248 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



^Sept. 7, i{ 



chloride, then being deposited on a cathode. The process would 

 seem to be hopeful, but is not as yet a serious rival to the ordinary 

 chlorination method. 



In the amalgamation of gold ores much is expected from the 

 possibility of keeping clean, by the aid of hydrogen set free by the 

 electric current, the surfaces of amalgamated plates. 



It is well known that the late Sir W. Siemens considered that 

 the electric arc might render good service in the fusion of metals 

 with high melting points, and he actually succeeded in melting 96 

 ounces of platinum in ten minutes with his electrical furnace. The 

 experiments were interrupted by his untimely death, but in the 

 hands of Messrs. Cowles the electric arc produced by 5>ooo 

 amperes and 500 horse-power is being employed on a very large 

 scale for the isolation of aluminium (from corundum), which is 

 immediately alloyed (in situ') with copper or iron, in the presence 

 of which it is separated. 



The heating power of large currents has been used by Elihu 

 Thomson in the United States, and by Bernardos in Russia, to 

 weld metals, and it is said to weld steel without affecting its hard- 

 ness. It has even been proposed to weld together in one con- 

 tinuous metallic mass the rails of our railways so as to dispense 

 entirely with joints. 



The production of chlorine for bleaching and of iodine for phar- 

 maceutical purposes, the economical production of oxygen, are 

 also processes now dependent on the electrolytic, effect of the 

 electric current. 



It is almost impossible to enumerate the various general purposes 

 to which electricity is applied to minisier to our wants, and to add 

 to our comforts. Every one appreciates the silent efficiency of the 

 trembling electric bell, while all will sooner or later derive comfort 

 from the perennially self-winding electric clock. Correct mean 

 time is distributed throughout the length and breadth of the land 

 by currents derived from Greenwich Observatory. Warehouses and 

 shops are fitted with automatic contact pieces, which, on any 

 undue increase of temperature due to fire, create an alarm in the 

 nearest fire station ; and at the corner of most streets a post is 

 found with a face of glass, which on being broken enables the 

 passer-by or the watchful and active policeman to call a fire- 

 engine to the exact spot of danger. Our sewers are likely to 

 find in its active chemical agency a power to neutralise offensive 

 gases, and to purify poisonous and dangerous fluids. The germs 

 of disease are attacked and destroyed in their very lairs. The 

 physician and the surgeon trust to it to alleviate pain, to cure 

 disease, to effect organic changes beyond the reach of drugs. The 

 photographer finds in the brilliant rays of the arc lamp a minia- 

 ture sun which enables him to pursue his lucrative business at 

 night, or during the dark and dismal hours of a black November 

 fog of London. 



We learn from the instructive and interesting advertising 

 columns of our newspapers that " electricity is life," and we may 

 perhaps read in the more historical portion of the same paper that 

 by a recent decision of the New York Parliament, " electricity is 

 death." It is proposed to replace hanging by the more painless 

 and sudden application of a powerful electrical charge ; but those 

 who have assisted at this hasty legislation would have done well to 

 have assured themselves of the practical efficacy of the proposed 



process. I have seen the difficulty of killing even a rabbit with 

 the most powerful induction coil ever made, and I know those who 

 escaped and recovered from the stroke of a lightning discharge. 



The fact that the energy of a current of electricity, either when 

 it flashes across an air space or when it is forced through high 

 resistance, assumes the form of heat of very high temperature led 

 early to its employment for firing charges of gunpowder ; and for 

 many civil, military, and naval purposes it has become an invalu- 

 able and essential agent. Wrecks like that of the Royal George 

 at Spithead were blown up and destroyed ; the faces of cliffs and 

 quarries are thrown down ; the galleries of mines and tunnels are 

 excavated ; obstructions to navigation like the famous Hell Gate, 

 near New York, have been removed ; time guns to distribute cor- 

 rect time are fired by currents from Greenwich at I p.m. In the 

 operations of war, both for attack and defence, submarine mining 

 has become the most important branch of the profession of a 

 soldier and a sailor. Big guns, whether singly or in broadside, are 

 fired, and torpedoes, when an enemy's ship unwittingly is placed 

 over them, are exploded by currents of electricity. 



An immense amount of research has been devoted to design the 

 best form of fuse, and the best form of generator of electricity to use to 

 explode them. Gun tubes for firing consist of a short piece of very 

 fine wire embedded in some easily fusible compound, while the best 

 form of fuse is that known as the Abel fuse, which is composed of 

 a small, compact mass of copper phosphide, copper sulphide, and 

 potassium chlorate. The practice in the use of generators is very 

 various. Some, like the Austrians, lean to the high tension effects 

 of static electricity ; others prefer magneto machines ; others use 

 the dynamo ; while we in England cling with much fondness to 

 the trustworthy battery. Since the electric light has also become 

 such a valuable adjunct to war purposes, it is probable that 

 secondary batteries will become of immense service. The strong 

 inductive effects of atmospheric electricity are a source of great 

 danger. Many accidental explosions of fuses have occurred. An 

 experimental cable with a fuse at one end was laid below low-water 

 mark along the banks of the Thames at Woolwich. The fuse was 

 exploded during a heavy thunderstorm. The knowledge of the 

 causes of a danger is a sure means for the production of its 

 removal, or of its reduction to a minimum. Low tension fuses and 

 metallic circuits reduce the evils of lightning, but have not removed 

 them. Should war unhappily break out again in Europe, sub- 

 marine mining will play a very serious part, and, paradoxical as it 

 may appear — as has been suggested by the French ambassador, M. 

 Waddington — its very destructiveness may ultimately prove it to be 

 a powerful element of peace. 



( To be continued?) 



NOTICES. 



The Title Page and Index to Vol. L, now ready, price 3d. 



Vol. I., bound in cloth, with Title Page and Index, 9s. 6d. 

 — by post 10s. 



The Back Numbers of Scientific News can be obtained 

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 by post 3^d. 



METEOROLOGICAL RETURNS 



For the ten weeks ending on Monday, August 27th, 1888. Specially prepared for Scientific News from official reports 





Mean Temperature. 



Rainfall. 



Duration of Sunshine. 



Scotland, East 



S3 '6 degs. 



being 3'6 degs. below average. 



7'0ins. 



being 03 ins. 



above average. 



328 



ITS. 



being 52 hrs. below 



average. 



England, N.E. 



S4'S 



»» 



»> 4"° >» >» » 



81 „ 



v 2'2 „ 





260 





,, 107 : , ,, 



i] 



England, East 



57\S 



1» 



j» 3*8 >j ,, ,, 



84 „ 



„ 3° .. 



j> >» 



29 s 



is 



)> '47 ■> >> 



)> 



Midlands 



07 



)) 



»> 3 '6 is 



7'8 „ 



., r6 „ 





284 



jj 



» 118 ,, ,, 



»j 



England, South 



S»M 



»J 



>» 2 ,, ,, ,, 



7V„ 



» 21 ,, 





2q3 



,, 



n *j2 )) >) 



j» 



Scotland, West 



SS'S 



I) 



)) * 4 ») >5 >i 



8-9,. 



.. 07 „ 



,1 )1 



34S 





.. 29 „ ,, 



>» 



England. N.W. 



0-3 



„ 





100 „ 



„ i-9 >. 





310 





,. 69 » .. 



i» 



England, S.W. 



Syz 



J) 



it 2 9 »1 >> )» 



9 - 4., 



,. 17 .. 





381 





» 109 .. >. 



j» 



Ireland, North 



S6'b 







98 „ 



>. 3'i >. 





^21 





,, 19 „ above 



,, 



Ireland, South 



57-3 



J) 



)> ''8 .1 >> >> 



8-6 „ 



„ 16 „ 



)> )> 



3°5 



I) 



I! 8 ,, „ 



»» 



The Kingdom... 



56 '4 



J J 



>l 29 », ,, ,, 



8-6 „ 



„ r8 „ 



)J )• 



3'8 



" 



„ 76 ,, below 



j) 



During the corresponding period of last year the rainfall for the kingdom was 3 '6 inches, or 3-2 inches below the normal ; sun- 

 shine was 508 hours, or 114 hours above the normal. i 



