PUMP. TREDGOLD ON THE STEAM-ENGINE. 166 WHITWORTH'S IMPROVED PUMP. poured from two pumps, worked by two nected with the theory of the steam-engine, men, A and B. They pump till it is ought in the existing state of our knowledge half filled, when B falls asleep. A con to be received with distrust and caution." tinues pumping till it is three quarters See Ilustrations of Mechanics—p. 386. filled, and then goes away. B afterwards Men who are deeply interested in the waking, finds the cistern still half full; progress of science, are generally cautious and after pumping till it is again three in their condemnation, whilst theignorant quarters filled, departs also, and meeting pretender is sweeping in his assertions, with A, charges him with leaving his but extremely slow in the supporting of work unfinished. They return together, them. and find the water one inch and a half I am, Sir, lower than when B left. The leak is now Your obedient servant, discovered and stopped; and by their JAMES Hann. joint efforts the cistern is filled in half King's College, June 4, 1839. the time they worked together at first. They remark also that ten hours and twenty minutes had elapsed since they first began pumping, and that B had WHITWORTH's IMPROVED worked alone twice as long as A. Sup- Sir,--I take the liberty to send you a posing that a cubical foot contains fifteen plan of the working part of a common and five eighths of a gallon, it is required pump, constructed upon a new principle, to find the quantity of water thrown in which I conclude will be very apparent by each pump? to all persons acquainted with a pump. The principle aim of the inventor has been to save the trouble and expense of MR. WOOLHOUSE'S EDITION or packing large pumps, which in some is a process of very frequent occurrence. Sir,-Having, in the last number of Fig. 1, aa is the whole length of the your Magazine, attributed to me the working barrel, cast in two parts, and formation of the practical rules at the constructed so as to form, when put toend of the new edition of Tredgold's gether, a kind of recess in each part, for the introduction of seginents, bb, round work on the steam-engine, I beg to state in justice to my highly gifted friend the external surface of the bucket, which will work against the segments, and may Mr. Woolhouse, that those rules were made by him, the index being the only be tightened in a few minutes by turning the screws cc, and of course save the part prepared by me. I may, perhaps, also be permitted to state, that in my trouble of drawing and packing with opinion Tredgold's work, with all its leather, as is usually done. The two real and fancied imperfections, is far su parts of the working barrel are screwed perior to any other that has appeared on firmly together by means of four bolts, that important subject, hough both it set at right angles to each other, and of and the editor have been assailed by the same shape and form as fig. 3: feelings the most malignant that perhaps through the centre of each bolt is a ever disgraced the pages of periodical screw set-pin, to bear upon the wedgecriticism. shaped segment bb; two only are shown. The shell bucket (if rightly termed) is Professor Mosely in the true spirit of made of brass, about half the length of science, after making some strictures on the above-named work, observes : the working barrel, of the same shape and form as fig. 4, which is turned true, “That work contains a vast mass of prac and fitted with exactness. The valves tical information, which will be sought for in vain elsewhere, and the many admirable at the top of this bucket work in a perplates and valuable papers which have been pendicular position, by means of grooves added to the last edition of it, published by cast into each side, and these grooves are Mr. Weale, will no doubt obtain for it a interlined on each side with wood, to proplace in the library of every man interested tect the parts from wearing by the action in the progress of practical science. Never- of the water. Fig. 2 is a section or inside theless, in justice to the real interests of view, which every person that underscience, the author is compelled to express stands a pump will soon make himself an opinion, that every single question con- acquainted with. If you think there is do so. I am, 168 CLAY AND SMITH'S IMPROVEMENTS IN GLASS MAKING. vary the materials from which the same named glass is manufactured. It would, therefore, be impossible to set forth any Yours, &c., general rule of glass-making for any of the Thomas Whitworth. various named glasses ; at the same time, Royston, near Manchester, the materials which Messrs. C. and S. apply to the purpose of improving the glass ma. mixtures of silex, and the materials ordinarily CLAY AND SMITH'S IMPROVEMENTS in use, with such quantities of the new maIN GLASS MAKING. terials are therefore given, as will be suitable Referring to the lecture at the Royal to the making of flint glass. Institution, upon the glass manufacture, The invention consists, first, in the appli. cation of combinations and salts of barium, reported in our present number, a correspondent (a member of the Institution) strontium and zinc; and, secondly, in the has supplied us with the following par application of granitic, or other rocks abound. ing with felspar. ticulars of the application of some new In using combinations, or salts of barium, ingredients in glass-making. We quite or of strontium, the carbonates of barytes or agree with him in his remark that new strontia which are found native in some parts processes should be more dwelt upon of this kingdom, are preferred; or otherwise, than they usually are in lectures upon for them to be in the state of sulphate of bamanufactures, whether these new pro- rytes ; in which latter case there is mixed a cesses have or have not been adopted proportion of charcoal, or other carbona. and found advantageous; it is of nearly ceous substances. as much utility to publish to the world In using combinations or salts of zinc, the experiments which have failed, as the oxide of zinc is preferred, which is formthose which have succeeded. Our cor- ed during the process of manufacturing that respondent has not stated whether metal. Messrs. Clay and Smith's combination Mixture for making glass by combining of ingredients has been found to answer combinations, or salts of barium, with silex or not. We thank him for the flattering weight; red lead, 150 parts by weight; carb. and other materials : Sand 320 parts by remarks he has made upon the character barytes, 145 parts by weight; carb. potash of our reports. (pearl ash,) 112 parts by weight; nitre, 7 “ Messrs. Clay and Smith's invention parts by weight ; some little oxide of man. consists in the application of certain mate- ganese (the usual quantity.) rials in the manufacture of glass, not hereto- Mixture for making glass by combining fore so used, by which various descriptions coinbinations, or salts of strontium, with of glass of an excellent quality are obtained, silex and other materials : Sand, 320 parts by and at a reduced cost; such materials being weight; red lead, 150 parts by weight; carb. used with the matters now employed, or in strontia, 108 parts by weight; carb. potash substitution for some of these matters in the (pearl ash,) 112 parts by weight ; nitre, 7 various mixtures for making glass, which is parts by weight; oxide of manganese as brought to market under various denomina. usual. tions, the names of such glass depending, in Mixture for making glass by combining some respects, on the process through compounds, or salts of zinc, with silex and which it passes, and the uses to which it is other matters : Sand, 320 parts by weight; applied ; but all glass-making may shortly red lead, 150 parts by weight; oxide of zinc, be stated to be the fusing of silica at a great 56 parts by weight ; pearl ash, 112 parts by ht, with certain saline or alkaline sub- weight; nitre, 7 parts by weight; oxide of ? inces, and, in some cases, the oxides of manganese, some little as usual. In some ead at the same time. There are probably cases red lead (oxide of lead,) is not used, no two glass-makers engaged in making glass but then the quantities of carb. barytes, which is sold by the same name, who would carb. strontia, and oxide of zinc, respectively, agree as to the mixtures to be used ; and no must be doubled. two makers, either of flint glass, crown Other descriptions of glass are made with glass, plate glass, or glass under other the following mixtures : : RAILWAYS-STEAM NAVIGATION, ETC. 169 Parts by Parts by Parts by weight. weight. weight. Sand 480 Sand 480 Sand 480 Carb. barytes 300 | Carb. strontia 224 Oxide zinc 120 Little oxide of manganese. Parts by weight. Sand 280 Sand .960 Sand 960 Chalk.. 88 Chalk.. .. 200 Chalk.. .. 200 Sulph. soda 84 Sulph. soda 290 Sulph. soda .. 290 Sulph. barytes 90 Sulph. barytes 460 Sulph. strontia . 370 Charcoal 8 Charcoal 40 Charcoal 40 Little manganese. Little manganese. Little manganese. These mixtures form cheaper glasses, as instance, a mineral found in Cornwall, and they enable the manufacturer to use less al. used in the potteries under the name of kaline or saline substances than before. “ Cornish Stone ;' this is used in conjunc The following are mixtures of the appli. tion with common salt or muriate of potash, cation of those rocks which felspar predo- and these mixtures are found to afford good minates, and which, at the same time, con- and cheap glass. tain very little or no oxide of iron ; as, for Parts by Parts by weight. weight. Cornish stone powdered fine as sand ..100 Cornish stone powdered fine as sand .. 100 Common salt..... 12 Common salt 16 ... 16 Muriate of potash ... 16 Chalk ..... 20 The important feature of this invention is, in some cases, to reduce the necessity of using so much red lead, in other cases, to dispense with the use of red lead altogether, and, in other cases, to reduce the extent of using alkaline or saline substances, by the application of other materials. Hence, supposing a glass-maker is about to apply any of the new substances, and supposing him to have a particular mixture of his own, which, as before stated, is most generally the case, he will apply some one Muriate of potash 22 Chalk ... or more of the matters herein mentioned : for it is not necessary that only one of the matters should be employed in any particu. lar mixture. The inventors claim as new, first, the application of compounds, or salts of barium, strontium, and zinc, in combination with silica and other materials, in the manufacture of giss; and, second, the application of granitic or other rocks in which felspar predominates, in the manufacture of glass. RAILWAYS-STEAM NAVIGATION-MACHINERY AND MANUFACTURES IN AMERICA. Great rail-roads are made, and still making, most exclusively silver and gold. This is at the South. Charleston and Cincinnati no small drain. We take 180,000 boxes of are to be bound together-only 700 miles tea yearly, and as much silk. Now what and so on. I expect shortly to see lines of we want is a fair barter trade; we want the steam-packets to Europe from New Orleans, Chinese labourers, among other things, to Charleston, Norfolk, to Liverpool, London, eat something besides rice; and why not Havre. Really one's brain gets dizzy with to use our cottons, as in India ? Well! we all this noise of preparation. And yet I must have a new route. The Isthmus of must push on, à l'Américaine, for a “West- Darien won't do,-hilly, tropical, and inern Passage to China !" It is a sign of the direct : besides, we don't own it. We must times, that such a project as this should be traverse our own land. The Missouri and conceived, mentioned and discussed. A Columbia rivers indicate the way. Steam writer here argues the matter thus: The boats may mount the latter almost to the China voyage now takes up a year or more. foot of the mountains, and it is only 600 For various reasons, and, not least, from the miles from the head of steam navigation on great distance of tropic to be traversed, our the Missouri to “ Astoria" itself. In few products are not carried out: for the teas, words, a railroad of about 100 miles would silks, and ware brought home, we give al- connect the two rivers—the two oceans 170 ON THB IMPORTANCE OF PROVISION FOR ESCAPE FROM FIRE. the two worlds. Of course the voyage by steam from from Astoria to China would be no “ consideration” at all. The writer, who is a veteran Western man, expects twenty years hence to see more Asiatic goods enter the port of Astoria than any other in the States. A question of jurisdiction about Oregon may arise, but that will be soon settled. Colonization, meanwhile, is rushing on like a flood. Oregon will be all as Yankee as Texas in ten years. A company, with ten millions of dollars capital, is at this moment projected in Missouri, to form settlements on the Columbia; and parties of young men are going out from every section of the land. They go even from Illinois, from Wisconsin, I verily believe. “ West. ward the star" moves on indeed. West I West!--the “Great West"!--still further west! I mentioned in my last a recent Report of one of the Secretaries on the subject of steam navigation. It includes a letter from Professor Hare, of Philadelphia, whose name is not unknown in England. He thinks the most productive cause of explosions is the undue heating of the metal, when there is a scarcity of water, by which an explosive gas is evolved. In addition to various scientific precautions, be agrees that legal measures must be had recourse to; and high-pressure steam prevented, or any drunken engineer or racing captain will always have the lives of the passengers in his power, and in jeopardy too. You may remember the ill-fated Pulaski. The Professor mentions that, notwithstanding the condensing engine, he saw a pressure of 28 lbs. to the square inch allowed on board that boat! On board the Great Western, I think the maximum is 31. A safetyvalve, accessible to all, and to be inscribed in large letters with the extreme pressure allowed, ought to be in universal use. not sure but some of the boats have lately adopted it. There is always some practical mania raging in this community, and frequently half-a-dozen, to suit different tastes. Just now a pretty strong beet-rcot sugar party is springing up throughout the country. Congress has lately had this matter under favourable consideration, and, I believe, something will come of it.* Machinery is one of our minor practicalities. Of some little sallies lately in foreign countries, I have before spoken. These cases are occurring daily. Some of them may strike even you oddly ; but what your worthy cor respondent would say about them,—he who stated last year that bells could not be cast in this country,-) know not. At this moment, I understand there is an Englishman here, agent for a company, who are about to set up-in Monclova, Cohahuila, on the Rio del Notre, I think it is-cotton factories ! the first ever known in Mexico. A vessel-load of machinery is also about to be shipped from this port, made just out of the city. I find that, last summer, there was an agent here from Russia to purchase machinery for the woollen factories in that country, and that his orders were executed at Lowell to the amount of 100,000 dollars. I believe the Lowell locomotives, as well as the New Jersey ones, which I mentioned before, have been exported. Of the Philadelphian manufacture of this article, you may judge a little by the performance of one last week, which drew a train of 45 cars freighted with 150 tons of nails and hoop iron and 28 men, and, including cars and engine, making a a gross weight of 223 tons, from Reading to Bridgeport, in Pennsylvania, at an average speed of 12} miles per hour. The quantity of wood consumed was 13 cords, which, allowing 2,000 lbs. to the cord, is 2,600 lbs., or 11 lbs. 10 oz. per ton, for the 40 miles, or 4} oz. per ton per mile. A word on another branch of our in. dustry. We have lately had a fresh illustration of the repute of our navy abroad, of which, by the way, the mercantile part deserves better than the national. The present ship-builder to the Sultan, as mentioned by Stephens, is a Mr. Rhodes, of New York. He was, a few years since, a common work. man, taken out by Mr. Eckford, another American* who preceded him in his present station. He is at this time building a third steamer for the Turks, and is to build a fourth ; and then, it is said, he will try his hand at an immense man-of-war. Rhodes has already made the largest frigate which now sails the seas; and your officers call her, I hear, one of the finest.--Athenæum. а I am ON THE PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE OF PROVISION FOR ESCAPE FROM FIRE. [From a most impressive discourse delivered by the Rev. T. Binney, at the Weigh-house Chapel, on Sunday, May 26, on occasion of the late calamitous fire in Bucklersbury, where four persons perished in the flames.] " Before I advance to the last and concluding remark, let me say that it becomes every one of you to take proper means and # There is an able article on the subject in No. 103 of the North American Review, just received from Mr. Kennett.-ED. * Our correspondent is, we suspect, in error here -Eckford was a Scotchman, and 20 years of age before he set a foot in the United States.-ED. |