Scientific and itscjul. 
THE EAST RIVER BRIDGE AND ITS 
CAISSON. 
A correspondent having read that “the 
force employed t.o sink the caisson is ob¬ 
tained by piling stones upon it, in the shape 
of masonry, destined to form a portion of 
the pier which is to be built,’’ writes thus: 
“This being bo, the caisson will have to 
bear the whole weight of that portion of 
the bridge, and when the caisson decays 
what then ? ” As wc have frequently heard 
remarks of this kind, it would appear that 
the construction of the caisson and the 
office which It performs in the building of 
the piers is not generally understood by the 
public at large. Let us, therefore, explain: 
The piers of the East River Bridge are 
structures of very unusual size. The mason¬ 
ry foundation at the base measures?5 by 149 
feet, and the to wers rise to a hight of 278 feet 
above high water level. Let ug compare 
this with a few famous and well-known 
structures. The City Column in I^oudon 
is 202 feet high; the Napoleon Column. 
Paris, 132 feet; the Dome of the Capitol at 
Washington, 287 foet, aud Triuity Church 
spire, 286 feet. It is evident, therefore, 
that a structure having the higbt of these 
bridge towers combined with their massive¬ 
ness must be of enormous weight, and when 
to the weight of the towers themselves we 
add the weight of the suspension ropes, 
roadway aud load, it is obvious that the 
foundation must bo very firm and based 
upon either solid rock or something quite 
as substantial. Now, the foundations of 
these piers are laid at a depth of forty or 
fifty feet below the surface of the river, and 
the problem was, how to get them dovm 
there ? 
The simplest and cheapest method was, 
undoubtedly, that which has been adopted 
—the employment, of caissons. Theso cais¬ 
sons (of which two are employed, one at 
each side,) are little else than large diving- 
bells made of wood and iron, and measuring 
168 feet long by 102 feet wide, while their 
weight is 2,500 tons. But even with this 
weight they would not sink, and, thei'efore, 
there was piled on them, to begin with, 
fifteen courses of timber aud concrete, and 
on that several courses of masoiuy in blocks 
of very large dimensions. As soon as the 
caisson, which is a’ huge wooden box with 
air-tight sides, ends and top, but no bot¬ 
tom, bad reached the bed of the river, air 
was forced in by means of pumps driven by 
powerful steam engines, and in this way 
the water was all driven out, just as ooours 
in a diving-bell. The men then went to 
work to remove all soft, loose material 
and soil, so that the caisson might sink still 
further and finally reach “ hard pan.” This 
process was carried on as far as was deemed 
necessary, the sand, soil, gravel and bould¬ 
ers being removed through tubes arranged 
for the purpose. When a good solid stratum 
had been reached, the sinking pi*ocess was 
stopped and the caisson was then filled up 
with concrete of the best description. So 
that the piers and all that they support do 
not rest upon a hollow wooden box, but 
upon a solid block of hard concrete, meas¬ 
uring 168 feet long, 102 feet wide, 29 feet 
thick and weighing over 17.000 tons! Oxxr 
coi’respondent need, therefore, have no 
fear that the caisson will “cave ixx;” as 
well might we expect a steam boiler with a 
full head of steam on to cave in. As for the 
Aimber that is present, compared with the 
masonry and concrete in which it is em¬ 
bedded, it is a mere bagatelle, and if it 
should compress would not cause any 
marked settling; but when we remember 
that wooden piles driven under water by 
the Romans have remained in a state of 
perfect preservation until the present day, 
we need have but little fear that these tim¬ 
bers will decay at a depth of nearly thirty 
feet below the surface of the river. 
HOW 
BLIND MAY CORRESPOND. 
At a recent meeting of the Royal Scottish 
Society of Arts, a communication was read 
from Mr, Albert Meluroi, teacher of the 
t bliud, Alloa, describing an improved meth¬ 
od of conespondiug between blind persons. 
The invention consists of two parts—the 
upper having the types, with keys and lev¬ 
ers for moving them, and the lower con¬ 
taining the paper-moving apparatus. The 
base of the upper part is a metal disk, with 
a cii'oular hole in the center. Around the 
central opening are arranged twenty-six 
little hammers, having on their striking 
surfaoe copper types for embossing the pa¬ 
per. The types are so arranged that they 
all strike at the same place, namely, on the 
opening In the disk, and each hammer, 
- after striking, is pulled back to its original 
position by an India rubber band. Each 
of the keys represents a letter, and when 
any particular key is pressed down, the cor- 
g responding hammer strikes, and the type 
_ makes a mark on the paper, which is 
n, stretched OH a revolving drum in a di-awer 
f below the disk. When one letter is im- 
. pressed the drum is moved round by a 
i, handle in front of the machine, and a plain 
f surface is presented for the next stroke. 
B When a line is finished, the drawer In which 
j the paper moves is pulled out one line. 
t The machine is constructed to print Moon’s 
3 type, but its principle is equally applicable 
C to any other, especially to Brake's. After 
, the paper had been read, the machine was 
. exhibited iu operation, and worked very 
s saisfactorily. 
■ — - 
> SCIENTIFIC AND USEFUL NOTES. 
b - 
i To Measure Grain in a Bin.—A cor- 
1 respondent of the Rural Carolinian gives 
, the following rule:—First get the actual 
number of cubic Jcet, which is done by mul¬ 
tiplying tlio interior length, breadth aud 
, depth together, then eight-tenths of the 
cubio feet will be the number of bushels 
| that t he bin will contain, or eight-tenths of 
the cubic feet of grain will be the number 
of bushels. To get eight-tenths, multiply 
, the cubio feet by eight, (8) place a period 
before the first right hand figure, and you 
have the bushels and the tenths of the 
bushels, if you measure corn on the oob, 
allow one-half for the cob, so that, four- 
. tenths of the cubic feet will be the number 
of bushels of shelled corn, illustrato: Bin 
10x10x10 feet, multiply these together, 
product (1,000) one thousand; of which sum 
eight-tenths or 0.8 will be bushels, and four- 
tenths or 0.4 if corn in the ear; that is, 800 
or 400 bushels, as the corn may be shelled or 
on the cob. 
Rat Killing*.—I herewith send you my 
experience in rat killing, which was sug¬ 
gested to me last Spring by a friend. 1 
got ten cent s’ worth of Arsenic ; mixed with 
llour; made a paste and spread it upon 
small pieces of paper, such us the leaves of 
an old almanac; rolled up into bulls, and 
wherever 1 found a rat hole put one into it. 
The premises were soon cleared of them: 
for every rat about, in passing to and fro, 
naturally stopped and Look a nibble. They 
soon searched for water and soon died. 
This is one of the best methods of destroy- 
ing rats about my premises I have ever 
tried.—I. F. F.mory. 
Our objection to this and all other rat 
poisons is, that if the ruts can get water, as 
they often may, without leaving their se¬ 
clusion, they die there, in the walls, cellars, 
etc., and in places where they are not ac¬ 
cessible and cannot be removed. We have 
known homes rendered uninhabitable by 
this vei‘y process, and advise our readers 
not to attempt it, especially about dwelling 
houses. 
TTow to Make Whitewash.—A cheap 
aixd simple mode Is, to put uuslaked lime— 
that which Is in the form of the original 
rock—in a vessel, pour boiling water on ixn- 
til covered; place a cloth over the vessel, 
so as to confine the most minute particles of 
the lime, they being the ones which most 
perfectly penetrate the surfaces to which 
wash is applied, and consequently* remain 
the longest. Afterward dilute the wash to 
the consistence of thick cream, and apply it 
thoroughly' aud thickly, thus securing a 
white, light-giviug surface,with a body capa¬ 
ble of absorbing, and thus rendering harm¬ 
less, the bad air and gases which may be 
formed in the cellar, as alse iu the poultry, 
the meat, aud other outhouses in the vicin¬ 
ity of the dwelling. 
Cement for Leather.—A good material 
for cementing leather, is made of ten parts 
sulphide of carbon, one pai’t of oil of tur¬ 
pentine with enough gutta pei*cha to make 
a thick, llowiug liquid. Leather tilled with 
grease cannot be cemented as it should be, 
and where the parts to be united contain 
oil, trim them well, fold a cloth over them, 
aud apply a hot iron for a short time, then 
apply, the cement to both parts, aud press 
together until entirely dry 
How to select Glue.—When selecting ] 
glue choose that which has acleai', transpa- j 
exit look, free from clouds or spots, aud of ■ 
a reddish-yellow oast, without bad taste or ] 
smell. The quality of glue may be very ; 
well determined before using, by putting a 
piece in cold water, for that which is good 
will swell, but not dissolve. Good glue will t 
oixly become soluble in water when heated i 
to a boiling point. 
) DYSPEPSIA REMEDY. 
i - 
Having been a great sufferer with dys- 
■ pepsia, perhaps I can offer some suggest ions 
< that may' be of value to D. A. Wtiitx:. He 
’ desires symptoms, treatment, etc. For 
- more than two years I ate no pleasant 
i bread. One ounce of the most delicate food 
i gave me pain. It lay in my stomach like a 
• ball of lead; great tenderness at the pit of 
i the stomach; a sense of fullness aud great 
■ oppression after eating; no burning or 
acidity* whatever. One correspondent tells 
> the inquirer xxothing sour should be eaten. 
’ My' first step towards convalesence was 
• brought by eating uncooked tomatoes, 
served up in vinegar and sugar. My fare 
for five months, previous to the ripening of 
the tomatoes, was for each meal about Ik' 
ounces of Graham bread dried in the oven 
to xi crisp, softened with a little weak broth 
• or slightly salted warm water. Even that 
i exliaustedallmystrengthtodigest.it. You 
may be sure my surprise was great to find 
that tomatoes agreed with me. After eat¬ 
ing them two weeks I was able to increase 
my fare to ounces each meal. I found 
sliced lemon, with a sprinkling of sugar, a 
fine relish and a good aid to digestion. Very 
likely there was a great lack of gastric juice 
and the acid of the lemon caused it to flow 
or acted itself the part of the wanting fluid. 
Now this treatment clashes with the ad¬ 
vice of the individual referred to. It is 
nevertheless true that one pei'son ma,y suf¬ 
fer from too much acid in the stomach, 
while another Is as badly afflicted with too 
little. In the one case something sour 
should be taken while the other mxist avoid 
all things sour. After meals 1 had needle 
pains shooting through my chest. They 
were removed by takiug two bottles of 
Lindsey’s Blood Purifier. I found medical 
treatment of little use. I will refer Mr. 
WniTE to a letter in the Rural New- 
Yorker, written by Mr. Mason of New 
York, in answer to an appeal made by my¬ 
self through its columns. That letter 
proved my crowning joy. This sentence of 
my kiud unknown friend, “ Beware o) cal - 
iiuj too much,” has been my mental moni¬ 
tor at every meal. I often found one mor¬ 
sel ,a great deal too much. The dyspeptic 
may take pills, nostrums and bitters, ad 
Infinitum, and unless be adheres strictly to 
the above rule he will never get cured. The 
stomach needs rest. Also leave off doing 
what has caused it to become weakened. 
Dr. Leroy Sunderland, Quincy, Mass., 
would tell Mr. W. to live on a sixpence a 
day. lie asserts that he has known the 
worst cases of dy spepsia cured without a 
particle of medicine—simply by eating just 
what agrees with you, aud never eating 
until you are hungry, nor eat as long as 
you are hungi-y. This I believe to be about 
the entire modus operancU in the dyspep¬ 
sia cure. I send a good prescript ion:—Take 
before each meal a dessert spoonful of weak 
ley. made from the ashes of the bark of the 
shag-bark hickoi'y tree (Varya alba), and 
after meals, or while eating, one-half tea- 
spoonful of white mustard seed. 
Palnesville, O. S. J. D. 
--- . 
HYGIENIC NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Canker Lettuce and Broncliitis. — 
Having read in your excellent paper an in¬ 
quiry, made by a teacher, what would cure 
the bronchitis, I would say to him that wild 
lettuce, or canker root, known often as can¬ 
ker lettuce, or lettuce liverwort, is a sure 
cure for that disease in its first stages. 
Bronchitis is often caused by the catarrh; 
if so, that should be first cured. The tinc¬ 
ture is prepared by* filling a bottle with the 
herb; then apply all the alcohol the bottle 
will bold; set it in a warm place, and in 
two days it will be fit for use. When used, 
reduce the tinoture one-half with pure 
water. Swallow a teaspoonful, then gargle 
the throat with tincture. Do this at bed¬ 
time, one or two nights; then wait a day or 
two ; if not well, repeat the operation, and 
you may add the putting a flannel cloth of 
two or three thickness, saturated with the 
same. Repeat at intervals till well. White 
clothes should be protected by* a cloth over 
the flannel.—A. c. 
The plant you inclose as Canker Lettuce 
is the quite common PyrolaruLiindilulia. 
It may possess all the virtues you name, 
but we should advise those persons who are 
not familiar with wild plants to let them 
alone, inasmuch as there is dauger of col¬ 
lecting species that would do more harm 
thau good. 
Remedy for Catarrh.,—I had this dis¬ 
tressing disease eight years or more. It 
made such a stench that my family could 
hardly bear me in their presence. One 
day I decided to try to cure myself. This 
> is the experiment aud the result:—I took a 
vial that would hold a gill and filled it. near¬ 
ly full of water; added to it a piece of alum 
the size of a common chestnut or hickory 
nut; to this I added 15 or 20 drops of Bak- 
- er’s Pain Panacea, making it as strong as 
3 it could be borne. It would be as well to 
j pulverize the alum before putting it in the 
r vial. After the aluxn is dissolved, turn out 
into the hand a teaspoonful or so of the 
mixture and snuff it up the nose two or 
i three times; get it well up the nose. If it 
f runs into the throat it does no harm ; spit 
: it out. Repeat this operation two or three 
f times a day. This simple medicine cured 
s me in about eight weeks or so. It is some 
six or eight years since I tried this, but I 
» am all right now. It was worth more to 
, me than the gold of India or Peru.— O. Net- 
i TLETON. 
r - 
Salt in Food. — I am not of the “ medi- 
, cal profession;’’ but as no M. D. has made 
i the statement requested Viy W. II., I will 
“state*' for his or her benefit that from 
i experience and observation I have learned 
[ that salt should be used “sparingly” if 
used at all; and that the habit whioh most 
i people have of salting many kinds of food 
l until it is difficult to tell from the taste 
l which is salt and which is food, is altogether 
against health, common sense aud reason, 
i No eatables, excepting meat and vegetables, 
are made any the better by salting; and 
with these it should only be used iu small 
quantities. Its use in large quantities is 
especially hurtful to people having salt 
rheum, or scrofulous humors of any* kind. 
Some of the healthiest, hardest working 
people whom I know discard its use entire¬ 
ly, excepting in butter, which proves to me 
that its prevalent use is more a habit than 
a necessity.— Geraldine Germane. 
Hydrate of Chloral and Rattlesnake 
Poison. —Hydrate rtf chloral seems to de¬ 
velop fresh virtues everyday. A case of 
rattlesnake poison has lately been cured by 
it, at Point .Pleasant N. J. A young man 
bitten by the rattlesnake, aud exhibing the 
usual violent and alarming symptoms, was 
treated with the hydrate, five doses of 
twenty' grains each being administered, 
when sleep followed, and the patient awoke 
after several hours with every symptom of 
the poison gone. At the same time we 
would wax’o non-professional persons 
against tampering with this powerful agent, 
the officinal strength of which docs not seem 
to have been agreed upon by the pharma¬ 
ceutists. _ 
Hydrophobia “ Remedies.’’—The fol¬ 
lowing (said to be) summary of cures of hy¬ 
drophobia are given in the columns of a 
contemporary;—“ When a patient is seized 
with this disease, 1. Inject morphine under 
the skin. 2. Give half a dram of powdered 
castor internally. 3. Administer small 
quantities of chloroform by inhalation. 4. 
Wrap the patient in blankets saturated with 
a warm solution nitrate ammonia. 5. Ap¬ 
ply oil of Juniper externally. 6. Adminis¬ 
ter vapor baths. 7. Put the patient upon a 
diet of raw onions. 8. Try the inad-stone, 
if you can get a specimen of it. If the dog 
was mad, this stone will adhere to the 
wound. 
To Cure Corns.— In Rural New- 
Yorker of August 24 a correspondent asks 
how to cure corns and get rid of them. I 
have tried pearl shirt buttons, dissolved in 
lemon j nice—say four or five buttons to the 
juice of one lemon; bottle it for use; it 
takes a few days to dissolve.— Susie Boyd, 
Hyde Park, 5lass. 
Remedy for Corns.—In answer to an 
inquiry in the Rural New-Yorker for a 
cure for corns, I would recommend Gar¬ 
gling Oil to all those suffering with corns. 
Try it, and if it has the same result with 
them that it had with me and with mem¬ 
bers of my family, they will have reason to 
rejoice.— H. P. Gorton. 
Bullocks* Blood is much txiken by Par¬ 
isians for anaemia and pulmonary phthisis 
—patients of both sexes, of all ranks and 
ages flocking to the slaughter houses every 
morning to di’iuk of the still fuming blood 
of oxen slaughtered for the table. It con¬ 
tains a great quantity of iron, hence its 
value. _ 
Vaccination. — Young America asks 
whether vaccination ought to be renewed 
every seven years or not. It certainly 
ought as often as that, aud some physicians 
recommend it every two years—whether to 
get the accompanying fee or not, we cannot 
say. 
!/ 206 
MOORE’S RURAL WEW-Y0RKER. 
SEPT.as 
