472 



SCIENCE. 



Before leaving New York, King Kalakaua called on Miv 

 Edison. He was accompanied on his visit by the Attor 

 ney-General of his island kingdom, Mr. Armstrong, and by 

 an intimate friend residing in this city, whose acquaintance 

 he made in Vienna. Punctually at nine o'clock in the evening 

 his majesty alighted from the carriage of his friend in front of 

 the Filth-avenue mansion. He was introduced to Mr. Edi- 

 son, who escorted him through the building, and by means 

 of models, maps, drawings, and the 55 lamps in operation, 

 explained the theory of the conversion of steam-power into 

 electricity and the generation of light in the carbon loop. 



Escorting his distinguished visitor to the library, Mr. 

 Edison first explained the science of the light, and then, by 

 reference to maps of the district that his engineers are pre- 

 paring for the experiment, the application of his system to 

 the practical requirements of a city. The region to be 

 lighted will require 22,000 lights, all of which are to be sup- 

 plied from a central station in Pearl street, where 12 en- 

 gines of 1S5 horse power are to be placed. Ten of these 

 will be in constant operation, the other two being held in 

 reserve to meet the emergencies of accident. The engines 

 will be run at a rate of speed equal to that of a locomotive 

 at 60 miles an hour, and a new feature of the system is that 

 no bells are employed to transmit the powerto the d^ namo- 

 electric generators, and the power is applied directly, 

 avoiding the irregularity and vibration arising from the 

 slipping of the belt which seems inseparable Irom the old 

 practice. The mains consist of large iron pipes, in which 

 the crescent-shaped positive and negative conductors are 

 carried, being insulated from such by means of a non- 

 conducting material with which the pipes are filled when in 

 a pasty condition, induced by heat, but which hardens like 

 a concrete pavement in the process of cooling. These 

 mains in their passage through the streets are all con- 

 nected with each other by means of ingenious connection 

 boxes, the whole forming a subterranean net-work of elec- 



trical conductors comparable to the capillary circulation in 

 the skin of an animal body. 



His Majesty listened with intense but almost silent in- 

 terest, and examined the cross-sections of the electrical 

 mains and the interior arrangement of the connection 

 boxes with critical closeness, now and then asking a ques- 

 tion in the purest English imaginable, and with a voice that 

 was strikingly low, mellow, and muscial, and yet so 

 sharply defined in the articulation of the consonants as to 

 impress the ear at an unusual distance. He seemed partic- 

 ularly interested in the statement that after steam power 

 had been transformed into electricity and carried to a great 

 distance in that form it could again be convened into mo- 

 tive power by means of an electrical motor, and sold to 

 customers for the purpose of running elevators or opera- 

 ting hoist-wa\-s. His eyes lighted when he was told that one 

 of the most profitable departments of the business of the 

 company would be the sale of power to manufactories and 

 business firms in quantities as small as a single horse- 

 power, costing, under circumstances of ordinary use, not 

 more than eight cents a day. 



From the library Mr. Edison led the way to the front 

 parlor, brilliantly lighted. Pressing the toe of his shoe 

 upon a knob projecting from the floor, every lamp was in- 

 stantaneously extinguished and as suddenly blazed out 

 again. The inventor next turned the stop-cock of a single 

 lamp among the group and extinguished it. The party 

 then ascended to the upper floor, where more wonders were 

 in store, and then descended two flights beneath the street 

 level, where, in a low-ceiled vault, a small engine was 

 operating, with nearly absolute silence, a generator whose 

 cylinder performed 1200 revolutions per minute. After 

 inspecting every detail, his Majesty took leave of the in- 

 ventor, and repaired to his carriage. One of the points 

 that appeared to impress him most was the steadiness of 

 the light, and its freedom from vibration. — N. Y. Times. 



METEOROLOGICAL REPORT FOR NEW YORK CITY FOR THE WEEK ENDING SEPT. 24, 1881. 



Latitude 40 45' 58" N.; Longitude 73 57' 58" W.; height of instruments above the ground, 53 feet ; above the sea, 97 



feet ; by self-recording instruments. 



BAROMETER. THERMOMETERS. 



SEPTEMBER. 



MEAN FOR 

 THE DAY. 



MAXIMUM. 



MINIMUM. 



MEAN. 



MAXIMUM. 



MINIMUM. 



maxi'm 



Reduced 

 to 



Freezing. 



Reduced 

 to 



Freezing. 



Time. 



Reduced 

 to 



Freezing. 



Time. 



Dry 

 Bulb. 



Wet 

 Bulb. 



Dry 

 Bulb. 



Time. 



W ct 

 Bulb. 



Time. 



Dry 

 Bulb. 



53 

 64 

 63 

 62 

 60 

 67 

 68 



Time. 



Wet 

 Bulb. 



to 

 58 

 56 

 59 

 64 

 64 



Time. 



In Sun. 



Sunday, 18.. 

 Monday, 19.. 

 Tuesday, 20.. 

 Wednesday, 21 . 

 Thursday, 22.. 

 Friday, 23-- 

 Saturday, 24.. 



30.094 

 29.831 

 29.869 

 29.999 

 30.069 

 29.040 

 29.985 



30.22S 

 29.964 

 29.898 

 30.068 

 30. 108 

 30.046 

 30.004 



a. m. 



a. m. 



9 a. m. 

 12 p. m. 

 10 a. m. 



a. m. 



9 a. m. 



29.964 

 629 788 

 29.810 

 29.892 

 30.012 

 29.882 

 29.942 



12 p. m. 



4 p. m. 



5 P- 



a. m. 

 5 P- "l. 

 4 p. m. 

 a. m. 



68.3 

 75.0 



73-3 

 60.7 

 66.6 

 74.6 

 77-3 



60.6 

 65.3 

 63-3 

 59-3 

 62.3 

 67.3 

 68.3 



78 

 84 

 83 

 73 

 70 

 8 S 

 85 



3 P- 



3 P- 



4 P- m. 

 4 p. m. 

 4 p. m. 

 4 p. m. 

 4 P- m - 



64 

 70 

 69 

 64 



65 

 70 

 73 



5 p. m. 



6 p. m. 

 4 P- m. 

 4 P m. 

 4 p. m. 

 2 p. m. 

 4 p. m. 



6 a. m. 

 6 a. m. 

 6 a. m. 

 12 p. in. 



5 a- «>i. 



6 a. m. 

 6 a. m. 



6 a. m. 



6 a. m. 



7 a. m. 

 7 a. m. 



5 a. m. 



6 a. m. 

 6 a. m. 



142. 

 140. 

 «34- 

 130. 

 87. 

 139- 

 141. 



Dry. Wet. 



Mean for the week 29 969 inches. ! Mean for the week_ 71.7 degrees 63.7 degrees. 



Maximum for the week at o a. m., Sept. 18th 30.228 " Maximum for the week.at 4 pm. 24th 85. " at 4 pm 24th, 73. " 



Minimum " at 4 p. m., Sept. 19th 29.788 " Minimum " " 6 am. 18th 53. at 6 am 18th, 53. 



Range 1 .440 " | Range " " 32. " so. 



WIND. 



HYGROMETER. 



CLOUDS. 



RAIN AND SNOW. 



M 

 ■£ 









DIRECTION. 



VELOCITY 

 m MILES. 



FORCE IN 

 LBS. PER 

 SCJR. FEET. 



FORCE OF VAPOR. 



RELATIVE 

 HUMIDITY. 



CLEAR, 

 OVERCAST. 







10 



DEPTH 



OF RAIN AND SNOW 

 IN INCHES. 



C 



SEPTEMBER 



7 a. m. 



2 p. m. 



9 P- m. 



Distance 

 for the 

 Day. 



. 

 X 

 (C 



2 



Time. 



i 



m 



e 



c. 

 ct 



e 



d 

 



E 



a 



«- 



B 

 p. 



E 

 0. 







E 



E 



0. 



CI 



B 

 A 



Cfc 



Time 



of 

 Begin- 

 ing. 



Time 



of 

 End- 

 ing. 



Dura- 

 tion, 

 h. m. 



lAmount 

 lof water 



O 

 IO 



Sunday, 18. 

 Monday, 19. 

 Tuesday, 20. 

 Wednesday ,2 1 - 

 Thursday, 22. 

 Friday, 23. 

 Saturday, 24. 



n. n. e. 

 n. 

 n. w. 



s. s. e. 

 w. s. w. 



.. 



n. 

 n. n. e. 

 n. n. w. 

 e. s. e. 



s. 

 s. w. 



s. 



n. e. 



n. 



w. 

 s. s. e. 

 s. s. w 

 w. s. w. 

 s. s. w. 



60 

 130 



90 

 152 

 »53 

 236 

 129 



Yi. 

 t% 



«is 



7 



U 



9.00 am 

 12.00 m 

 2.00 am 

 7.30 am 

 7.20 pm 

 1.40 pm 

 3.30 pm 



.380 

 •425 

 •4°3 



.356 



■147 



.556 

 .529 



■436 



■447 



•438 

 .390 

 .529 

 •558 

 .583 



.482 

 .628 

 •5'9 

 •483 

 •543 

 .604 

 .612 



76 

 64 

 67 

 63 



77 

 84 



48 



39 

 4» 

 5° 

 74 

 49 

 SO 



66 

 72 

 60 

 78 

 79 

 7* 

 62 



O 



2 cir. cu. 

 







3 cir. cu. 

 xo 



1 cir. 



1 cir. s, 



2 cir. s. 

 2 cir. cu. 

 



10 



6 cir. cu. 

 4 cir. cu. 



4 cir. cu. 



5 cu. 



3 cir. cu. 







10 



















N 00 CO OOOO | 



1 



Distance traveled during the week 950 miles. I Total amount of water for the week 00 inch. 



Maximum force . . 7 lbs. | Duration of rain 00 hours, 00 minutes. 



DANIEL DRAPER, Ph. D. 

 Director Meteorological Observatory of the Department of Public Parks, New York. 



