268 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XVIII. No. 458 



other half after thorough seasoning. A determination is 

 made at the time of testing of the amount of water present 

 in the test-piece, since this appears greatly to influence re- 

 sults. 



From each tree there are cut two or three logs, from each 

 log three or four sticks, two of standard size, the other one 

 or two of larger size. Each standard stick is cut in two, and 

 one end reserved for testing two years later after seasoning. 

 The standard size for the sticks is 4 X 4 inches and 60 inches 

 long for cross-breaking tests. There will, however, be made 

 a special series of cross-breaking tests on a specially con- 

 structed beam testing machine, gauged to the Watertown 

 testing machine, in which the full log length is utilized with 

 a cross section of 6 by 12 up to 8 by 16 inches, in order to 

 establish the comparative value of beam-tests to those on the 

 small test- pieces. It is expected that, on the average, 50 tests 

 ■will be made on each tree, besides 4 or 5 beam-tests, or 250 

 tests for each species and site. 



All due caution will be exercised to perfect and insure the 

 accuracy of methods; and, besides tbe records, which are 

 made directly in ink into permanent books, avoiding mistakes 

 in copying, a series of photographs, exhibiting the character 

 of the rupture, will assist in the ultimate study of the mate- 

 rial, which is also preserved. 



Such work as this, if done as indicated, and well done, 

 will never need to be done over again. The results will be- 

 come the standard, the world over. The strength and value 

 of a given species or even stick will then no longer be a 

 matter of opinion, but a question of established fact, and we 

 will learn not only to apply our timbers to the use to which 

 they are best adapted, but also what conditions produce re- 

 quired qualities, thus directing the consumer of present sup- 

 plies and the forest grower of the future. 



The American Association for the Advancement of Sci- 

 ence, in its Section of Mechanics and Engineering, has created 

 an Advisory Board to assist in securing improved methods, 

 and the co-operation of other authorities will be welcomed to 

 make this a truly national work. 



So far the work has been confined to southern pines and 

 oaks (which, thanks to the courtesy of the Louisville and 

 Nashville Eailroad Company, could be obtained free of 

 transportation charges) ; the scant appropriations available, 

 and other unfavorable conditions, making such limitation 

 necessary. 



The work will be extended and its progress pushed in pro- 

 portion to appropriations made by Congress, which depend 

 upon the interest which the work may arouse among those 

 to be benefited by it. 



FIRE-RESISTING MATERIALS. 



Tests were held on Oct. 15, in two buildings erected 

 in a vacant lot on Park Street, Boston, Mass., for the purpose 

 of demonstrating the efficiency of slow-burning construction, 

 and also of various materials designed to retard free com- 

 bustion. In addition to asbestos paper and ordinary lath 

 and plaster, the materials manufactured by the following 

 companies were used, being contributed by their representa- 

 tives, — King's Windsor Cement Dry Mortar Company, Clin- 

 ton Wire Cloth Company, New Jersey Wire Cloth Company, 

 Magneso-Calcite Fire-Proof Company (who manufacture a 

 fire-proof paper), Boston Fire-Prooflng Company (who manu- 

 facture porous tei*ra-cotta lumber). New York Eastern Plaster 

 Board Company (manufacturers of cellular blocks of plaster 

 of Paris mixed with fibrous vegetable matter). Stark, Edson, 



& Co. (manufacturers of albamural, which is a fire-proofing 

 material in general appearance similar to kalsoraine). 



The buildings were constructed of two-inch tongued and 

 grooved spruce plank placed upright and held by a grooved 

 plate at the top. They were covered by flat plank roofs 

 tinned on the upper side. 



The larger building was 12 x 16, divided into four cells, 

 with a Are door in each partition and one at the eastern end. 

 The other building measured 12 x 12, being divided into three 

 cells, and situated three feet from the larger building. Scut- 

 tles about two feet square were placed in the roof over each 

 cell, but they were opened when the fire was started. The 

 entrance at the front of each cell was provided with doors 

 made of two inch plank tinned on the edges and on the side 

 toward the fire. 



For the purpose of obtaining approximate temperatures in 

 the buildings at the test, four links furnished by Mr. Morris 

 Martin of the United States Electric Fire Alarm Company 

 were hung on steel wire in the upper part of each cell, and 

 the melting points of these links were stated to be as fol- 

 lows: lead, 626'-'; antimony, 842°; aluminum alloy, 1,292°; 

 brass, 1,850°. Each of the cells was lined with fire-retard- 

 ing material. 



After the buildings had been thoroughly examined by 

 those present, the fuel was placed in each cell, consisting of 

 kiln-dried hickory wood piled to a depth of nearly four feet, 

 and also piled to the depth of over five feet in the space be- 

 tween the two buildings. This wood was thoroughly wet 

 with kerosene oil, and the Qres were lighted at 12.21 P.M., 

 simultaneously in each cell. Although the fires burned very 

 fiercely, the buildings resisted the flames admirably, and it 

 was considered that up to 1.30 p.m., or an hour and ten 

 minutes after the fires were started, any burning of the 

 buildings could have been extinguished with a pail of 

 water. 



The heat of the fire was too severe to allow near enough 

 approach to make very careful or accurate observations of 

 the interior until after the fire was extinguished by the fire 

 department, who applied a hose stream upon the fires, be- 

 ginning at 1.52 P.M. After the fires were extinguished, care- 

 ful observations were taken of the conditions of each cell as 

 it was at the time, and later further examinations of the 

 floors were made after the ashes had been removed. 



There were shutters placed upon the ends of the buildings. 

 The wooden shutter covered with tin was somewhat injured 

 • and the wood badly charred. The shutter covered with one- 

 eighth of an inch magneso-calcite, before the tin was applied, 

 was in excellent condition. The fire doors in the partitions 

 in the larger building all yielded during the fire. The im- 

 mediate cause of their failure appeared to be the use of screws 

 in attaching the hinges, and in this respect as well as others 

 they all differed from what is known as the standard tin-cov- 

 ered fire doors, which require that all attachments to the 

 doors shall be made by bolts and not by screws. 



The doors in the partition were held in position, after the 

 hinges gave way, by the mass of fuel piled on either side. 

 The doors covered with asbestos paper or with magneso- 

 calcite, before applying the tin, were somewhat distended by 

 the gas generated by the heated wood, whicii could not 

 escape readily, as was the case in the doors not covered ex- 

 cept by the tin, where the gas could escape at the seams. 



The doors at the front of the cells were tinned only on the 

 edges and the side toward the fire, and were able to resist 

 the heat of the fire for only about an hour, the cause of the 

 failure in each case being the conduction of the heat along 



