Science/Nature Books

TORPEDO SHIPS. Commander Gallwey lately delivered an interesting lecture on the use of torpedoes in war before the royal U.S. Institution, London, discussed H.M.S. Polyphemus, and urged as arguments in her favor: 1. That she has very high speed, combined with fair maneuvering powers. 2. That she can discharge her torpedoes with certainty either ahead or on the beam when proceeding at full speed. 3.... more...

Nitro-Glycerin. Professor Doremus of this city was called as a witness at the inquest upon the bodies of the unfortunate persons killed by the recent explosion at Bergen, N.J. The Professor having previously analyzed some of the explosive mixture, testified as follows:—"I have subjected it to chemical analysis, and find it to correspond to the formula C_{6}, H_{3}, O_{3}, and NO_{5}; it is well... more...

LOCOMOTIVE FOR ST. GOTHARD RAILWAY. We give engravings of one of a type of eight-coupled locomotives constructed for service on the St. Gothard Railway by Herr T.A. Maffei, of Munich. As will be seen from our illustrations, the engine has outside cylinders, these being 20.48 in. in diameter, with 24 in. stroke, and as the diameter of the coupled wheels is 3 ft. 10 in., the tractive force which the... more...

MOLECULAR WEIGHTS. A new and most valuable method of determining the molecular weights of non-volatile as well as volatile substances has just been brought into prominence by Prof. Victor Meyer (Berichte, 1888, No. 3). The method itself was discovered by M. Raoult, and finally perfected by him in 1886, but up to the present has been but little utilized by chemists. It will be remembered that Prof.... more...

ONE MORE NUMBER. The next issue will close another volume of this paper, and with it several thousand subscriptions will expire. It being an inflexible rule of the publishers to stop sending the paper when the time is up for which subscriptions are prepaid, present subscribers will oblige us by remitting for a renewal without delay, and if they can induce one or more persons to join them in subscribing... more...

GUN PRACTICE IN THE FRENCH NAVY. The gunners of the French fleet are possessed of a skill which is recognized by all the maritime powers, and these picked men proved this at the siege of Paris, where they made themselves illustrious, not only by their courage and their coolness, but also by the accuracy of their firing. Nothing is neglected, moreover, to keep up the precision of hand and eye that... more...

ZANZIBAR. The sudden death on August 25 of Sultan Hamid bin Thwain, the ruler of Zanzibar, the attempted usurpation by Seyyid Khalid, and the bombardment of the palace by the British warships, have directed public attention to this comparatively little known but important city on the east coast of Africa. The Zanzibar dominions achieved their independence some forty years ago under Seyyid Majid, whose... more...

METAMORPHOSIS OF THE DEER'S ANTLERS. Every year in March the deer loses its antlers, and fresh ones immediately begin to grow, which exceed in size those that have just been lost. Few persons probably have been able to watch and observe the habits of the animal after it has lost its antlers. It will, therefore, be of interest to examine the accompanying drawings, by Mr. L. Beckmann, one of them... more...

FARCOT'S SIX HORSE POWER STEAM ENGINE. This horizontal steam engine, recently constructed by Mr. E. D. Farcot for actuating a Cance dynamo-electric machine, consists of a cast iron bed frame, A, upon which are mounted all the parts. The two jacketed, cylinders, B and C, of different diameters, each contains a simple-acting piston. The two pistons are connected by one rod in common, which is fixed... more...

NEW EIGHTY TON STEAM HAMMER AT THE SAINT CHAMOND WORKS Ever since the improvements that have been introduced into the manufacture of steel, and especially into the erection of works for its production, have made it possible to obtain this metal in very large masses, it has necessarily been preferred to iron for all pieces of large dimensions, inasmuch as it possesses in the highest degree that... more...