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NATURE 



[Sept. 29, 1887 



climber of wide distribution, none have contributed to 

 the production of garden roses. All have their bcal 

 names in the language of the district where they grow, 

 but — and this is a most remarkable fact — the rose has no 

 name in Sanskrit. In some dictionaries /^rz/a is rendered 

 as Rose, but this is an altogether different shrub. Hibiscus 

 Rosa-sinensis, the well-known shoe-flower (used for black- 

 ing shoes) of Indian- gardens, believed to be indigenous 

 in China, and possibly also indigenous in tropical 

 Africa. 



As far as known at present, the roses of Western Asia 

 have no Sanskrit name, and were not known in ancient 

 India. Yet Rosa dcDiiascena is extensively grown on a 

 large scale for the manufacture of rose-water and essence 

 of roses, throughout Northern India, as far as Ghazipur, 

 in 25° N. lat. Hermann Schlagintweit was, I believe, the 

 first to draw attention to this remarkable fact. It is not 

 impossible that the western roses were introduced into 

 India by the Mohammedans. As there is no Sanskrit word, 

 so is there no original term for the rose in Hindi. In 

 most Indian languages the cultivated rose is called giil, 

 which is the Persian name. It is also called ,^///^i<^, which 

 really means rose-water, unless, indeed, as sometimes 

 stated by Munshis in India, db in this case is a suffix with 

 no separate meaning. In addition to their local names, 

 so:neof the wild roses of the Himalayas are often called 

 giildb, ban guldb (the rose of the forest, or wild 

 rose). 



Besides Rosa indica, several other Ciiinese species are 

 cultivated in India. The origin of one of the Indian 

 garden roses, however, is doubtful ; this is Rosa glanduli- 

 fera, well described by Roxburgh in his " Flora Indica," 

 It is a white subscandent cluster rose, which has erro- 

 neously been referred to Rosa alba. In Hindi and Bengali 

 it is called Seoti, Sivati, Shevati. According to Piddington 

 ("English Index to the Plants of India," 1832), this rose 

 has a Sanskrit name, Sevati, pointing to shveta (white). 

 This, however, requires verification. Roxburgh believed 

 its origin to be China. D. Brandis. 



THE IRON AND STEEL INSTITUTE. 



nPHE autumn meeting of this Institute was held at 

 ^ Owens College, Manchester, from the 14th to the 

 17th inst. The address of the President was of a two- 

 fold character, having reference to the metallurgy of steel 

 and to the question of trade. As regarded mild and hard 

 steel, the success that had attended the application of the 

 former was due, in the President's opinion, to the greater 

 ease in its manufacture as compared with hard steels, in 

 which the alloying compounds vary in specific gravity, 

 melting-point or fusibility, and specific heat. Another 

 feature in favour of the manufacture of mild steel is that 

 not more than one-tenth per cent, of the combined 

 elements — sulphur, phosphorus, and silicon — is admis- 

 sible. As regards working, although the steam-hammer 

 was requisite to force cinder out of puddled iron, with 

 steel such violence is not required, and must be abandoned 

 in favour of the quiet concentrated force of the forging 

 press. 



In his reference to trade, and especially the iron and 

 steel trade, Mr. Adamson gave it as his opinion that, so 

 long as we tax ourselves for the benefit of a foreign pro- 

 ducer, and pay all the cost incident to the carrying on 

 of our country, and enable the merchant to import manu- 

 factured goods from abroad (which bear no portion of the 

 taxation of the country) at a greater profit than he could 

 realize by purchasing at home, so long will our great trade 

 remain depressed and our foreign competitor rejoice at 

 our want of foresight. He also drew attention to the 

 circumstance that the manufacture of goods at home 

 employed not only the hands directly engaged, in the 

 industry, but gave work also to cognate industries. 



The first paper read was on " Metallurgical and 

 Mechanical Progress as illustrated at the Manchester 

 Exhibition." The object of the paper was to point out 

 to the visitor what v.'as to be seen at the Exhibition ; the 

 paper was not discussed. 



The paper of Sir] Lowthian Bell, on '' The Reduction 

 of Ores of Iron in the Blast Furnace," was next read, 

 and gave rise to a very lengthy discussion. The author 

 first explained the general functions of the blast furnace, 

 in which the ores are reduced in the uppermost zone, 

 heated and chemically acted upon in the intermadiate 

 region, and melted in the lowest portion. In the reducing 

 zone the ore and limestone are first heated only, but at 

 about 400° F. the oxide of iron begins to lose oxygen ; 

 this is found in the gases, together with the carbon and 

 oxygen contained in the carbonic acid of the limestone 

 which is separated at a temperature of about 1500° F. A 

 table was given, indicating generally the increased energy 

 of carbonic oxide as a reducing agent, with increase of 

 temperature, its influence being affected by variations in 

 the ore. The paper is mainly of technical interest. 



The next paper read was on " The Basic Open-hearth 

 Process." The subject was treated under the three head- 

 ings of plant, pi'ocess, and produce. The furnace de- 

 scribed is a modified form of the Siemens furnace, 

 and it is necessary that, a basic-lined hearth having 

 been obtained, a basic slag should be maintained in 

 working. 



The last paper read and discussed was on " Electric 

 Lighting in Works and P'actories," by Prof. J. A. 

 Fleming. Several interesting points were brought 

 forward. Thus, a table was exhibited comparing a 

 1200-light dynamo as manufactured in 1882 and 1887. 

 The weight alone of the dynamo of the former 

 machine was 44,820 pounds ; that of the armature, 

 9800 pounds. It occupied 320 cubic feet. With a terminal 

 electromotive force of io3 volts, and an output of 790 

 amperes, the total horse-power applied to rotate the arma- 

 ture was I54"8, the commercial efficiency was 67 per cent., 

 whilst the price per 1000 watts output was ^^24. In the 

 1887 machine the weight is 11,760 pounds ; that of the 

 armature alone, 1568 pounds ; the cubic space occupied is 

 about 180 cubic feet. The terminal electromotive force 

 is 105 volts, the current 720 amperes, the external electric 

 activity 75,600 watts, and the power required on the 

 pulley about 112 horse-power, the commercial efficiency 

 being over 90 per cent., and the price 6/. per 1000 watts 

 output. Statistics from the United States and France 

 show that 117,201 lamps are used in the former country, 

 and 55,321 in the latter ; the great majority employed in 

 each case are for workshops and factories. This is a 

 very much larger extension of electric lighting than has 

 taken place in this country. The author recommends, 

 where possible, driving each dynamo from a separate 

 steam-engine, controlled by a good governor, and 

 having all the wiring and fittings carefully tested. In 

 the matter of incandescence lamps attention is drawn to 

 the importance of keeping the electromotive force 

 within a volt of that niarked upon the lamps ; in this 

 way the length of the life of the lamps is much in- 

 creased. In the us; of naked arc-lights the illumination 

 rapidly falls off as we get away from the light. To 

 obviate this, Mr. A. S. Trotter introduced his dioptric 

 shades. The light is surrounded with a glass shade so 

 cut or grooved into prismatic furrows that whilst causing 

 only a small actual absorption, it will yet i-efract the rays 

 of light in such a manner as to take away the light from 

 directly under the lamp and increase the illumination at 

 the remote districts. In conclusion, the author makes 

 the statement that, as regards mills, works, and factories, 

 the more closely its advantages and merits are inquired 

 into, the more forcible they will seem, even in face of the 

 fact that gas in the United Kingdom has a lower average 

 price than in any other part of the world. 



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