ground in water, containing a very little sugar or gumarabic is laid on the work, and while this continues moist and flowing, the graining is applied. The graining should consist of a mixture of black and rose pink, ground in the staining compound. This must be varnished when dry, with copal varnish. Some prefer, however, to grind the staining and graining in oil, diluted with spirits of turpentine. The learner must have some sample pieces of varnished rosewood before him when graining.
[India Rubber.]
The substance called India Rubber, or Caoutchouc, was not known in Europe until the beginning of the eighteenth century. It was originally brought as a great curiosity from South America. Europeans continued ignorant of its origin until a deputation of the French Academicians undertook a voyage to South America in 1735, for the purpose of obtaining the correct admeasurement of a degree of the meridian. These philosophers did not confine their attention to the one great object of their pursuit, but among other interesting discoveries made themselves acquainted with that peculiar substance--caoutchouc. These Academicians discovered at Emeralds, in Brazil, trees called by the natives heve, whence flowed a juice, which, when dried, proved to be what is called India Rubber. The heve was also found growing in Cayenne, and on the banks of the Amazon river. It has since been discovered that caoutchouc may be obtained from another species of tree growing in South America, called jatropha elastica. If these trees are punctured, a milky juice flows out, which, on exposure to the air, thickens into a substance of a pure white color, having neither taste nor smell. The hue of the caoutchouc of commerce is black in consequence of the method employed in drying it. The usual manner of performing this operation is to spread a thin coating of the milky juice upon the moulds made of clay, and fashioned into a variety of figures. These are then dried by exposure to the heat of a smoke-fire: another layer is then spread over the first, and dried by the same means; and thus layer after layer is put on, until the whole is of the required thickness. While yet soft it will receive and retain any impression that may be given to if on the outside. When perfectly dry the clay within is broken into small fragments by percussion, and the pieces are drawn out through the aperture which is always left fur the purpose. The common bottle of India Rubber, therefore, consists of numerous layers of pure caoutchouc, alternating with as many layers of soot.
The natives of those parts of South America to which these trees are indigenous, convert the juice to a variety of purposes. They collect it chiefly in the rainy season, because, though it will exude at all times, it flows then most abundantly. Boots are made of it by the Indians, through which water cannot penetrate; and the inhabitants of Quito prepare a kind of cloth with it, which they apply to the same purposes as those for which oil-cloth or tarpaulin, it used here. This, no doubt, is similar to the cloth now prepared with this substance in America, the use of which yields so many important advantages.--Youths' Gazette.
[Communication on Atmospheric Resistance.]
The following letter has been on hand several weeks, but deferred on account of a constant press of matter by which the limited space in our former small sheet was crowded. Our respected correspondent has consented to excuse the delay.
Providence, ---- 1846.
Friend Porter: In January last, I addressed a few lines to you, asking information in regard to an article entitled Atmospheric Resistance, in the New York Mechanic, of December 11, 1841. In your answer, you say if the full surface is 30,000 square feet to each wing, (which makes 60,000 square feet,) only about half of one horse power would be required to sustain this weight, and I understand you, virtually to say, that they must be ten times as large, in order that the strength of one man be sufficient to work this and elevate himself together with the apparatus, if it were not too heavy. Now, this makes 600,000 square feet. This is rather more than 774 feet square: rather large sized wings. One would suppose that they might lift rather heavy, if they were very light, being 387 by 774 feet each. Now, to me this is entirely incomprehensible, and I should like an explanation, if this calculation is correct, how it is that an eagle which sometimes weighs nearly thirty pounds, can elevate himself, with so much ease, and even carry with him nearly his own weight, using a pair of wings, which if they were five feet long and two feet wide each, would make but twenty feet of surface. Thus, you will see, is no where in proportion to the weight even of the eagle alone, (which we will suppose to weigh twenty pounds,) that the wings bears to the 150 pounds, while on the other hand, it is near in proportion to the surface of the wings of a pidgeon and its weight. Nor can I comprehend why it would require so much power, the eagle though he exerts himself considerable in rising, no doubt, does not seem to use power any where in the proportion that you have thought would be required supposing the wings to be made in the same proportion to the 150 pounds that his wings are to his weight, his beats are not so quick but what they can be very easily counted.
By answering, you will much oblige,
your friend,
YANKEE.
In answer to the foregoing, we would remind our correspondent, that in his former communication, he proposed a limited weight of apparatus, and in our answer, it was far from our intention to allow an additional weight on account of the requisite extent of surface. With regard to the philosophy of the flight of the eagle, it must be borne in mind that atmospheric resistance is as the square of the velocity downward and the only way in which the phenomenon of the flight of the eagle can be reconciled with the laws of mechanical science as established by experiment, is by supposing the velocity of the wing downward to be equal to 70 feet per second, whereby a resistance would be encountered equal to 12 pounds per square foot of surface to the wings. It is a fact, however, that kites, and hawks are often seen to continue suspended in the air several minutes without any apparent motion of the wings; but by what law or theory the feat is accomplished, natural philosophy has ventured no other conjecture than that the bird is endowed with the faculty of suspending occasionally its ordinary subjection to the laws of gravity. If any observing theorist will give any more rational conjecture on the subject, we should be glad to have him examine it.
It is proposed and urged by the papers in several States, to have a thanksgiving day throughout the Union, on the 26th of November.
"As dull as a hoe," is a very common phrase, and implies that hoes are necessarily or ordinarily dull. But it is advisible for farmers to keep their hoes sharp, as they regard a saving of labor.
[The Conical Windlass.]
Various methods have been heretofore described, for raising heavy bodies, or producing for other purposes, a great force,--usually miscalled power--by the application of a comparatively small force: but no method is known, more unlimited in its effect, or more simple in construction; than the conical windlass. It consists of a simple horizontal windlass, with a crank at one end, as shown in the engraving. The windlass is made in a conical form, being a little larger at one end, than at the other; and if the friction of its bearings be relieved by the ordinary friction rollers, it will so far multiply the force applied, as to break a double inch-rope, by the power of one man at the crank. An endless rope, or one of which the two ends are spliced together, is passed five or six times round the small end of the windlass, and down under a single pulley below: then, as the windlass is turned by the crank, the rope is constantly given off from one part, while the circumference is greater. Now it is plain, that if the windlass is one-fifth of an inch larger in circumference, at the point at which the rope is taken up, than at the place where it is given off to the pulley, that whatever may be appended thereto, will be raised one tenth of an inch by each revolution Then, if we suppose the crank lever to be fifteen inches, the handle will travel about 100 inches, in each revolution, which gives a power, or increase of force, of 1000 to one. Therefore, if 100 pounds of power be applied to the crank handle, it will be sufficient--minus friction--to raise a weight of 100,000 lbs. The only inconvenience in this apparatus, and which prevents its coming into more general use, is, that it is too limited in the extent of its motion, in consequence of the travelling of the rope from one end of the windlass to the other. Thus, if the windlass be but twenty-five inches long, and the rope one inch in diameter, it will admit only twenty revolutions, without renewing. Yet, in many cases, in which an article in required to be raised, or moved but a few inches, the conical windlass will be found preferable to any other method.
[Requisite Strength of Steam Boilers.]
Our correspondent S. B. cannot comprehend that the strength of iron for a cylindrical boiler should be in direct proportion to the diameter thereof, in order to sustain an equal pressure per square inch; wherefore, we must reason with him on the long scale. The cohesive strength of good iron is 64,000 lbs. per square inch; and of course, a strip of boiler-iron plate 1/8th inch thick will sustain 8000 lbs. If a boiler made of thin iron is 14 inches in diameter, or 44 inches in circumference, each inch of its length will contain 44 square inches, and either half thereof will contain 22 inches, and as the pressure on this portion is sustained by at least two inches of width of plate,--one inch on each side,--it follows that it will sustain a pressure of at least 700 lbs. per square inch, in the direction of circumference. If the diameter is double, the number of square inches will be double, and will require double the thickness to sustain equal pressure. With regard to the pressure endwise, the area of a cylinder head 14 inches in diameter is 154 inches, and the strength of the 44 inches of circumference would be sufficient to sustain 352,000 lbs., which, divided by the area, is 2,275 lbs. per square inch. If the diameter is 56 inches, the circumference being 172, would sustain a pressure endwise of 555 lbs. per inch. Thus it will be seen that if the cylinder were even 20 feet in diameter, the iron would better sustain the pressure on the head that on the periphery. With regard to the requisite strength of the cylinder's head, if they are made in a semi-spherical convex form, they will require no more thickness of plate than the cylinder: but if they consist of plane disks, the thickness thereof should bear the same proportion to that of the periphery that the area in square inches does to three times the circumference. But in general, no other rule is observed for the thickness of the heads, than to make them extravagantly heavy, without much regard to theoretic calculation.
[Bagley's Gold Pens.]
Do our readers wish to hear any thing more about them? If so, they have only to inquire of any one of the many thousands of writers who have used these pens six months or more, and can hear the fact attested, that these are decidedly the cheapest pens (at $4) that can be any where found. Mr. Bagley has recently patented a neat, elegant, and excellent improvement in the pen-holder, which "takes the shine off" all precedents. Should our readers find a real good article in this paper, they may know it was written with one of Bagley's pens. Nuf ced.
[The Humming Bird.]
A gentleman who resided some time on one of the West India Islands informs us that while he was once travelling along the bed of a deep ravine overhung with thick vines, he was actually startled by the immense numbers of humming birds which hovered over and about him. They hovered about him as if actuated by curiosity alone. They were of various kinds and colors, some of them being nearly as large as sparrows, while others were but little larger than a bee. Some were of a dingy green, or a light brown, while others seemed gaudily arrayed in plumage as brilliant and variegated as the rainbow. They would approach within arms length of his face, and pausing in their flight, with their little wings, in rapid motion, would stare at him as if they wondered what possible business he could have in those remote wilds; but they exhibited no symptoms of terror, not having been taught by experience to fear the cruelty of man.
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Transcriber's Note: Obvious typos have been corrected without comment, except in articles where they are intended to be displayed.
The title to an illustrated article has been interpolated as "The Regulator", where no title previously was, based upon an assumption from the partially obliterated caption to the accompanying illustration.