ley to another, and the driving gear is brought
within smaller compass.
A Big Cbanb.— a large steam crane, capable
of lifting and manipulatmg weights up
to 100 tons, has just been erectea at the Alex-
andra docks, Hull. This is the most powerful
steam craneV)Ossessed by any dock company in
the United Kingdom. It has been satisfactor-
ily tested with a load of 108 tons, in the pres-
ence of Messrs, James Taylor & Co., of the
Britannia Works, Birkenhead, the makers of
the crane, and of Mr. Hartzig, C. E., the engi-
neer, on behalf of the Hull and Barnsley Rail-
way and Dock Company, to whose order the
crane was constructed. After lifting and re-
volving with 108 tons, it was the next day put
to a number of severe tests with a load of 66
tons, raising it at the rate of Oft. 6in. per min-
ute, and making a complete revolution— that
is, the load passing through a distance of 288
ft. in 6 min. 60 sec. This powerful crane is an
important addition to the appliances of the
dock, which having a flne entrance and deep
sill, is now not only well suited to the lar^e
steamers engaged in modern commerce, but is
fitted for the reception of the ships in Her Ma-
jesty's service, and to deal with the shipment
and unshipment of their heavy guns, boilers,
&c , in an expeditious manner. It will enable
shipbuilding firms of the port to compete for
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VAN NOSTRAT^d'S ENGINEERING MAGAZINE.
Governmenl work on equal terms with other
ports, and wUl probably be first brought into
use by Messrs. Earless Shipbuilding and Engi-
neering Company, who have commenced work
on H. M. 8. Malabar, having secured the con-
tract for the refitting of tliat ship. The very
large and heavy boilers of the belted cruiser
Narcissus, now being built at Messrs. Earless
works, will also be shipped under this crane.
The crane is worked by steam power, steam
being supplied by a steel boiler of Taylor's ver-
tical type, tested with a pressure of 120 lbs.
The head of the jib is 61ft above the water
level of spring tides, and has an out-reach of
29ft. from the face of the quay. The main
features of construction are in the arrangement
by which the center post common in cranes
gives place to a large central .pin, only subjec
to direct upward tension, the whole crane act-
ing as a lever to raise it vertically. The jib,
which is of the double cylindrical type, is of
steel, while steel and wrought iron predominate
in the stnicture throughout. Four sheaves,
each 8ft. in diameter, are carried at the head of
the jib, where the two steel tubes composing it
meet. The load is suspended from the jib by
eight falls of steel wire rope, composed of 222
wires, with a hemp core. The hoisting is ef-
fected by means of a large spirally-grooved
barrel, taking the wire rope. There are two
speeds of lift, the hoisting engines being hori-
zontal, with double cylinders 12in. in diameter
and 16in stroke. The two are for 100 tons and
50 tons respectively. For revolving, there is a
pair of small vertical engines, actuating two
sets of worm gear, one on each side of the
crane, and two pinions which work into a large
circular rack attached to the turned roller path.
The fulcrum is the **live ring," containing
sixty rollers, running on the cast iron and steel
roller race on the top of the stone work. Ten
or eleven of these rollers take the thrust at the
foot of the jib at a time, constantly changing
as the crane revolves, and the resistance is the
weij^ht of the masonry, secured by six massive,
radiating, holding-down bolts, by which the
center casting and pin are anchored. All the
valves and levers connected with the crane are
within easy reach of one attendant. The body
of the crane is constructed of wrought-iron
plates and framing, and is of great strength
The whole is carried on a substantial founda-
tion of masonry and concrete. The load trial
consisted of 100 tons of steel rails, exclusive of
the heavy slings by which they were suspended.
The movable block and swivel is a very nice
piece of workmanship, and it was quite easy
for three men to twist round the heavy load
while suspended. On the whole, this fine piece
of machinery reflects great credit on the
makers, and a finer crane does not exist in any
port in England. — Engineer.
A
IRON AND STEEL NOTES.
N Antique Iron Helmet. — Two
three years ago some peasants digging
near the banks of the Danube, on the Hunga-
rian side, opposite to Belgrade, turned up a
most beau lif 111 and finely-preserved iron hel-
met, which, it will interest archseologists to
learn, is neither more nor less than a rlwf
(Tamw^. of antique Greek work, of probably
three or four centuries before Christ. It is
scarcely necessary to say that works in iron of
antique Greek or Roman origin other than cor-
roded and scarcely recognizable fragments are
of the utmost ranty. The specimen in ques-
tion is in a wonderfully perfect state, scarcely,
indeed, less so than that of a finely patinated
bronze. It seems that it was found in the
midst of wind-blown hillocks or dunes of dry,
shifting sand ; hence, probably, in some unex-
plained way, its exceptional state of conserva-
tion. Whether or not the skull of the wearer
was found within it does not appear, but the
helmet is in the shape of a complete head, the
face, hair, and beard admirably modeled in re-
p u^»e or hammered work, finished with the
chasing or graving tools in the most exquisite
style. It represents a young warrior of al)out
twenty-five or thirty, with an incipient beard
and moustache — a Paris, rather than a Hector
or Achilles ; the eyes are open for the wearer
to see through, and the lips are parted, leaving
in like manner an aperture for respiration.
Contrary to the arrangement of mediaeval hel-
mets, the upper part, or scalp, forming a skull
cap- not the mask or visor — is hinged and
movable, and it oversets the face. It was made
to fit rather close to the head, probably leaving
room only for a lining or padding of some soft
substance, and it represents the natural hair of
the wearer in finely-disposed, crisp locks.
There is, however, at the summit, a small
socket, evidently intended for a plume or some
other ornament. The lower margin at the
back of the scalp or skull cap is pierced with
small holes, whence, probably, chain mail, to
protect the back of the neck was originally at-
tached. There are, however, no remains of
ringed mail remaining The substance of the
iron or steel is comparatively light and thin,
but by no means flimsy or unsubstantial. In
this respect, and also in some others, the hel-
met is not unlike certain steel Japanese helmets
which have been brought to England of late
years. These last also have visors in the form
of human faces or masks, but they are always
of wild, grotesque, and forbidding types. The
Belgrade helmet, on the contrary, embodies a
perfect ideal of classical Greek beauty.—
Bulletin.
''pHB Sampling of Pig Iron.— The question
X as to the best manner of obtaining a per-
fectly true average sample of pig iron, &c., for
analysis, is one mat has called for much atten-
tion from all chemists of iron and steel works,
and on which a variety of opinions are held.
An interesting and instructive paper on the
subject was read at the meeting of American
Mining Engineere, at Pittsburg, by Mr. P. W.
Shimer, and from it the following notes are
abstracted : If we take a sample of pig iron in
the form of borings, such a sample consists of
a mixture of particles of pig iron, with more or
less finely-divided particles of graphite which
has been separated from the iron during the
boring. The amount of graphite thus present
is in nearly all cases large enough to cause
great diflaculty in so thoroughly mixing the
sample as to insure obtaining a perfectly uni
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RAILWAY NOTES.
173
form and average portion for the actual chemi-
cal determinations; because such mixing is
hindered by the great difference in weight, and
also in size, between the particles of iron and
those of graphite. Attempts were made to
lessen this source of error by having the bor-
ings talien as tine as possib'e, so that the par.
tides of iron should not be larger than those of
graphite But this was not successful, as so
much of the graphite was in the form of the
finest powder. Duplicate determinations of
carbon on samples so prepared, executed with
the greatest possible care, always gave differ-
ences too large to be explained in any way, ex-
cept by the inequality in the sampling. Nor were
better results obtained when large borings were
used, in the hope that the graphite which was
detached from them during boring would be
too small in amount to affect the results. It
was not found possible to obtain a proper mix-
ture in any of the several methods of mixing
which were tried. The differences were some-
times as large as 0.2 per cent. A plan was
finally used which gave satisfactory results in
all cases. The borings are carefulljr placed in
a small porcelain crucible, or in a dish, and are
thoroughly moistened with alcohol. For thirty
grammes of borings two cubic centimeters of
alcohol are required. The borings are then
well mixed for some five minutes. The alco-
hol serves the purpose of making the graphite
adhere to the iron during the time of the mix-
ing. After mixing, the requisite portion for
the actual weighing is taken out, dried, and
weighed. It is stated that portions taken in
this manner are always a tnie sample of the
whole lot of borings, and give excellent results
as to agreement, the differences between two
determinations not exceeding 03 per cent.
RAILWAY NOTES.
IN proportion to population, the greatest rate
of railway increase since 1880 has been in
Australia, but its mileage is still small, as is its
population. In Europe nearly one-fourth of
the railroad built since 1880 is in France, which
has increased its mileage 3121 miles, or 19.2 per
cent. , in the four years. In proportion to popu-
lation, it has now a larger mUeage than any
other European country except Sweden, Swit-
zerland, Denmark, and Qreat Britain and Ire-
land. In proportion to area, it is behind Bel-
gium. Great Britain and Ireland, Holland,
Qermany, and Switzerland.
THE East Indian Railway Company has
1,036,527 iron plate, 178,818 iron bowl
sleepers, and 2947 lineal yards of wrought iron
sleepers. Of wooden sleepers, the company
has down 8,078,559. The average age of all
the sleepers in the roads at the middle of the
last half of 1885 was 10.55 years. The per-
manent way of the East Indian Railway is laid
with 2155 miles of double-headed rails weighing
82 lb. per yard, 1217 miles weighing 74 lb. per
yard, and 1310 miles of steel rails weighing 75
lb. per yard. The average age of rails in way j
at the middle of the half-year was about sixteen ,
years. .
THE construction of the Scinde-Hagar stra-
tegical frontier railway, British India, is
making rapid progress. A section ninety miles
long has been laid from Shen Shah, opposite
Mooltan, on an alignment parallel with the left
bank of the Indus. The rails are being laid at
the rafe of three miles daily. The Scinde Pishin
railway will, it is said, owing to financial pres-
sure, not be carried for the present past Shah-
Ahmed, the site of the proposed entrenched
camp, but an iron bridge will be thrown across
the Lora river in front of that position It is
possible that the delay may prove beneficial if
It has the result of procuring more thorough ex-
amination than has yet l^en made into the
respective merits of the tunnel scheme and of
the Ehojali alternative route by Muskhi, which,
although longer, would avoid the difficulties of
the Ehojah range.
ORDNANCE AND NAVAL
ON THE DbFOBMATION OF THE BOBE OF A GuK
IN THE Region of the Obturator, and
THE Resistance of the Breeoh Block.— In an
article with the above title the Author considers
these questions. Few authors have dealt with
the subject, and the theories of Gleneral Gadolin,
published in the Russian Journal of Artillery in
1868, and an article by Captain Duguet, pub-
lished in the Revue d*Artillerie in 1877, are
reviewed and criticised.
The first-named treated the subject fully, and
recommended the employment of hoops with
longitudinal locking, to counteract tlie tensile
strain exerted by the breech-screw on the in-
terior wall of its seating ; he also considered the
deformation of the bore around the obturator.
The general confessed himself unable to com-
pletely solve the problem, in the presence of
the difficulties of analysis which presented
themselves and moreover was obliged to rely on
certain hypotheses which the author considers
to be contrary to the truth. Thus he admits
that the strain, transmitted by the screw to its
nut, is spread uniformly over its whole length,
and that the pressure produced by the outer
hoop in the longitudinal direction is entirely
transmitted through the whole thickness of the
metal above the seat of the screw. He shows,
it is true, that in the nut the greatest strain
takes place on the first thread, but the Author
considers that the formulae eiven in the article
are inaccurate, as he proceeds to show.
Captain Duguet, whilst taking accurately into
account the conditions which occur in a piece
submitted only to longitudinal strain, gives no
results of calculation, and refers to the Russian
article.
Considering, then, that the results up to the
present time, as obtained by analysis, are very
incomplete, no doubt from the difficulty ex-
perienced in the application of Lane^s formulas,
the Author, from recent researches, believes
that he is in a position to treat the subject more
accurately, and divides his study into three
parts. (1) Is devoted to the establishment of
new formulae. (2) Treats of the question of
deformation of the bore. (8) The resistance of
the breech-block.
Having established new formulse of displace-
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174
VAN NOSTRAND'S ENGINEERING MAGAZINE.
ment. the Author proceeds to apply them to the
•consideration of part 2, for which he takes the
â– case of a hollow cylinder, submitted to internal
pressure, and closed at the ends by two plugs
independent of the cylinder. One plug is con-
sidered as the projectile, the other as tlie
obturator, which may be a steel cup, or the J)e
Bange form. In the former case the pressure
acting on the inside walls of the cylinder tends
to increase its diameter, and \t the cylinder bt^
indefinite, the walls would be expanded in a
line parallel to themselves ; but by reason of a
portion of the cylinder being behind a certain
point D situated at the obturator, which portion
is not submitted to any internal pressure, the
line of expansion near the obturator will not be
parallel to the line of the wall of the cylinder,
t)ut curved from the point D to a point A on
the parallel line of expansion.
The length of this curve will depend on the
Interior pressure Pj, the ori^nal radius r^, and
the • xpanded radius r'o which is a function of
the thickness of the cylinder by reason of the
external radius r^ and the pressure P, exerted
•on its surface by the hooping. Consequently
the deformation will be so much less for a deter-
mined pressure Pj, as r^ is less, r^ greater, and
P, still greater.
If the obturator were completely elastic,
transmitting wholly the pressures in every direc-
tion, like liquids, over all its thickness, the
<5urve of bending would have its origin at a
point a little behind the obturator, but as it
only transmits a portion of the pressure, the
point D is taken as in a line with the front face
•of the obturator.
In the case of the De Bange obturator the
point D is changed, because the elasticity of the
pads allows the better transmission of the pres-
sure, and it is probable that D is behind the
same point with the cup form of obturator, it
is taken as at half-way up the pad. Applying
these considerations to the case of a gun, where
the obturator is not only a sras-check but is
firmly attached to the breech-block, the Author
^ives a diagram sliowing the theoretical deform-
ation of the breech end, and applies the formulae
of elasticity to the determination of the form of
the curve produced in the bore by the pressure
Pi, from which he deduces the argument that,
if the breech of a gun be hooped only in front
of the obturator, the tendency to deformation
in the seating of the breech-screw would be re-
duced as the pressure P, of the hoop would
diminish the value of r©. Other considerations
compel hooping behind the obturator; so under
these conditions, strictly speaking, a variable
grip in the hoops, increasing in strength
towards the section of the metal in front of the
obturator should be given.— Ii*vue <r A rtUUris.
BOOK NOTICES
Publications Rbobivbd.
PBooEBDiNGB and Papers of the Institution of
Civil Engineers :
No. 2070. The Theory of the Indicator and
the Errors in Indicator Diagrams, by Osborne
Reynolds, F.R.8., LL.D.
No. 2071. Experiments on the Steam En-
flne Indicator, by Arthur William Brightmore,
tud. Inst. C. E.
No. 2139. Injurious Effect of a Blue Heat
on Steel and Iron, by C. E. Stromeyer, Assoc.
M. Inst. C. E.
No. 2143. Blasting operations at Hell Gate,
New York, by L. P. Veruon-Harcourt, M. Inst.
C. E.
No. 2150. Water Purification, by Percy F.
Frankland. Ph.D., F.C.S.
No. 2152 The Granada Earthquake, by Ed-
ward J. T. Man by, M. Inst. C. E.
No. 2184. English and American Railroads
Compared, by Edward Bates Dorsey, M. Am.
Soc. C. E.
Student's Paper. No. 200 Recent Researches
in Friction, by John Goodman. Stud. Inst. C.E.
Abstracts of Papers in Foreign Transactions
and Periodicals.
^Hkans ACTIONS of the American Institute of
X Mining Engineers. Vol. XIV., June,
1885, to May, 1886.
STANDARD PrAOTIOAL PlUMBING. By P. J.
Davibs. Vol. I London: E. & F. N.
Spon.
This is simply an encyclopedia of household
plumbing fixtures, and is made to include the
processes of such adjustment to the dwelling
as calls for the work of the artisan.
Most of the modern improvements are de-
scribed and illustrated by good cuts, fully two
thousand being employed in the book.
Of course such a volume (quarto, 360 pages)
practically includes a complete treatise on sani-
tation of dwellings.
Monographs of the United States Geo-
logical Survey. Vol. IX. Brachio-
poda and Lamellibranchiata of the Raritan
Clays and Greensand Marls of New Jersey.
By Robert P. Whitfield. Washington :
Government Printing OflSce.
This is one of those additions to the litera-
ture of Paleontology, which students of Geolo-
gy in all parts of the world will gladly wel-
come
A sketch of the geology of the Cretaceous
and Tertiary Formations of New Jersey begins
the work, and will be read with interest.
Then follow the descriptions of the fossils in
the order of their age.
The full-page plates, thirty-five in number,
which illustrate the descriptive text are of that
high degree of excellence that has of late ex-
cited the admiration of students abroad.
Ditmar's Tables for Chemical Calcula-
tions. Second Edition. By W. Ditmar,
F.R.S. London: Williams & Norgate.
This is a very useful book for analytical
chemists. The new edition contains a chapter
on Gas Analysis that was not in the first edi-
tion. A very few typographical errors in the
former issue have been corrected.
Considerable space is very properly given to
** Explanatory Notes," as the calculations fre-
quently involve operations in which laboratory
workers are not necessarily expert.
The Table of Formula Values is a valuable
aid to such computations.
The work is beautifully printed, and the
tables are in antique type.
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BOOK NOTICES.
175
THX LuMunFBBous ^THSR. By DeVolson
Wood, C. E., M. A. Van Nostrand's
Science Seriea, No. 85. New York : D. Van
Nostrand.
That a scientist is ready to maintain that the
all-pervading aether differs only in condition,
rather than its nature, from the familiar forms
of matter, is a fact of sufficient importance to
insure a demand for this essay by students of
physical science.
After quoting the views of eminent physicists
regarding the properties which presumably be-
long to the ajther, Prof. Wood says :
*' We propose to treat the tether as if it con-
formed to the kinetic theory of ^ases, and de-
termine its several properties on tne conditions
that it shall transmit a wave with the velocity
of 186,800 miles per second, and also transmit
183 foot-pounds of energy per second per
square foot. This is equivalent to considering
it as gaseous in its nflture, and at once com-
pels us to consider it as molecular ; and, in-
deed, it is difficult to conceive of a medium
transmitting li^ht and energy without being
molecular. The electro-magnetic theory of
lij^ht suggested by Maxwell, as well as the
views of Newton, Thomson, Herschel, Pres-
ton, and others, are all in keeping with the
molecular hypothesis. If the properties which
we And by this analysis are not those of the
sether, we shall at least have determined the
properties of a substance which might be sub-
stituted for the aether, and secure the two re-
sults already named It may be asked, can the
kinetic theory, which is applicable to gases in
which the waves are propagated by a to-and-
fro motion of the particles, be applicable to a
medium in which the particles have a trans-
verse movement, whether rectilinear, circular,
elliptical, or irregular? In favor of such an
application it may be stated that the general
formulae of analysis by which wave motion in
general, and refraction, reflection and polariza-
tion in particular, are discussed, are funda-
mentally the same; and in the establishment
of the equations, the only hypothesis in regard
to the path of a particle, is— It will move along
the path of least resistance.*' And further-
more, the author demands: "Granting tlie
molecular constitution of the aether, is it not
probable that the kinetic theory applies more
rigidly to it than to the most perfect of the
known gases ? "
The analysis of the author leads to the con-
clusion that a medium whose density is such
that a volume eaual to twenty times the volume
of the earth would weigh one pound, and whose
tension is such that the pressure on a square
mile is about a pound, and whose specific heat
is such that it would require as much heat to
raise one pound of it one degree (F.) as would
be required to raise 2,800,000.000 tons of
water the same amount, will satisfy the require-
ments of nature in being able to transmit light
and heat 186,300 miles per second, and also
transmit 188 foot-pounds of heat energy each
second per square foot of surface normally ex-
posed. This medium will be everywhere prac-
Qcaliy non -resisting and sensibly uniform in
temperature, density and elasticity
Like its .fellow volumes of the Science Se-
ries, it is of convenient size for the pocket, and
of such type as to render its reading easy by
the student while traveling.
KLEOTRio Transmission of Enibot. Bt
, GiSBEBT Kapp, A.M.I C. E. London:
Whittaker & Co.
This is " a practical hand-book " par excel-
lenoe—2k book which will be read, studied, and
used not by electricians merely, but by most
engineers conversant with the English lan-
guage. We would especially recommend this
little treatise to those who are masters in mat>
ters appertaining to the mechanical transmis*
sion of power, for it is more than probable that
electricity will soon take the most important
place in the curriculum of experts in this par-
ticular subject Until recently, problems on
the transmission of energy to great distance-
could be solved by three means, principally,
viz., by the hydraulic, the pneumatic, and the
tele-dynamic means ; each of these has its pe-
culianties, advantf4;es, and disadvantages.
Sometimes one of these systems was found
more convenient or more economical than
another, but neither of the three modes is un-
iversally applicable. Electricity may in many
cases supersede water and air as regards econo-
my, it will outweigh rope-geariDg in points of
convenience; but it is destined to find employ-
ment under peculiar circumstances where none
of the other modes of transmission have hither-
to been considered suitable.
Practical examples there are in sufficient
number, and if the subject has not received the^
universal attention it deserves, the cause must
be found in the want of a sober, systematic