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GUTZLAFF'S CHINESE MAGAZINE, VOL. 1.

In the European process, sulphuric acid was for a long time made use of to effect the saccharification, and it is only within these few years that it has been discovered that germinated barley would produce the same result. This simple modification has produced a very great saving in the manufacture, which is now taking an immense development by the mixture of syrups of starch with the molasses of commerce, and other appli cations. All this process was pointed out in the Chinese encyclopedias, which I have already mentioned." * * * "With regard to agriculture, it is from China that we have received the sowing-machines, which have been known there from a remote antiquity." It was to make other discoveries of this kind that Mr. Edward Biot applied himself to study the Chinese encyclopedias which exist in the Royal Library of Paris, where there is a superior collection to that in the British Museum, including especially the celebrated work of Matwan-lin, of which we regret to say there appears to be as yet no copy in this country. The Japanese Cyclopedia, to which we gave much attention, is, however, merely an improved edition of the San-Tsae-Too-Hwuy, or "Collection of Pictures of the Three Elements

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() i. e. heaven, earth, and man ;

which is to be found at the Museum, or may be bought at Mr. Allen's, in Leadenhall-street, in 63 vols. large 8vo. in six cases, for 251. This work, which is tolerably complete, including, for instance, under the head of architecture, representations of every kind of building, from a palace to a pig-stye, and giving instructions even in boxing, with representations of the Chinese "fancy" in their different attitudes of " coming to the scratch," is, in our humble opinion, by no means the work to be chosen for a purpose like Mr. Biot's. The letter-press is nearly balanced in quantity by the plates (which are by no means of the very best kind), and relying on this, the descriptions have been made too brief and cursory to aid research. In fact, Mr. Biot himself observes, that "the expressions employed are often very vague, and the indications given by the text are rather sufficient to enable me to recognise a process since discovered in Europe than to pursue it from the description." In consequence

of this, the praiseworthy researches of this worthy inheritor of a distinguished name, do not appear to have led to any important results. He concludes his essay thus-" From the extracts that I have given from several Chinese works, it will be seen that in the seventeenth century, at the period when the missionary establishments were flourishing in China, a judicious selection of articles from these works would have propagated useful ideas in Europe, and the discovery of some processes of industry might have been advanced by more than half a century" (this refers to some improvements in the smelting of meta's). "But these works are now too old in a technological point of view, since they date back two centuries and a half, and we should hope that the spirit of invention and detail, which has produced among the Chinese so many important discoveries, has not been stifled by their political system. With regard to the development that the sciences might have taken amongst them, no hopes can be entertained by those who have perused their modern works in astronomy, such as the Hwan-teen-too-shwo, or "Description of the Celestial Sphere," a work published in 1820 at Canton, under the inspection of the Viceroy, and in which astronomy takes a retrograde march further back than the knowledge attained at the time of Ptolemy. The only instrument mentioned in it is the gnomon of stone which was employed in the infancy of astronomy. But new works on the arts of China would, without any doubt, have given us useful hints on the modern manufacture of gongs, of Chinese paper, of colours, and of other objects which I cannot here enumerate." These new works would, it appears, in vain be sought for at Paris, but there does not seem to be any difficulty in procuring them at Canton, and it is there that they might best be translated. Mr. Biot mentions a supplement to the great work of Ma-twan-lin, bringing it up to a recent period, which it must be owned was by no. means unnecessary, when we consider that the original author flourished in the beginning of the 13th century, at the time the Mongol Tartars conquered China and Russia. There could not be a more vaJuable present made to the literature of Europe than a translation of this great work and its supplement; and if this

JONES' SPARK-ARRESTER.

Number of the Mechanics Magazine should ever meet Mr. Gutzlaff's eye, we would earnestly press on his attention the power he possesses of immortalising his name by a work of such colossal interest and utility.

In the mean time, in spite of all our deference for our learned brother-reviewer in China, we cannot help saying to the magazine, "Go on and prosper.'

JONES' SPARK-ARRESTER.

(From the Journal of the Franklin Institute.) The Committee on Science and the Arts, constituted by the Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, to whom was referred for examination an apparatus for stopping the sparks from the flues of locomotive-engines, invented by Mr. Alfred C. Jones, of Portsmouth, Virginia, report :

That it has for some time been considered a desideratum to devise a plan by which the sparks escaping from the chimney, or smokepipe, of a locomotive-engine, may be arrested, so as to ensure both the comfort of passengers and the safety of goods transported on railroads. The rapid extension of this mode of conveyance is every day rendering this object of increased importance. Judging from the certificates of engineers and others, exhibited by Mr. Jones, it may be inferred that he has been more successful in relation to it than preceding inventors.

The principal peculiarities of Mr. Jones' invention are the following:

1. A projection, and funnel-shaped opening, in the front part of the wire-gauze, which surmounts the smoke-pipe. This opening is for the purpose of admitting the external air to mix with the escaping smoke and steam, and is supposed to have the double effect of cooling and condensing the smoke and steam, so that it will not burn and destroy the wire-gauze, and of producing a horizontal or backward current of air, which throws the sparks into the receptacle hereafter described.

2. A peculiar shape in the wire-gauze cap, extending a considerable distance backward, over or beyond the back of the top of the smoke-pipe, which affords a space for the sparks to be thrown down into the receptacle hereafter described, the shape of the back part of the cap, or wire-gauze, being such that the sparks do not strike it perpendicufarly, but obliquely to its surface, and thus are thrown down instead of passing through the apertures.

3. A receptacle for sparks, back of the top of the smoke-pipe, and under the back part of the gauze-cap, at the lower part of which

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receptacle is a pipe, extending downward into the smoke-chamber at the end of the boiler, and below the part immediately con nected with the boiler. Through this pipe the sparks pass, and fall into the bottom of the smoke chamber. It is supposed by Mr. Jones, that the impetus of the steam, escaping from the engine through the smoke-pipe, produces a partial vacuum in the bottom of the smoke-chamber, and causes a portion of air to rush down the said pipe, which makes the sparks more readily descend to a place where they are beyond the influence of the escaping current of smoke and steam, there to be consumed.

4. The gauze-cap is made with hingejoints, so as to be thrown over backward when the engine is not under way. This contrivance serves the double purpose of preventing the gauze from being clogged with lamp-black, by the thick smoke escaping be fore the starting of the engine; and of facili tating the cleansing of the gauze, by a brush applied to its inner surface, where the smoke and lamp-black condenses.

It is the opinion of the Committee that each of the foregoing features is productive of advantage. Hence, they are of opinion, that Mr. Jones' apparatus is among the best that has been devised; an opinion which is confirmed by the respectable testimony which has been adduced.

There is a suitable apparatus for arresting the sparks when the engine is going backward, which it is deemed unnecessary here to describe. By order of the Committee, WILLIAM HAMILTON, Actuary.

Jan. 14, 1836.

REPORT OF A COMMITTEE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, APPOINTED TO WITNESS CERTAIN EXPERIMENTS UPON THE POWER OF THE LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES EMPLOYED ON THE BALTIMORE AND OHIO RAILROAD.

(From the American Ruilroad Journal.)

The Joint Committee of the City Council of Baltimore, appointed to witness experiments upon the power of the locomotiveengines, on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, at the inclined planes, respectfully report:

That your Committee left Baltimore on the morning of Tuesday last, accompanied by a Committee of the Board of Directors of the Company, a Committee of the Board of Trade, and other individuals, in all amounting to 42 persons. The train consisted, besides the engine and its tender, of a double 8-wheeled passenger car, constructed to accommodate 44 persons, and three 4-wheeled passenger cars, capable of containing 17 each. After some delay, occasioned by coming in contact with the

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REPORT OF EXPERIMENTS ON THE POWER OF LOCOMOTIVE-ENGINES.

leaders of a burden team, who being alarmed, sprung before the engine from off the adjoining track, the train arrived at the foot of plane No. 1, at the distance of 42 miles from Baltimore. The instructions given to the engineer had been, as your Committee are informed, to stop here, and, disengaging the double car, to attach the three single cars to the engine, and to ascend the planes with them, and with 50 passengers, this being a demonstration of the power of the engine, which, it was believed, would satisfactorily prove its efficiency for use, where the elevation was at the rate of 200 feet per mile. Confident, however, in the power of the engine, the engineer, without stopping at the foot of the plane, commenced its ascent, with the train that had left Baltimore. The impetus acquired on the level, was lost in the first 300 feet of the ascent, after which, the engine drew its load steadily to the summit of the first plane, at the rate of from four to five miles an hour, accumulating speed as it approached the top. This plane is 2150 feet in length; 2050 feet of which ascend at the rate of 197 feet per mile, and 100 feet at the rate of 201 feet per mile. From the first plane the train proceeded to the second, which is 3000 feet in length; 2800 feet of which ascend at the rate of 170 feet per mile, 100 feet at the rate of 227 feet per mile, and 100 feet at the summit, at the rate of 264 feet per mile. The engine and its train ascended at the rate of from 5 to 6 miles per hour, to within 30 feet of the summit of this plane, when, while on the grade of 264 feet to the mile, it stopped. The three small cars, weighing 5 ton 100 weight, were then cast loose, when the engine starting, without assistance, on this grade, drew the double car and passengers to the summit with the greatest apparent ease. The steam escaped in volumes from the safety-valve, as well when the engine reached the summit of the planes, as when it left the foot of them. The weight drawn up the planes was as follows, according to actual weighing :

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of 20 tons 15 cwt, deducting from the above the weight of the three cars cast off on plane No. 2, was drawn with equal ease up a grade of 264 feet to the mile,-the engine starting the train from rest on this grade. At the summit, two car loads of pig iron, weighing each 4 tons, were attached to the train, and the whole, weighing then 33 tons 15 cwt., was made to descend the plane, on the return to Baltimore, by the action of the engine alone, and without the assistance of a break, at such speed as the engineer pleased, and was several times stopped, on the way down, to show the command in which the engine was held.

With such results as the above, it is unnecessary to add, that your Committee are equally gratified and surprised; and from what they themselves witnessed, they have no hesitation in expressing their conviction, that the engines of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad are capable of drawing with ease, at least 50 passengers, up ascents of any length, of from 200 to 220 feet per mile.

From the account thus given, it will be at once seen, that the performances of the best engines in England have been far surpassed; and although your Committee are aware, that calculation was competent to prove the practicability of ascending grades like those at the planes, with engines of the weight and power used on this occasion, and with similar loads, yet it was reserved for the company in question to prove that machines of such giant power could be constructed, combining with their great strength, the important qualities of speed, durability, facility of repair, and capability to use anthracite as their fuel.

Your Committee are glad to have an opportunity of expressing their sense of the obligations, which the efforts of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company have conferred upon the railroad system generally, and more especially in reference to it, as connected with the city of Baltimore. It is now

a matter of common parlance to assert, that the Alleghanies can be passed by locomotiveengines, by the Potomac route, without the use of stationary power; and your Committee entertain no doubt of the fact. It is this which gives to Baltimore the vantage ground, in the competition with her sister cities, for the western trade; and yet this is owing, not more to the geographical depressions of the mountain range, than to the engines perfected by the company just named. Excepting the engines manufactured by them, there is probably not one in the United States, although some of the best ever made in England have been imported, which is capable of ascending the grades and passing the curves for any profitable purpose, which must occur among the mountains on the road in question. While nature, therefore, has

REPORT OF EXPERIMENTS ON THE POWER OF LOCOMOTIVE-ENGINES.

done much to facilitate the intercourse of Baltimore with the west, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company has not done less.

Your Committee make these remarks as an act of justice; and they do it with the more pleasure, because it enables them to bestow a deserved compliment upon the American mechanics, who have so well illustrated their capacity and skill in the manufacture of the engines in question-proving, satisfactorily, that in this, as well as in the other departments of human industry, their inventive genius is capable of the most elevated and useful flights. It is now but a few years since the universal voice called upon the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company to follow the example of their neighbours, and import their engines; and their perseverance in refusing to do so, although founded upon the very best and truest appreciation of circumstances, was stigmatised as folly or obstinacy. The result has fully justified their course, and showed that their confidence in the skill of the artisans of this country to produce a more perfect machine than had yet been manufactured in England, and better adapted to the road from Baltimore to the Ohio, was fully warranted.

The capacity of a locomotive-engine, when employed in heavy drafts, depends upon three things:-1st. Its weight, which gives it the adhesion on the rails that is requisite; 2nd. The capacity of its cylinders to use the adhesion to its utmost limit; 3rd. The ability of the boiler to supply the cylinders with steam equal to their capacity. Where the power is applied to but one pair of wheels but half the adhesion is used, supposing the weight to rest equally on the four wheels. Where the power is applied to both pair, the weight of the whole engine is made effective to produce adhesion. The English engines generally have but one pair of wheels geered. The engines of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company have both pair geered. The weight of the engines, therefore, being equal, and there being enough steam to overcome the adhesion of both pair of wheels, the Baltimore engine must be double the effective power of the English engine. The larger the cylinders, in stroke and in diameter, there being steam enough to supply them, the greater the power they afford-and the cylinders of the Baltimore engines being twelve and a half inches in diameter, and twentytwo inches stroke, while the English engines rarely exceed ten or eleven inches in diameter, by seventeen or eighteen inches stroke, the former are, of course, the most effective, since the daily experience of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company shows the ample supply of steam, which the peculiar construction of the boiler affords at all times. At the end of nine months of constant use,

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the tubes of the Baltimore boiler have been found on examination as perfect as when they were inserted, while in the English engine the renewal of tubes is a constant source of expense and vexation. The number of tubes in the Baltimore engine is 400, while in the English engine it rarely exceeds 120, causing a proportionate difference in the fire surface, or capacity for generating steam, the heat applied in the furnace being the same.

Your Committee state these facts, which are of easy comprehension, to show that the superiority of the Baltimore engine over the English one of the same weight, is not a matter of accident only, or about which there can be any mistake, but an inevitable consequence of well known philosophical and mechanical principles.

The engines of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company are manufactured by Messrs. Gillingham and Winans, at the Company's shops. Both of these gentlemen were, for many years, in the service of the Company, in the department of machinery, before they became contractors; and to them, together with the late Phineas Davis, the former contractor, is to be attributed the perfection of the present locomotive. Their establishment is a large one, employing upwards of a hundred workmen, and of itself is of great benefit through the employment that it gives, and the money which, necessarily, it is the means of circulating. The Company has a prior claim to the services of the contractors, paying a stipulative price for the engines (5000 dollars), and the machinery which are obtained from them, and paying for repairs by the time which they consume. The expenses of the shops are borne by the contractors, who build and manufacture for others as well as the Company. The shops and permanent machinery have cost the Company about 10,000 dollars,which sum has been already returned to it in the reduced price for which the contractors build the engines, in consideration of the advantages of the use of the shops, the proximity to the road, and the opportunities of working for other companies.

In the annual report of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, the power of their engines has frequently been mentioned, and the authority and character of these reports have been quite sufficient to authenticate the facts therein stated. Your Committee are aware, however, that the incredulous as to the ascent of the plains at Parr's Spring Ridge, have not been few, and, perhaps, the very importance of the results stated, so far exceeding all previous experience, has been the cause of doubt; or, in other words, "the news was held to be too good to be true." Your Committee, however, are witnesses, with many others, to the surprising efforts

186 REPORT OF EXPERIMENTS ON THE EXPLOSIONS OF STEAM-BOILERS.

and efficiency of the engines in question, and they are glad that an opportunity has been afforded them to add their testimony in corroboration of that which reflects so much credit upon the mechanics of our country, and to express their approbation of the persevering and patriotic individuals who, in the management of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, have called our native talent into play, and done so much to develop and increase the efficiency of the railroad system. All of which is respectfully submitted.

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VII. To determine by actual experiment whether any permanently elastic fluids are produced within a boiler, when the metal becomes intensely heated.

To make this experiment, the bottom of the boiler was to be intensely heated, water to be injected, and the elastic fluids disengaged, to be collected. The bottom of the boiler being cleaned, heated water was thrown in from the forcing-pump, the elastic fluids produced flowed through a flexible tin pipe which was attached to the stop-cock a (plates 1 and 2), and passed into a tub containing water. At the end which dipped into the water there was a stop-cock, opening and closing the pipe at pleasure; the cock a was always open. On the first day's trial a small quantity of water, previously placed in the boiler, was allowed to boil away; the bottom of the boiler was heated to redness, and water injected. The stop-cock being opened under a receiver, in the tub serving as a pneumaticcistern, a gas which issued through the flexible tube was collected, the water condensing the high steam with which the gas was mixed. The smell of this gas was empyreumatic, an opaque white vapour came over with it, which disappeared on standing. Half a pint of the gas was collected for examination.

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The injection of water being continued, the gas ceased to come over.

This gas was subsequently examined; it was a non-supporter of combustion, was not combustible, did not render lime-water turbid; it was, in short, nitrogen gas, with perhaps a small admixture of oxygen.

These observations were considered as only preliminary to a more extended examination of the subject. The theory which makes the decomposition of water, by heated metal, produce hydrogen, and this gas by its union with oxygen, produce explosion, has been supported by many, and deserved a respectful examination. The difficulty of finding the oxygen for the hydrogen to recombine with, has been ingeniously, though, as we conceive, not successfully, parried. The fact, that though water is decomposed by beated iron, hydrogen gas decomposes heated oxide of iron, has also been plausibly urged and supported by collateral evidence of a similar nature, drawn from the action of heated copper upon ammonia.

To study the subject in detail, it was ne cessary to examine the relative effects of hot and cold water; the relation between the quantity of gas produced, and of water injected, at different temperatures of the bottom of the boiler; and to raise the temperature of the metal so high that no objection on that score should exist to the results. Moreover, the oxidated surface was to be removed, and the boiler exposed to the action of the water in as clean a state as the nature of the case admitted. The gas was collected in graduated jars, the water drawn in by the forc ing-pump was taken from a measure, and the quantities injected noted. The time was also noted between the experiments.

The conclusions to which the Committee were brought, render a detailed exhibition of the experiments unnecessary, except so far as such a statement may go to show the degree of care which was used in prosecuting the subject, and thus to give confidence in the results. The experiments of the first day in which the gas was collected as already described, were tentative, they served to render the methods of experimenting more precise.

On the second day one of the glass plates in the boiler-head cracked and the escape of gas with the steam, through the crack, rendered the results as to quantity inconclusive. The gas was uniformly found to extinguish a candle, and not to burn itself. The mercury in the iron tube into which the thermometer N, plate 1, dipped, soon boiled; the thermometer had been previously removed. The thermometer in the other tube M was observed as giving an indication of whether the temperature within was increasing or diminishing.

It was now distinctly seen that the air

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