SCIENCE. 



[Vol.. XI 11. No. 3T4 



net horse-power, and at one-eleventh of the stroke only 47 horse- 

 power, and in that proportion. Each experiment lasted seventy-two 

 hours. The water was carefully measured as it was taken into 

 I he boiler ; and the steam which resulted from that water was esti- 

 mated from the indicator diagrams as it went into the condenser. 

 The result of these trials is thus stated in a note, quoting the tig- 

 gres from the report : — 



•• In round numbers twelve hundred pounds of water an hour 

 disappeared from the engine, whether the steam followed the piston 

 full stroke, or was cut off at one-eleventh of the stroke; and, of 

 course, the expansion rate had nothing to do with its loss. Indeed, 

 at the high expansion there appeared less loss of water than at 

 lower rates. The fact, of course, was that the double-balanced 

 puppet-valves of that engine leaked about the same amount of 

 sieam into the condenser an hour when the engine was running, 

 and it made no particular difference whether the cut-off was long 

 or short. 



" If the estimated water in steam, as shown by the indicator, 

 could have been ascertained as accurately as the water pumped in 

 was, it would have appeared that at the high rates a still smaller 

 loss occurred than the tables show, as compared with full stroke ; 

 because, after the cut-off valve shuts, the steam-pressure falls off in 

 the cylinder, and less steam ought to leak into the condenser than 

 if the boiler-pressure were kept up in the cylinder during its entire 

 stroke ; but these indicator measurements cannot be exactly accu- 

 rate. They, however, established the fact that in this case high 

 expansion destroyed less steam than full stroke, and so completely 

 demolished the theory which the experiment was tried to establish. 

 That, however, did not prevent the forcing of balances, and other 

 similar manipulation of the honest figures, in order to prove the 

 hypothesis under which the experiment was tried ; and the result 

 was announced that the Lake Erie experiment had proved what it 

 was intended to prove, and the official United States Government 

 report was issued to the world, announcing the new discovery. 



•' If book-keeping could have beaten James Watt, he and his laws 

 would have perished from the earth ; but, as it was, they were 

 only driven for a season out of the American Navy." 



It is not important for science to know whether the conclusion 

 drawn from the facts was fraudulent, as the lecturer asserts, or 

 simply a stupid blunder. The fact is, that an almost constant 

 quantity of steam disappeared from the engine in an hour, under all 

 circumstances, and of course its loss had nothing to do with expan- 

 sion. The quantity — twelve hundred pounds an hour — was a 

 very large percentage of 47 horse-power, and a small percentage of 

 280 horse-power ; and this fact was put forward as proving that 

 expansion destroyed a much larger amount of steam used than full 

 stroke did, wheieas in fact a trifle less steam was destiojed when 

 high expansion was used than at any other time. 



The explanation, open to any one's verification by the tables 

 themselves, disposes of this extraordinary trial, and destroys the 

 theory based upon it. It is great service to truth to make this ex- 

 posure. 



The lecture ends with this expression of opinion : — 



" It is my opinion, that, with our present knowledge of m.achinery, 

 a steam-engine can be built to day that will produce a horse-power 

 with three-quarters of a pound of coal an hour, if of sufficient size 

 to reduce the percentages of loss by radiation, friction, and leakage, 

 to a minimum. Under those circumstances, your fuel expense 

 would be less than one- third of what it now is." 



It would seem that there should be some means of bringing this 

 to a test. No one claims at present less than a pound and a half 

 an hour in the most elaborate and extensive steamers ; and, if this 

 opinion is correct, half the coal now used, or a power double that 

 now got from the same fuel in the most perfect machine, would be 

 the result of such an engine. 



In a review we cannot go over the whole ground on which the 

 lecturer places the case; but to those specially interested in the 

 subject there is matter enough for very serious consideration, and 

 we commend the paper to their notice. 



Seth K. Warren of Geneva Lake, Wis., publishes a little vol- 

 ume devoted to the " Evolution Theory of the Origin of Worlds." 



IMPROVED GASLIGHT. 



Notwithstanding the rapid development of the electric-light 

 industry, gas still remains the most widely used and convenient 

 illuminant ; and any means of improving the quality or decreasing 

 the cost of gaslight is of interest to the public. One improvement 

 in both these features, now attracting much attention, is known as 

 the " albo-carbon light." 



In this light the ordinary illuminating-gas is passed through a 

 simple apparatus, in which it is enriched by taking up a hydro- 

 carbon vaporized by a current of heated gas. It is claimed by the 

 company who have introduced it to the public that one thousand 

 feet of common coal-gas, after being passed through their appli- 

 ance, will give fully as much illumination as three thousand feet 

 where ordinary burners are used : in other words, the cost of illu- 

 mination is reduced to at least one-half, while the light is far more 

 satisfactory. The apparatus can be attached to any ordinary gas- 

 pipe or gas-fixture in a few minutes, and no change in the meter or 



gas service is required. The carburetling vessel is detachable, and 

 may be readily removed from the fixture for refilling with " carbon." 

 This operation is quickly performed, and the whole appliance is so 

 simple that it requires practically no attention. There is no com- 

 plicated mechanism, and consequently nothing to get out of order. 

 The adaptability of this light for illuminating purposes under all 

 ■ circumstances is proved by the fact that it is now in use in many of 

 the largest business-houses in this city and Brooklyn. Professor 

 Stevens of Girard College, Philadelphia, says of it, " I have tested 

 the albo-carbon light. . . . The burner consumed 2 cubic feet of 

 gas per hotir. One foot of common gas per hour equalled 2.5 can- 

 dles, while one foot of the gas when carbonized equalled 8.125 

 candles. Regarding candle-power, the carbonized gas is equal to 

 3.25 times the common gas. Comparing the common gas with the 

 standard 5-foot Argand burner, 5 feet per hour with the Argand 

 burner equalled 17.20 candles ; 5 feet of carbonized gas equalled 

 40.625 candles, which is 2.36 times the candle-power of the stand- 

 ard Argand. . . . The perfectly steady, soft light furnished by the 

 albo-carbon burner adapts the light admirably for reading, for 

 manufacturing establishments especially, and for general household 

 uses." 



The tests referred to above refer only to single lights : when the 



