June 22, 1888.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



599 



water when the vessel is in motion. An indicator is 

 attached which shows the speed at which the vessel has 

 run. In combination with this is a chronometer and 

 counting device, so that the hours are indicated on 

 one dial and the counting device registers the number of 

 knots run in the time. 



Electric Bell Indicator. — An improved electric bell 

 indicator has been patented by Messrs. J. and E. Eshelby, 

 which consists in making the indicator automatic, so that 

 if the attendant omits to set up the previous indicator, the 

 next bell ringing affects that, and thus there is never more 

 than one disc exposed, which avoids confusion. To meet 

 the case of two stations ringing in quick succession, a 

 temporary indication of the last disc raised, is given by 

 causing it to vibrate a minute, and finally there is an 

 arrangement whereby the attendant can clear the board 

 for a time if leaving the room. 



Time Indicator. — A new mode of indicating time has 

 been patented by Mr. A. J. Readj', and consists in uti- 

 lising the principle of capillary attraction of fluid bodies 

 to obtain a measure of time. A strand of cotton or other 

 material, weighted, if necessary, to retain it in a vertical 

 position, is connected at top to some porous material, as 

 calico or blotting material, on which is provided a scale 

 which is marked oft' according to the speed at which 

 various liquids will travel through the porous material. 

 The strand is inserted or hangs in a vessel containing some 

 fluid, which rises and so indicates the time on the scale. 



Electrolytically Treating Sewage. — A method of 

 electrolytically treating sewage, water and other liquids, 

 has been patented by Mr. W. Webster, jun., of Lee, 

 Kent. The invention consists in purifying sewage and 

 other impure liquids by electrolytic action, by causing 

 the liquid to flow through comparatively narrow 

 channels in which it is brought in contact on the one 

 hand with negative electrodes of iron having very 

 extended surfaces, and on the other hand with extended 

 positive electrodes of either iron, carbon, or other 

 suitable material, so that the liquid is subjected to the 

 action of nascent ammonia evolved at the negative 

 electrodes, and nascent oxygen, and chlorine evolved at 

 the positive electrodes, producing both the precipitation 

 of solid matter and the oxidation and purification of 

 organic matter contained therein. In purifying water, 

 the filtering medium through which the water is passed, 

 either itself constitutes the positive electrode or has a 

 positive electrode imbedded in it, while the negative 

 electrode is either also imbedded in a filtering medium or is 

 otherwise in electrical contact with the water to be filtered. 



Illuminated Fountains. — An apparatus for illuminated 

 fountains has been patented by Messrs. Galloway and 

 Beckwith, of Knott Mill, Manchester. The valves which 

 admit the water from the main to the different sets of 

 jets are opened and shut by a set of levers which are 

 placed in a commanding position. Chains or cords pass- 

 ing over guide pulleys connecting the levers to the valves. 

 The fountain jets are illuminated by electric or other 

 lights placed underneath coloured glass slides, which are 

 connected in groups and actuated by another set of 

 levers, actuated by a hydraulic or pneumatic motor or by 

 hand. Several successive colours may be on the glass 

 screens, which, by their movement, are brought over the 

 lights. 



ANNOUNCEMENTS. 



The French Academy of Science. — M. Masters has been 

 elected a corresponding member for the Botanical Section 

 in place of the late Professor Asa Gray. 



Middlesex Natural History and Science Society. — ' 

 The second annual soiree of the Society was held on June 

 7th. Amongst the exhibits werei Robertson's writing tele- 

 graph and an egg of the great auk. 



Junior Engineering Society. — The adjudication of '^e 

 prize offered for the best paper read by the members of t''''S 

 Society during the seventh session has resulted in its bei"S 

 awarded to Mr. Francis R. Taylor for his paper on " T^^ 

 Illumination of Lighthouses.'' The prize will be presented 

 by Professor W. Cawthorne Unwin, M. Inst. C.E., President' 

 Elect, at the inaugural meeting of the eighth session i^ 

 October next, at which the Presidential address will be 

 delivered. 



Photographic Convention of the United Kingdom. — 

 The Birmingham meeting will take place in the Masonic 

 Hall, the head-quarters of the gathering, on the 23rd of July, 

 when the evening exhibition, which forms an important part 

 of the programme, will be opened. There will be an inau- 

 gural address by the Mayor of Birmingham, and a conversa- 

 zione, besides the reading of papers, lantern displays, a dinner", 

 and a smoking concert. An entire week will be devoted to 

 the proceedings, which will include an organised series of ex-- 

 cursions to interesting places in the environs and adjoining 

 counties, visits to manufactories, and so forth. 



Society of Chemical Industry. — The annual general 

 meeting will be held in Glasgow, on Wednesday, Thursday, 

 and Friday, the 4th, 5th, and 6th of July next, instead of the 

 1 8th, 19th, and 20th, as previously announced. The annual 

 meeting will take place in the Bute Hall, of the Glasgow 

 University, on Wednesday, 4th, at 11 a.m. The annual 

 dinner will take place at the Grand Hotel in the evening. 

 For Thursday, the 5th, arrangements, have been made which 

 will enable the members to visit some of the following works: 

 Forth Bridge Works, Broxburn Oil Works, Thornliebank 

 Print Works, Langloau Iron Works, Summerlee Iron Works, 

 Nobel's Explosives Co.'s Works, Singer Sewing Machine 

 Co.'s Works, Messrs. J. and G. Thomson's Shipbuilding 

 Yard, and the Glasgow Cleansing Department. On Friday, 

 the l6th, after inspecting Messrs. J. Walker and Co.'s Sugar 

 Refinery, the members will be taken for an excursion on the 

 Firth ot Clyde. 



Lustreless Surface on Steel. — A finely-polished lustre- 

 less surface on tempered steel can be procured by either of the 

 following operations. After the steel article lias been tem- 

 pered, it should be rubbed on a smooth iron surface with 

 some pulverised oilstone until it is perfectly smooth and even, 

 then laid upon a sheet of white paper, and rubbed back and 

 forth until it acquires a fine dead polish. Any screw-holes or 

 depressions in the steel must be cleaned and polished before- 

 hand with a piece of wood and oilstone. This delicate, lustre- 

 less surface is quite sensitive, and should be rinsed with pure 

 soft water only. A more durable polish is obtained by first 

 smoothing the steel surface with an iron-polisher and sorne 

 powdered oilstone, carefully washing and rinsing. Then mix 

 in a small vessel some fresh oil and powdered oilstone ; dip- 

 into the end of this mi.xture the end of a piece of elder pith, 

 and polish the steel surface with a gentle pressure, cutting off 

 the end of the pith as it commences to become soiled. In 

 conclusion, it should be thoroughly cleansed in soft water, 

 when the article will be found to have a fine white, lustreless- 

 polish. — Iron. 



Silver-Plating Solution. — Dissolve in a pint of distilled 

 water 50 grs. of silver nitrate and Si ozs. avor. of potassium 

 iodide. Employ a current of moderate strength. When a 

 sufficiently thick deposit has been obtained, wash the object 

 with a solution of potassium iodide in water (r4), then with- 

 pure water, and burnish. 



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