EXHAUST FANS.
First on the list of power consumers is the exhaust fan, taking it in average use. There are, however, circumstances under which its use will be limited to as low as 70 or 75 per cent. of its contract hours of service. As, for instance, in a dining room it may be cut out except during meal hours, or entirely cut out on cool days. In places of this description, however, its contract use is usually limited to five or six months in the year, and other than electric power is, by circumstances of first cost and inconvenience, but a feeble competitor.
The first four applications on the accompanying list, viz., exhaust fans, blowers, ceiling fans, and fan outfits, are all more or less subject to the foregoing conditions, and therefore currents supplied to motors for these purposes command the maximum price per horse power. One important feature in the installation of ceiling fans is the countershafting to the motor. In one recent case we had a complaint from a customer that the half horse power motor sent him would not drive the ceiling fans, and that the motor must be defective, and should he return it for repairs. We immediately sent a representative to find out the difficulty, which was found, as is usual in such cases, in the countershafting, or rather the want of it. The 3 in. pulley on the motor was connected to a 6 in. pulley on the line shafting. The rated speed of the motor was 2,000 revolutions, and had it been able to develop this speed, would have driven the line shaft 1,000 revolutions and the fans a relative speed. To accomplish this would probably require a motor of 3 or 4 H. P. The line shafting driving ceiling fans usually runs about 75 revolutions. To give this speed on the line shaft with a rated speed of 2,000 on the 3 in. pulley of the motor would require a countershaft with a 24 in. pulley belted to the motor. On the same countershaft should be a 5 in. pulley belted to a 15 or 16 in. pulley on the line shaft. Fully three-fourths of the trouble found in electric motors arises from improper shafting and belting. The average make of 30 in. exhaust wheel, a ½ H. P. motor should drive about 400 revolutions. Say, then, the speed of the motor is 2,000 and the pulley 3 in., it would require a 15 in. pulley on the fan to do the work. A 36 in. wheel requires 1 H. P. to develop the same speed. If the motor speed is 1,800, the pulley 4 in., it would require an 18 in. pulley on the fan to do the work. These are the most popular sizes of exhaust wheels.
The next application on the list, open tank elevator pumps, commands the highest price for current per H. P. in the motor of any elevator application. The methods of operating the open tank hydraulic elevators in question are undoubtedly familiar to you all. Instead of the usual steam pump, a power pump of some approved design is substituted, and connected to the motor by suitable countershafting to give the required revolutions at the pump. The regulation of the motor in this case should be controlled by the position of water in the lower tank, as in the case of the steam pump. And in this connection let me suggest the necessity of great care, both in installation and insulation.
On all installations in basements and cellars or elsewhere where there is the slightest tendency to dampness, raise the motor off the floor on a suitable frame or stand and build around it on all sides of possible approach a low platform, using glass insulators as legs or standards to support it. So arrange this that the motor or its connections cannot be reached except when standing on this insulated platform, and the liability to a shock will be reduced to the difference of potential between the terminals of the machine. To return to the subject. Let us take for an illustration an elevator using 120 gallons of water per trip and consuming one minute in making its entire up trip or about two per round trip. The lower tank or water supply is on a level with the pump. The upper tank is 70 ft. above the pump, and in the piping to the upper tank are five elbows. For each elbow add 2 ft. to the elevation, or an approximate total elevation of 80 ft. × 120 gallons gives us 9,600 foot gallons. This amount would be required every two minutes if the elevator was in absolutely constant operation, or 4,800 foot gallons per minute × 8½ gives us 40,800 foot pounds. This we must at least double to allow for friction in pump shafting, etc., making 81,600 foot pounds, or about 2½ H. P., say 3 required in the motor.
This class of elevator is confined almost entirely to passenger use. Therefore the service required of the motor is much more constant and the margin between the H. P. hours contracted for and the H. P. hours of actual service much smaller than in any other elevator use, excepting possibly the services in connection with pressure tank elevators in the more popular office buildings. In this case we have a maximum average use of 80, and instances such as the hotels, small office buildings, etc., where the service will not exceed 60 of the contract H. P. hours. In order, however, that the electric light company shall derive the greatest benefit from this inconstant service, the installation and wiring should be the best, and only the most approved and economical apparatus employed.
The next application on our list, pressure tank pumps in connection with elevators, represents a somewhat smaller percentage of H. P. hours of actual service in the motor as compared with the possible H. P. hours than in the case of an open tank pump. In case of the pressure tank the water reserve is usually limited, and the motor therefore must be equal to the continuous operation of the elevator at maximum load. Taking this fact into consideration, and the circumstances of elevator use being about the same in this case as in the case of the open tank elevator, we have a greater ratio of difference between the possible or contract H. P. hours in the motor and the H. P. hours of actual service, the maximum average use being about 70 per cent. to 75 per cent. and the minimum as low as 35 per cent. to 40 per cent., depending, of course, on the character of building in which the elevator is employed or the character of service. In calculating the size of motor required on an elevator of this description, a very convenient fact to remember is that every pound of pressure per square inch is equivalent to lifting water about 23 ft., or about 230 ft. per 100 pounds pressure, By reducing the required pressure to a relative lift in feet, and knowing the amount of water required by the elevator per minute, the motor calculation becomes the same as in case of the open tank elevator, the same allowances being made for friction, etc., as in the first case. The regulation of the motor in this case should be accomplished by the conditions of pressure in the pressure tank, as is the case with a steam pump employed in this service.
The next application of importance on the list is sewing machines. In the tests I have been able to make on this class of work I have obtained some singular results. One item of importance is the fact that the single thread machines, which are lightest running, consume the most power in operating. Paradoxical as this may seem, it is easily explained. As a rule this class of machine is used on light work, such as shirts, ladies' underwear, etc., and operated at a higher speed than any other class of machine. At equal speed the volts consumed on a single thread machine as compared with a shuttle machine is about as 2 to 3. In average commercial use, however, the positions are reversed, and the ratio of volts consumed in the single thread as compared with the shuttle machine is about as 5 to 3. To double the speed on a sewing machine requires about 2½ times the power. The difference in volts consumed on the different makes of sewing machines is so small that we may disregard it entirely, as well as the character of work done by the machine, for the heavier the work the slower the speed, and more frequent and longer stops on the machine, thus keeping the average volts per operator about constant in all cases. This leaves the speed in stitches per minute at the sewing machine the factor from which we must calculate the power required in a sewing machine plant. To illustrate this I will give you the record of two cases which are about the average. Case No. 1 is a shop in which are 30 sewing machines connected to a 2 H. P. motor. At the time tests were made there were but twenty operators at work, leaving ten idle machines, the entire shafting, however, being in operation. The class of goods manufactured in this shop is a cheap grade of cotton and wool pants, rather heavy goods to sew. A volt meter across the terminals of the motor gave the following readings with the current at 9 amperes: Minimum 90 volts, maximum 148 volts, average 119, which gives us a minimum average per operator of 4.5 volts and a maximum average of 7.4 volts, or a general average of 5.9 volts per operator. This motor was driving the shafting for 30 machines, and as the average operators employed the year round will not exceed 75 per cent. of the shop capacity, it will, I think, be entirely fair to estimate the average volts per machine rather than per operator, as the user of the motor has contracted for power sufficient to drive his entire plant. In this case, then, we have a minimum average of 3 volts per machine and a maximum of 4.9 volts, or a general average of say 4 volts per machine. A 2 horse motor of 82 per cent. efficiency with 9 amperes of current will require about 200 volts to develop 2 actual H. P. Two hundred volts therefore is what the electric light company contract to deliver, while, in reality, they deliver only 129 volts or 60 percent., or a minimum average of 90 volts or 45 per cent. of the power contracted for. These machines were making about 1,200 stitches per minute—an average of 4 volts per 100 stitches.
Case No. 2 is a shop in which there are 32 machines, running about 1,200 stitches, each being supplied with an individual motor of 1/8 H. P. capacity, and the class of goods manufactured being men's summer clothing, such as white duck vests, flannel coats and vests, etc., the duck from which these vests are made being about as hard work on a sewing machine as can be found. In this shop were 24 operators at work. The maximum volts in this case were 116 and the minimum 40, or general average of but 78 volts, or about 2½ volts per machine with 4 more operators than in the first case, in which we had an average of 119 volts. This shop has been paying the electric light company $32 per month for more than a year, which is the price the company charge for current for a 4 H. P. motor which approximates 400 volts, the company contracts to deliver. This gives us a minimum average use of but 10 per cent. and a maximum of 29 per cent. with a general average of 19½ per cent. In other words, the company is saving in this shop the price of a 1/8 H. P. motor each month, besides making a profit on the volts actually delivered. On a contract for three years the electric light company would be money in pocket if they would present the customer with 30 small motors, charging him $1 per month per motor for current, rather than let him buy a 2 H. P. motor to operate the same machines with the necessary shafting at a charge of $18 per month for current. Taking this average in case No. 2 of 2½ volts per machine, from a 50 light machine, we could run not less than 900 sewing machines, or about 18 to the arc lamp. At $1 per month per machine an income of $900 per month would be derived from a 50 light machine without any lamp expenses, such as carbons, repairs on lamps, globes, etc. On the average, in case No. 1, of 4 volts per machine, we could operate but about 562, say 600 machines. Divided up in shops of 30 machines and a 2 H. P. motor to each shop, we would have 20 two H. P. motors. At a charge of $18 per month each, we would have an earning capacity of but $360 per month from the same 50 light machine.
This is but one page from the thus far unwritten history of the much maligned small motor. Still the question is frequently asked, "Can we sell current for $1 per month for a small motor driving a sewing machine and make a profit?" As a matter of fact, 50 cents per month for small motors driving sewing machines yields a better profit to the company supplying the current than $10 per month per H. P. in large motors to drive the same machines, besides the immense advantage which the small motors possess of keeping the circuit in much better balance, the fluctuations due to the stopping and starting of large motors being at times a serious matter. One electric light company, making rather a specialty of these small machines, rent the motor and supply the current for $1.25 per month per sewing machine, and report that at this price the motor pays them a better percentage of profit than their lamps. This company have some 200 small motors on their circuits.
A more striking illustration of the advantages to the electric light company in the subdivision of power into the smallest possible units it would be hard to find. There is a difference in efficiency of from 15 to 20 per cent. in these two sizes of motors, but this difference is fully lost to the large motor in driving the shafting, and the small motor still has the advantage of being out of circuit entirely when the machine it is driving is stopped. There is scarcely a manufacturing industry which does not possess its busy and dull seasons. This means that in no industry will over 75 per cent. of the machines or machinery employed be in average operation. The entire shafting in the shops must be kept in operation the entire year, often for less than 50 per cent. of the machinery. Subdivide these same shops into as many small units as possible, and the current necessary to operate the shafting for this idle machinery will be saved, besides the saving from frequent stops while the machinery is in active use.
To return again to the list, the next two applications, picture frame manufacturers and moulding manufacturers, are very similar. Their busy seasons, as a rule, are in the spring and fall, and also follow closely any activity in house building. In the case of the larger manufacturers in this line, a maximum average of 75 per cent. will possibly be reached, but probably never exceeded. In the case, however, of the picture dealer who has a small shop in which he makes picture frames and mouldings to order the actual service of the motor will fall as low as 25 per cent. or 30 per cent. of its contract hours, one case in our experience the actual service having reached this low average. A fair general average in this class of works would be about 60 per cent.
The next application, nickel and silver platers and buffers, are good contract customers as a rule; one case in our experience showing but an average use of 20 per cent. of the contract horse power hours. This, however, is probably an exceptional case, and, as near as we can estimate on this class of work, the actual motor service will not exceed in any case 60 per cent. of the contract hours; a fair average being probably 45 or 50 per cent.
The next two applications, printing presses on news and job work, are probably met with more frequently than any other. On exclusively news work, the instances where the motor is in service more than 3 or 4 hours is rare. It is, however, usual in news offices to find two or more job presses. If the newspaper printed happens to be a morning paper, the hours of news work are usually between 12 midnight and 4 o'clock in the morning, the job work being done through the day. I have in mind a case of this description. In the shop is one cylinder press and three job presses connected to a 2 H. P. motor. This motor is on an incandescent circuit of 110 volts. To develop its rated power at 110 volts would require about 16 amperes in the motor. An ampere motor in series with the motor while running off the morning paper with only the cylinder press in operation stood at 12 amperes. For 3 hours this load was practically constant, when it was thrown off entirely. This gave on the night service but 30 per cent. of the contract hours. This motor required 5 amperes to drive the shafting, and but 8 amperes or one H. P. to drive the three job presses with the cylinder press off. Here then is but a 50 per cent. use if the presses be used constantly; there are, however, many days when they are comparatively idle, 30 to 40 per cent., therefore, is a very safe estimate of the maximum use of this motor on the day circuit, or, had the motor been a 1 H. P., which would have been sufficient to drive the job presses, the use would be 60 to 80 per cent. of the contract hours, probably not above 60 per cent. All printing offices will probably come within this range, unless the motor be larger than is necessary to do the work.
Machine shops doing principally lathe work as a matter of course use a larger percentage of their contracted power than shops doing lathe and bench work with the same hands. In no case will the service of the motor exceed 65 or 70 per cent. of its contract use, for machine shops, like sewing machine shops, will never average over 75 per cent. of the shop capacity for operators the year round. The average, especially in the case of a shop doing much bench work, will fall as low as 40 per cent.
The driving of laundry machinery, which is our next application, usually proves a profitable contract, according to reports. This fact arises from the intermittent use of the machinery. The heaviest service on motor will probably be found during the early part of each week, with a general falling off in work during the summer months, while the patrons of the laundry are away at the sea-shore or in the mountains. In this application, therefore, a 75 per cent. service would probably be an exception, with, probably, many instances where the service would fall below 50 per cent.
The next application, model and pattern makers, are small users of power, as their occupation requires a large proportion of hand work. 50 per cent. service in the motor will be found a fair average maximum use, with instances as low as 20 or 25 per cent.
The next application, direct power or belt elevators, is another application frequently met. The average service in the motor is also much smaller than in any other elevator application. Let us suppose a case of the familiar grip connected to the ordinary hand hoist, with a lifting capacity of 2,000 pounds. In this case the motor is in use only going up, and the usual brake is used in coming down. Connected to this elevator, in the loft of the building, we have a 5 H. P. motor wired to a cut-out on the ground floor. We will call the lift 45 feet and the time consumed per trip 1 minute. We will allow 60 full trips of the elevator at full load, at 2,000 lb. per trip, each day. This would approximate 10 car loads of merchandise handled by the elevator, which is certainly above the average. This motor, we will say, is on a ten hour day circuit. Its possible horse power hours, therefore, would be 5 H. P. for 10 hours, or 50 H. P. hours per day. 60 trips of 1 minute each gives us exactly 1 hour's service of the full 5 H. P. or 5 H. P. hours. To drive the shafting only while the elevator is coming down or idle would require about 150 volts or 1½ H. P., and if this was in constant operation the balance of the day, 9 hours, its total use on shafting would be 13½ H. P. hours, which, added to the 5 H. P. hours, gives us a grand total of 18½ H. P. hours, or 37 per cent. of the contract hours. If, however, the user of the motor avails himself of the cut-out box, and cuts the current out when the motor is not in use, the average use would drop to 20 or 25 per cent., instead of 37 per cent. In the case of a direct power passenger elevator, the use might possibly run up to 60 per cent., but this would be exceptional.
Coffee mills will average from 40 to 60 per cent. of their contract hours, manufacturing jewelers about the same, while retail jewelers will run as low as 25 per cent. Ice cream freezers will not average over 25 per cent., but as the contract season in this case is usually short, they should be rated at least a 50 per cent. basis, except possibly in cases where the customer pays the cost of installation and wiring, which is usual in these cases.
A dentist is one of the smallest of power users, so small, in fact, that if every one in a city were connected with a circuit, the load from this cause would never be felt. We will, however, put them down at from 10 to 20 per cent.
The optician uses a motor to turn his grind stones, and its use in this case will average from 20 to 30 per cent.
The last application on the list—church organs—uses only from 10 to 20 per cent. of the contract service.
These are, of course, but few of the very many applications of the electric motor, and if, as I trust, the possible subsequent discussion of this general plan may establish a basis for rating motor applications, not only will the objects of this paper be obtained, but a question of considerable annoyance now existing between the motor man and the electric light or power company will be solved.
In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, I beg to suggest that the supply and rates of charge for electric power have become of sufficient importance to this association to be represented by a permanent committee, whose duty it should be to obtain from the different members of the association, as far as possible, their experience in the supply of power in such manner and form as shall be deemed by the committee best suited to the wants of this association.
[1] Read before the electric light convention, New York, August, 1888.
SOME ABYSSINIAN CUSTOMS.
WOMAN WITH UNDRESSED HAIR.
ABYSSINIAN HAIR DRESSER.
Abyssinian women have an extraordinary head of hair. The hair, though not very long, is very bushy, so that it takes the capillary artist no less than a day to succeed in reducing this forest into a small bulk. As it requires some force to draw the comb through the hair, the operation is painful, and this is why the Abyssinian women have it performed every forty or fifty days only. The Abyssinian women of rank pass their life in almost complete idleness, occupied almost exclusively in bedecking themselves and in making or receiving calls. It is not the same with the women of the people. They have many labors to perform, and are the ones who manipulate the grains, hydromel and beer, and grind pepper in the matt-biett. This latter operation is very painful, and so they take the precaution to first close the nostrils with plugs of cotton. Women who have children of a tender age go at these operations with their progeniture upon the back, after the manner of negro peoples.—L'Illustration.
A PEPPER GRINDER.
HOW A MOUND WAS BUILT.
"While exploring mounds in Ohio this season, under the direction of the National Bureau of Ethnology," says Mr. Gerard Fowke, in a paper prepared for Science, "I used great care in the examination of one mound in Pike County, in order to ascertain, if possible, the exact method of its construction.
"The mound was built upon the site of a house, which had probably been occupied by those whose skeletons were found. The roof had been supported by side posts, and at intervals by additional inner posts. The outer posts were arranged in pairs a few inches apart, then an interval of about three feet, then two more, and so on. They were all about eight inches in diameter, and extended from two and a half to three feet into the ground, except one a few feet from the center, which went down fully five feet. All the holes were filled with the loose dark dirt which results from decay of wood; a few contained fragments of charcoal, burned bones or stone, but no ashes; nor was the surrounding earth at all burned.
"Around the outside a trench from three to four feet wide, and from eighteen to twenty inches deep, had been dug, to carry away the water which fell from the roof. Near the middle of this house, which measured about forty feet from side to side, a large fire had been kept burning for several hours, the ashes being removed from time to time. The ash bed was elliptical in form, measuring about thirteen feet from east to west, and five from north to south. Under the center of it was a hole, ten inches across and a foot deep, filled with clean white ashes in which was a little charcoal, packed very hard. At the western end, on the south side (or farthest from the center of the house), was a mass of burned animal bones, ashes, and charcoal. This was continuous with the ash bed, though apparently not a part of it. The bones were in small pieces, and were, no doubt, the remains of a funeral feast or offering.
"After the fire died down, rude tools were used to dig a grave at the middle of the house. It measured ten feet in length, from east to west, by a little more than six in breadth. The sides were straight, slanting inward, with rounded corners. The bottom was nearly level, fourteen inches deep, but slightly lower at the center. Over the bottom, ashes had been thinly sprinkled, and on these a single thickness of bark had been laid. The sides had been lined with wood or bark from two to four inches thick. When this was done, two bodies were placed side by side in the grave, both extended at full length on the back, with heads directly west. One, judging from the bones and condition of the teeth, was a woman of considerable age. She was placed in the middle of the grave. Her right arm lay along the side, the left hand being under the pelvic bones of the other skeleton. This was apparently of a man not much, if any, past maturity. The right arm lay across the stomach, the left across the hips. This skeleton was five feet ten inches in length; the other, five feet four inches.
"The space between the first skeleton and the south side of the grave was covered with the ashes that had been removed from the fire. Beginning at the feet in a thin layer—a mere streak—they gradually increased in thickness toward the head, where they were fully six inches thick. The head was embedded in them. They extended to the end of the grave, reaching across its entire width and coming almost, but not quite, in contact with the other head. A considerable amount of the burned bones lay in the southwestern corner of the grave, and the ashes along this part curved up over the side until they merged into what remained of the ash bed. This had extended to the west slightly beyond the end of the grave.
"As the earth removed from the grave had been thrown out on every side, the bodies were in a hole that was nearly two feet deep. The next step was to cover them. There was no sign of bark, cloth, or any other protecting material above them. They were covered with a black sandy earth, which must have been brought from the creek not far distant. This was piled over them while wet, or at least damp enough to pack firmly, as it required the pick to loosen it, and, besides, was steeper on the sides than dry dirt would have been. It reached just beyond the grave on every side, and was about five and a half feet high, or as high as it could be conveniently piled.
"So far, all was plain enough; but now another question presented itself that puzzled me not a little; and that was, What became of the house? That there had been one, the arrangement of the numerous post holes plainly showed; but the large earth mound above the tumulus or grave was perfectly solid above the original surface, giving not the slightest evidence that the posts or any part of the house had ever reached up into it. I incline to the opinion that the great fire near the middle of the house had been made from the timbers composing it; that the upper timbers had been torn down, and the posts cut off at the surface, the whole being a kind of votive offering to the dead. At any rate, it is plain that a house stood there until the time the mound was built; and it was not there afterward.
"For the purpose of covering the grave, sand was brought from a ridge a short distance away. There was no stratification, either horizontal or curving. Earth had been piled up first around the black mass forming the grave mound, and then different parties had deposited their loads at convenient places, until the mound assumed its final conical arrangement. The lenticular masses through almost the whole mound showed that the earth had been carried in skins or small baskets. The completed mound was thirteen feet high, and about one hundred feet in diameter.
"Two and a half feet above the original surface was an extended skeleton, head west. It lay just east of the black earth over the grave. Sixteen feet south of the grave, on the original surface, and within the outer row of post holes, were two skeletons extended, heads nearly west. It would seem that the flesh was removed before burial, as the bones were covered with a dull red substance, which showed a waxy texture when worked with a knife blade.
"No relics of any description were found with any of the skeletons; but a fine copper bracelet was picked up in a position that showed it was dropped accidentally."
A CHINESE IMPERIAL CEMETERY.
By Lieut. Hon. H. N. Shore, R.N.
Some ten miles north of Peking, in a valley where silence reigns supreme, is situated one of the most remarkable and imposing burial grounds in the world. Here, nestling along the slopes of the inclosing mountains, which form a natural amphitheater, are a series of vast mausoleums where lie buried the emperors of the last Chinese dynasty. This was the celebrated Ming dynasty, which continued from 1366 till 1644, when, after a sanguinary struggle lasting for twenty-seven years, it succumbed to the Manchu Tartars, who, under the title of the Tsin dynasty, have occupied the throne to the present time.
THE AVENUE.
It has been very truly remarked of the Chinese that they have probably expended more labor over their public works than any other nation of antiquity; and assuredly when any great national work is undertaken, however rare the occurrence, it is invariably carried out on a scale of unparalleled magnificence. It was, therefore, only fitting that the tombs containing the emperors of their own native dynasty should be constructed on a scale commensurate with the wealth and extent of the empire whose destinies they swayed for nigh 300 years. The valley contains altogether thirty tombs, each of which stands in the center of a wooded inclosure several acres in extent, surrounded by a high wall, with an imposing gateway. The largest and most celebrated is that of Yen-wang, whose body reposes in a lofty building resting on an immense brick mound pierced by a slanting tunnel, whose curious acoustic properties entitle it to be ranked as a "whispering gallery." In front of the mausoleum is a hall measuring 220 ft. long by over 90 ft. broad, which contains the emperor's tablet. The roof of this building is supported in the center by thirty-two pillars, composed of single trees 60 ft. high and over 11 ft. in circumference, which are said to have been brought from Corea. The transport of these enormous blocks must have been a work of no ordinary difficulty, more especially in the absence of good roads. According to the description of a missionary who recently witnessed the moving of a somewhat similar object, it would seem that the Chinese followed the practice of the ancient Egyptians, as depicted on their tombs, and in a country where labor is abundant such a method would be natural.
An inscription near the entrance states that this tomb, among others, was repaired by the Emperor Kienlung, who reigned in the early part of last century; but like every other ancient building in China at the present day, it is fast going to ruin for the want of ordinary care, large trees being permitted to grow out of the very roof itself, although there are several attendants residing in the inclosure; while, doubtless, certain officials are entrusted with the care of this splendid mausoleum, and draw their salaries regularly. But laisser faire is the order of the day everywhere in the neighborhood of Peking, and nothing is ever repaired nowadays by any chance.
THE ROAD TO PEKING.
A part of the original scheme, which shows the magnificent scale on which the whole thing was planned and executed, was a fine paved road, carried over streams and rivers by marble bridges and extending the whole way from Peking, a distance of ten miles. On approaching the valley where the tombs repose the road passes under three handsome "pailaus," or gateways, and then through one of the most imposing avenues that was ever constructed. This avenue, which extends for about two-thirds of a mile, is flanked on either side with colossal stone figures at intervals of about 50 yards, representing men and animals in the following order: Six men, apparently warriors and priests, in pairs, standing; four horses, four griffins, four elephants, four camels, and four lions, the first pair in each set standing, the second recumbent. As the Chinese have never achieved any great distinction in the art of sculpture, the representations of animal life are, needless to say, somewhat caricatured. But the conception of the whole was magnificent, and the effect of this long avenue of colossal figures standing in silent grandeur is as impressive as anything that ever emanated from the genius of the Chinese race.—Ill. Naval and Military Magazine.
DYSPEPSIA: ITS CAUSES AND PREVENTION.
Dyspepsia has once been called the "American sickness," and although this may be a slander against which many of the inhabitants of our great republic might protest, bad digestion is a disease frequent enough among us to justify us in considering its causes and in ascertaining by what means this curse of modern civilization may be avoided. A Frenchman, under the title "La dyspepsie des gens d'esprit," in the Paris Revue Scientifique of August 18, shows how utterly disregarded are the sanitary rules at the dinners of well bred people in France; and an American lady in a recent edition of a well known New York daily humoristically enlarges upon the offenses committed against health by persons of her own sex while dining in the largest city of the United States. Speaking of the lunch of shop girls up town, the contributor to the American paper deprecates the fact that the young American girls employed in business houses at luncheon time live almost entirely on sweets and food that renders little or no nourishment, rather than procuring at the same cost a repast which, though perhaps less dainty, would be far better for their constitution. "Left to herself," the writer says, "Miss Saleslady, pretty and refined though she may be, day after day and day after day keeps her temper, and waits on her customers, leaning on a slim luncheon of pie and tea. 'It is sweet and nice,' pleaded one girl to me the other day, 'and it goes so much further than anything else.'
"'Not further than bread and milk' I urged, 'and it is surely not half as good for your complexion.'
"'Oh, but the other ladies would laugh at me well if they saw me eating bread and milk for my luncheon. I think myself a bit of something light and nice, like eclairs or a charlotte russe, is ever so much more ladylike and nice.'
"Heaven save the mark! What sort of flesh and blood do they make to put on the slender bones of a growing girl? How will they stand by her, when perhaps she leaves the shop and chooses the life of wife and mother? The answer is easy. When the pie-eating, cooky-feeding girl gets married, put it down in your note book: One more dyspeptic, peevish woman entered the lists of the unlovely."
The contributor to the French review, although also condemning the careless choice of food, more especially points out the evil consequences of eating too hastily; and though M. Julva directs his attack chiefly against the gens d'esprit, i.e., the well bred people of France who neglect the rules of health for politeness' sake, his words apply equally well to the American business man who sacrifices his health during luncheon to the "almighty dollar."
"The feverish activity of modern life," he says, "induces many people to abridge the duration of their repast, and, particularly, luncheon is taken too hastily—a practice the danger of which, as a cause of dyspepsia, cannot be overrated."
This practice might not be so dangerous if, during the short time which we dedicate to our midday meal, we would at least imitate the habit of the Japanese, whom politeness requires to be absolutely silent while eating. When they like a certain dish, they express their satisfaction by graceful gestures addressed to their host, but they think it would offend him if they open their mouth for anything else except eating.
Watch, on the other hand, one of our lawyers at luncheon. He has just dismissed his last client, at the moment when he should be already at court, and in order not to be too late he has to lunch in double quick time. He has to eat his viands without having time to masticate them, and he swallows his big pieces, washing them down with several glasses of wine and water, and hastens to his carriage almost without giving himself time to breathe, in order not to miss his call.
Look at a Parisian dining in town. French politeness forbids him to be silent like the Japanese, and also requires of him not to speak with his mouth full of food. And if this were not enough, French gallantry commands him to serve the ladies first, so that just about when they have finished, he may commence to eat. In addition to this, if he does not want to appear ill bred, he must reply to all their questions, which he would not be able to do if he did not gulp down his morsels unchewed. What wonder, then, that most men have to suffer from eating dinner in such a manner, while all discomfort could be avoided, if the viands were served to one guest after the other in succession?
We don't want to exaggerate. There are privileged stomachs which can stand all that. But there are many to which half-masticated food is a real poison.
The unconscious dyspeptic constitutes an extremely frequent variety. Dyspeptics rarely complain of suffering from the stomach; many of them will even say to you that their stomach is excellent. But let us remember the old fable of Menenius Agrippa: The whole organism suffers when the stomach is ill treated.
Premature calvity (baldness), some eruptions of acne (pustules of the skin), a slight dyspnœa (difficulty in breathing) when mounting stairs, a blush of heat on the cheeks a quarter of an hour after luncheon, a violent craving for smoking after the repast, a feeling of sleepiness, which, however, quickly fades toward ten o'clock in the evening, little inclination to work during the first hours after awakening in the morning, all these symptoms, or any part of them, show that you have before you a candidate of the disease known as bloating of the stomach or the gout. According to the wise enumeration of Moliere, who was evidently prompted by Renaudot, such a person begins with bradypepsia (slow digestion), then suffers from dyspepsia (bad digestion), afterward from apepsia (indigestion), and later lyentery (a lax or diarrhea in which food is discharged only half digested), and at the last the vicious circle is often completed by obesity, uric affections of the liver or bladder, and all the other diseases belonging to that class.
Unfortunately, we are still far from the time when the public will appreciate that "prevention is better than cure." Perhaps this fundamental principle of health will be honored during the 20th century. At present it certainly is not. Meanwhile, those who have ruined their health by modern city life take recourse for their cure to a holiday, hasten to places where they find mineral waters, or try laxatives or milk diet to improve their condition. They wish to do something for their health once or twice a year. How much better, if they had not been acting against their health all the year round.
It is extremely difficult to teach our people to eat healthily. You will find no difficulty to persuade them to take medicine. People have always time to swallow a pill, but you will certainly have trouble to teach them to chew with leisure. How many people who find time every year to spend the season at Vichy will tell you it is quite impossible for them to spend five minutes more every day at luncheon time. And nevertheless they would regain these few minutes a day with interest, if they would avoid that host of maladies which will stop them one day in the midst of their occupations. I have seen a good many of my clients getting entirely rid of their rheumatic pains and gout and ceasing to suffer from sleepless nights by observing the following simple rules.
In order to chew meat conveniently—and this is one of the main points—one must accustom one's self never to mix meat and bread in the same mouthful. Take a small mouthful, chew it about thirty times, then swallow that part which has been reduced to pulp, and so on until all has been masticated. In doing this you will soon find out that roasted and broiled beef or mutton requires a longer trituration than boiled meats or stews; you will also perceive that fish is more easily masticated than meat, and you will finally understand why certain dyspeptics are forced to limit their food to fish, eggs, and milk diet. In fact, milk diet serves no other purpose than to furnish a perfectly digestible nourishment.
One of the indirect and unforeseen benefits of a careful mastication is that people gradually become accustomed to be satisfied with a comparatively small quantity of food, for as slow chewing is always more or less tedious, those who observe this rule soon cease to be great eaters, and also learn quickly to accustom themselves to another very important rule, viz., to drink moderately while eating. Two glasses of liquid will then quite suffice for a person who would drink four if he ate his viands swallowing them down without chewing.
Many obese dyspeptics when they once commence to carefully and to take liquid moderately while eating lose weight with an astonishing rapidity and become cured of the bloating of the stomach without being finally obliged to have recourse to the rigorous dry diet of Prof. Bouchard.
Wine and water, the French national drink, is an extremely frequent, and very often misunderstood, cause of dyspepsia. A good many people would enjoy excellent health if they were satisfied with pure water, that favorite drink of the aged. It is quite perplexing sometimes to see at the same table three neighbors, drinking at their dinner, the one wine, the other beer, and the third tea. How much better would it be if people, instead of choosing their habitual drink according to the place that they come from, would select it more with regard to their individual constitution! I know many who, after having, for fifty years, quietly ignored the fact, have come to the recognition that for them, wine, even if diluted with much water, is absolutely hurtful, and who, by giving it up, and by taking pure water, tea, or cider, to which Prof. C. attributes great success in his practice, instead, have got rid of their ailments almost as if by enchantment.
In conclusion, I should like to say a word with regard to salt, this panacea of arthritic persons (persons suffering from arthritis, swelling of the joints, as in gout).
For many years I have been laboring under the wrong impression, that salt is placed on the table merely for the purpose of salting boiled eggs, which the cook cannot salt in advance. Great mistake! The wisdom of nations has discovered that there are people for whom a great quantity of salt is a necessity, and that there are others who would become ill if they were to eat viands that are much salted. The salt cellar is there in order to enable every one to salt his food according to his own requirements. Many people are led by their natural instinct to salt their viands in a proportion to suit them. But there are others, among them, above all, the well bred persons previously mentioned, who treat eating with disdain and for whom the whole attraction of a repast is the charm of conversation, and to them the idea of having recourse to the salt cellar never occurs.
Whether salt is needed in order to add acid to the gastric juice or whether it has an antiseptic action in the digestive channel, I do not know. Certain, however, it is, that it possesses very appreciable laxative qualities, and under its influence those who go to drink the waters at Wiesbaden often see their intestinal functions restored to a surprising degree.
It is just as well, however, and even better, to take one's Vichy at home, and nothing is more simple than to use one's Wiesbaden at home, by using the salt cellar. The cure may then be completed by distributing over a whole year the thirty warm baths which have to be taken during the season at that watering place. The bath at 40° Celsius is a real boon for arthritic persons. The warmer it is, whether salt or not, the better it acts in producing an exuberant perspiration, and the less is one apt to catch cold when leaving it.
The above by no means exhausts the vast subject of dyspepsia and arthritis. But without ignoring the utility of thermal waters, of morning promenades, of dry frictions and gymnastics, the sufferers should, above all, be advised to minutely masticate their food, to limit the amount of liquids at meal time, to use salt, which will by no means increase their thirst; and in certain cases to abstain entirely from alcoholic drinks. Those who observe these rules may with impunity dine out, although those so-called great dinners, where all rules of health are left aside, are absolutely baneful for a great number of the inhabitants of our cities.
A NEW SURGICAL OPERATION.
Among the matters of interest which were brought before the British Medical Association, at the recent Glasgow meeting, was an account by Mr. Brudenell Carter of a method which he had devised of opening the sheath of the optic nerve behind the eye, for the relief of pressure within this sheath and within the cavity of the skull. The brain is invested by firm membranes, which secrete a certain amount of fluid and are continued down to the eye in the form of a sheath which surrounds the optic nerve; and, whenever the pressure within the cavity of the skull is increased, as by the growth of a brain tumor, or even by excess of secretion from the membranes themselves, a superabundance of fluid is apt to find its way down the nerve sheath to the level of the eye, to subject the optic nerve to injurious pressure, and, in many cases, to destroy the sight. It not infrequently happens that the pressure within the brain cavity may be increased by temporary or curable causes, which, nevertheless, continue in action sufficiently long to produce permanent blindness, even although the patient may, in other respects, recover. In view of these conditions it was suggested by Dr. De Wecker, of Paris, sixteen or seventeen years ago, that it might be possible to open the optic nerve sheath, and thus not only to relieve the nerve from pressure and to preserve it from injury, but also, on account of the position of the eye relatively to the brain cavity, to drain the latter by gravitation, and to relieve the brain as well as the eye. Dr. De Wecker made two endeavors to accomplish this object, but he tried to feel his way to the optic nerve without the aid of sight, and to incise the sheath by means of an instrument carrying a concealed knife, capable of being projected by means of a spring. The risks of failure, and, still more, the risks of inflicting irreparable injury upon the nerve, were such that he only attempted his operation in two well nigh hopeless cases, and only one attempt to follow his example has been recorded. Mr. Carter's attention was called to the matter last year by a case in which the diminution of pressure within the optic nerve sheath was manifestly desirable; and he devised a method of operating by which the sheath could be exposed to view, and the object attained with certainty, under the guidance of sight at every step of the process.
He read before the Medical Society of London, last year, an account of the first case in which he operated, which was successful; and he read an account of three more cases at Glasgow, in one of which the result was negative, as far as sight was concerned, while in the other two the patients were not only quickly restored to useful vision, in one instance from complete, in the other from nearly complete, blindness, but were at the same time relieved or cured of other symptoms, such as headache and sickness, arising from direct pressure on the brain. In his paper at Glasgow, Mr. Carter claimed for the new operation that it could be performed with certainty and without risk either to life or to any important structure, and that it afforded a reasonable prospect of the preservation of sight in many forms of disease in which it is now habitually or frequently lost. As in the case of every new operation, time and further experience of its effects are required in order to determine the precise limits of its usefulness.
In the discussion which followed the paper, Mr. Bickerton, of Liverpool, said that, in consequence of reading the account of Mr. Carter's first case, he had himself performed the operation in two instances, in one of which temporary restoration of sight was followed by relapse, while in the second the ultimate issue was favorable.—London Times.
PUTZEYS' FLUSHING RESERVOIR.
Every sewer is more or less exposed to intermissions in the flow of the water that it leads, and the result is a diminution in velocity which leads to deposits of solid material. Hence the necessity of regularly flushing the sewer with water, which removes from the sides the substances that have attached themselves thereto, and which, without such precaution, soon decompose. In a word, it is necessary that a perfect washing shall be assured, and this can be done only by heavy rains or by strong currents of water. As regards rain, that could not be relied upon; and to have a force of men specially charged with the service of washing, that would be too costly, and so recourse has been had to automatic apparatus.
FLUSHING RESERVOIR.
The automatic siphons used for flushing sewers are characterized in general by the presence, at the base of the discharge branch, of a fixed or movable receiving vessel full of water. This vessel has the inconvenience of breaking the effect of the charge, and the result is that these apparatus do not render the services that might be expected from them. Some of these apparatus have valves, floats, chains, pulleys, and levers. These are still more defective, since their operation is delicate. The parts of which they are composed easily get out of order, and then the reservoir does no more flushing at all. A good automatic flushing reservoir must therefore be of the greatest simplicity, and its parts must be fixed and strong, and the outflow of the water must be rapid and energetic and directly from the reservoir into the sewer. In a word, its construction should be such that there shall be no need of inspecting it, and that its operation be regular.
The apparatus devised by Mr. E. Putzeys, Director of Works of the city of Verviers, well fulfills the conditions of an excellent flushing reservoir with an automatic siphon. The siphon has a double curve, but may, however, have different forms according to the various uses for which it may be employed, such as for flushing sewers, urinals, closets, etc.
The annexed figure represents the apparatus as arranged for flushing a sewer. The apparatus operates as follows: In the bottom of the branch of the siphon, S, there is always some water, so that, during the filling of the reservoir by means of the cock seen in the figure, the air is compressed in the branch S to a degree that cannot exceed the pressure of an equal height of water to about double the height of the siphon. The reservoir therefore can continue to fill without the water escaping.
The submersion of the small siphon, a, b, c, is less than that of the principal siphon, S, and it follows that when the level of the reservoir reaches a height equal to b, a, a new influx, however small it be, causes the discharge of a few drops of water from the auxiliary siphon, a, b, c, which is always full of water. At this moment the water that it contains can no longer resist the thrust of the compressed air in the branch of the siphon, S, and is therefore forced, along with the compressed air, into the flushing pipe.
By virtue of the principle of communicating vessels, the water of the reservoir tends to resume its level in the interior of the apparatus, and it then enters with such impetuosity that the siphon, whatever be its dimensions, is primed. The entire reservoir empties instantaneously, and the water flows to open the sewer.
From the experiments made at Verviers by the inventor, it results that, with a pipe 10 inches in diameter, the emptying of a 175 cubic foot reservoir can be effected in 30 seconds.
We may remark that with this apparatus we obtain the maximum of useful effect, seeing that the work developed is represented by the total head of the water diminished simply by losses of charge due to friction in the pipes. In other apparatus the loss of charge is much less, since the flushing is broken by a receiver.
Putzeys' apparatus, therefore, with a much less discharge of water, is capable of producing an effect superior to that of similar apparatus. On account of its simplicity and plain character, there is no need of precision in the installation of this apparatus, and horizontality, even, is not a sine qua non for its perfect operation.
The siphon is very easily cleaned, and this is a great advantage, since it permits of utilizing sewage matter for filling the flushing reservoir.—Chronique Industrielle.
PEPSIN.
By A. Percy Smith, F.I.C., F.C.S., Rugby.
The method usually adopted for estimating the peptonizing power of pepsina porci consists in dissolving 1 to 2 grains in 8 to 12 ounces of water, to which 40 to 60 minims of hydrochloric acid has been added. 500 to 1,000 grains of hard-boiled white of egg, granulated by rubbing through a wire sieve, is immersed in the liquid, and the whole kept at 98° to 130° F. for four hours, when the undissolved albumen is filtered off through muslin, and, after partial drying, is weighed to ascertain the amount dissolved. The variable numbers above quoted embrace various formulæ recommended by different experimenters.
This method of analysis is excessively crude and untrustworthy. When hard-boiled white of egg is kept in warm water, it absorbs a considerable quantity of that menstruum, as much as several units per cent.; consequently, on weighing the residual albumen, you may find that the weight is greater instead of less than that with which you started, the gain in weight due to absorbed water more than counterbalancing the loss obtaining through solution, as has happened with indifferent samples of pepsin. Then who shall say when, by simple air drying, the albumen has regained its former condition? The enormous quantity of albumen is foreign to the usual habits of the scientific analyst, and involves an enormous waste of time in manipulation.
One trial of this method was enough for me. The first modification I adopted consisted in substituting for the large quantity of granulated albumen a single half of the white of an egg in one piece. I likewise arranged a check experiment in which the pepsin was omitted, other conditions remaining unaltered. At the end of four hours the residual pieces of albumen were placed on blotting paper to remove superfluous moisture, and weighed. The gain in weight of the albumen in the check experiment, due to absorbed water, was calculated into percentage, and the same deducted from the weights of the other portions which had been subjected to the action of various pepsins. This, although an improvement upon the old method, proved likewise unreliable, because the water absorbed was not equal in each experiment. The albumen which was immersed in acidulated water only quickly dried, superficially, when placed on blotting paper, whereas that which had been acted on by pepsin was rendered glutinous and incapable of being dried in this manner. In fact, one sample weighed considerably more than it did at starting, even after deducting the allowance for water absorbed.
I next tried much smaller pieces of albumen, about 1 c.c., in hope that complete solution might ensue, and a time value be obtained. I soon found, however, that the solubility does not depend upon the mass, but upon the surface exposed.
Finally I discarded altogether the use of fresh white of egg, and had recourse to dry powdered albumen, prepared by drying in a steam oven and levigation in a mortar. With this I succeeded in getting accurate comparisons between the digestive powers of various pepsins. Albumen in this form dissolves with rapidity, owing to its state of fine division. Any remaining undissolved can be filtered off on a counterpoised filter paper, and heated in a water oven until absolutely dry. It is, however, unnecessary to do this when two samples only are compared against each other, nor is it essential to know the actual weight of albumen employed, provided it be the same in each experiment. This is insured by placing some on the naked pan of the balance (there is no objection to so doing, as it is a dry gritty powder, and does not adhere to the metal), and counterpoising by a similar addition to the other pan.
Let the albumen fall on the center of the filtered liquid, avoiding, if possible, contact with the glass of the beaker. It soon sinks, and after the lapse of some time, a simple inspection will show which is dissolving with the greater rapidity. Agitation assists solution. Therefore take the two beakers, one in each hand, and rotate the contents equally. When one sample has dissolved all the albumen, it is manifestly superior to the other which has failed to do so in the given time. If many samples have to be compared, it will be necessary to start with known quantities of albumen, and weigh the undissolved residues in the manner above indicated.
An objection may possibly be raised to this modified method, viz., that albumen as ingested is not in the form of a dry powder, and that we ought to copy as nearly as possible the conditions existing in the stomach. To this I would reply that it does not matter in the least, to us, as analysts, what are the conditions which obtain in the stomach; since there is no absolute test for pepsin, we can only compare one sample against another, and that which dissolves the most albumen in the shortest time is taken to be the best.
Another imperfect method of analysis is that employed in the examination of malt extracts for diastase, in which a certain weight of extract ought to dissolve a certain weight of starch in ten minutes, when if it does so dissolve it, the extract is a good one; if not, it is to be condemned. The more correct way is to ascertain the reducing power on Fehling's solution, before and after digestion with an excess of starch, and I intend to say a few words upon this subject on a future occasion, when I have ascertained the maximum amount of diastase existing in the best samples of malt.—The Analyst.
SUBTERRANEOUS FLORA AND FAUNA.
By Dr. Otto Zacharias.
It is generally correct to say that air, light and moisture form the chief conditions necessary for the development of organic plant or animal life. One of these conditions, however, namely light, is not of equal importance with the two others. For modern investigation and the discoveries made during the progress of natural sciences have shown that in the depths of the ocean, where an everlasting darkness reigns, and where the temperature is extremely low, nevertheless a great abundance of animal life is to be found, and that there exist living beings, not only of the lowest organization, but even fishes and crustaceans of very complicated structure, all of which thrive without enjoying the slightest ray of light.
A similar example of animal life in the absence of light is to be found in the fauna of caves and grottoes. This was first made known to the world by Austrian and American naturalists. The well known Adelsberg grotto in Krain, and the gigantic Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, furnished much interesting material for a detailed study of the biological conditions of subterraneous animal life. It was gradually discovered that in those dark places there existed not only insects, spiders, crustaceans, centipedes, worms, and snails, but also a kind of salamander and fishes. But what gave special interest to these discoveries was the fact, ascertained by careful study, that not all of these beings were gifted with normally developed organs of vision, but that in some these organs had undergone a retrograde development, while others were entirely blind.
Fig. 1.—THE SEMI-BLIND SALAMANDER (PROTEUS ANGUINEUS) OF THE ADELSBERG GROTTO, IN AUSTRIA.
Among the latter, the blind fish of the Mammoth Cave (Amblyopsis spelacus) is especially remarkable, because in this being the retrograde development of the organ of vision is accompanied by the production of certain ridges of skin on the body which are endowed with an extreme sensitiveness of touch, and which, according to a work lately published by Professor Von Leydig, are composed of little warts in which the nerve fibers end. Nature, therefore, has in this case compensated the amblyopsis for his loss of sight by endowing him with a highly developed organ of feeling.
A similar phenomenon is to be observed in the blind crab (Cambaras pellucidus), which is also found in the Mammoth Cave, for in this being, according to Professor Von Leydig, the little warts on the interior feelers, which constitute the organ of smell, have also received an abnormal development.
Better known than the blind fish and the blind crab of Kentucky is the Proteus anguineus, a kind of salamander, of a pale rose color, endowed with gills and found in the Adelsberg grotto in Austria. (Fig. 1.)
This amphibium has an eye which lies very deep in the body and is almost overgrown by the skin. But this eye is by no means as developed as the organ of vision, for instance, of the water salamander (the triton) or of the so-called axolotl, for it exists only in a kind of embryonic development, and contains neither a vitreous humor nor a lens for the refraction of the rays of light. As, however, the nerve of vision exists, it is possible that this salamander may be able to discern in some manner between light and darkness.
The thinking student, when discovering such imperfect organs of sight, will naturally ask how the eye of this salamander, which is so useless for its real purpose, has come into existence, and he will weigh the comparative value of the two following explanations. It may be assumed that there existed once in the Adelsberg grotto a salamander which was absolutely blind, and in which, in consequence of an innate power of evolution, an organ of vision of the lowest kind was gradually formed. But to this assumption the objection may be raised at once, why nature should have produced an organ of vision in an animal living in a grotto, where such an organ is absolutely useless, and where such a development would be quite as paradoxical and improbable as, for instance, the development of fins instead of legs in an animal living on dry land.
Fig. 2.—GROUP OF PYRENOMYCETES,
A SPECIES OF FUNGI FREQUENT IN THE WATERS OF MINES.
a. Found in the mines of Waldenburg; b. In the brown-coal pits near Westeregeln; c. In the Dorothea pit at Klausthal.
On the other hand, one may suppose, and this is the more probable explanation, that the Proteus anguineus is descended from a kind of salamander, which possessed perfectly developed eyes in the beginning, and that the imperfect organ of vision in the descendants living in the dark caves is the result of gradual degeneration. This is the more likely to be true as in many other cases, also, we find that organs which become useless and cannot be employed have gradually degenerated.
Our common mole furnishes an example. Its eyes also have become small and are deeply hidden in the muscles, although they are by no means as much degenerated as in the Proteus anguineus, and are still possessed of a lens and a retina. Their nerve of vision, however, has become very imperfect, and its connection with the brain is interrupted, so that the animal for this reason can have no perception of light. Notwithstanding the above, however, it is doubtful whether the degeneration and gradual disappearance of the visual organ is in all cases the result of their being no longer employed, since there exists in dark caves a kind of beetle, the Machaerites, in which species the female only is blind, while the male has a well developed organ of sight. In this case it cannot be maintained that the absence of light has been the cause of the blindness of the female beetle, because it would have acted equally upon the male. Nevertheless, no other explanation can be found for the blindness. The problem, therefore, is hitherto unsolved.
Of late the investigations of naturalists have been extended to the animal life existing not only in grottoes and caves, but also in mines and pits created by the action of man, and this has led to many interesting discoveries and remarkable results. A naturalist who has especially enlarged our knowledge with regard to the subterraneous fauna and flora is Dr. Robert Schneider, of Berlin, who made his studies in the coal mines near Waldenburg and Altwasser, in Silesia, the salt mines of Stassfurt and the metal mines of Klausthal, in the Upper Harz Mountains.
Fig. 3.
a. Rhizomorpha canalicularis of Hoffmann, b. Club fungus (Clavaria deflexa) of Hoffmann, found in the mines at Klausthal.
Fig. 4.
a. Agaricus myurus of Hoffmann, a subterranean fungus. b. Himantia villosa, a species of rhizomorpha found in the Upper Harz Mountains.
As regards the subterraneous flora, Dr. Schneider's investigations resulted in showing that the plants which thrive in the dark regions under ground are those which possess no chlorophyl and are sensitive to light. Those which vegetate most luxuriantly there are the fungi, and among them especially the pyrenomycetes, which are frequent in the waters of mines. Their general aspect is shown in a 480 times magnified form in Fig. 2. They resemble fine threads of delicate structure, and where found are always discovered in great abundance. Most conspicuous by their shape and considerable size are the rhizomorphæ, Fig. 3a, and they are remarkable, not only for their brilliant phosphorescence, but also for the peculiar fact that they are only found in places where light does not enter. These rhizomorphæ, though this is not easily recognizable from their external appearance, also belong to the fungi and are often seen in strings of the length of over a meter and the thickness of a quill, spreading out in peculiar branches and hanging down from moist beams in dark places. Sometimes they grow like seaweed in the water of the mines, and in this case they give much embarrassment to the miners, because they are apt to obstruct the channels constructed for leading off the superfluous water. In the mines of Freiberg these rhizomorphæ exist in great abundance, and Humboldt already mentions specimens of the length of 4½ feet. Miners in Germany call them zwirn (thread). The student of natural sciences, when encountering these peculiar forms of vegetation, will ask in how far they are the product of their surrounding circumstances (i.e., of the absence of light or the presence of moisture), and in order to find a reply to this question experiments have been made to grow these rhizomorphæ under different conditions of existence. These experiments have shown that from several species of rhizomorphæ other ordinary fungi can be developed, and that the subterraneous specimens therefore may be considered a degeneration and variation of the fungi found above the surface of the ground.
Fig. 5.—FORMS OF MOULD FUNGI FOUND IN THE BROWN-COAL MINES NEAR HALLE A. S.
In Fig. 4b the Himantia villosa is represented, a rhizomorpha found in the mines of the Upper Harz Mountains, thus showing another form of this vegetable growth. Though it is difficult, as above stated, to recognize by their shape the rhizormorphæ as fungi, the origin of the peculiar Agaricus myurus of Hoffmann (Fig. 4a) will be much easier discovered, though a retrograde development and degeneration has taken place also in this fungus. It still shows, however, the elements of a regular toadstool, only that the stem is much elongated and looks like a thread or a tube, while the cap is small, and this explains how, by gradual degeneration, the cap may disappear entirely, leaving nothing but a stem, as, for instance, in the case of the Clavaria deflexa, the club fungus, shown in Fig. 3b.
In connection with the above it may be well to speak of the fungi constituting the mould which often covers the roof and the doors in the brown-coal mines of Halle, specimens of which are shown in Fig. 5.
Fig. 6.—THE SUN INFUSORIUM (ACTINOPHRYS).
We now come to the animal life in mines and pits. This is mostly represented, of course, by lower organisms, as infusoria and worms. Thus, in the slime on the bottom of the waters in mines, several species of amœbæ are found, which consist of microscopically small animated bodies, continually floating about, nourishing themselves by absorbing organic matter, possessing sensation, propagating, etc., and, in fact, having actually the qualities of real animal nature. Further, we find in those subterraneous waters a species of the sun infusorium (Actinophrys), which is especially frequent in the mines of Klausthal. Fig. 6. shows one of these peculiar little beings. Also the Stylonychia (Fig. 7) is a characteristic inhabitant of those places, and always present there.
Fig. 7.—THE RAPACIOUS INFUSORIUM (STYLONYCHIA).
It moves with great rapidity in the water by means of the numerous hairs covering its body, can turn quickly in any direction, and thus is enabled to catch suddenly the little beings on which it lives and which it hunts; for which reason the stylonychia is called the "rapacious infusorium."
The above are organisms which can be seen only through the microscope, but the fauna of mines contains also larger organisms, though they are not found as regularly and are not as characteristic for those places as the forms mentioned hitherto. Among these organisms there are several species of worms, spiders, gnats, and, above all, crustaceans of the lower class. The most interesting of the latter is perhaps a variety of the sand flea (Fig. 8—Gammarus pulex). The crustacean found in the pits of mines, which is related to the sand flea, shows, according to Dr. R. Schneider, a slight degeneration of the organ of sight, which has taken place in consequence of its adaptation to the dark places, in which this variety of the Gammarus pulex is found, which can make no use of eyes, while the sand flea possesses them fully developed. Otherwise, however, the two varieties are almost absolutely alike, differing only in some details.
Fig. 8.—THE SAND FLEA (GAMMARUS PULEX).
From the above the reader will see that "breathing in the rosy light," as Schiller calls it, is not an absolutely necessary condition for the existence of organic beings, but that life exists everywhere, where there is air and moisture, and a temperature which is not always below freezing point, though even eternal frost does not exclude life entirely, as is proved by the existence of the glacier flea, showing that even in the icy coverings of the Alps life still is possible. Mephistopheles may therefore well say:
| "From water, earth, and air unfolding, A thousand germs break forth and grow In dry and wet, and warm and chilly; And had I not the Flame reserved, why really, There's nothing special of my own to show!" |
—Leipziger Illustrirte Zeitung.
[NATURE.]
TIMBER, AND SOME OF ITS DISEASES. [1]
By H. Marshall Ward.