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Page 13 text:
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A ffrui rirutif By HARVEY ERE luis lx»en no other time in the History of the World extending over tux years, when nations have been so deeply Interested in their scientific discoveries as now. Many different courses of discovery and invention are I -ing pursued. Some men devote their lives to ex|»erimen-tal work witli chemicals, others to that with electricity, and some to that with Astronomy. We can easily see what it would mean financially to adopt work of this kind. Years of education and preparation are needed. Expensive lalx ratories must lie supplied, or experhnentid ground must lie secured. Many who devote themselves to this work have plenty of money of their own to start with: others are supported by their own governments. Some are sent to foreign countries for the Ixmefit of colleges. An estimate as to the value of the discoveries made by these men can not I given. Every year many new inventions are gotten out: much cheaper methods of making things are discovered: better use is made of by products that help to advance Industry: or taken along chemical lines, elements are found that can lie used in some practical way. The work of some of these experimenters liecomes very interesting. Take for example Moissan. with his electric furnace. He lias succeeded in manufacturing artificial diamonds. The furnace he uses consists of two liricks of quick lime with a groove on one side of each, so that when placed one on top of the other these grooves form a cavity. The lower brick also contains a longitudinal groove to receive the two electrodes which lead to the cavity. Into a rarlMUt crucible Is placed 200 grammes of Swedish iron and a sufficient amount of sugar charcoal to cover it. The crucible is then placed in the centre of the furnace: the electrodes are arranged and a current of aliotit fifty volts of electromotive force is turned on. The furnace Is heated to a tein-| erature of .Tiou degrees Centigrade, which is equal to ».'W2 degrees Fahrenheit, from three to six minutes. Then the current is quickly turned off. the lid removed, and the crucible is plunged into a tank of water where its contents undergo high pressure. The diamonds are then gotten from the refuse by a series of chemical actions which take nearly two weeks. Some of the reactions are those with hydrochloric acid: then with nitro hydrochloric acid, and lulling in sulphuric acid. The diamonds thus produced, however, are not large: hut at this age there n ir Disruurrirs MILLER Is little doubt but that a way can soon be discovered to make diamonds weighing several carats. Rubies are also made. Other famous discoveries have been made by Joseph Priestly noted for discovering oxygen: and Sir Humphrey Davy, an Knglish chemist, noted for discovering the relation chemicals have to electricity. A not her practical discovery was made not long ago which involves the little toy concern called a Gyroscope. Louis Brennan, noted for being the inventor of the tor| edo used in the British navy, has utilized this principle of the Gyroscope in the operation of a railroad. Ilis theory which Is now developed into a realization of a truth, has l een worked upon for over thirty years. Not that necessity demanded this invention. but for the realization of his hopes; and being supported by the Knglish government in his experiments financially, he has completed that w hich might s eni impossible. The gyroscope consists essentially of a disk revolving on pivots within a ring, having on the line of prolongation of its axis on one side, a bar or spur with a smooth notch l»eneuth to receive the hard, smooth |wint of an upright support. Tims placed, when the disk is not turning, the whole falls, of course, like any heavy liody unsupported. If thedisk is rotated rapidly while the axis resting on the support Is lieing held in a vertical | ositioii, no pecul-iar movement then occurs: but if the upper end of the axis be set free, the whole, instead of falling as would lie ex|iected, commences a steady revolution in a horizontal circuit aliout tin |M int of support. The toy gymsco|»e runs thus for nearly three minutes. The first complete experiment was withasingle rail track andacar. which had a pair of two wheeled motor trucks. The wheels of the trucks were placed one behind the other like a bicycle. Two electric motors were provided to turn the four wheels, all of which acted as drivers. A closed compartment was placed in the forward end of the car in which the gyroscopes were situated. Two gy roscopes were provided in order to maintain the equilibrium of the locomotive, these lieing in the compartment having a partial vacuum. The purpose of the vacuum was to allow the gyroscopes' wheels to revolve for some time after the current had lieen turned off. The gyroscopes rotated in opposite directions at the speed of T.VM) revolutions jier minute. The weight of the gyroscopes was •’» | er cent that of the whole machine. Such a locomotive when set in operation ran on a single rail, up steep grades, took sharp curves, and ran along a suspended cable. Instead of lean-
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Page 14 text:
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mg oul wlien going round a curve as would Ik expected by the law of centrifugal force. It Inclined to the Inside: and If a weight was put to the side « f tiie car. that side rose instead of sinking. Other locomotives of tills ty| e have l»een built since. The size of the gyroscopic wheels varies with the size of the locomotive. The advantages of the single rail system are that of the tremendous economy, the cost of steel being just one-half: and the present massive bridges would Ik discarded. For tem|M rary work, a single wire hawser stretched across a ravine or river is all that is necessary. It Is claimed that the swaying of this hawser will not disturb tlie Iwlance of the cars, and that the strongest wind will not blow them off. For permanent work a single row of piles with a rail on top will lie sufficient. With reduced friction in the mono-rail system, the cost for fuel will lie le» . Another advantage will Is that steam, oil. gas. or electricity may Ik used, as best will suit local conditions. The gyroscope has also lieen put to practical use on vessels. Soon the rock inn decks on a stormy ocean will lx a thing of the past. This has lx en found to lx true by experiments. It was first tried on a German torpedo boat by Dr. Otto Sclilfck. The dimensions of this tioat, which was controlled by a gyroscope whose wheel was .{ feet In diameter, were alio tit llu feet in length, and eleven feet in width, and it had a displacement of fifty-six tons. The success of this new discovery has attracted the attention of a firm In Kngland who has knight the right to build vessels with the gyroscope on. One can easily see what a smooth and level deck would mean on our kittle ships in time of war. Such are examples of our great men’s dally work. We might describe the new ly invented wireless telegraph which Is used now by all sea going vessels, and the experiments which are being made to use the same on moving trains: hut these are sufficient to show tlie wonderful realizations which can be attained only through the workings of science. s 12
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