318 



KNOWLEDGE 



[Fta lU, 188i. 



r\lE CRYSTAL PALACE ELECTllICAL 

 EXHIBITION'. 



FlU,-iT NoTHK. 



iT iM grintly to be n'tjrettcd that this cxiiibitiun, like moat otlierH, 

 18 8<i alow ill nttaiiiiiiK to niiytliiiiK iipproncliiiiK what oiiu may 

 justly c-oiieicl<'r bIiouM bo its [iropur cliiiU'iiMiDns. \Vc iiro, of coursi-, 

 invaro thut thcro arc muiiy cuuseg rt'turiliiig the C'uiii|ilctioti of tho 

 ]iri',iaratioiiti, uiui thut it is, guiivrully B|iL'uliiii(;, to thu interest uf tho 

 exhibitor to get his allow in u pojitiuii lit for iunpeetiou as speedily 

 us pii.s-ible. It is, iioverthcleas, uurcusonuble to suppose we can 

 enilorxc the uiiiluly hiudutory opinions expressed liy tlie niujority of 

 ui.Bei ntilic crities. We shall see, as we g<i on, something of tho 

 greut state of unprepurednesa whiuli pervades nearly every depart- 

 ment, and although there is even now plenty of work for those who 

 intind to thoroughly study the mines of information as they arc 

 laid open, it cannot fail, for some two or three weeks to come, to 

 engender very great disappointment in the miuds of those who can 

 only pay one or two visits to Sydenham. 



It is our intention this week to give siniiily a brief description of 

 the general arrangements, and hereafter to describe in detail the 

 various coUeetiuns of iippiuatns, not forgetting to keep our readers 

 l)Osted up in the additions made to the Exhibition week by week. 



The exhibits are diviiled into fourteen classes, some of which, 

 however, may, so far as we are concerned, be regarded as sections 

 of larger and luuro .important classes. The class which commands 

 the greatest amount of attention is thut which embraces the various 

 systems of electric lighting, while telcgi-aphy appears to rank next 

 in interest. There is one section of the exhibition, not favoured 

 with a cla.vs to itself, which has great attractions for many of our 

 readers, namely, that which comprises the various displays of 

 apparatus for teaching tho science of electricity. These will 

 all be described in their turn. Commencing at the north 

 end of the Palace, wo enter first the maohine-room of the 

 Anglo-American Brush Electric Light Company. It is a spacious 

 room, and has been floored with a layer of concrete, to give 

 tho necessary lirm foundation for the machines. There is a 

 goodly disjihiy of dynamo machines, all fixed in position, and most 

 of them wailing for the arrival from the contractor of four out of 

 the five engines requu'ed I 'i ho one engine is driving two dynamo 

 machines, one of which supplies sixteen arc lamps, and the other a 

 number of incandescent lamps of the Lane-Fox type. 



There is also fitted up on one base a small steam-engine, working 

 direct on to a small dynamo machine, capable (jf maintaining, three 

 arc lamps. The machine makes 1,100 revolutions per minute, and 

 presents aitogethcr a very compact and commendable appearance. 



The arc lamjis of this company are working well and steadily, 

 and no doubt, when all of tliem are lighted, will receive universal 

 admiration. The Lane-Fox incandescent lamps are tolerably good, 

 but do not yet seem sufficiently steady, nor do they all appear to 

 bo equal in resistance, as some are much brighter than others. 

 Leaving this company's exhibit, which is located in and about the 

 Tropical Department we come into tho nave, where, right away to 

 the orchestra, there is a good display of arc lamps. The first are 

 those of the Electric Light and I'ower Generator Company (Maxim 

 and Weston systems). This light is very steady and very brilliant. 

 It seems at present to leave nothing wanting in this direction. 

 The company has also started a number of Maxim incandescent 

 lamps, very tastily fitted into a kind of candelabra. They, however, 

 are not uniform in brilliancy, for while some are equal to over 

 twenty-five candles, others are little more than dull red. 



Next is the display of the British Electric Light Company 

 (Brockie system). These lightn, nine in number, are very powerful ; 

 but it is to be feared they will never be i(uite free from momentary 

 jerks, EO to sptak, which are, no doubt, due to the fact that perfectly 

 homogeneous curbon-rods are unobtainable. Turning into the Egyp- 

 tian Court, we find a sweetly-pretty collection of glass chandeliers 

 and table-lamps of various designs (some of the latter several feet 

 high), and fitted with the British Company's incandescent lamp. 

 Tho glass is manufactured by Messrs. James Powell & Sons, White- 

 friars Cilass Works, and it is expected that they will all be ready 

 for lighting in the course of a day or two. In the North Nave are 

 also the stands of tho Post Office, War Office, ic, including the 

 almost empty cases of the School of Submarine Telegi-aphy. 

 The Handel Orchestra is lighted by Messrs. Rowatt & Fyfe, 

 with six Pilsen lamps, the same firm having ten Joel lamps 

 in the Pompcian Uouse. The latter at present appear very 

 irregular. In the South Nave are four of Messrs. Strode & 

 Co.'s arc lamps (Mackenzie system), which oscillate considerably. 

 Messrs. Siemens ii Co. and other houses should light the 

 remainder of the nave, but they are all very backward. It is said 

 that some firms fixed their plant on to the wooden floor. The 

 immediate rcsnlt con be conceived as easily as described. The 



concert-room ia well lighted with 250 of Edison's incandescent 

 lamps. They arc extremely iitcady, and, owing to a |H-culiarity io 

 tho nianafacture, ore faid to be wry durable. Hy far the most 



attruetivo Uisjilay is made by his exhibit in the ent.— •- ' 



whire ho has 200 lamjis arranged in all sorts of ii 

 In the centre of the room is a large brass chandl^ 

 with lamps placed in elegnntly-tiutcd glass shuik-. i ... ■ ... . l 

 grand in the extreme, and wins immediately the entire syingiatb • 

 of all who enter the apartment. No amount of gas could give ti 

 brilliancy, for the ipiautity riquired would be much more than ti.' 

 air contained in such a room could support. To judge of the elect; 

 light, wo must, of course, divest it of its gorgeous Jccorations, h 

 even then we shall find it excellent. 



Various exhibitors occujiy the floor of tho nave, w hile the coatun 

 room is beautifully adorned by Messrs. Hammond 4 Co. (Bru : 

 System), who also light very effectively the corridor leading to f 

 low level station. The gallciy, which should be almott entire ' 

 occupied by exhibitors, is comparatively empty. This state 

 things is no doubt greatly due to the entire absence of cicctr 

 light, and con8e(|ucnt nearly total darkness. On the ground-flo<'. 

 Mr. Edison, The British Electric Light Company, and the Elccti 

 Light and Power (Jenenitor Company have their engines ai 

 dynamo machines, all well-fitted on solid foundation.", but neitl.' 

 of them in a state of completeness. 



Next week, some of the exhibits will be dealt with in detail, ai 

 the main principles of the more important ajiparatus explained. 



NATURAL RUBBISH HEAPS. 



Bv James Geikie, LL.D., F.U.S. 



IX a paper recently read before the Perthshire Society of Natural 

 History, Dr. Giikie gave some account of the various accumu- 

 lations of rock-(?t6n"s' which are now taking place in this country. 

 He described tho appearance presented by many of the mountain- 

 tops and slopes in our hilly regions. The rocks were often more or 

 less concealed below masses of coarse angslar fragments of all shapes 

 and sizes. The hill-tops frequently looked as if they had been sub- 

 jected to the battering action of some mighty hammer, which had 

 smashed and shattered the rocks to a considerable depth ; so that, 

 if we wished to get at the solid and undisturbed parent-mass, we 

 should first have to clear away many feet, and even sometimes 

 many yards, of more or less loose dcli-is. The slopes of such d<flri3- 

 capped mountains were invariably clothed with long sloping taluses 

 of similar fragments, which swept down at a high angle to the 

 vajleys, and at the base of these slopes large blocks and isolated 

 masses of rock were of common occmrence. No one who should ex- 

 amine these phenomena could for a moment doubt that they owed 

 their origin to the action of the atmosjiheric agents. Dr. Geikie 

 then described, in a somewhat detailed manner, the mode in 

 which the rocks were broken up by the disruiiting force of ice. 

 Water found its way into the crevices of tho rocks, and, being 

 frozen there, the joints were gradually widened by the expansion 

 of the ice, again and again repeated. When tlds action took place 

 on a flattish hill-top the rocks were simply disrupted, and the sepa- 

 rate fragments ]iushcd asunder. But upon the verge of precipices, 

 and upon steep slopes, the disrupted fragments were shot down- 

 wards, as soon as thaw set in. There were other ways in which 

 rock-dt!)iis or natural rubbish-heaps were formed. Strata were 

 often undermined by the action of water, and large masses of rock, 

 deprived of their support, tumbled down in ruins. This could be 

 seen at the base of sea-clififs, and- along the marjrins of streams 

 and rivers. Then, again, some kinds of rock which were 

 more or less soluble in water were liable, under certain cir- 

 cumstances, to bo difsjointed and broken up. Limestone, 

 for example, was dissolved by the action of acidulated water 

 working its way downwards through the natural fissiues of the 

 rock. In process of time these fissures were widened by this 

 solvent action, and converted into irregular channels and tunnels. 

 This was the origin of most of our limestone caverns. Water 

 continuing to percolate down into such caves, gradually loosened 

 the limestone that formed the roof, and now and again large and 

 small fragments of tho rock, losing cohesion, fell to the ground. 

 Another cause for the origin of rock-dt'6ris was to bo found in the 

 )ieculiar geological structni-o of certain masses of strata, which 

 were so arranged as to render them liable to sudden and whole- 

 sale demolition. When a mountain was built up of a series of 

 ]iorous and non-porous strata, arranged in alternate layers, 

 dipping into tho valleys at such a low angle that the edges of the 

 bi'ds were exposed upon the mountain-slopes, such a mountain 

 might at any moment be destroyed. Ur. Geikio then referred to 

 several rcmai'kable examples of such catastrophes. In the case 

 of the Uossberg, in Switzerland, the destruction was due to the 



