NEW YORK, November 21, 1891. Scientific American Supplement. Vol. XXXII, No. 829. Scientific American established 1845 Scientific American Supplement, $5 a year. Scientific American and Supplement, $7 a year. TABLE OF CONTENTS. I. [ASTRONOMY.—The Sun's Motion in Space.—By A.M. CLERKE.—Avery interesting article on the determination of this hithertouncertain factor.] II. [ BOTANY.—Hemlock and Parsley.—By W.W. BAILEY.—Economic botany of Umbelliferæ.] [Raphides—the Cause of the Acridity of Certain Plants.—ByR.A. WEBER.—Effect of these crystals on the expressed juicefrom calla and Indian turnip and other plants.] [The Eremuri.—A very attractive flower plant forgardens.—1 illustration.] III. [DECORATIVE ART.—The Decorative Treatment of NaturalFoliage.—By HUGH STANNUS. The first of a series of lecturesbefore the London Society of Arts, giving an elaborateclassification of the principles of the subject.—5illustrations.] IV. [ELECTRICITY.—The Independent—Storage or Primary Battery—Systemof Electric Motive Power.—By KNIGHT NEFTEL.—Abstract of arecent paper read before the American Street Railway Associationon the present aspect of battery car traction.] V. [GEOGRAPHY.—The Colorado Desert Lake.—A description of the newoverflow into the Colorado Desert, with the prognosis of itsfuture.] VI. [GEOLOGY.—Animal Origin of Petroleum and Paraffine.—A pleafor the animal origin of geological hydrocarbons based onchemical and geological reasons.] [The Origin of Petroleum.—By O.C.D. Ross.—A further and morelengthy discussion in regard to petroleum and theory of itsproduction by volcanic action.] VII. [GUNNERY.—Weldon's Range Finder.—An instrument for determiningdistances, with description of its use.—3 illustrations.] VIII. [MECHANICAL ENGINEERING.—Mercury Weighing Machine.—Atype of weighing machine depending on the displacementof mercury.—1 illustration.] [Wheels Linked with a Bell Crank.—Curious examples ofmechanical constructions in the communication of motionbetween wheels.—3 illustrations.] IX. [MEDICINE AND HYGIENE.—Cold and Mortality.—By Dr. B.W.RICHARDSON.—The effect of cold upon the operation of theanimal system, with practical rules.] [On the Occurrence of Tin in Canned Food.—By H.A. WEBER.—Avery valuable and important series of analyses of American andother food products for tin and copper.] [The Treatment of Glaucoma.—Note on the treatment of thisdisease fatal to vision.] X. [METALLURGY.—On the Elimination of Sulphur from Pig Iron.By J. MASSENEZ.—The desulphurization of pig iron by treatmentwith manganese, with apparatus employed.—5 illustrations.] XI. [MISCELLANEOUS.—The California Raisin Industry.—How raisinsare grown and packed in California, with valuable figuresand data.] [The Recent Battles in Chile.—The recent battles of Concon andVina del Mar.—2 illustrations.] XII. [NATURAL HISTORY.—The Whale-headed Stork.—A curious bird,a habitant of Africa and of great rarity.—1 illustration.] XIII. [NAVAL ENGINEERING.—A Twin Screw Launch Run by a CompoundEngine.—The application of a single compound tandemengine to driving twin screws.—2 illustrations.] [Improvements in the Construction of River and CanalBarges.—By M. RITTER.—A very peculiar and ingenious system ofconstruction, enabling the same vessel to be used at greater orless draught according to the requirements and conditions of thewater.—5 illustrations.] [Reefing Sails from the Deck—An effective method of reefing,one which has been subjected to actual trial repeatedly in badweather off Cape Horn.—3 illustrations.] XIV. [PHYSICS.—The Cyclostat.—An apparatus for observingbodies in rapid rotary motion.—5 illustrations.] XV. [TECHNOLOGY.—A New Process for the Bleaching of Jute.—ByMessrs. LEYKAM and TOSEFOTHAL.—A method of renderingthe fiber of jute perfectly white, with full details.] [A Violet Coloring Matter from Morphine.—The first truecoloring matter obtained from a natural alkaloid.] [Liquid Blue for Dyeing.—Treatment of the "Dornemann"liquid blue.] [New Process for the Manufacture of Chromates.—By J. MASSIGNONand E. VATEL.—Manufacture of chromates from chromiciron ore by a new process.]
The Congressional troops advancing. The river Aconcagua. Balmaceda's troops retreating.
Esmeralda firing shell at Fort Callao. Almirante Cochrane firing at Balmaceda's artillery behind Fort Callao. Battery of Congress artillery trying to silence government troops at Vina del Mar. Balmaceda's field batteries at back of Fort Callao. Fort Callao. Congress infantry firing at troops at Vina del Mar, Balmaceda's infantry returning fire of Congress troops opposite.
The battle of Concon took place Aug. 21, 1891. Nine thousand Congressional troops advancing toward Valparaiso from Quinteros Bay, where they had landed the day previous, were met by Balmaceda's troops on the other side of the river Aconcagua. The Esmeralda and the Magellanes, co-operating from the sea, made fearful havoc among the Balmacedists with their machine guns and shell. After a stubborn fight the Balmacedists were totally defeated, and were pursued by the victorious cavalry, losing 4,000 out of 12,000 in killed, wounded and deserters. All their field pieces were captured, and thus the road was left open for the Congressionalists to advance on Viña del Mar.
