78 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIII. No. 313 



French Navy buying one for the colonies of Guinea, etc. Lately, 

 however, in the Brussels Exhibition, the new stripping and peeling 

 machine of Norbert de Landtsheer from Paris was exhibited, and it 

 is the most simple, complete, and inexpensive machine yet used for 

 the peeling of either dry or green stalks. Peeling is accomplished 

 without crushing, and the threads are free from cuts. The disag- 

 gregation is perfect, and the machine is free from waste in either 

 dry or green peelings. The daily product is : dry, lOO to 158 kilo- 

 grams (220 to 330 pounds), a quarter to one horse-power ; green, 

 100 to 200 kilograms (220 to 440 pounds), a quarter to one horse- 

 power, price $240. A machine run by hand-power produces 75 

 kilograms (165 pounds), price $200.' 



On a large scale of cultivation, a corresponding series of ma- 

 chines built by Norbert de Landtsheer will be necessary. With this 

 in view, and the value of these machines being established, there is 

 no longer any doubt as to the success of its introduction into 

 the United States, where the conditions of soil and climate are so 

 favorable. 



they birds or fish, have such a form, the larger end being the for- 

 ward end in their movements. To maintain the shape under vary- 

 ing pressure, there are two air-tight conically shaped compart- 

 ments, — one at each end of the balloon proper, — into which air 

 or other gas may be forced, as occasion may require, to keep them 

 distended. 



The buoyant power it is proposed to make just sufficient to raise 

 the ship ; and if, on rising higher, the warmth of the sunlight or 

 other cause should expand the balloon, some of the gas would be 

 removed, and condensed, thus doing away with the clumsy make- 

 shift now in vogue of throwing out ballast. 



To start with, the balloon is supposed to be filled with just 

 enough coal-gas to cause it to rise. As the balloon rises, a portion 

 of this gas may be withdrawn and compressed, and another por- 

 tion may be employed to drive the motor, and some part will es- 

 cape. To replace this loss of buoyancy, there is a reservoir in the 

 car containing a solidified gas, the composition of which Mr. Boisset 

 still keeps a secret, but the basis of which is ammonia, from which 



Extremity of the inflated part; 2. Front cc 

 10. Passengers* cabin ; 11.* Safety-rail ; 12 

 ment ; 16. Large back air-tight compartn 

 for the mator ; 21. Shaft of t 



4. Nets ; 5. Riggings ; 6. Lower parts of the car ; 7, 8. Fringe of the net • 9. Rudder or guiding sail ; 

 of the car ; 13. Machinery and motor-room ; 14. Front air-tight compartment ; 15. Back air-tight compart- 

 f gravity ; 18. Large central compartments for ammoniacal gas ; 19. Metallic bar (very light) ; 20. Gas-pipes 

 ;w • 23. Throttle-valve for ammoniacal gas ; 24. Wheel with air-sails. 



It is not within the scope, nor is it the intention, of this article, to 

 advise agriculturists to proceed to develop this industry on the 

 strength of the information and statements contained in this re- 

 port, but rather to draw the attention of the United States to the 

 feasibility of its introduction into the country. 



AN AIR-SHIP. 



Mr. Louis Boisset, a retired officer of the French army, is now 

 in this country, perfecting an air-ship, an invention of his, and 

 seeking the protection of the United States patent laws. 



Mr. Boisset has had some experience in recent years with the 

 air-ships experimented upon by the French war department, the 

 more or less successful voyages of which over the suburbs of Paris 

 were recorded in Science in 1884. One trouble with these older 

 forms Mr. Boisset believes to have been due to their symmetrical 

 form, and he seeks to make the equilibrium of his balloon when 

 in motion more stable by giving it, as shown in the figure, an 

 ovoidal form, following in this the dictum of Mr. Dupuis de Lome, 

 — that in general, organisms destined for motion in water or air, be 



^ At aforesaid September Exhibition at Paris the decorticating machine of De 

 Landtsheer was recognized to be the best. 



a fresh supply of gas can at will jDe obtained, and introduced into 

 the lower compartment (18) of the balloon. 



Mr. Boisset believes that he has made improvements over any 

 thing that has gone before, in the shape and rigging of the ship, in 

 the gas-motor, and in the method of compensation by which the 

 equilibrium of the ship may be maintained. Further, the dividing 

 of the balloon into air-tight compartments is a novel feature, 

 and allows of replacing the consumed coal-gas by the ammoniacal 

 gas, whatever its composition may be, without mixing the two. 



Mr. Boisset estimates that a vessel of his construction, capable 

 of crossing the Atlantic, should have a gas-chamber (the balloon 

 proper) 62 metres in length, and with a maximum diameter of 20.33 

 metres. The height from the top of the balloon to the flooring of 

 the basket would measure 31 metres; and the length from the end 

 of the propeller to the end of the rudder-sail, 82 metres. The 

 weight of the ship, its provisions, crew of ten men, and passengers, 

 the inventor would place at 6,000 kilograms. 



Among the features of the issue of Light, Heat, and Power 

 for Jan. 19, are four photographic plates, illustrating the recent gas- 

 holder explosions at the works of the Citizens' Gaslight Company, 

 Brooklyn, N.Y. 



