How It Works

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					The Project Gutenberg EBook of How it
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Title: How it Works
Dealing in simple language with
steam, electricity, light,
heat, sound, hydraulics, optics,
etc., and with their
applications to

Author: Archibald Williams

Release Date: April 10, 2009 [EBook

Language: English


Produced by Steven Gibbs, Greg Ber-
gquist and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at

          Transcriber’s Note
The punctuation and spelling from the ori-
ginal text have been faithfully preserved.
Only obvious typographical errors have
been corrected.


I BEG to thank the following gentlemen and
firms for the help they have given me in con-
nection with the letterpress and illustrations of
"How It Works"—

   Messrs. F.J.C. Pole and M.G. Tweedie (for
revision of MS.); W. Lineham; J.F. Kendall; E.
Edser; A.D. Helps; J. Limb; The Edison Bell
Phonograph Co.; Messrs. Holmes and Co.; The
Pelton Wheel Co.; Messrs. Babcock and Wil-
cox; Messrs. Siebe, Gorman, and Co.; Messrs.
Negretti and Zambra; Messrs. Chubb; The Yale
Lock Co.; The Micrometer Engineering Co.;
Messrs. Marshall and Sons; The Maignen Filter
Co.; Messrs. Broadwood and Co.
      How It
Dealing in Simple Language with
        Steam, Electricity,
 Light, Heat, Sound, Hydraulics,
            Optics, etc.
and with their applications to Ap-
         in Common Use
Author of "The Romance of Modern Inven-
   "The Romance of Mining," etc., etc.

London, Edinburgh, Dublin, and New York
            P R E FA C E .

HOW does it work? This question has been put
to me so often by persons young and old that
I have at last decided to answer it in such a
manner that a much larger public than that with
which I have personal acquaintance may be
able to satisfy themselves as to the principles
underlying many of the mechanisms met with
in everyday life.

   In order to include steam, electricity, optics,
hydraulics, thermics, light, and a variety of de-
tached mechanisms which cannot be classified
under any one of these heads, within the com-
pass of about 450 pages, I have to be content
with a comparatively brief treatment of each
subject. This brevity has in turn compelled me
to deal with principles rather than with detailed
descriptions of individual devices—though in
several cases recognized types are examined.
The reader will look in vain for accounts of the
Yerkes telescope, of the latest thing in motor
cars, and of the largest locomotive. But he will
be put in the way of understanding the essential
nature of all telescopes, motors, and steam-en-
gines so far as they are at present developed,
which I think may be of greater ultimate profit
to the uninitiated.

    While careful to avoid puzzling the reader
by the use of mysterious phraseology I consider
that the parts of a machine should be given their
technical names wherever possible. To prevent
misconception, many of the diagrams accompa-
nying the letterpress have words as well as let-
ters written on them. This course also obviates
the wearisome reference from text to diagram
necessitated by the use of solitary letters or fig-

    I may add, with regard to the diagrams of
this book, that they are purposely somewhat un-
conventional, not being drawn to scale nor con-
forming to the canons of professional draughts-
manship. Where advisable, a part of a machine
has been exaggerated to show its details. As a
rule solid black has been preferred to fine shad-
ing in sectional drawings, and all unnecessary
lines are omitted. I would here acknowledge
my indebtedness to my draughtsman, Mr. Frank
Hodgson, for his care and industry in preparing
the two hundred or more diagrams for which he
was responsible.

   Four organs of the body—the eye, the ear,
the larynx, and the heart—are noticed in ap-
propriate places. The eye is compared with the
camera, the larynx with a reed pipe, the heart
with a pump, while the ear fitly opens the
chapter on acoustics. The reader who is unac-
quainted with physiology will thus be enabled
to appreciate the better these marvellous
devices, far more marvellous, by reason of their
absolutely automatic action, than any creation
of human hands.



   Chapter I.—THE STEAM-
What is steam?—The mechanical en-
  ergy of steam—The boiler—The
  circulation of water in a boil-
  er—The enclosed furnace—The
  multitubular boiler—Fire-tube
  boilers—Other types of boil-
  ers—Aids to combustion—Boiler
  fittings—The safety-valve—The
  water-gauge—The steam-
  gauge—The water supply to a
  boiler                            13
Reciprocating engines—Double-cyl-
   inder engines—The function of
   the fly-wheel—The cylin-
   der—The slide-valve—The ec-
   centric—"Lap" of the valve: ex-
   pansion of steam—How the cut-
   off is managed—Limit of expans-
   ive working—Compound en-
   gines—Arrangement of expansion
   engines—Compound locomot-
   governors—Marine-speed gov-
   ernors—The condenser              44
  Chapter III.—THE STEAM
How a turbine works—The De Laval
  turbine—The Parsons tur-
  bine—Description of the Parsons
  turbine—The expansive action of
  steam in a Parsons tur-
  bine—Balancing the
  thrust—Advantages of the marine
  turbine                           74

The meaning of the term—Action of
   the internal-combustion en-
   gine—The motor car—The
   starting-handle—The en-
   gine—The carburetter—Ignition
   of the charge—Advancing the
   spark—Governing the en-          87
   gine—The clutch—The gear-
   box—The compensating
   gear—The silencer—The
   brakes—Speed of cars

   Chapter V.—ELECTRICAL
What is electricity?—Forms of elec-
  tricity—Magnetism—The per-
  manent magnet—Lines of
  electric bell—The induction
  coil—The condens-
  er—Transformation of cur-
  rent—Uses of the induction coil     112

Needle instruments—Influence of
   current on the magnetic            127
   needle—Method of reversing the
   current—Sounding instru-
   ments—Telegraphic re-
   telegraphs—High-speed tele-

   Chapter VII.—WIRELESS
The transmitting apparatus—The re-
   ceiving apparatus—Syntonic
   transmission—The advance of
   wireless telegraphy               137

      Chapter VIII.—THE
The Bell telephone—The Edison
   transmitter—The granular carbon
   transmitter—General arrangement
   of a telephone circuit—Double-  147
   line circuits—Telephone ex-
   changes—Submarine telephony

A simple dynamo--Continuous-cur-
    rent dynamos--Multipolar
    dynamos--Exciting the field
    magnets--Alternating current
    dynamos--The transmission of
    power--The electric motor--Elec-
    tric lighting--The incandescent
    lamp--Arc lamps--"Series" and
    "parallel" arrangement of lamps--
    Current for electric lamps--Elec-
    troplating                        159

The Vacuum Automatic brake—The
   Westinghouse air-brake            187
    Chapter XI.—RAILWAY
The block system—Position of sig-
   nals—Interlocking the sig-
   gear—Points—Points and signals
   in combination—Working the
   block system—Series of sig-
   nalling operations—Single line
   signals—The train staff—Train
   staff and ticket—Electric train
   staff sys-
   operations—Power sig-
   nalling—Pneumatic sig-
   nalling—Automatic signalling    200

    Chapter XII.—OPTICS.
Lenses—The image cast by a convex
   lens—Focus—Relative position 230
   of object and lens—Correction of
   lenses for colour—Spherical aber-
   ration—Distortion of image—The
   human eye—The use of spec-
   tacles—The blind spot

     Chapter XIII.—THE
The simple microscope—Use of the
   simple microscope in the tele-
   scope—The terrestrial tele-
   scope—The Galilean tele-
   scope—The prismatic tele-
   scope—The reflecting tele-
   scope—The parabolic mir-
   ror—The compound micro-
   scope—The magic-lantern—The
   bioscope—The plane mirror           253
  Chapter XIV.—SOUND AND
Nature of sound—The ear—Musical
   instruments—The vibration of
   strings—The sounding-board and
   the frame of a piano—The
   strings—The striking mechan-
   ism—The quality of a note      270

     Chapter XV.—WIND
Longitudinal vibration—Columns of
   air—Resonance of columns of
   air—Length and tone—The open
   pipe—The overtones of an open
   pipe—Where overtones are
   used—The arrangement of the
   pipes and pedals—Separate
   sound-boards—Varieties of
   stops—Tuning pipes and         287
   reeds—The bellows—Electric
   and pneumatic actions—The
   largest organ in the
   world—Human reeds

   Chapter XVI.—TALKING-
The phonograph—The recorder—The
   reproducer—The gramo-
   phone—The making of re-
   cords—Cylinder re-
   cords—Gramophone records     310

Why the wind blows—Land and sea
  breezes—Light air and mois-
  ture—The barometer—The
  column barometer—The wheel
  barometer—A very simple baro-   322
   meter—The aneroid baromet-
   er—Barometers and weath-
   er—The diving-bell—The diving-
   tyres—The air-gun—The self-
   closing door-stop—The action of
   wind on oblique surfaces—The
   balloon—The flying-machine

The siphon—The bucket pump—The
   force-pump—The most marvel-
   lous pump—The blood chan-
   nels—The course of the
   blood—The hydraulic
   press—Household water-supply
   fittings—The ball-cock—The
   water-meter—Water-supply sys-
   tems—The household filter—Gas 350
   traps—Water engines—The
   cream separator—The "hydro"

The hot-water supply—The tank sys-
   tem—The cylinder system—How
   a lamp works—Gas and gas-
   works—Automatic stoking—A
   gas governor—The gas
   meter—Incandescent gas lighting 386

    Chapter XX.—VARIOUS
   history of timepieces—The con-
   struction of timepieces—The
   driving power—The escape-
   ment—Compensating pendu-
   lums—The spring balance—The      410
cylinder escapement—The lever
balance-wheels—Keyless wind-
ing mechanism for watches—The
hour hand train. LOCKS:—The
Chubb lock—The Yale lock. THE
CYCLE:—The gearing of a
cycle—The free wheel—The
change-speed gear. AGRICULTUR-
AL MACHINES:—The threshing-
ENA:—Why sun-heat varies in in-
tensity—The tides—Why high
tide varies daily

             Chapter I.


What is steam?—The mechanical energy of
  steam—The boiler—The circulation of
  water in a boiler—The enclosed fur-
  nace—The multitubular boiler—Fire-
  tube boilers—Other types of boil-
  ers—Aids to combustion—Boiler fit-
  tings—The safety-valve—The water-
  gauge—The steam-gauge—The water
  supply to a boiler.

           WHAT IS STEAM?
I  F ice be heated above 32° Fahrenheit, its mo-
   lecules lose their cohesion, and move freely
round one another—the ice is turned into water.
Heat water above 212° Fahrenheit, and the mo-
lecules exhibit a violent mutual repulsion, and,
like dormant bees revived by spring sunshine,
separate and dart to and fro. If confined in an
air-tight vessel, the molecules have their flights
curtailed, and beat more and more violently
against their prison walls, so that every square
inch of the vessel is subjected to a rising pres-
sure. We may compare the action of the steam
molecules to that of bullets fired from a
machine-gun at a plate mounted on a spring.
The faster the bullets came, the greater would
be the continuous compression of the spring.


   If steam is let into one end of a cylinder
behind an air-tight but freely-moving piston, it
will bombard the walls of the cylinder and the
piston; and if the united push of the molecules
on the one side of the latter is greater than the
resistance on the other side opposing its motion,
the piston must move. Having thus partly got
their liberty, the molecules become less active,
and do not rush about so vigorously. The pres-
sure on the piston decreases as it moves. But if
the piston were driven back to its original posi-
tion against the force of the steam, the molecu-
lar activity—that is, pressure—would be re-
stored. We are here assuming that no heat has
passed through the cylinder or piston and been
radiated into the air; for any loss of heat means
loss of energy, since heat is energy.

                 THE BOILER.

   The combustion of fuel in a furnace causes
the walls of the furnace to become hot, which
means that the molecules of the substance form-
ing the walls are thrown into violent agitation.
If the walls are what are called "good conduct-
ors" of heat, they will transmit the agitation
through them to any surrounding substance. In
the case of the ordinary house stove this is the
air, which itself is agitated, or grows warm. A
steam-boiler has the furnace walls surrounded
by water, and its function is to transmit mo-
lecular movement (heat, or energy) through the
furnace plates to the water until the point is
reached when steam generates. At atmospher-
ic pressure—that is, if not confined in any
way—steam would fill 1,610 times the space
which its molecules occupied in their watery
formation. If we seal up the boiler so that no es-
cape is possible for the steam molecules, their
motion becomes more and more rapid, and
pressure is developed by their beating on the
walls of the boiler. There is theoretically no lim-
it to which the pressure may be raised, provided
that sufficient fuel-combustion energy is trans-
mitted to the vaporizing water.

   To raise steam in large quantities we must
employ a fuel which develops great heat in pro-
portion to its weight, is readily procured, and
cheap. Coal fulfils all these conditions. Of the
800 million tons mined annually throughout the
world, 400 million tons are burnt in the furnaces
of steam-boilers.

    A good boiler must be—(1) Strong enough
to withstand much higher pressures than that at
which it is worked; (2) so designed as to burn
its fuel to the greatest advantage.

   Even in the best-designed boilers a large part
of the combustion heat passes through the
chimney, while a further proportion is radiated
from the boiler. Professor John Perry[1] con-
siders that this waste amounts, under the best
conditions at present obtainable, to eleven-
twelfths of the whole. We have to burn a shil-
lingsworth of coal to capture the energy stored
in a pennyworth. Yet the steam-engine of to-
day is three or four times as efficient as the en-
gine of fifty years ago. This is due to radical
improvements in the design of boilers and of
the machinery which converts the heat energy
of steam into mechanical motion.


   If you place a pot filled with water on an
open fire, and watch it when it boils, you will
notice that the water heaves up at the sides and
plunges down at the centre. This is due to the
water being heated most at the sides, and there-
fore being lightest there. The rising steam-
bubbles also carry it up. On reaching the sur-
face, the bubbles burst, the steam escapes, and
the water loses some of its heat, and rushes
down again to take the place of steam-laden wa-
ter rising.
                     FIG. 1.

    If the fire is very fierce, steam-bubbles may
rise from all points at the bottom, and impede
downward currents (Fig. 1). The pot then "boils

   Fig. 2 shows a method of preventing this
trouble. We lower into our pot a vessel of some-
what smaller diameter, with a hole in the bot-
tom, arranged in such a manner as to leave a
space between it and the pot all round. The up-
ward currents are then separated entirely from
the downward, and the fire can be forced to a
very much greater extent than before without
the water boiling over. This very simple ar-
rangement is the basis of many devices for pro-
ducing free circulation of the water in steam-

   We can easily follow out the process of de-
velopment. In Fig. 3 we see a simple U-tube
depending from a vessel of water. Heat is ap-
plied to the left leg, and a steady circulation at
once commences. In order to increase the heat-
ing surface we can extend the heated leg into a
long incline (Fig. 4), beneath which three lamps
instead of only one are placed. The direction
of the circulation is the same, but its rate is in-
                    FIG. 3.

    A further improvement results from increas-
ing the number of tubes (Fig. 5), keeping them
all on the slant, so that the heated water and
steam may rise freely.

                      FIG. 4.

   Still, a lot of the heat gets away. In a steam-
boiler the burning fuel is enclosed either by fire-
brick or a "water-jacket," forming part of the
boiler. A water-jacket signifies a double coating
of metal plates with a space between, which is
filled with water (see Fig. 6). The fire is now
enclosed much as it is in a kitchen range. But
our boiler must not be so wasteful of the heat as
is that useful household fixture. On their way to
the funnel the flames and hot gases should act
on a very large metal or other surface in contact
with the water of the boiler, in order to give up
a due proportion of their heat.
FIG. 6.—Diagrammatic sketch of a locomotive ty
lines. The arrows show the direction taken by th
                                      the funnel

FIG. 7.—The Babcock and Wilcox water-tube bo
side of the brick seating has been removed to sho
         rangement of the water-tubes and furnac

   To save room, boilers which have to make
steam very quickly and at high pressures are
largely composed of pipes. Such boilers we call
multitubular. They are of two kinds—(1) Water-
tube boilers; in which the water circulates
through tubes exposed to the furnace heat. The
Babcock and Wilcox boiler (Fig. 7) is typical of
this variety. (2) Fire-tube boilers; in which the
hot gases pass through tubes surrounded by wa-
ter. The ordinary locomotive boiler (Fig. 6) il-
lustrates this form.

    The Babcock and Wilcox boiler is widely
used in mines, power stations, and, in a modi-
fied form, on shipboard. It consists of two main
parts—(1) A drum, H, in the upper part of which
the steam collects; (2) a group of pipes arranged
on the principle illustrated by Fig. 5. The boiler
is seated on a rectangular frame of fire-bricks.
At one end is the furnace door; at the other
the exit to the chimney. From the furnace F the
flames and hot gases rise round the upper end
of the sloping tubes TT into the space A, where
they play upon the under surface of H before
plunging downward again among the tubes in-
to the space B. Here the temperature is lower.
The arrows indicate further journeys upwards
into the space C on the right of a fire-brick
division, and past the down tubes SS into D,
whence the hot gases find an escape into the
chimney through the opening E. It will be no-
ticed that the greatest heat is brought to bear
on TT near their junction with UU, the "uptake"
tubes; and that every succeeding passage of the
pipes brings the gradually cooling gases nearer
to the "downtake" tubes SS.

   The pipes TT are easily brushed and scraped
after the removal of plugs from the "headers"
into which the tube ends are expanded.

    Other well-known water-tube boilers are the
Yarrow, Belleville, Stirling, and Thorneycroft,
all used for driving marine engines.
              FIRE-TUBE BOILERS.

    Fig. 6 shows a locomotive boiler in section.
To the right is the fire-box, surrounded on all
sides by a water-jacket in direct communication
with the barrel of the boiler. The inner shell
of the fire-box is often made of copper, which
withstands the fierce heat better than steel; the
outer, like the rest of the boiler, is of steel plates
from ½ to ¾ inch thick. The shells of the jacket
are braced together by a large number of rivets,
RR; and the top, or crown, is strengthened by
heavy longitudinal girders riveted to it, or is
braced to the top of the boiler by long bolts.
A large number of fire-tubes (only three are
shown in the diagram for the sake of simplicity)
extend from the fire-box to the smoke-box. The
most powerful "mammoth" American locomot-
ives have 350 or more tubes, which, with the
fire-box, give 4,000 square feet of surface for
the furnace heat to act upon. These tubes are ex-
panded at their ends by a special tool into the
tube-plates of the fire-box and boiler front. Ge-
orge Stephenson and his predecessors experi-
enced great difficulty in rendering the tube-end
joints quite water-tight, but the invention of the
"expander" has removed this trouble.

    The fire-brick arch shown (Fig. 6) in the
fire-box is used to deflect the flames towards
the back of the fire-box, so that the hot gases
may be retarded somewhat, and their combus-
tion rendered more perfect. It also helps to dis-
tribute the heat more evenly over the whole of
the inside of the box, and prevents cold air from
flying directly from the firing door to the tubes.
In some American and Continental locomot-
ives the fire-brick arch is replaced by a "water
bridge," which serves the same purpose, while
giving additional heating surface.

   The water circulation in a locomotive boiler
is—upwards at the fire-box end, where the heat
is most intense; forward along the surface;
downwards at the smoke-box end; backwards
along the bottom of the barrel.


   For small stationary land engines the vertic-
al boiler is much used. In Fig. 8 we have three
forms of this type—A and B with cross water-
tubes; C with vertical fire-tubes. The furnace
in every case is surrounded by water, and fed
through a door at one side.
 FIG. 8.—Diagrammatic representation of three

   The Lancashire boiler is of large size. It has
a cylindrical shell, measuring up to 30 feet in
length and 7 feet in diameter, traversed from
end to end by two large flues, in the rear part
of which are situated the furnaces. The boiler is
fixed on a seating of fire-bricks, so built up as
to form three flues, A and BB, shown in cross
section in Fig. 9. The furnace gases, after leav-
ing the two furnace flues, are deflected down-
wards into the channel A, by which they pass
underneath the boiler to a point almost under
the furnace, where they divide right and left and
travel through cross passages into the side chan-
nels BB, to be led along the boiler's flanks to
the chimney exit C. By this arrangement the ef-
fective heating surface is greatly increased; and
the passages being large, natural draught gen-
erally suffices to maintain proper combustion.
The Lancashire boiler is much used in factories
and (in a modified form) on ships, since it is a
steady steamer and is easily kept in order.
     FIG. 9.—Cross and longitudinal sections of

    In marine boilers of cylindrical shape cross
water-tubes and fire-tubes are often employed
to increase the heating surface. Return tubes are
also led through the water to the funnels, situ-
ated at the same end as the furnace.


    We may now turn our attention more par-
ticularly to the chemical process called com-
bustion, upon which a boiler depends for its
heat. Ordinary steam coal contains about 85 per
cent. of carbon, 7 per cent. of oxygen, and 4
per cent. of hydrogen, besides traces of nitrogen
and sulphur and a small incombustible residue.
When the coal burns, the nitrogen is released
and passes away without combining with any of
the other elements. The sulphur unites with hy-
drogen and forms sulphuretted hydrogen (also
named sulphurous acid), which is injurious to
steel plates, and is largely responsible for the
decay of tubes and funnels. More of the hydro-
gen unites with the oxygen as steam.

    The most important element in coal is the
carbon (known chemically by the symbol C). Its
combination with oxygen, called combustion, is
the act which heats the boiler. Only when the
carbon present has combined with the greatest
possible amount of oxygen that it will take into
partnership is the combustion complete and the
full heat-value (fixed by scientific experiment
at 14,500 thermal units per pound of carbon)
    Now, carbon may unite with oxygen, atom
for atom, and form carbon monoxide (CO); or
in the proportion of one atom of carbon to two
of oxygen, and form carbon dioxide (CO2). The
former gas is combustible—that is, will admit
another atom of carbon to the molecule—but
the latter is saturated with oxygen, and will not
burn, or, to put it otherwise, is the product of
perfect combustion. A properly designed fur-
nace, supplied with a due amount of air, will
cause nearly all the carbon in the coal burnt to
combine with the full amount of oxygen. On the
other hand, if the oxygen supply is inefficient,
CO as well as CO2 will form, and there will be
a heat loss, equal in extreme cases to two-thirds
of the whole. It is therefore necessary that a fur-
nace which has to eat up fuel at a great pace
should be artificially fed with air in the propor-
tion of from 12 to 20 pounds of air for every
pound of fuel. There are two methods of creat-
ing a violent draught through the furnace. The
first is—

    The forced draught; very simply exempli-
fied by the ordinary bellows used in every
house. On a ship (Fig. 10) the principle is de-
veloped as follows:—The boilers are situated
in a compartment or compartments having no
communication with the outer air, except for the
passages down which air is forced by power-
ful fans at a pressure considerably greater than
that of the atmosphere. There is only one "way
out"—namely, through the furnace and tubes
(or gas-ways) of the boiler, and the funnel. So
through these it rushes, raising the fuel to white
heat. As may easily be imagined, the temper-
ature of a stokehold, especially in the tropics,
is far from pleasant. In the Red Sea the ther-
mometer sometimes rises to 170° Fahrenheit or
more, and the poor stokers have a very bad time
of it.
FIG. 10.—Sketch showing how the "forced dra
            stokehold and how it affects the

   The second system is that of the induced
draught. Here air is sucked through the furnace
by creating a vacuum in the funnel and in a
chamber opening into it. Turning to Fig. 6, we
see a pipe through which the exhaust steam
from the locomotive's cylinders is shot upwards
into the funnel, in which, and in the smoke-box
beneath it, a strong vacuum is formed while the
engine is running. Now, "nature abhors a vacu-
um," so air will get into the smoke-box if there
be a way open. There is—through the air-doors
at the bottom of the furnace, the furnace itself,
and the fire-tubes; and on the way oxygen com-
bines with the carbon of the fuel, to form carbon
dioxide. The power of the draught is so great
that, as one often notices when a train passes
during the night, red-hot cinders, plucked from
the fire-box, and dragged through the tubes, are
hurled far into the air. It might be mentioned
in parenthesis that the so-called "smoke" which
pours from the funnel of a moving engine is
mainly condensing steam. A steamship, on the
other hand, belches smoke only from its fun-
nels, as fresh water is far too precious to waste
as steam. We shall refer to this later on (p. 72).

              BOILER FITTINGS.

   The most important fittings on a boiler
are:—(1) the safety-valve; (2) the water-gauge;
(3) the steam-gauge; (4) the mechanisms for
feeding it with water.

             THE SAFETY-VALVE.

   Professor Thurston, an eminent authority on
the steam-engine, has estimated that a plain cyl-
indrical boiler carrying 100 lbs. pressure to the
square inch contains sufficient stored energy to
project it into the air a vertical distance of 3½
miles. In the case of a Lancashire boiler at equal
pressure the distance would be 2½ miles; of a
locomotive boiler, at 125 lbs., 1½ miles; of a
steam tubular boiler, at 75 lbs., 1 mile. Accord-
ing to the same writer, a cubic foot of heated
water under a pressure of from 60 to 70 lbs. per
square inch has about the same energy as one
pound of gunpowder.

    Steam is a good servant, but a terrible mas-
ter. It must be kept under strict control.
However strong a boiler may be, it will burst
if the steam pressure in it be raised to a certain
point; and some device must therefore be fitted
on it which will give the steam free egress be-
fore that point is reached. A device of this kind
is called a safety-valve. It usually blows off at
less than half the greatest pressure that the boil-
er has been proved by experiment to be capable
of withstanding.

    In principle the safety-valve denotes an ori-
fice closed by an accurately-fitting plug, which
is pressed against its seat on the boiler top by a
weighted lever, or by a spring. As soon as the
steam pressure on the face of the plug exceeds
the counteracting force of the weight or spring,
the plug rises, and steam escapes until equilib-
rium of the opposing forces is restored.

   On stationary engines a lever safety-valve is
commonly employed (Fig. 11). The blowing-off
point can be varied by shifting the weight along
the arm so as to give it a greater or less lever-
age. On locomotive and marine boilers, where
shocks and movements have to be reckoned
with, weights are replaced by springs, set to a
certain tension, and locked up so that they can-
not be tampered with.
  FIG. 11.—A LEVER SAFETY-VALVE. V, valve; S, se
fulcrum; W, weight. The figures indicate the posi
 should be placed for the valve to act when the pr
                      ber of pounds per square in

    Boilers are tested by filling the boilers quite
full and (1) by heating the water, which expands
slightly, but with great pressure; (2) by forcing
in additional water with a powerful pump. In
either case a rupture would not be attended by
an explosion, as water is very inelastic.
   The days when an engineer could "sit on the
valves"—that is, screw them down—to obtain
greater pressure, are now past, and with them a
considerable proportion of the dangers of high-
pressure steam. The Factory Act of 1895, in
force throughout the British Isles, provides that
every boiler for generating steam in a factory
or workshop where the Act applies must have
a proper safety-valve, steam-gauge, and water-
gauge; and that boilers and fittings must be ex-
amined by a competent person at least once in
every fourteen months. Neglect of these pro-
visions renders the owner of a boiler liable to
heavy penalties if an explosion occurs.

    One of the most disastrous explosions on
record took place at the Redcar Iron Works,
Yorkshire, in June 1895. In this case, twelve
out of fifteen boilers ranged side by side burst,
through one proving too weak for its work. The
flying fragments of this boiler, striking the sides
of other boilers, exploded them, and so the dam-
age was transmitted down the line. Twenty men
were killed and injured; while masses of metal,
weighing several tons each, were hurled 250
yards, and caused widespread damage.

   The following is taken from a journal, dated
December 22, 1895: "Providence (Rhode Is-
land).—A recent prophecy that a boiler would
explode between December 16 and 24 in a store
has seriously affected the Christmas trade.
Shoppers are incredibly nervous. One store ad-
vertises, 'No boilers are being used; lifts run-
ning electrically.' All stores have had their boil-
ers inspected."

             THE WATER-GAUGE.

   No fitting of a boiler is more important than
the water-gauge, which shows the level at
which the water stands. The engineer must con-
tinually consult his gauge, for if the water gets
too low, pipes and other surfaces exposed to the
furnace flames may burn through, with disas-
trous results; while, on the other hand, too much
water will cause bad steaming. A section of an
ordinary gauge is seen in Fig. 12. It consists
of two parts, each furnished with a gland, G, to
make a steam-tight joint round the glass tube,
which is inserted through the hole covered by
the plug P1. The cocks T1 T2 are normally open,
allowing the ingress of steam and water respect-
ively to the tube. Cock T3 is kept closed unless
for any reason it is necessary to blow steam or
water through the gauge. The holes C C can be
cleaned out if the plugs P2 P3 are removed.
     FIG. 12.—Section of a water-gauge.

    Most gauges on high-pressure boilers have a
thick glass screen in front, so that in the event
of the tube breaking, the steam and water may
not blow directly on to the attendants. A further
precaution is to include two ball-valves near the
ends of the gauge-glass. Under ordinary con-
ditions the balls lie in depressions clear of the
ways; but when a rush of steam or water occurs
they are sucked into their seatings and block all

   On many boilers two water-gauges are fit-
ted, since any gauge may work badly at times.
The glasses are tested to a pressure of 3,000 lbs.
or more to the square inch before use.

             THE STEAM-GAUGE.

    It is of the utmost importance that a person
in charge of a boiler should know what pressure
the steam has reached. Every boiler is therefore
fitted with one steam-gauge; many with two,
lest one might be unreliable. There are two prin-
cipal types of steam-gauge:—(1) The Bourdon;
(2) the Schäffer-Budenberg. The principle of
the Bourdon is illustrated by Fig. 13, in which
A is a piece of rubber tubing closed at one end,
and at the other drawn over the nozzle of a
cycle tyre inflator. If bent in a curve, as shown,
the section of the tube is an oval. When air
is pumped in, the rubber walls endeavour to
assume a circular section, because this shape
encloses a larger area than an oval of equal
circumference, and therefore makes room for
a larger volume of air. In doing so the tube
straightens itself, and assumes the position in-
dicated by the dotted lines. Hang an empty "in-
ner tube" of a pneumatic tyre over a nail and in-
flate it, and you will get a good illustration of
the principle.
FIG. 13.—Showing the principle of the
 FIG. 14.—Bourdon steam-gauge. Part of dial rem

   In Fig. 14 we have a Bourdon gauge, with
part of the dial face broken away to show the
internal mechanism. T is a flattened metal tube
soldered at one end into a hollow casting, into
which screws a tap connected with the boiler.
The other end (closed) is attached to a link,
L, which works an arm of a quadrant rack, R,
engaging with a small pinion, P, actuating the
pointer. As the steam pressure rises, the tube T
moves its free end outwards towards the posi-
tion shown by the dotted lines, and traverses the
arm of the rack, so shifting the pointer round the
scale. As the pressure falls, the tube gradually
returns to its zero position.

    The Schäffer-Budenberg gauge depends for
its action on the elasticity of a thin corrugated
metal plate, on one side of which steam presses.
As the plate bulges upwards it pushes up a small
rod resting on it, which operates a quadrant and
rack similar to that of the Bourdon gauge. The
principle is employed in another form for the
aneroid barometer (p. 329).


   The water inside a boiler is kept at a proper
level by (1) pumps or (2) injectors. The former
are most commonly used on stationary and mar-
ine boilers. As their mechanism is much the
same as that of ordinary force pumps, which
will be described in a later chapter, we may pass
at once to the injector, now almost universally
used on locomotive, and sometimes on station-
ary boilers. At first sight the injector is a mech-
anical paradox, since it employs the steam from
a boiler to blow water into the boiler. In Fig. 15
we have an illustration of the principle of an in-
jector. Steam is led from the boiler through pipe
A, which terminates in a nozzle surrounded by
a cone, E, connected by the pipe B with the wa-
ter tank. When steam is turned on it rushes with
immense velocity from the nozzle, and creates a
partial vacuum in cone E, which soon fills with
water. On meeting the water the steam con-
denses, but not before it has imparted some of
its velocity to the water, which thus gains suf-
ficient momentum to force down the valve and
find its way to the boiler. The overflow space
O O between E and C allows steam and water to
escape until the water has gathered the requisite
FIG. 15.—Diagram illustrating the principle
               FIG. 16.—The Giffard injector.

   A form of injector very commonly used is
Giffard's (Fig. 16). Steam is allowed to enter by
screwing up the valve V. As it rushes through
the nozzle of the cone A it takes up water and
projects it into the "mixing cone" B, which can
be raised or lowered by the pinion D (worked by
the hand-wheel wheel shown) so as to regulate
the amount of water admitted to B. At the centre
of B is an aperture, O, communicating with the
overflow. The water passes to the boiler through
the valve on the left. It will be noticed that the
cone A and the part of B above the orifice O
contract downward. This is to convert the pres-
sure of the steam into velocity. Below O is a
cone, the diameter of which increases down-
wards. Here the velocity of the water is conver-
ted back into pressure in obedience to a well-
known hydromechanic law.
    An injector does not work well if the feed-
water be too hot to condense the steam quickly;
and it may be taken as a rule that the warmer
the water, the smaller is the amount of it injec-
ted by a given weight of steam.[2] Some inject-
ors have flap-valves covering the overflow ori-
fice, to prevent air being sucked in and carried
to the boiler.

    When an injector receives a sudden shock,
such as that produced by the passing of a loco-
motive over points, it is liable to "fly off"—that
is, stop momentarily—and then send the steam
and water through the overflow. If this happens,
both steam and water must be turned off, and
the injector be restarted; unless it be of the self-
starting variety, which automatically controls
the admission of water to the "mixing-cone,"
and allows the injector to "pick up" of itself.

   For economy's sake part of the steam ex-
pelled from the cylinders of a locomotive is
sometimes used to work an injector, which
passes the water on, at a pressure of 70 lbs. to
the square inch, to a second injector operated
by high-pressure steam coming direct from the
boiler, which increases its velocity sufficiently
to overcome the boiler pressure. In this case
only a fraction of the weight of high-pressure
steam is required to inject a given weight of wa-
ter, as compared with that used in a single-stage
    [1] "The Steam-Engine," p. 3.

    [2] By "weight of steam" is meant the
     steam produced by boiling a certain
     weight of water. A pound of steam, if con-
     densed, would form a pound of water.
                Chapter II.


   Reciprocating engines—Double-cylinder
      engines—The function of the fly-
      wheel—The       cylinder—The    slide-
      valve—The eccentric—"Lap" of the
      valve: expansion of steam—How the
      cut-off is managed—Limit of expansive
      working—Compound                   en-
      gines—Arrangement of expansion en-
      gines—Compound               locomot-
      ives—Reversing        gears—"Linking-
      governors—Marine-speed           gov-
      ernors—The condenser.

H     AVING treated at some length the appar-
      atus used for converting water into high-
pressure steam, we may pass at once to a con-
sideration of the mechanisms which convert the
energy of steam into mechanical motion, or

   Steam-engines are of two kinds:—(1) recip-
rocating, employing cylinders and cranks; (2)
rotary, called turbines.

      FIG. 17.—Sketch showing parts of a horizo

   Fig. 17 is a skeleton diagram of the simplest
form of reciprocating engine. C is a cylinder
to which steam is admitted through the steam-
ways[3] W W, first on one side of the piston P,
then on the other. The pressure on the piston
pushes it along the cylinder, and the force is
transmitted through the piston rod P R to the
connecting rod C R, which causes the crank K to
revolve. At the point where the two rods meet
there is a "crosshead," H, running to and fro in
a guide to prevent the piston rod being broken
or bent by the oblique thrusts and pulls which
it imparts through C R to the crank K. The lat-
ter is keyed to a shaft S carrying the fly-wheel,
or, in the case of a locomotive, the driving-
wheels. The crank shaft revolves in bearings.
The internal diameter of a cylinder is called its
bore. The travel of the piston is called its stroke.
The distance from the centre of the shaft to
the centre of the crank pin is called the crank's
throw, which is half of the piston's stroke. An
engine of this type is called double-acting, as
the piston is pushed alternately backwards and
forwards by the steam. When piston rod, con-
necting rod, and crank lie in a straight
line—that is, when the piston is fully out, or
fully in—the crank is said to be at a "dead
point;" for, were the crank turned to such a po-
sition, the admission of steam would not pro-
duce motion, since the thrust or pull would be
entirely absorbed by the bearings.
          FIG. 18.—Sectional plan of a

                                    FIG. 19.

                                    FIG. 20.

    Locomotive, marine, and all other engines
which must be started in any position have at
least two cylinders, and as many cranks set at an
angle to one another. Fig. 19 demonstrates that
when one crank, C1, of a double-cylinder engine
is at a "dead point," the other, C2, has reached
a position at which the piston exerts the max-
imum of turning power. In Fig. 20 each crank
is at 45° with the horizontal, and both pistons
are able to do work. The power of one piston is
constantly increasing while that of the other is
decreasing. If single-action cylinders are used,
at least three of these are needed to produce a
perpetual turning movement, independently of
a fly-wheel.


   A fly-wheel acts as a reservoir of energy,
to carry the crank of a single-cylinder engine
past the "dead points." It is useful in all recip-
rocating engines to produce steady running, as
a heavy wheel acts as a drag on the effects of
a sudden increase or decrease of steam pres-
sure. In a pump, mangold-slicer, cake-crusher,
or chaff-cutter, the fly-wheel helps the operator
to pass his dead points—that is, those parts of
the circle described by the handle in which he
can do little work.

              THE CYLINDER.
     FIG. 21.—Diagrammatic section of a cylinde

     The cylinders of an engine take the place
of the muscular system of the human body. In
Fig. 21 we have a cylinder and its slide-valve
shown in section. First of all, look at P, the pis-
ton. Round it are white grooves, R R, in which
rings are fitted to prevent the passage of steam
past the piston. The rings are cut through at
one point in their circumference, and slightly
opened, so that when in position they press all
round against the walls of the cylinder. After a
little use they "settle down to their work"—that
is, wear to a true fit in the cylinder. Each end of
the cylinder is closed by a cover, one of which
has a boss cast on it, pierced by a hole for the
piston rod to work through. To prevent the es-
cape of steam the boss is hollowed out true to
accommodate a gland, G1, which is threaded
on the rod and screwed up against the boss;
the internal space between them being filled
with packing. Steam from the boiler enters the
steam-chest, and would have access to both
sides of the piston simultaneously through the
steam-ways, W W, were it not for the


a hollow box open at the bottom, and long
enough for its edges to cover both steam-ways
at once. Between W W is E, the passage for the
exhaust steam to escape by. The edges of the
slide-valve are perfectly flat, as is the face over
which the valve moves, so that no steam may
pass under the edges. In our illustration the pis-
ton has just begun to move towards the right.
Steam enters by the left steam-way, which the
valve is just commencing to uncover. As the
piston moves, the valve moves in the same dir-
ection until the port is fully uncovered, when it
begins to move back again; and just before the
piston has finished its stroke the steam-way on
the right begins to open. The steam-way on the
left is now in communication with the exhaust
port E, so that the steam that has done its duty
is released and pressed from the cylinder by the
piston. Reciprocation is this backward and for-
ward motion of the piston: hence the term "re-
ciprocating" engines. The linear motion of the
piston rod is converted into rotatory motion by
the connecting rod and crank.
FIG. 22.—Perspective section of
   The use of a crank appears to be so obvious
a method of producing this conversion that it
is interesting to learn that, when James Watt
produced his "rotative engine" in 1780 he was
unable to use the crank because it had already
been patented by one Matthew Wasborough.
Watt was not easily daunted, however, and
within a twelvemonth had himself patented five
other devices for obtaining rotatory motion
from a piston rod. Before passing on, it may be
mentioned that Watt was the father of the mod-
ern—that is, the high-pressure—steam-engine;
and that, owing to the imperfection of the exist-
ing machinery, the difficulties he had to over-
come were enormous. On one occasion he con-
gratulated himself because one of his steam-
cylinders was only three-eighths of an inch out
of truth in the bore. Nowadays a good firm
would reject a cylinder 1⁄500 of an inch out of
truth; and in small petrol-engines 1⁄5000 of an
inch is sometimes the greatest "limit of error"

                     FIG. 23.—The eccentric and it

               THE ECCENTRIC

is used to move the slide-valve to and fro over
the steam ports (Fig. 23). It consists of three
main parts—the sheave, or circular plate S,
mounted on the crank shaft; and the two straps
which encircle it, and in which it revolves. To
one strap is bolted the "big end" of the eccentric
rod, which engages at its other end with the
valve rod. The straps are semicircular and held
together by strong bolts, B B, passing through
lugs, or thickenings at the ends of the semi-
circles. The sheave has a deep groove all round
the edges, in which the straps ride. The "ec-
centricity" or "throw" of an eccentric is the dis-
tance between C2, the centre of the shaft, and
C , the centre of the sheave. The throw must
equal half of the distance which the slide-valve
has to travel over the steam ports. A tapering
steel wedge or key, K, sunk half in the eccentric
and half in a slot in the shaft, holds the eccentric
steady and prevents it slipping. Some eccentric
sheaves are made in two parts, bolted together,
so that they may be removed easily without dis-
mounting the shaft.

    The eccentric is in principle nothing more
than a crank pin so exaggerated as to be larger
than the shaft of the crank. Its convenience lies
in the fact that it may be mounted at any point
on a shaft, whereas a crank can be situated at an
end only, if it is not actually a V-shaped bend in
the shaft itself—in which case its position is of
course permanent.


   The subject of valve-setting is so extensive
that a full exposition might weary the reader,
even if space permitted its inclusion. But inas-
much as the effectiveness of a reciprocating en-
gine depends largely on the nature and arrange-
ment of the valves, we will glance at some of
the more elementary principles.
FIG. 24.
                                    FIG. 25.

   In Fig. 24 we see in section the slide-valve,
the ports of the cylinder, and part of the piston.
To the right are two lines at right angles—the
thicker, C, representing the position of the
crank; the thinner, E, that of the eccentric. (The
position of an eccentric is denoted diagrammat-
ically by a line drawn from the centre of the
crank shaft through the centre of the sheave.)
The edges of the valve are in this case only
broad enough to just cover the ports—that is,
they have no lap. The piston is about to com-
mence its stroke towards the left; and the ec-
centric, which is set at an angle of 90° in ad-
vance of the crank, is about to begin opening
the left-hand port. By the time that C has got to
the position originally occupied by E, E will be
horizontal (Fig. 25)—that is, the eccentric will
have finished its stroke towards the left; and
while C passes through the next right angle the
valve will be closing the left port, which will
cease to admit steam when the piston has come
to the end of its travel. The operation is repeated
on the right-hand side while the piston returns.
                                     FIG. 26.

    It must be noticed here—(1) that steam is ad-
mitted at full pressure all through the stroke; (2)
that admission begins and ends simultaneously
with the stroke. Now, in actual practice it is ne-
cessary to admit steam before the piston has
ended its travel, so as to cushion the violence of
the sudden change of direction of the piston, its
rod, and other moving parts. To effect this, the
eccentric is set more than 90° in advance—that
is, more than what the engineers call square.
Fig. 26 shows such an arrangement. The angle
between E and E1 is called the angle of advance.
Referring to the valve, you will see that it has
opened an appreciable amount, though the pis-
ton has not yet started on its rightwards journey.


     In the simple form of valve that appears in
Fig. 24, the valve faces are just wide enough
to cover the steam ports. If the eccentric is not
square with the crank, the admission of steam
lasts until the very end of the stroke; if set a
little in advance—that is, given lead—the steam
is cut off before the piston has travelled quite
along the cylinder, and readmitted before the
back stroke is accomplished. Even with this
lead the working is very uneconomical, as the
steam goes to the exhaust at practically the
same pressure as that at which it entered the cyl-
inder. Its property of expansion has been neg-
lected. But supposing that steam at 100 lbs.
pressure were admitted till half-stroke, and then
suddenly cut off, the expansive nature of the
steam would then continue to push the piston
out until the pressure had decreased to 50 lbs.
per square inch, at which pressure it would go
to the exhaust. Now, observe that all the work
done by the steam after the cut-off is so much
power saved. The average pressure on the pis-
ton is not so high as in the first case; still, from
a given volume of 100 lbs. pressure steam we
get much more work.

FIG. 27.—A slide-valve with "

             FIG. 28.
    Look at Fig. 27. Here we have a slide-valve,
with faces much wider than the steam ports.
The parts marked black, P P, are those corres-
ponding to the faces of the valves shown in
previous diagrams (p. 54). The shaded parts, L
L, are called the lap. By increasing the length
of the lap we increase the range of expansive
working. Fig. 28 shows the piston full to the
left; the valve is just on the point of opening
to admit steam behind the piston. The eccentric
has a throw equal to the breadth of a port + the
lap of the valve. That this must be so is obvious
from a consideration of Fig. 27, where the valve
is at its central position. Hence the very simple
formula:—Travel of valve = 2 × (lap + breadth
of port). The path of the eccentric's centre round
the centre of the shaft is indicated by the usual
dotted line (Fig. 28). You will notice that the
"angle of advance," denoted by the arrow A,
is now very considerable. By the time that the
crank C has assumed the position of the line S,
the eccentric has passed its dead point, and the
valve begins to travel backwards, eventually re-
turning to the position shown in Fig. 28, and
cutting off the steam supply while the piston has
still a considerable part of its stroke to make.
The steam then begins to work expansively, and
continues to do so until the valve assumes the
position shown in Fig. 27.

   If the valve has to have "lead" to admit steam
before the end of the stroke to the other side
of the piston, the angle of advance must be in-
creased, and the eccentric centre line would lie
on the line E2. Therefore—total angle of ad-
vance = angle for lap and angle for lead.


    Theoretically, by increasing the lap and cut-
ting off the steam earlier and earlier in the
stroke, we should economize our power more
and more. But in practice a great difficulty is
met with—namely, that as the steam expands its
temperature falls. If the cut-off occurs early, say
at one-third stroke, the great expansion will re-
duce the temperature of the metal walls of the
cylinder to such an extent, that when the next
spirt of steam enters from the other end a con-
siderable proportion of the steam's energy will
be lost by cooling. In such a case, the difference
in temperature between admitted steam and ex-
hausted steam is too great for economy. Yet we
want to utilize as much energy as possible. How
are we to do it?


   In the year 1853, John Elder, founder of the
shipping firm of Elder and Co., Glasgow, intro-
duced the compound engine for use on ships.
The steam, when exhausted from the high-pres-
sure cylinder, passed into another cylinder of
equal stroke but larger diameter, where the ex-
pansion continued. In modern engines the ex-
pansion is extended to three and even four
stages, according to the boiler pressure; for it is
a rule that the higher the initial pressure is, the
larger is the number of stages of expansion con-
sistent with economical working.
FIG. 29.—Sketch of the arrangement of a triple-e
                              or supports, etc.,
   In Fig. 29 we have a triple-expansion marine
engine. Steam enters the high-pressure cylin-
der[4] at, say, 200 lbs. per square inch. It ex-
hausts at 75 lbs. into the large pipe 2, and passes
to the intermediate cylinder, whence it is ex-
hausted at 25 lbs. or so through pipe 3 to the
low-pressure cylinder. Finally, it is ejected at
about 8 lbs. per square inch to the condenser,
and is suddenly converted into water; an act
which produces a vacuum, and diminishes the
back-pressure of the exhaust from cylinder C. In
fact, the condenser exerts a sucking power on
the exhaust side of C's piston.


   In the illustration the cranks are set at angles
of 120°, or a third of a circle, so that one or
other is always at or near the position of max-
imum turning power. Where only two stages
are used the cylinders are often arranged tan-
dem, both pistons having a common piston rod
and crank. In order to get a constant turning
movement they must be mounted separately,
and work cranks set at right angles to one an-


   In 1876 Mr. A. Mallet introduced com-
pounding in locomotives; and the practice has
been largely adopted. The various types of
"compounds" may be classified as fol-
lows:—(1) One low-pressure and one high-
pressure cylinder; (2) one high-pressure and
two low-pressure; (3) one low-pressure and two
high-pressure; (4) two high-pressure and two
low-pressure. The last class is very widely used
in France, America, and Russia, and seems to
give the best results. Where only two cylinders
are used (and sometimes in the case of three
and four), a valve arrangement permits the ad-
mission of high-pressure steam to both high and
low-pressure cylinders for starting a train, or
moving it up heavy grades.

             REVERSING GEARS.
FIGS. 30, 31, 32.—Showing how a reversing gear

  The engines of a locomotive or steamship
must be reversible—that is, when steam is ad-
mitted to the cylinders, the engineer must be
able to so direct it through the steam-ways that
the cranks may turn in the desired direction.
The commonest form of reversing device (in-
vented by George Stephenson) is known as
Stephenson's Link Gear. In Fig. 30 we have a
diagrammatic presentment of this gear. E1 and
E are two eccentrics set square with the crank
at opposite ends of a diameter. Their rods are
connected to the ends of a link, L, which can
be raised and lowered by means of levers (not
shown). B is a block which can partly revolve
on a pin projecting from the valve rod, working
through a guide, G. In Fig. 31 the link is half
raised, or in "mid-gear," as drivers say. Eccent-
ric E1 has pushed the lower end of the link fully
back; E2 has pulled it fully forward; and since
any movement of the one eccentric is counter-
balanced by the opposite movement of the oth-
er, rotation of the eccentrics would not cause the
valve to move at all, and no steam could be ad-
mitted to the cylinder.

    Let us suppose that Fig. 30 denotes one cyl-
inder, crank, rods, etc., of a locomotive. The
crank has come to rest at its half-stroke; the re-
versing lever is at the mid-gear notch. If the
engineer desires to turn his cranks in an anti-
clockwise direction, he raises the link, which
brings the rod of E1 into line with the valve
rod and presses the block backwards till the
right-hand port is uncovered (Fig. 31). If steam
be now admitted, the piston will be pushed to-
wards the left, and the engine will continue to
run in an anti-clockwise direction. If, on the
other hand, he wants to run the engine the other
way, he would drop the link, bringing the rod
of E2 into line with the valve rod, and drawing
V forward to uncover the rear port (Fig. 32). In
either case the eccentric working the end of the
link remote from B has no effect, since it merely
causes that end to describe arcs of circles of
which B is the centre.

                 "LINKING UP."

    If the link is only partly lowered or raised
from the central position it still causes the en-
gine to run accordingly, but the movement of
the valve is decreased. When running at high
speed the engineer "links up" his reversing gear,
causing his valves to cut off early in the stroke,
and the steam to work more expansively than
it could with the lever at full, or end, gear; so
that this device not only renders an engine re-
versible, but also gives the engineer an abso-
lute command over the expansion ratio of the
steam admitted to the cylinder, and furnishes a
method of cutting off the steam altogether. In
Figs. 30, 31, 32, the valve has no lap and the
eccentrics are set square. In actual practice the
valve faces would have "lap" and the eccentric
"lead" to correspond; but for the sake of simpli-
city neither is shown.

                OTHER GEARS.

    In the Gooch gear for reversing locomotives
the link does not shift, but the valve rod and its
block is raised or lowered. The Allan gear is so
arranged that when the link is raised the block
is lowered, and vice versâ. These are really only
modifications       of     Stephenson's      prin-
ciple—namely, the employment of two eccent-
rics set at equal angles to and on opposite sides
of the crank. There are three other forms of
link-reversing gear, and nearly a dozen types of
radial reversing devices; but as we have already
described the three most commonly used on lo-
comotives and ships, there is no need to give
particulars of these.

   Before the introduction of Stephenson's gear
a single eccentric was used for each cylinder,
and to reverse the engine this eccentric had to
be loose on the axle. "A lever and gear worked
by a treadle on the footplate controlled the po-
sition of the eccentrics. When starting the en-
gine, the driver put the eccentrics out of gear by
the treadle; then, by means of a lever he raised
the small-ends[5] of the eccentric rods, and, not-
ing the position of the cranks, or, if more con-
venient, the balance weight in the wheels, he,
by means of another handle, moved the valves
to open the necessary ports to steam and worked
them by hand until the engine was moving;
then, with the treadle, he threw the eccentrics
over to engage the studs, at the same time drop-
ping the small-ends of the rods to engage pins
upon the valve spindles, so that they continued
to keep up the movement of the valve."[6] One
would imagine that in modern shunting yards
such a device would somewhat delay opera-
               PISTON VALVES.

    In marine engines, and on many locomotives
and some stationary engines, the D-valve
(shown in Figs. 30–32) is replaced by a piston
valve, or circular valve, working up and down
in a tubular seating. It may best be described as
a rod carrying two pistons which correspond to
the faces of a D-valve. Instead of rectangular
ports there are openings in the tube in which the
piston valve moves, communicating with the
steam-ways into the cylinder and with the ex-
haust pipe. In the case of the D-valve the pres-
sure above it is much greater than that below,
and considerable friction arises if the rubbing
faces are not kept well lubricated. The piston
valve gets over this difficulty, since such steam
as may leak past it presses on its circumference
at all points equally.

             SPEED GOVERNORS.
                        FIG. 33.—A speed governo

   Practically all engines except locomotives
and those known as "donkey-engines"—used
on cranes—are fitted with some device for
keeping the rotatory speed of the crank constant
within very narrow limits. Perhaps you have
seen a pair of balls moving round on a seating
over the boiler of a threshing-engine. They form
part of the "governor," or speed-controller,
shown in principle in Fig. 33. A belt driven by
a pulley on the crank shaft turns a small pul-
ley, P, at the foot of the governor. This trans-
mits motion through two bevel-wheels, G, to a
vertical shaft, from the top of which hang two
heavy balls on links, K K. Two more links, L
L, connect the balls with a weight, W, which
has a deep groove cut round it at the bottom.
When the shaft revolves, the balls fly outwards
by centrifugal force, and as their velocity in-
creases the quadrilateral figure contained by the
four links expands laterally and shortens vertic-
ally. The angles between K K and L L become
less and less obtuse, and the weight W is drawn
upwards, bringing with it the fork C of the rod
A, which has ends engaging with the groove. As
C rises, the other end of the rod is depressed,
and the rod B depresses rod O, which is attached
to the spindle operating a sort of shutter in the
steam-pipe. Consequently the supply of steam
is throttled more and more as the speed in-
creases, until it has been so reduced that the en-
gine slows, and the balls fall, opening the valve
again. Fig. 34 shows the valve fully closed. This
form of governor was invented by James Watt.
A spring is often used instead of a weight, and
the governor is arranged horizontally so that
it may be driven direct from the crank shaft
without the intervention of bevel gearing.
                    FIG. 34.

   The Hartwell governor employs a link mo-
tion. You must here picture the balls raising and
lowering the free end of the valve rod, which
carries a block moving in a link connected with
the eccentric rod. The link is pivoted at the up-
per end, and the eccentric rod is attached to the
lower. When the engine is at rest the end of the
valve rod and its block are dropped till in a line
with the eccentric rod; but when the machinery
begins to work the block is gradually drawn up
by the governor, diminishing the movement of
the valve, and so shortening the period of steam
admission to the cylinder.

    Governors are of special importance where
the load of an engine is constantly varying, as
in the case of a sawmill. A good governor will
limit variation of speed within two per
cent.—that is, if the engine is set to run at 100
revolutions a minute, it will not allow it to ex-
ceed 101 or fall below 99. In very high-speed
engines the governing will prevent variation of
less than one per cent., even when the load is
at one instant full on, and the next taken com-
pletely off.


    These must be more quick-acting than those
used on engines provided with fly-wheels,
which prevent very sudden variations of speed.
The screw is light in proportion to the engine
power, and when it is suddenly raised from the
water by the pitching of the vessel, the engine
would race till the screw took the water again,
unless some regulating mechanism were
provided. Many types of marine governors have
been tried. The most successful seems to be one
in which water is being constantly forced by a
pump driven off the engine shaft into a cylinder
controlling a throttle-valve in the main steam-
pipe. The water escapes through a leak, which
is adjustable. As long as the speed of the engine
is normal, the water escapes from the cylinder
as fast as it is pumped in, and no movement of
the piston results; but when the screw begins
to race, the pump overcomes the leak, and the
piston is driven out, causing a throttling of the
steam supply.


    The condenser serves two purposes:—(1) It
makes it possible to use the same water over
and over again in the boilers. On the sea, where
fresh water is not obtainable in large quantities,
this is a matter of the greatest importance. (2)
It adds to the power of a compound engine by
exerting a back pull on the piston of the low-
pressure cylinder while the steam is being ex-
                      FIG. 35.—The marine conde

   Fig. 35 is a sectional illustration of a marine
condenser. Steam enters the condenser through
the large pipe E, and passes among a number
of very thin copper tubes, through which sea-
water is kept circulating by a pump. The path
of the water is shown by the featherless arrows.
It comes from the pump through pipe A into
the lower part of a large cap covering one end
of the condenser and divided transversely by
a diaphragm, D. Passing through the pipes, it
reaches the cap attached to the other end, and
flows back through the upper tubes to the outlet
C. This arrangement ensures that, as the steam
condenses, it shall meet colder and colder tubes,
and finally be turned to water, which passes
to the well through the outlet F. In some con-
densers the positions of steam and water are re-
versed, steam going through the tubes outside
which cold water circulates.
    [3] Also called ports.

    [4] The bores of the cylinders are in the
     proportion of 4: 6: 9. The stroke of all
     three is the same.

    [5] The ends furthest from the eccentric.
    [6] "The Locomotive of To-day," p. 87.

                Chapter III.


   How a turbine works—The De Laval tur-
     bine—The         Parsons         tur-
     bine—Description of the Parsons tur-
     bine—The expansive action of steam in
     a Parsons turbine—Balancing the
     thrust—Advantages of the marine tur-

M      ORE than two thousand years ago Hero
       of Alexandria produced the first apparat-
us to which the name of steam-engine could
rightly be given. Its principle was practically
the same as that of the revolving jet used to
sprinkle lawns during dry weather, steam being
used in the place of water. From the top of a
closed cauldron rose two vertical pipes, which
at their upper ends had short, right-angle bends.
Between them was hung a hollow globe,
pivoted on two short tubes projecting from its
sides into the upright tubes. Two little L-shaped
pipes projected from opposite sides of the
globe, at the ends of a diameter, in a plane per-
pendicular to the axis. On fire being applied to
the cauldron, steam was generated. It passed up
through the upright, through the pivots, and in-
to the globe, from which it escaped by the two
L-shaped nozzles, causing rapid revolution of
the ball. In short, the first steam-engine was a
turbine. Curiously enough, we have reverted to
this primitive type (scientifically developed, of
course) in the most modern engineering prac-

    In reciprocating—that is, cylinder—engines
steam is admitted into a chamber and the door
shut behind it, as it were. As it struggles to
expand, it forces out one of the confining
walls—that is, the piston—and presently the
door opens again, and allows it to escape when
it has done its work. In Hero's toy the impact of
the issuing molecules against other molecules
that have already emerged from the pipes was
used. One may compare the reaction to that ex-
erted by a thrown stone on the thrower. If the
thrower is standing on skates, the reaction of the
stone will cause him to glide backwards, just
as if he had pushed off from some fixed ob-
ject. In the case of the reaction—namely, the
Hero-type—turbine the nozzle from which the
steam or water issues moves, along with bodies
to which it may be attached. In action turbines
steam is led through fixed nozzles or steam-
ways, and the momentum of the steam is
brought to bear on the surfaces of movable bod-
ies connected with the shaft.


    In its earliest form this turbine was a modi-
fication of Hero's. The wheel was merely a pipe
bent in S form, attached at its centre to a hollow
vertical shaft supplied with steam through a
stuffing-box at one extremity. The steam blew
out tangentially from the ends of the S, causing
the shaft to revolve rapidly and work the ma-
chinery (usually a cream separator) mounted on
it. This motor proved very suitable for dairy
work, but was too wasteful of steam to be useful
where high power was needed.
FIG. 36.—The wheel and nozzles of a De Laval
    In the De Laval turbine as now constructed
the steam is blown from stationary nozzles
against vanes mounted on a revolving wheel.
Fig. 36 shows the nozzles and a turbine wheel.
The wheel is made as a solid disc, to the circum-
ference of which the vanes are dovetailed sep-
arately in a single row. Each vane is of curved
section, the concave side directed towards the
nozzles, which, as will be gathered from the
"transparent" specimen on the right of our il-
lustration, gradually expand towards the mouth.
This is to allow the expansion of the steam,
and a consequent gain of velocity. As it issues,
each molecule strikes against the concave face
of a vane, and, while changing its direction, is
robbed of its kinetic energy, which passes to the
wheel. To turn once more to a stone-throwing
comparison, it is as if a boy were pelting the
wheel with an enormous number of tiny stones.
Now, escaping high-pressure steam moves very
fast indeed. To give figures, if it enters the small
end of a De Laval nozzle at 200 lbs. per square
inch, it will leave the big end at a velocity of
48 miles per minute—that is, at a speed which
would take it right round the world in 8½ hours!
The wheel itself would not move at more than
about one-third of this speed as a maximum.[7]
But even so, it may make as many as 30,000
revolutions per minute. A mechanical difficulty
is now encountered—namely, that arising from
vibration. No matter how carefully the turbine
wheel may be balanced, it is practically impos-
sible to make its centre of gravity coincide ex-
actly with the central point of the shaft; in oth-
er words, the wheel will be a bit—perhaps only
a tiny fraction of an ounce—heavier on one
side than the other. This want of truth causes
vibration, which, at the high speed mentioned,
would cause the shaft to knock the bearings in
which it revolves to pieces, if—and this is the
point—those bearings were close to the wheel
M. de Laval mounted the wheel on a shaft long
enough between the bearings to "whip," or bend
a little, and the difficulty was surmounted.

    The normal speed of the turbine wheel is too
high for direct driving of some machinery, so it
is reduced by means of gearing. To dynamos,
pumps, and air-fans it is often coupled direct.


   At the grand naval review held in 1897 in
honour of Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee,
one of the most noteworthy sights was the little
Turbinia of 44½ tons burthen, which darted
about among the floating forts at a speed much
surpassing that of the fastest "destroyer." Inside
the nimble little craft were engines developing
2,000 horse power, without any of the clank and
vibration which usually reigns in the engine-
room of a high-speed vessel. The Turbinia was
the first turbine-driven boat, and as such, even
apart from her extraordinary pace, she attracted
great attention. Since 1897 the Parsons turbine
has been installed on many ships, including sev-
eral men-of-war, and it seems probable that the
time is not far distant when reciprocating en-
gines will be abandoned on all high-speed craft.


                  FIG. 37.—Section of a Parsons t

   The essential parts of a Parsons turbine
are:—(1) The shaft, on which is mounted (2)
the drum; (3) the cylindrical casing inside
which the drum revolves; (4) the vanes on the
drum and casing; (5) the balance pistons. Fig.
37 shows a diagrammatic turbine in section.
The drum, it will be noticed, increases its dia-
meter in three stages, D1, D2, D3, towards the
right. From end to end it is studded with little
vanes, M M, set in parallel rings small distances
apart. Each vane has a curved section (see Fig.
38), the hollow side facing towards the left. The
vanes stick out from the drum like short spokes,
and their outer ends almost touch the casing. To
the latter are attached equally-spaced rings of
fixed vanes, F F, pointing inwards towards the
drum, and occupying the intervals between the
rings of moving vanes. Their concave sides also
face towards the left, but, as seen in Fig. 38,
their line of curve lies the reverse way to that of
M M. Steam enters the casing at A, and at once
rushes through the vanes towards the outlet at B.
It meets the first row of fixed vanes, and has its
path so deflected that it strikes the ring of mov-
ing (or drum) vanes at the most effective angle,
and pushes them round. It then has its direction
changed by the ring of F F, so that it may treat
the next row of M M in a similar fashion.

               FIG. 38.—Blades or vanes of a Parso
One of the low-pressure turbines of the Carmani
inferred from comparison with the man standing

   On reaching the end of D1 it enters the
second, or intermediate, set of vanes. The drum
here is of a greater diameter, and the blades
are longer and set somewhat farther apart, to
give a freer passage to the now partly expanded
steam, which has lost pressure but gained ve-
locity. The process of movement is repeated
through this stage; and again in D3, the low-
pressure drum. The steam then escapes to the
condenser through B, having by this time ex-
panded very many times; and it is found advis-
able, for reasons explained in connection with
compound steam-engines, to have a separate
turbine in an independent casing for the ex-
treme stages of expansion.

   The vanes are made of brass. In the turbines
of the Carmania, the huge Cunard liner,
1,115,000 vanes are used. The largest diameter
of the drums is 11 feet, and each low-pressure
turbine weighs 350 tons.


   The push exerted by the steam on the blades
not only turns the drum, but presses it in the dir-
ection in which the steam flows. This end thrust
is counterbalanced by means of the "dummy"
pistons, P1, P2, P3. Each dummy consists of a
number of discs revolving between rings pro-
jecting from the casing, the distance between
discs and rings being so small that but little
steam can pass. In the high-pressure compart-
ment the steam pushes P1 to the left with the
same pressure as it pushes the blades of D1 to
the right. After completing the first stage it fills
the passage C, which communicates with the
second piston, P2, and the pressure on that pis-
ton negatives the thrust on D2. Similarly, the
passage E causes the steam to press equally on
P  and the vanes of D3. So that the bearings in
which the shaft revolves have but little thrust to
take. This form of compensation is necessary in
marine as well as in stationary turbines. In the
former the dummy pistons are so proportioned
that the forward thrust given by them and the
screw combined is almost equal to the thrust aft
of the moving vanes.
One of the turbine drums of the Carmania. Note
  is here being tested for perfect balance on two

     (1.) Absence of vibration. Reciprocating en-
gines, however well balanced, cause a shaking
of the whole ship which is very unpleasant to
passengers. The turbine, on the other hand, be-
ing almost perfectly balanced, runs so smoothly
at the highest speeds that, if the hand be laid on
the covering, it is sometimes almost impossible
to tell whether the machinery is in motion. As
a consequence of this smooth running there is
little noise in the engine-room—a pleasant con-
trast to the deafening roar of reciprocating en-
gines. (2.) Turbines occupy less room. (3.) They
are more easily tended. (4.) They require few-
er repairs, since the rubbing surfaces are very
small as compared to those of reciprocating en-
gines. (5.) They are more economical at high
speeds. It must be remembered that a turbine is
essentially meant for high speeds. If run slowly,
the steam will escape through the many pas-
sages without doing much work.
   Owing to its construction, a turbine cannot
be reversed like a cylinder engine. It therefore
becomes necessary to fit special astern turbines
to one or more of the screw shafts, for use when
the ship has to be stopped or moved astern.
Under ordinary conditions these turbines re-
volve idly in their cases.

    The highest speed ever attained on the sea
was the forty-two miles per hour of the unfor-
tunate Viper, a turbine destroyer which deve-
loped 11,500 horse power, though displacing
only 370 tons. This velocity would compare fa-
vourably with that of a good many expresses
on certain railways that we could name. In the
future thirty miles an hour will certainly be at-
tained by turbine-driven liners.
    [7] Even at this speed the wheel has a cir-
     cumferential velocity of two-thirds that of
     a bullet shot from a Lee-Metford rifle. A
     vane weighing only 250 grains (about ½
  oz.) exerts under these conditions a centri-
  fugal pull of 15 cwt. on the wheel!

               Chapter IV.


 The meaning of the term—Action of the
    internal-combustion engine—The mo-
    tor car—The starting-handle—The en-
    gine—The carburetter—Ignition of the
    charge—Advancing                  the
    spark—Governing the engine—The
    clutch—The gear-box—The compens-
    ating     gear—The      silencer—The
    brakes—Speed of cars.

I  N the case of a steam-boiler the energy of
   combustion is transmitted to water inside an
air-tight vessel. The fuel does not actually touch
the "working fluid." In the gas or oil engine the
fuel is brought into contact and mixed with the
working fluid, which is air. It combines sud-
denly with it in the cylinder, and heat energy is
developed so rapidly that the act is called an ex-
plosion. Coal gas, mineral oils, alcohol, petrol,
etc., all contain hydrogen and carbon. If air,
which contributes oxygen, be added to any of
these in due proportion, the mixture becomes
highly explosive. On a light being applied, oxy-
gen and carbon unite, also hydrogen and oxy-
gen, and violent heat is generated, causing a vi-
olent molecular bombardment of the sides of
the vessel containing the mixture. Now, if the
mixture be compressed it becomes hotter and
hotter, until a point is reached at which it ignites
spontaneously. Early gas-engines did not com-
press the charge before ignition. Alphonse Beau
de Rochas, a Frenchman, first thought of mak-
ing the piston of the engine squeeze the mixture
before ignition; and from the year 1862, when
he proposed this innovation, the success of the
internal-combustion engine may be said to date.
39.—Showing the four strokes that the piston of
                          ing one "cycle."


   The gas-engine, the oil-engine, and the
motor-car engine are similar in general prin-
ciples. The cylinder has, instead of a slide-
valve, two, or sometimes three, "mushroom"
valves, which may be described as small and
thick round plates, with bevelled edges, moun-
ted on the ends of short rods, called stems.
These valves open into the cylinder, upwards,
downwards, or horizontally, as the case may be;
being pushed in by cams projecting from a shaft
rotated by the engine. For the present we will
confine our attention to the series of operations
which causes the engine to work. This series is
called the Beau de Rochas, or Otto, cycle, and
includes four movements of the piston. Refer-
ence to Fig. 39 will show exactly what happens
in a gas-engine—(1) The piston moves from
left to right, and just as the movement com-
mences valves G (gas) and A (air) open to ad-
mit the explosive mixture. By the time that P
has reached the end of its travel these valves
have closed again. (2) The piston returns to
the left, compressing the mixture, which has no
way of escape open to it. At the end of the
stroke the charge is ignited by an incandescent
tube I (in motor car and some stationary en-
gines by an electric spark), and (3) the piston
flies out again on the "explosion" stroke. Before
it reaches the limit position, valve E (exhaust)
opens, and (4) the piston flies back under the
momentum of the fly-wheel, driving out the
burnt gases through the still open E. The "cycle"
is now complete. There has been suction, com-
pression (including ignition), combustion, and
exhaustion. It is evident that a heavy fly-wheel
must be attached to the crank shaft, because
the energy of one stroke (the explosion) has
to serve for the whole cycle; in other words,
for two complete revolutions of the crank. A
single-cylinder steam-engine develops an im-
pulse every half-turn—that is, four times as of-
ten. In order to get a more constant turning ef-
fect, motor cars have two, three, four, six, and
even eight cylinders. Four-cylinder engines are
at present the most popular type for powerful

              THE MOTOR CAR.
               FIG. 40.—Plan of the chassis of a m

   We will now proceed to an examination of
the motor car, which, in addition to mechanical
apparatus for the transmission of motion to the
driving-wheels, includes all the fundamental
adjuncts of the internal-combustion engine.[8]
Fig. 40 is a bird's-eye view of the chassis (or
"works" and wheels) of a car, from which the
body has been removed. Starting at the left, we
have the handle for setting the engine in mo-
tion; the engine (a two-cylinder in this case); the
fly-wheel, inside which is the clutch; the gear-
box, containing the cogs for altering the speed
of revolution of the driving-wheels relatively to
that of the engine; the propeller shaft; the silen-
cer, for deadening the noise of the exhaust; and
the bevel-gear, for turning the driving-wheels.
In the particular type of car here considered you
will notice that a "direct," or shaft, drive is used.
The shaft has at each end a flexible, or "univer-
sal," joint, which allows the shaft to turn freely,
even though it may not be in a line with the
shaft projecting from the gear-box. It must be
remembered that the engine and gear-box are
mounted on the frame, between which and the
axles are springs, so that when the car bumps up
and down, the shaft describes part of a circle, of
which the gear-box end is the centre.
   An alternative method of driving is by
means of chains, which run round sprocket
(cog) wheels on the ends of a shaft crossing
the frame just behind the gear-box, and round
larger sprockets attached to the hubs of the
driving-wheels. In such a case the axles of the
driving-wheel are fixed to the springs, and the
wheels revolve round them. Where a Cardan
(shaft) drive is used the axles are attached ri-
gidly to the wheels at one end, and extend,
through tubes fixed to the springs, to bevel-
wheels in a central compensating-gear box (of
which more presently).

    Several parts—the carburetter, tanks, gov-
ernor, and pump—are not shown in the general
plan. These will be referred to in the more de-
tailed account that follows.

                FIG. 41.—The starting-handle.

    Fig. 41 gives the starting-handle in part sec-
tion. The handle H is attached to a tube which
terminates in a clutch, C. A powerful spring
keeps C normally apart from a second clutch,
C , keyed to the engine shaft. When the driver
wishes to start the engine he presses the handle
towards the right, brings the clutches together,
and turns the handle in a clockwise direction.
As soon as the engine begins to fire, the faces
of the clutches slip over one another.

                THE ENGINE.
        FIG. 42.—End and cross sections of a two

   We next examine the two-cylinder engine
(Fig. 42). Each cylinder is surrounded by a
water-jacket, through which water is circulated
by a pump[9] (Fig. 43). The heat generated by
combustion is so great that the walls of the cyl-
inder would soon become red-hot unless some
of the heat were quickly carried away. The pis-
tons are of "trunk" form—that is, long enough
to act as guides and absorb the oblique thrust of
the piston rods. Three or more piston rings ly-
ing in slots (not shown) prevent the escape of
gas past the piston. It is interesting to notice that
the efficiency of an internal-combustion engine
depends so largely on the good fit of these mov-
ing parts, that cylinders, pistons, and rings must
be exceedingly true. A good firm will turn out
standard parts which are well within 1⁄5000 of
an inch of perfect truth. It is also a wonderful
testimony to the quality of the materials used
that, if properly looked after, an engine which
has made many millions of revolutions, at the
rate of 1,000 to 2,000 per minute, often shows
no appreciable signs of wear. In one particular
test an engine was run continuously for several
months, and at the end of the trial was in abso-
lutely perfect condition.

   The cranks revolve in an oil-tight case (gen-
erally made of aluminium), and dip in oil,
which they splash up into the cylinder to keep
the piston well lubricated. The plate, P P,
through a slot in which the piston rod works,
prevents an excess of oil being flung up. Chan-
nels are provided for leading oil into the bear-
ings. The cranks are 180° apart. While one pis-
ton is being driven out by an explosion, the oth-
er is compressing its charge prior to ignition,
so that the one action deadens the other. There-
fore two explosions occur in one revolution of
the cranks, and none during the next revolution.
If both cranks were in line, the pistons would
move together, giving one explosion each re-
FIG. 43.—Showing how the water which cools th

   The valve seats, and the inlet and exhaust
pipes, are seen in section. The inlet valve here
works automatically, being pulled in by suction;
but on many engines—on all powerful en-
gines—the inlet, like the exhaust valve, is lifted
by a cam, lest it should stick or work irregularly.
Three dotted circles show A, a cog on the crank
shaft; B, a "lay" cog, which transmits motion to
C, on a short shaft rotating the cam that lifts the
exhaust valve. C, having twice as many teeth as
A, revolves at half its rate. This ensures that the
valve shall be lifted only once in two revolu-
tions of the crank shaft to which it is geared.
The cogs are timed, or arranged, so that the
cam begins to lift the valve when the piston
has made about seven-eighths of its explosion
stroke, and closes the valve at the end of the ex-
haust stroke.

             THE CARBURETTER.

   A motor car generally uses petrol as its fuel.
Petrol is one of the more volatile products of
petroleum, and has a specific gravity of about
680—that is, volume for volume, its weight is
to that of water in the proportion of 680 to
1,000. It is extremely dangerous, as it gives off
an inflammable gas at ordinary temperatures.
Benzine, which we use to clean clothes, is prac-
tically the same as petrol, and should be treated
with equal care. The function of a carburet-
ter is to reduce petrol to a very fine spray and
mix it with a due quantity of air. The device
consists of two main parts (Fig. 44)—the float
chamber and the jet chamber. In the former is
a contrivance for regulating the petrol supply.
A float—a cork, or air-tight metal box—is ar-
ranged to move freely up and down the stem
of a needle-valve, which closes the inlet from
the tank. At the bottom of the chamber are two
pivoted levers, W W, which, when the float rests
on them, tip up and lift the valve. Petrol flows
in and raises the float. This allows the valve to
sink and cut off the supply. If the valve is a good
fit and the float is of the correct weight, the pet-
rol will never rise higher than the tip of the jet
FIG. 44.—Section of a carbur
    The suction of the engine makes petrol spirt
through the jet (which has a very small hole in
its end) and atomize itself against a spraying-
cone, A. It then passes to the engine inlet pipe
through a number of openings, after mixing
with air entering from below. An extra air inlet,
controllable by the driver, is generally added,
unless the carburetter be of a type which auto-
matically maintains constant proportions of air
and vapour. The jet chamber is often surroun-
ded by a jacket, through which part of the hot
exhaust gases circulate. In cold weather espe-
cially this is a valuable aid to vaporization.
FIG. 45.—Sketch of the electrical ignition arrang

    All petrol-cars now use electrical ignition.
There are two main systems—(1) by an accu-
mulator and induction coil; (2) magneto igni-
tion, by means of a small dynamo driven by
the engine. A general arrangement of the first
is shown in Fig. 45. A disc, D, of some insu-
lating material—fibre or vulcanite—is mounted
on the cam, or half-speed, shaft. Into the cir-
cumference is let a piece of brass, called the
contact-piece, through which a screw passes to
the cam shaft. A movable plate, M P, which can
be rotated concentrically with D through part of
a circle, carries a "wipe" block at the end of a
spring, which presses it against D. The spring
itself is attached to an insulated plate. When
the revolution of D brings the wipe and con-
tact together, current flows from the accumu-
lator through switch S to the wipe; through the
contact-piece to C; from C to M P and the induc-
tion coil; and back to the accumulator. This is
the primary, or low-tension, circuit. A high-ten-
sion current is induced by the coil in the second-
ary circuit, indicated by dotted lines.[10] In this
circuit is the sparking-plug (see Fig. 46), having
a central insulated rod in connection with one
terminal of the secondary coil. Between it and a
bent wire projecting from the iron casing of the
plug (in contact with the other terminal of the
secondary coil through the metal of the engine,
to which one wire of the circuit is attached) is
a small gap, across which the secondary current
leaps when the primary current is broken by the
wipe and contact parting company. The spark
is intensely hot, and suffices to ignite the com-
pressed charge in the cylinder.
      FIG. 46.—Section of a sparking

    We will assume that the position of W (in
Fig. 45) is such that the contact touches W at
the moment when the piston has just completed
the compression stroke. Now, the actual com-
bustion of the charge occupies an appreciable
time, and with the engine running at high speed
the piston would have travelled some way down
the cylinder before the full force of the explo-
sion was developed. But by raising lever L, the
position of W may be so altered that contact is
made slightly before the compression stroke is
complete, so that the charge is fairly alight by
the time the piston has altered its direction. This
is called advancing the spark.


   There are several methods of controlling the
speed of internal-combustion engines. The op-
erating mechanism in most cases is a centrifu-
gal ball-governor. When the speed has reached
the fixed limit it either (1) raises the exhaust
valve, so that no fresh charges are drawn in; (2)
prevents the opening of the inlet valve; or (3)
throttles the gas supply. The last is now most
commonly used on motor cars, in conjunction
with some device for putting it out of action
when the driver wishes to exceed the highest
speed that it normally permits.
FIG. 47.—One form of governor used o
    A sketch of a neat governor, with regulating
attachment, is given in Fig. 47. The governor
shaft is driven from the engine. As the balls, B
B, increase their velocity, they fly away from
the shaft and move the arms, A A, and a sliding
tube, C, towards the right. This rocks the lever
R, and allows the valves in the inlet pipe to
close and reduce the supply of air and gas. A
wedge, W, which can be raised or lowered by
lever L, intervenes between the end of R and the
valve stem. If this lever be lifted to its highest
position, the governing commences at a lower
speed, as the valve then has but a short distance
to travel before closing completely. For high
speeds the driver depresses L, forces the wedge
down, and so minimizes the effect of the gov-

                 THE CLUTCH.
    The engine shaft has on its rear end the fly-
wheel, which has a broad and heavy rim, turned
to a conical shape inside. Close to this, re-
volving loosely on the shaft, is the clutch plate,
a heavy disc with a broad edge so shaped as
to fit the inside of a fly-wheel. It is generally
faced with leather. A very strong spring presses
the plate into the fly-wheel, and the resulting
friction is sufficient to prevent any slip. Pro-
jections on the rear of the clutch engage with
the gear-box shaft. The driver throws out the
clutch by depressing a lever with his foot. Some
clutches dispense with the leather lining. These
are termed metal to metal clutches.

                THE GEAR-BOX.

    We now come to a very interesting detail of
the motor car, the gear-box. The steam-engine
has its speed increased by admitting more steam
to the cylinders. But an explosion engine must
be run at a high speed to develop its full power,
and when heavier work has to be done on a
hill it becomes necessary to alter the speed ra-
tio of engine to driving-wheels. Our illustration
(Fig. 48) gives a section of a gear-box, which
will serve as a typical example. It provides three
forward speeds and one reverse. To understand
how it works, we must study the illustration
carefully. Pinion 1 is mounted on a hollow shaft
turned by the clutch. Into the hollow shaft pro-
jects the end of another shaft carrying pinions 6
and 4. Pinion 6 slides up and down this shaft,
which is square at this point, but round inside
the loose pinion 4. Pinions 2 and 3 are keyed to
a square secondary shaft, and are respectively
always in gear with 1 and 4; but 5 can be slid
backwards and forwards so as to engage or dis-
engage with 6. In the illustration no gear is "in."
If the engine is working, 1 revolves 2, 2 turns 3,
and 3 revolves 4 idly on its shaft.
FIG. 48.—The gear-box of a mo
    To get the lowest, or "first," speed the driver
moves his lever and slides 5 into gear with 6.
The transmission then is: 1 turns 2, 2 turns 5, 5
turns 6, 6 turns the propeller shaft through the
universal joint. For the second speed, 5 and 6
are disengaged, and 6 is moved up the page, as
it were, till projections on it interlock with slots
in 4; thus driving 1, 2, 3, 4, shaft. For the third,
or "solid," speed, 6 is pulled down into connec-
tion with 1, and couples the engine shaft direct
to the propeller shaft.

   The "reverse" is accomplished by raising a
long pinion, 7, which lies in the gear-box under
5 and 6. The drive then is 1, 2, 5, 7, 6. There be-
ing an odd number of pinions now engaged, the
propeller shaft turns in the reverse direction to
that of the engine shaft.
                   FIG. 49.

    Every axle of a railway train carries a wheel
at each end, rigidly attached to it. When round-
ing a corner the outside wheel has further to
travel than the other, and consequently one or
both wheels must slip. The curves are made so
gentle, however, that the amount of slip is very
small. But with a traction-engine, motor car, or
tricycle the case is different, for all have to de-
scribe circles of very small diameter in propor-
tion to the length of the vehicle. Therefore in
every case a compensating gear is fitted, to al-
low the wheels to turn at different speeds, while
permitting them both to drive. Fig. 49 is an
exaggerated sketch of the gear. The axles of
the moving wheels turn inside tubes attached to
the springs and a central casing (not shown),
and terminate in large bevel-wheels, C and D.
Between these are small bevels mounted on a
shaft supported by the driving drum. If the latter
be rotated, the bevels would turn C and D at
equal speeds, assuming that both axles revolve
without friction in their bearings. We will sup-
pose that the drum is turned 50 times a minute.
Now, if one wheel be held, the other will re-
volve 100 times a minute; or, if one be slowed,
the other will increase its speed by a corres-
ponding amount. The average speed remains
50. It should be mentioned that drum A has in-
corporated with it on the outside a bevel-wheel
(not shown) rotated by a smaller bevel on the
end of the propeller shaft.

               THE SILENCER.

   The petrol-engine, as now used, emits the
products of combustion at a high pressure. If
unchecked, they expand violently, and cause a
partial vacuum in the exhaust pipe, into which
the air rushes back with such violence as to
cause a loud noise. Devices called silencers are
therefore fitted, to render the escape more
gradual, and split it up among a number of
small apertures. The simplest form of silencer is
a cylindrical box, with a number of finely per-
forated tubes passing from end to end of it. The
exhaust gases pouring into the box maintain a
constant pressure somewhat higher than that of
the atmosphere, but as the gases are escaping
from it in a fairly steady stream the noise be-
comes a gentle hiss rather than a "pop." There
are numerous types of silencers, but all employ
this principle in one form or another.

                 THE BRAKES.

   Every car carries at least two brakes of band
pattern—one, usually worked by a side hand-
lever, acting on the axle or hubs of the driving-
wheel; the other, operated by the foot, acting on
the transmission gear (see Fig. 48). The latter
brake is generally arranged to withdraw the
clutch simultaneously. Tests have proved that
even heavy cars can be pulled up in astonish-
ingly short distances, considering their rate of
travel. Trials made in the United States with
a touring car and a four-in-hand coach gave
25⅓ and 70 feet respectively for the distance in
which the speed could be reduced from sixteen
miles per hour to zero.

               SPEED OF CARS.

   As regards speed, motor cars can rival the
fastest express trains, even on long journeys. In
fact, feats performed during the Gordon-Ben-
nett and other races have equalled railway per-
formances over equal distances. When we come
to record speeds, we find a car, specially built
for the purpose, covering a mile in less than half
a minute. A speed of over 120 miles an hour has
actually been reached. Engines of 150 h.p. can
now be packed into a vehicle scaling less than
1½ tons. Even on touring cars are often found
engines developing 40 to 60 h.p., which force
the car up steep hills at a pace nothing less than
astonishing. In the future the motor car will re-
volutionize our modes of life to an extent com-
parable to the changes effected by the advent
of the steam-engine. Even since 1896, when
the "man-with-the-flag" law was abolished in
the British Isles, the motor has reduced dis-
tances, opened up country districts, and gener-
ally quickened the pulses of the community in a
manner which makes it hazardous to prophesy
how the next generation will live.

   Note.—The author is much indebted to Mr. Wilfrid
J. Lineham, M. Inst. C.E., for several of the illustrations
which appear in the above chapter.

     [8] Steam-driven cars are not considered in
      this chapter, as their principle is much the
      same as that of the ordinary locomotive.

     [9] On some cars natural circulation is
      used, the hot water flowing from the top of
      the cylinder to the tank, from which it re-
 turns, after being cooled, to the bottom of
 the cylinder.

[10] For explanation of the induction coil,
  see p. 122

              Chapter V.


What is electricity?—Forms of electri-
  city—Magnetism—The          permanent
  magnet—Lines of force—Electro-mag-
  nets—The electric bell—The induction
  coil—The condenser—Transformation
  of current—Uses of the induction coil.

O      F the ultimate nature of electricity, as of
       that of heat and light, we are at present ig-
norant. But it has been clearly established that
all three phenomena are but manifestations of
the energy pervading the universe. By means of
suitable apparatus one form can be converted
into another form. The heat of fuel burnt in a
boiler furnace develops mechanical energy in
the engine which the boiler feeds with steam.
The engine revolves a dynamo, and the electric
current thereby generated can be passed
through wires to produce mechanical motion,
heat, or light. We must remain content, there-
fore, with assuming that electricity is energy or
motion transmitted through the ether from mo-
lecule to molecule, or from atom to atom, of
matter. Scientific investigation has taught us
how to produce it at will, how to harness it to
our uses, and how to measure it; but not what it
is. That question may, perhaps, remain un-
answered till the end of human history. A great
difficulty attending the explanation of electrical
action is this—that, except in one or two cases,
no comparison can be established between it
and the operation of gases and fluids. When
dealing with the steam-engine, any ordinary in-
telligence soon grasps the principles which gov-
ern the use of steam in cylinders or turbines.
The diagrams show, it is hoped, quite plainly
"how it works." But electricity is elusive, in-
visible; and the greatest authorities cannot say
what goes on at the poles of a magnet or on the
surface of an electrified body. Even the exist-
ence of "negative" and "positive" electricity is
problematical. However, we see the effects, and
we know that if one thing is done another thing
happens; so that we are at least able to use terms
which, while convenient, are not at present con-
troverted by scientific progress.

   Rub a vulcanite rod and hold one end near
some tiny pieces of paper. They fly to it, stick
to it for a time, and then fall off. The rod was
electrified—that is, its surface was affected in
such a way as to be in a state of molecular strain
which the contact of the paper fragments alle-
viated. By rubbing large surfaces and collecting
the electricity in suitable receivers the strain can
be made to relieve itself in the form of a violent
discharge accompanied by a bright flash. This
form of electricity is known as static.

   Next, place a copper plate and a zinc plate
into a jar full of diluted sulphuric acid. If a
wire be attached to them a current of electricity
is said to flow along the wire. We must not,
however, imagine that anything actually moves
along inside the wire, as water, steam, or air,
passes through a pipe. Professor Trowbridge
says,[11] "No other agency for transmitting
power can be stopped by such slight obstacles
as electricity. A thin sheet of paper placed
across a tube conveying compressed air would
be instantly ruptured. It would take a wall of
steel at least an inch thick to stand the pressure
of steam which is driving a 10,000 horse-power
engine. A thin layer of dirt beneath the wheels
of an electric car can prevent the current which
propels the car from passing to the rail, and then
back to the power-house." There would, indeed,
be a puncture of the paper if the current had a
sufficient voltage, or pressure; yet the fact re-
mains that current electricity can be very easily
confined to its conductor by means of some in-
sulating or nonconducting envelope.


   The most familiar form of electricity is that
known as magnetism. When a bar of steel or
iron is magnetized, it is supposed that the mo-
lecules in it turn and arrange themselves with all
their north-seeking poles towards the one end of
the bar, and their south-seeking poles towards
the other. If the bar is balanced freely on a pivot,
it comes to rest pointing north and south; for,
the earth being a huge magnet, its north pole
attracts all the north-seeking poles of the mo-
lecules, and its south poles the south-seeking
poles. (The north-seeking pole of a magnet is
marked N., though it is in reality the south pole;
for unlike poles are mutually attractive, and like
poles repellent.)

    There are two forms of magnet—permanent
and temporary. If steel is magnetized, it re-
mains so; but soft iron loses practically all its
magnetism as soon as the cause of magnetiza-
tion is withdrawn. This is what we should ex-
pect; for steel is more closely compacted than
iron, and the molecules therefore would be able
to turn about more easily.[12] It is fortunate for
us that this is so, since on the rapid magnetiz-
ation and demagnetization of soft iron depends
the action of many of our electrical mechan-


    Magnets are either (1) straight, in which case
they are called bar magnets; or (2) of horseshoe
form, as in Figs. 50 and 51. By bending the
magnet the two poles are brought close togeth-
er, and the attraction of both may be exercised
simultaneously on a bar of steel or iron.

               LINES OF FORCE.

   In Fig. 50 are seen a number of dotted lines.
These are called lines of magnetic force. If you
lay a sheet of paper on a horseshoe magnet
and sprinkle it with iron dust, you will at once
notice how the particles arrange themselves in
curves similar in shape to those shown in the il-
lustration. It is supposed (it cannot be proved)
that magnetic force streams away from the N.
pole and describes a circular course through the
air back to the S. pole. The same remark applies
to the bar magnet.

FIG. 50.—Permanent magnet, and the
 "lines of force" emanating from it.
    If an insulated wire is wound round and
round a steel or iron bar from end to end, and
has its ends connected to the terminals of an
electric battery, current rotates round the bar,
and the bar is magnetized. By increasing the
strength and volume of the current, and mul-
tiplying the number of turns of wire, the attract-
ive force of the magnet is increased. Now dis-
connect the wires from the battery. If of iron,
the magnet at once loses its attractive force; but
if of steel, it retains it in part. Instead of a simple
horseshoe-shaped bar, two shorter bars riveted
into a plate are generally used for electromag-
nets of this type. Coils of wire are wound round
each bar, and connected so as to form one con-
tinuous whole; but the wire of one coil is wound
in the direction opposite to that of the other. The
free end of each goes to a battery terminal.

    In Fig. 51 you will notice that some of the
"lines of force" are deflected through the iron
bar A. They pass more easily through iron than
through air; and will choose iron by preference.
The attraction exercised by a magnet on iron
may be due to the effort of the lines of force to
shorten their paths. It is evident that the closer
A comes to the poles of the magnet the less will
be the distance to be travelled from one pole to
the bar, along it, and back to the other pole.
FIG. 51.—Electro-magnet: A, armature; B,
   Having now considered electricity in three
of its forms—static, current, and rotatory—we
will pass to some of its applications.

             THE ELECTRIC BELL.

    A fit device to begin with is the Electric Bell,
which has so largely replaced wire-pulled bells.
These last cause a great deal of trouble some-
times, since if a wire snaps it may be neces-
sary to take up carpets and floor-boards to put
things right. Their installation is not simple, for
at every corner must be put a crank to alter the
direction of the pull, and the cranks mean in-
creased friction. But when electric wires have
once been properly installed, there should be no
need for touching them for an indefinite peri-
od. They can be taken round as many corners
as you wish without losing any of their con-
ductivity, and be placed wherever is most con-
venient for examination. One bell may serve a
large number of rooms if an indicator be used to
show where the call was made from, by a card
appearing in one of a number of small windows.
Before answering a call, the attendant presses in
a button to return the card to its normal position.

   In Fig. 52 we have a diagrammatic view
of an electric bell and current. When the bell-
push is pressed in, current flows from the bat-
tery to terminal T1, round the electro-magnet
M, through the pillar P and flat steel springs S
and B, through the platinum-pointed screw, and
back to the battery through the push. The cir-
culation of current magnetizes M, which attracts
the iron armature A attached to the spring S, and
draws the hammer H towards the gong. Just be-
fore the stroke occurs, the spring B leaves the tip
of the screw, and the circuit is broken, so that
the magnet no longer attracts. H is carried by its
momentum against the gong, and is withdrawn
by the spring, until B once more makes contact,
and the magnet is re-excited. The hammer vi-
brations recur many times a second as long as
the push is pressed in.
FIG. 52.—Sketch of an electric-be
    The electric bell is used for so many pur-
poses that they cannot all be noted. It plays an
especially important part in telephonic install-
ations to draw the attention of the subscribers,
forms an item in automatic fire and burglar
alarms, and is a necessary adjunct of railway
signalling cabins.


   Reference was made in connection with the
electrical ignition of internal-combustion en-
gines (p. 101) to the induction coil. This is a
device for increasing the voltage, or pressure,
of a current. The two-cell accumulator carried
in a motor car gives a voltage (otherwise called
electro-motive force = E.M.F.) of 4·4 volts. If
you attach a wire to one terminal of the accu-
mulator and brush the loose end rapidly across
the other terminal, you will notice that a bright
spark passes between the wire and the terminal.
In reality there are two sparks, one when they
touch, and another when they separate, but they
occur so closely together that the eye cannot
separate the two impressions. A spark of this
kind would not be sufficiently hot to ignite a
charge in a motor cylinder, and a spark from the
induction coil is therefore used.
FIG. 53.—Sketch of an inductio
    We give a sketch of the induction coil in
Fig. 53. It consists of a core of soft iron wires
round which is wound a layer of coarse insu-
lated wire, denoted by the thick line. One end
of the winding of this primary coil is attached
to the battery, the other to the base of a ham-
mer, H, vibrating between the end of the core
and a screw, S, passing through an upright, T,
connected with the other terminal of the bat-
tery. The action of the hammer is precisely the
same as that of the armature of an electric bell.
Outside the primary coil are wound many turns
of a much finer wire completely insulated from
the primary coil. The ends of this secondary
coil are attached to the objects (in the case of
a motor car, the insulated wire of the sparking-
plug and a wire projecting from its outer iron
casing) between which a spark has to pass. As
soon as H touches S the circuit is completed.
The core becomes a powerful magnet with ex-
ternal lines of force passing from one pole to
the other over and among the turns of the sec-
ondary coil. H is almost instantaneously attrac-
ted by the core, and the break occurs. The lines
of force now (at least so it is supposed) sink
into the core, cutting through the turns of the
"secondary," and causing a powerful current to
flow through them. The greater the number of
turns, the greater the number of times the lines
of force are cut, and the stronger is the current.
If sufficiently intense, it jumps any gap in the
secondary circuit, heating the intermediate air
to a state of incandescence.

               THE CONDENSER.

   The sudden parting of H and S would pro-
duce strong sparking across the gap between
them if it were not for the condenser, which
consists of a number of tinfoil sheets separated
by layers of paraffined paper. All the "odd"
sheets are connected with T, all the "even" with
T  . Now, the more rapid the extinction of mag-
netism in the core after "break" of the primary
circuit, the more rapidly will the lines of force
collapse, and the more intense will be the in-
duced current in the secondary coil. The con-
denser diminishes the period of extinction very
greatly, while lengthening the period of mag-
netization after the "make" of the primary cur-
rent, and so decreasing the strength of the re-
verse current.


    The difference in the voltage of the primary
and secondary currents depends on the length
of the windings. If there are 100 turns of wire
in the primary, and 100,000 turns in the second-
ary, the voltage will be increased 1,000 times;
so that a 4-volt current is "stepped up" to 4,000
volts. In the largest induction coils the second-
ary winding absorbs 200–300 miles of wire, and
the spark given may be anything up to four feet
in length. Such a spark would pierce a glass
plate two inches thick.

   It must not be supposed that an induction
coil increases the amount of current given off
by a battery. It merely increases its pressure at
the expense of its volume—stores up its energy,
as it were, until there is enough to do what a
low-tension flow could not effect. A fair com-
parison would be to picture the energy of the
low-tension current as the momentum of a num-
ber of small pebbles thrown in succession at a
door, say 100 a minute. If you went on pelt-
ing the door for hours you might make no im-
pression on it, but if you could knead every
100 pebbles into a single stone, and throw these
stones one per minute, you would soon break
the door in.

   Any intermittent current can be transformed
as regards its intensity. You may either increase
its pressure while decreasing its rate of flow, or
amperage; or decrease its pressure and increase
its flow. In the case that we have considered, a
continuous battery current is rendered intermit-
tent by a mechanical contrivance. But if the cur-
rent comes from an "alternating" dynamo—that
is, is already intermittent—the contact-breaker
is not needed. There will be more to say about
transformation of current in later paragraphs.


   The induction coil is used—(1.) For passing
currents through glass tubes almost exhausted
of air or containing highly rarefied gases. The
luminous effects of these "Geissler" tubes are
very beautiful. (2.) For producing the now fam-
ous X or Röntgen rays. These rays accompany
the light rays given off at the negative terminal
(cathode) of a vacuum tube, and are invisible to
the eye unless caught on a fluorescent screen,
which reduces their rate of vibration suffi-
ciently for the eye to be sensitive to them. The
Röntgen rays have the peculiar property of pen-
etrating many substances quite opaque to light,
such as metals, stone, wood, etc., and as a con-
sequence have proved of great use to the sur-
geon in localizing or determining the nature of
an internal injury. They also have a deterrent
effect upon cancerous growths. (3.) In wireless
telegraphy, to cause powerful electric oscilla-
tions in the ether. (4.) On motor cars, for ignit-
ing the cylinder charges. (5.) For electrical mas-
sage of the body.
   [11] "What is Electricity?" p. 46.

   [12] If a magnetized bar be heated to white
     heat and tapped with a hammer it loses its
     magnetism, because the distance between
     the molecules has increased, and the mo-
     lecules can easily return to their original
                 Chapter VI.


   Needle instruments—Influence of current
      on the magnetic needle—Method of re-
      versing the current—Sounding instru-
      ments—Telegraphic relays—Recording
      telegraphs—High-speed telegraphy.

T     AKE a small pocket compass and wind
      several turns of fine insulated wire round
the case, over the top and under the bottom.
Now lay the compass on a table, and turn it
about until the coil is on a line with the
needle—in fact, covers it. Next touch the ter-
minals of a battery with the ends of the wire.
The needle at once shifts either to right or left,
and remains in that position as long as the cur-
rent flows. If you change the wires over, so re-
versing the direction of the current, the needle
at once points in the other direction. It is to this
conduct on the part of a magnetic needle when
in a "magnetic field" that we owe the existence
of the needle telegraph instrument.

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          a on
          the of
    magnetic eit  sid
     second sh
      needle, sa
         N, a
    outside as
      connected Th
     deviceto tel
        the a an
             H mo
            handle w
   keeps right
  reversing to
  receiving of
         in instru
accordance wa    an
            or the
       moreOne   wi
          the mo  of
            to M
              the T
           needle    i
                in t
            is mom
        quick sig
         on. so =
     Where and
 FIG. 54.—Sketch of the side elevation of a
      Wheatstone needle instrument.

a marking instrument is used, a dot signifies a
"left," and a dash a right; and if a "sounder" is
employed, the operator judges by the length of
the intervals between the clicks.

FIGS. 55, 56.—The coils of a needle instru-
 ment. The arrows show the direction taken
              by the current.

    Figs. 55 and 56 are two views of the coils
and magnetic needle of the Wheatstone instru-
ment as they appear from behind. In Fig. 55 the
current enters the left-hand coil from the left,
and travels round and round it in a clockwise
direction to the other end, whence it passes to
the other coil and away to the battery. Now, a
coil through which a current passes becomes a
magnet. Its polarity depends on the direction in
which the current flows. Suppose that you are
looking through the coil, and that the current
enters it from your end. If the wire is wound in a
clockwise direction, the S. pole will be nearest
you; if in an anti-clockwise direction, the N.
pole. In Fig. 55 the N. poles are at the right end
of the coils, the S. poles at the left end; so the N.
pole of the needle is attracted to the right, and
the S. pole to the left. When the current is re-
versed, as in Fig. 56, the needle moves over. If
no current passes, it remains vertical.


FIG. 57.—General arrangement of needle-instrum
              plates on the left (B and R) are in

   A simple method of changing the direction
of the current in a two-instrument circuit is
shown diagrammatically in Fig. 57. The prin-
ciple is used in the Wheatstone needle instru-
ment. The battery terminals at each station are
attached to two brass plates, A B, A1 B1. Cross-
ing these at right angles (under A A1 and over B
  1                                    1 1
B ) are the flat brass springs, L R, L R , having
buttons at their lower ends, and fixed at their
upper ends to baseboards. When at rest they all
press upwards against the plates A and A1 re-
spectively. R and L1 are connected with the line
circuit, in which are the coils of dials 1 and 2,
one at each station. L and R1 are connected with
the earth-plates E E1. An operator at station 1
depresses R so as to touch B. Current now flows
from the battery to B, thence through R to the
line circuit, round the coils of both dials through
  1 1                          1
L A and R to earth-plate E , through the earth
to E, and then back to the battery through L and
A. The needles assume the position shown. To
reverse the current the operator allows R to rise
into contact with A, and depresses L to touch B.
The course can be traced out easily.

    In the Wheatstone "drop-handle" instrument
(Fig. 54) the commutator may be described as
an insulated core on which are two short lengths
of brass tubing. One of these has rubbing
against it a spring connected with the + terminal
of the battery; the other has similar communic-
ation with the – terminal. Projecting from each
tube is a spike, and rising from the baseboard
are four upright brass strips not quite touching
the commutator. Those on one side lead to the
line circuit, those on the other to the earth-plate.
When the handle is turned one way, the spikes
touch the forward line strip and the rear earth
strip, and vice versâ when moved in the oppos-
ite direction.

    Sometimes little brass strips are attached to
the dial plate of a needle instrument for the
needle to strike against. As these give different
notes, the operator can comprehend the mes-
sage by ear alone. But the most widely used
sounding instrument is the Morse sounder,
named after its inventor. For this a reversible
current is not needed. The receiver is merely
an electro-magnet (connected with the line cir-
cuit and an earth-plate) which, when a current
passes, attracts a little iron bar attached to the
middle of a pivoted lever. The free end of the
lever works between two stops. Every time the
circuit is closed by the transmitting key at the
sending station the lever flies down against the
lower stop, to rise again when the circuit is
broken. The duration of its stay decides whether
a "long" or "short" is meant.

  has When
  e ofon
  f reduced
 e sounder
move the of
  t lever.
  is theon
 d magnet,
 h a to
ses down
 d a
bar pulls
  at one is,
  r al"
 s end—worked
  parate by
which   a
r. sufficient
 FIG. 58.—Section of a telegraph wire insu-
  lator on its arm. The shaded circle is the
line wire, the two blank circles indicate the
wire which ties the line wire to the insulator.


   By attaching a small wheel to the end of a
Morse-sounder lever, by arranging an ink-well
for the wheel to dip into when the end falls, and
by moving a paper ribbon slowly along for the
wheel to press against when it rises, a self-re-
cording Morse inker is produced. The ribbon-
feeding apparatus is set in motion automatically
by the current, and continues to pull the ribbon
along until the message is completed.

   The Hughes type-printer covers a sheet of
paper with printed characters in bold Roman
type. The transmitter has a keyboard, on which
are marked letters, signs, and numbers; also a
type-wheel, with the characters on its circum-
ference, rotated by electricity. The receiver con-
tains mechanisms for rotating another type-
wheel synchronously—that is, in time—with
the first; for shifting the wheel across the paper;
for pressing the paper against the wheel; and for
moving the paper when a fresh line is needed.
These are too complicated to be described here
in detail. By means of relays one transmitter
may be made to work five hundred receivers.
In London a single operator, controlling a key-
board in the central dispatching office, causes
typewritten messages to spell themselves out
simultaneously in machines distributed all over
the metropolis.

   The tape machine resembles that just de-
scribed in many details. The main difference is
that it prints on a continuous ribbon instead of
on sheets.
   Automatic electric printers of some kind or
other are to be found in the vestibules of all
the principal hotels and clubs of our large cities,
and in the offices of bankers, stockbrokers, and
newspaper editors. In London alone over 500
million words are printed by the receivers in a


    At certain seasons, or when important polit-
ical events are taking place, the telegraph ser-
vice would become congested with news were
there not some means of transmitting messages
at a much greater speed than is possible by hand
signalling. Fifty words a minute is about the
limit speed that a good operator can maintain.
By means of Wheatstone's automatic transmit-
ter the rate can be increased to 400 words per
minute. Paper ribbons are punched in special
machines by a number of clerks with a series of
holes which by their position indicate a dot or a
dash. The ribbons are passed through a special
transmitter, over little electric brushes, which
make contact through the holes with surfaces
connected to the line circuit. At the receiver end
the message is printed by a Morse inker.

    It has been found possible to send several
messages simultaneously over a single line. To
effect this a distributer is used to put a number
of transmitters at one end of the line in commu-
nication with an equal number of receivers at
the other end, fed by a second distributer keep-
ing perfect time with the first. Instead of a sig-
nal coming as a whole to any one instrument
it arrives in little bits, but these follow one an-
other so closely as to be practically continuous.
By working a number of automatic transmitters
through a distributer, a thousand words or more
per minute are easily dispatched over a single
    The Pollak Virag system employs a punched
ribbon, and the receiver traces out the message
in alphabetical characters on a moving strip of
sensitized photographic paper. A mirror at-
tached to a vibrating diaphragm reflects light
from a lamp on to the strip, which is automat-
ically developed and fixed in chemical baths.
The method of moving the mirror so as to make
the rays trace out words is extremely ingenious.
Messages have been transmitted by this system
at the rate of 180,000 words per hour.

               Chapter VII.


   The transmitting apparatus—The receiving
      apparatus—Syntonic          transmis-
       sion—The advance of wireless tele-

I  N our last chapter we reviewed briefly some
   systems of sending telegraphic messages
from one point of the earth's surface to another
through a circuit consisting partly of an insu-
lated wire and partly of the earth itself. The
metallic portion of a long circuit, especially if it
be a submarine cable, is costly to install, so that
in quite the early days of telegraphy efforts
were made to use the ether in the place of wire
as one conductor.

   When a hammer strikes an anvil the air
around is violently disturbed. This disturbance
spreads through the molecules of the air in
much the same way as ripples spread from the
splash of a stone thrown into a pond. When
the sound waves reach the ear they agitate the
tympanum, or drum membrane, and we "hear a
noise." The hammer is here the transmitter, the
air the conductor, the ear the receiver.

   In wireless telegraphy we use the ether as the
conductor of electrical disturbances.[13] Mar-
coni, Slaby, Branly, Lodge, De Forest, Popoff,
and others have invented apparatus for causing
disturbances of the requisite kind, and for de-
tecting their presence.

   The main features of a wireless telegraphy
outfit are shown in Figs. 59 and 61.


   We will first consider the transmitting outfit
(Fig. 59). It includes a battery, dispatching key,
and an induction coil having its secondary cir-
cuit terminals connected with two wires, the
one leading to an earth-plate, the other carried
aloft on poles or suspended from a kite. In the
large station at Poldhu, Cornwall, for transat-
lantic signalling, there are special wooden
towers 215 feet high, between which the aërial
wires hang. At their upper and lower ends re-
spectively the earth and aërial wires terminate
in brass balls separated by a gap. When the
operator depresses the key the induction coil
charges these balls and the wires attached
thereto with high-tension electricity. As soon
as the quantity collected exceeds the resistance
of the air-gap, a discharge takes place between
the balls, and the ether round the aërial wire
is violently disturbed, and waves of electrical
energy are propagated through it. The rapidity
with which the discharges follow one another,
and their travelling power, depends on the
strength of the induction coil, the length of the
air-gap, and the capacity of the wires.[14]
FIG. 59.—Sketch of the transmitter of a wirel
                        FIG. 60.—A Marconi coher


    The human body is quite insensitive to these
etheric waves. We cannot feel, hear, or see
them. But at the receiving station there is what
may be called an "electric eye." Technically it
is named a coherer. A Marconi coherer is seen
in Fig. 60. Inside a small glass tube exhausted
of air are two silver plugs, P P, carrying ter-
minals, T T, projecting through the glass at both
ends. A small gap separates the plugs at the
centre, and this gap is partly filled with nickel-
silver powder. If the terminals of the coherer
are attached to those of a battery, practically no
current will pass under ordinary conditions, as
the particles of nickel-silver touch each other
very lightly and make a "bad contact." But if
the coherer is also attached to wires leading
into the earth and air, and ether waves strike
those wires, at every impact the particles will
cohere—that is, pack tightly together—and al-
low battery current to pass. The property of co-
hesion of small conductive bodies when influ-
enced by Hertzian waves was first noticed in
1874 by Professor D.E. Hughes while experi-
menting with a telephone.
FIG. 61.—Sketch of the receiving apparatus in a w

   We are now in a position to examine the
apparatus of which a coherer forms part (Fig.
61). First, we notice the aërial and earth wires,
to which are attached other wires from battery
A. This battery circuit passes round the relay
magnet R and through two choking coils, whose
function is to prevent the Hertzian waves en-
tering the battery. The relay, when energized,
brings contact D against E and closes the circuit
of battery B, which is much more powerful than
battery A, and operates the magnet M as well as
the tapper, which is practically an electric bell
minus the gong. (The tapper circuit is indicated
by the dotted lines.)

    We will suppose the transmitter of a distant
station to be at work. The electric waves strike
the aërial wire of the receiving station, and
cause the coherer to cohere and pass current.
The relay is closed, and both tapper and Morse
inker begin to work. The tapper keeps striking
the coherer and shakes the particles loose after
every cohesion. If this were not done the current
of A would pass continuously after cohesion
had once taken place. When the key of the
transmitter is pressed down, the waves follow
one another very quickly, and the acquired con-
ductivity of the coherer is only momentarily
destroyed by the tap of the hammer. During the
impression of a dot by the Morse inker, con-
tact is made and broken repeatedly; but as the
armature of the inker is heavy and slow to move
it does not vibrate in time with the relay and
tapper. Therefore the Morse instrument repro-
duces in dots and dashes the short and long de-
pressions of the key at the transmitting station,
while the tapper works rapidly in time with the
relay. The Morse inker is shown diagrammatic-
ally. While current passes through M the arma-
ture is pulled towards it, the end P, carrying
an inked wheel, rises, and a mark is made on
the tape W, which is moved continuously being
drawn forward off reel R by the clockwork—or
electrically-driven rollers R1 R2.

    If a number of transmitting stations are send-
ing out messages simultaneously, a jumble of
signals would affect all the receivers round, un-
less some method were employed for rendering
a receiver sensitive only to the waves intended
to influence it. Also, if distinction were impos-
sible, even with one transmitter in action its
message might go to undesired stations.

    There are various ways of "tuning" receivers
and transmitters, but the principle underlying
them all is analogous to that of mechanical vi-
bration. If a weight is suspended from the end
of a spiral spring, and given an upward blow,
it bobs up and down a certain number of times
per minute, every movement from start to finish
having exactly the same duration as the rest.
The resistance of the air and the internal friction
of the spring gradually lessen the amplitude of
the movements, and the weight finally comes to
rest. Suppose that the weight scales 30 lbs., and
that it naturally bobs twenty times a minute. If
you now take a feather and give it a push every
three seconds you can coax it into vigorous mo-
tion, assuming that every push catches it exactly
on the rebound. The same effect would be pro-
duced more slowly if 6 or 9 second intervals
were substituted. But if you strike it at 4, 5, or
7 second intervals it will gradually cease to os-
cillate, as the effect of one blow neutralizes that
of another. The same phenomenon is witnessed
when two tuning-forks of equal pitch are moun-
ted near one another, and one is struck. The oth-
er soon picks up the note. But a fork of unequal
pitch would remain dumb.

    Now, every electrical circuit has a "natural
period of oscillation" in which its electric
charge vibrates. It is found possible to "tune," or
"syntonize," the aërial rod or wire of a receiving
station with a transmitter. A vertical wire about
200 feet in length, says Professor J.A. Flem-
ing,[15] has a natural time period of electrical
oscillation of about one-millionth of a second.
Therefore if waves strike this wire a million
times a second they will reinforce one anoth-
er and influence the coherer; whereas a less or
greater frequency will leave it practically un-
affected. By adjusting the receiving circuit to
the transmitter, or vice versâ, selective wireless
telegraphy becomes possible.


  The history of wireless telegraphy may be
summed up as follows:—

    1842.—Professor Morse sent aërial mes-
sages across the Susquehanna River. A line con-
taining a battery and transmitter was carried
on posts along one bank and "earthed" in the
river at each end. On the other bank was a
second wire attached to a receiver and similarly
earthed. Whenever contact was made and
broken on the battery side, the receiver on the
other was affected. Distance about 1 mile.

  1859.—James Bowman Lindsay transmitted
messages across the Tay at Glencarse in a some-
what similar way. Distance about ½ mile.

   1885.—Sir William Preece signalled from
Lavernock Point, near Cardiff, to Steep Holm,
an island in the Bristol Channel. Distance about
5½ miles.

  In all these electrical induction of current
was employed.

   1886.—Hertzian waves discovered.

  1895.—Professor A. Popoff sent Hertzian
wave messages over a distance of 3 miles.

  1897.—Marconi signalled from the Needles
Hotel, Isle of Wight, to Swanage; 17½ miles.
   1901.—Messages sent at sea for 380 miles.

   1901, Dec. 17.—Messages transmitted from
Poldhu, Cornwall, to Hospital Point, New-
foundland; 2,099 miles.

    Mr. Marconi has so perfected tuning devices
that his transatlantic messages do not affect re-
ceivers placed on board ships crossing the
ocean, unless they are purposely tuned. Atlantic
liners now publish daily small newspapers con-
taining the latest news, flashed through space
from land stations. In the United States the De
Forest and Fessenden systems are being rapidly
extended to embrace the most out-of-the-way
districts. Every navy of importance has adopted
wireless telegraphy, which, as was proved dur-
ing the Russo-Japanese War, can be of the
greatest help in directing operations.
   [13] Named after their first discoverer, Dr.
     Hertz of Carlsruhe, "Hertzian waves."
   [14] For long-distance transmission power-
     ful dynamos take the place of the induc-
     tion coil and battery.

   [15] "Technics," vol. ii. p. 566.

                 Chapter VIII.

              THE TELEPHONE.

   The Bell telephone—The Edison transmit-
      ter—The granular carbon transmit-
      ter—General arrangement of a tele-
      phone      circuit—Double-line  cir-
      cuits—Telephone                  ex-
      changes—Submarine telephony.

F   OR the purposes of everyday life the tele-
    phone is even more useful than the tele-
graph. Telephones now connect one room of a
building with another, house with house, town
with town, country with country. An infinitely
greater number of words pass over the tele-
phonic circuits of the world in a year than are
transmitted by telegraph operators. The tele-
phone has become an important adjunct to the
transaction of business of all sorts. Its wires
penetrate everywhere. Without moving from his
desk, the London citizen may hold easy con-
verse with a Parisian, a New Yorker with a
dweller in Chicago.

   Wonderful as the transmission of signals
over great distances is, the transmission of hu-
man speech so clearly that individual voices
may be distinguished hundreds of miles away is
even more so. Yet the instrument which works
the miracle is essentially simple in its prin-

                   FIG. 62.—Section of a Bell tele

   The first telephone that came into general
use was that of Bell, shown in Fig. 62. In a
central hole of an ebonite casing is fixed a per-
manent magnet, M. The casing expands at one
end to accommodate a coil of insulated wire
wound about one extremity of a magnet. The
coil ends are attached to wires passing through
small channels to terminals at the rear. A cir-
cular diaphragm, D, of very thin iron plate,
clamped between the concave mouthpiece and
the casing, almost touches the end of the mag-

     We will suppose that two Bell telephones,
A and B, are connected up by wires, so that
the wires and the coils form a complete circuit.
Words are spoken into A. The air vibrations,
passing through the central hole in the cover,
make the diaphragm vibrate towards and away
from the magnet. The distances through which
the diaphragm moves have been measured, and
found not to exceed in some cases more than
   10,000,000 of an inch! Its movements distort the

shape of the "lines of force" (see p. 118) em-
anating from the magnet, and these, cutting
through the turns of the coil, induce a current
in the line circuit. As the diaphragm approaches
the magnet a circuit is sent in one direction; as
it leaves it, in the other. Consequently speech
produces rapidly alternating currents in the cir-
cuit, their duration and intensity depending on
the nature of the sound.

    Now consider telephone B. The currents
passing through its coil increase or diminish the
magnetism of the magnet, and cause it to attract
its diaphragm with varying force. The vibration
of the diaphragm disturbs the air in exact ac-
cordance with the vibrations of A's diaphragm,
and speech is reproduced.


    The Bell telephone may be used both as a
transmitter and a receiver, and the permanent
magnetism of the cores renders it independent
of an electric battery. But currents generated by
it are so minute that they cannot overcome the
resistance of a long circuit; therefore a battery
is now always used, and with it a special device
as transmitter.
    If in a circuit containing a telephone and a
battery there be a loose contact, and this be
shaken, the varying resistance of the contact
will cause electrical currents of varying force
to pass through the circuit. Edison introduced
the first successful microphone transmitter, in
which a small platinum disc connected to the
diaphragm pressed with varying force against a
disc of carbon, each disc forming part of the cir-
cuit. Vibrations of the diaphragm caused current
to flow in a series of rapid pulsations.
             FIG. 63.—Section of a granular carbo


   In Fig. 63 we have a section of a microphone
transmitter now very widely used. It was in-
vented, in its original form, by an English cler-
gyman named Hunnings. Resting in a central
cavity of an ebonite seating is a carbon block,
C, with a face moulded into a number of pyr-
amidal projections, P P. The space between C
and a carbon diaphragm, D, is packed with car-
bon granules, G G. C has direct contact with
line terminal T, which screws into it; D with T1
through the brass casing, screw S, and a small
plate at the back of the transmitter. Voice vibra-
tions compress G G, and allow current to pass
more freely from D to C. This form of micro-
phone is very delicate, and unequalled for long-
distance transmission.
            FIG. 64.—A diagrammatic representa


   In many forms of subscriber's instruments
both receiver and transmitter are mounted on a
single handle in such a way as to be conveni-
ently placed for ear and mouth. For the sake
of clearness the diagrammatic sketch of a com-
plete installation (Fig. 64) shows them separ-
ated. The transmitters, it will be noticed, are
located in battery circuits, including the primary
windings P P2 of induction coils. The transmit-
ters are in the line circuit, which includes the
secondary windings S S2 of the coils.

    We will assume that the transmitters are, in
the first instance, both hung on the hooks of the
metallic switches, which their weight depresses
to the position indicated by the dotted lines. The
handle of the magneto-generator at the left-end
station is turned, and current passes through the
closed circuit:—Line A, E B2, contact 10, the
switch 9; line B, 4, the other switch, contact
5, and E B. Both bells ring. Both parties now
lift their receivers from the switch hooks. The
switches rise against contacts 1, 2, 3 and 6, 7,
8 respectively. Both primary and both second-
ary circuits are now completed, while the bells
are disconnected from the line wires. The pulsa-
tions set up by transmitter T in primary coil
P are magnified by secondary coil S for trans-
mission through the line circuit, and affect both
receivers. The same thing happens when T2 is
used. At the end of the conversation the receiv-
ers are hung on their hooks again, and the bell
circuit is remade, ready for the next call.

    The currents used in telephones pulsate very
rapidly, but are very feeble. Electric disturb-
ances caused by the proximity of telegraph or
tram wires would much interfere with them if
the earth were used for the return circuit. It
has been found that a complete metallic circuit
(two wires) is practically free from interference,
though where a number of wires are hung on
the same poles, speech-sounds may be faintly
induced in one circuit from another. This defect
is, however, minimized by crossing the wires
about among themselves, so that any one line
does not pass round the corresponding insulator
on every pole.


   In a district where a number of telephones
are used the subscribers are put into connection
with one another through an "exchange," to
which all the wires lead. One wire of each sub-
scriber runs to a common "earth;" the other ter-
minates at a switchboard presided over by an
operator. In an exchange used by many sub-
scribers the terminals are distributed over a
number of switchboards, each containing 80 to
100 terminals, and attended to by an operator,
usually a girl.

    When a subscriber wishes to be connected
to another subscriber, he either turns the handle
of a magneto generator, which causes a shutter
to fall and expose his number at the exchange,
or simply depresses a key which works a relay
at the exchange and lights a tiny electric lamp.
The operator, seeing the signal, connects her
telephone with the subscriber's circuit and asks
the number wanted. This given, she rings up the
other subscriber, and connects the two circuits
by means of an insulated wire cord having a
spike at each end to fit the "jack" sockets of the
switchboard terminals. The two subscribers are
now in communication.
               a f
         trunk a
        asked the
       central the
           that sotrm
      modern the
            oc- on
        house a
             with m
        which awa  h
telephonic the
FIG. 65.—The headdress of an operator at a telep
  change. The receiver is fastened over one ear,
                transmitter to the chest.


    Though telegraphic messages are transmit-
ted easily through thousands of miles of
cable,[16] submarine telephony is at present re-
stricted to comparatively short distances. When
a current passes through a cable, electricity of
opposite polarity induced on the outside of the
cable damps the vibration in the conductor. In
the Atlantic cable, strong currents of electricity
are poured periodically into one end, and
though much enfeebled when they reach the
other they are sufficiently strong to work a very
delicate "mirror galvanometer" (invented by
Lord Kelvin), which moves a reflected ray up
and down a screen, the direction of the move-
ments indicating a dot or a dash. Reversible cur-
rents are used in transmarine telegraphy. The
galvanometer is affected like the coils and small
magnet in Wheatstone's needle instrument (p.

   Telephonic currents are too feeble to penet-
rate many miles of cable. There is telephonic
communication between England and France,
and England and Ireland. But transatlantic tele-
phony is still a thing of the future. It is hoped,
however, that by inserting induction coils at in-
tervals along the cables the currents may be
"stepped up" from point to point, and so get
across. Turning to Fig. 64, we may suppose S
to be on shore at the English end, and S2 to be
the primary winding of an induction coil a hun-
dred miles away in the sea, which magnifies the
enfeebled vibrations for a journey to S3, where
they are again revived; and so on, till the New
World is reached. The difficulty is to devise in-
duction coils of great power though of small
size. Yet science advances nowadays so fast that
we may live to hear words spoken at the Anti-
   [16] In 1896 the late Li Hung Chang sent a
     cablegram from China to England (12,608
     miles), and received a reply, in seven

                Chapter IX.


   A simple dynamo—Continuous-current dy-
      namos—Multipolar                dy-
      namos—Exciting the field mag-
      nets—Alternating      current   dy-
      namos—The        transmission    of
      power—The electric motor—Electric
      lighting—The incandescent lamp—Arc
       lamps—"Series" and "parallel" arrange-
       ment of lamps—Current for electric

I  N previous chapters we have incidentally re-
   ferred to the conversion of mechanical work
into electrical energy. In this we shall examine
how it is done—how the silently spinning dy-
namo develops power, and why the motor spins
when current is passed through it.

    We must begin by returning to our first elec-
trical diagram (Fig. 50), and calling to mind
the invisible "lines of force" which permeate
the ether in the immediate neighbourhood of a
magnet's poles, called the magnetic field of the

   Many years ago (1831) the great Michael
Faraday discovered that if a loop of wire were
moved up and down between the poles of an
electro-magnet (Fig. 66) a current was induced
in the loop, its direction depending upon that in
which the loop was moved. The energy required
to cut the lines of force passed in some myster-
ious way into the wire. Why this is so we can-
not say, but, taking advantage of the fact, elec-
tricians have gradually developed the enorm-
ous machines which now send vehicles spin-
ning over metal tracks, light our streets and
houses, and supply energy to innumerable
                                   FIG. 66.

   The strength of the current induced in a cir-
cuit cutting the lines of force of a magnet is
called its pressure, voltage, or electro-motive
force (expressed shortly E.M.F.). It may be
compared with the pounds-to-the-square-inch
of steam. In order to produce an E.M.F. of one
volt it is calculated that 100,000,000 lines of
force must be cut every second.

    The voltage depends on three things:—(1.)
The strength of the magnet: the stronger it is,
the greater the number of lines of force coming
from it. (2.) The length of the conductor cutting
the lines of force: the longer it is, the more lines
it will cut. (3.) The speed at which the conduct-
or moves: the faster it travels, the more lines it
will cut in a given time. It follows that a power-
ful dynamo, or mechanical producer of current,
must have strong magnets and a long conduct-
or; and the latter must be moved at a high speed
across the lines of force.

              A SIMPLE DYNAMO.
    In Fig. 67 we have the simplest possible
form of dynamo—a single turn of wire, w x y
z, mounted on a spindle, and having one end
attached to an insulated ring C, the other to
an insulated ring C1. Two small brushes, B B1,
of wire gauze or carbon, rubbing continuously
against these collecting rings, connect them
with a wire which completes the circuit. The
armature, as the revolving coil is called, is
mounted between the poles of a magnet, where
the lines of force are thickest. These lines are
supposed to stream from the N. to the S. pole.

    In Fig. 67 the armature has reached a posi-
tion in which y z and w x are cutting no, or very
few, lines of force, as they move practically par-
allel to the lines. This is called the zero position.
FIG. 67.
FIG. 68.
    In Fig. 68 the armature, moving at right
angles to the lines of force, cuts a maximum
number in a given time, and the current induced
in the coil is therefore now most intense. Here
we must stop a moment to consider how to de-
cide in which direction the current flows. The
armature is revolving in a clockwise direction,
and y z, therefore, is moving downwards. Now,
suppose that you rest your left hand on the N.
pole of the magnet so that the arm lies in a
line with the magnet. Point your forefinger to-
wards the S. pole. It will indicate the direction
of the lines of force. Bend your other three fin-
gers downwards over the edge of the N. pole.
They will indicate the direction in which the
conductor is moving across the magnetic field.
Stick out the thumb at right angles to the fore-
finger. It points in the direction in which the in-
duced current is moving through the nearer half
of the coil. Therefore lines of force, conductor,
and induced current travel in planes which, like
the top and two adjacent sides of a box, are at
right angles to one another.

   While current travels from z to y—that is,
from the ring C1 to y—it also travels from x
to w, because w x rises while y z descends. So
that a current circulates through the coil and the
exterior part of the circuit, including the lamp.
After z y has passed the lowest possible point
of the circle it begins to ascend, w x to des-
cend. The direction of the current is therefore
reversed; and as the change is repeated every
half-revolution this form of dynamo is called
an alternator or creator of alternating currents.
A well-known type of alternator is the mag-
neto machine which sends shocks through any
one who completes the external circuit by hold-
ing the brass handles connected by wires to the
brushes. The faster the handle of the machine is
turned the more frequent is the alternation, and
the stronger the current.
                                 FIG. 69.


   An alternating current is not so convenient
for some purposes as a continuous current. It
is therefore sometimes desirable (even neces-
sary) to convert the alternating into a uni-direc-
tional or continuous current. How this is done
is shown in Figs. 69 and 70. In place of the
two collecting rings C C1, we now have a single
ring split longitudinally into two portions, one
of which is connected to each end of the coil
w x y z. In Fig. 69 brush B has just passed the
gap on to segment C, brush B1 on to segment C1.
For half a revolution these remain respectively
in contact; then, just as y z begins to rise and w
x to descend, the brushes cross the gaps again
and exchange segments, so that the current is
perpetually flowing one way through the cir-
cuit. The effect of the commutator[17] is, in fact,
equivalent to transposing the brushes of the col-
lecting rings of the alternator every time the coil
reaches a zero position.

   Figs. 71 and 72 give end views in section of
the coil and the commutator, with the coil in the
position of minimum and maximum efficiency.
The arrow denotes the direction of movement;
the double dotted lines the commutator end of
the revolving coil.

                                 FIG. 70.

   The electrical output of our simple dynamo
would be increased if, instead of a single turn
of wire, we used a coil of many turns. A further
improvement would result from mounting on
the shaft, inside the coil, a core or drum of iron,
to entice the lines of force within reach of the
revolving coil. It is evident that any lines which
pass through the air outside the circle described
by the coil cannot be cut, and are wasted.
                     FIG. 71.

   The core is not a solid mass of iron, but built
up of a number of very thin iron discs threaded
on the shaft and insulated from one another to
prevent electric eddies, which would interfere
with the induced current in the conductor.[18]
Sometimes there are openings through the core
from end to end to ventilate and cool it.
                                     FIG. 73.

   We have already noticed that in the case of a
single coil the current rises and falls in a series
of pulsations. Such a form of armature would
be unsuitable for large dynamos, which accord-
ingly have a number of coils wound over their
drums, at equal distances round the circumfer-
ence, and a commutator divided into an equal
number of segments. The subject of drum wind-
ing is too complicated for brief treatment, and
we must therefore be content with noticing that
the coils are so connected to their respective
commutator segments and to one another that
they mutually assist one another. A glance at
Fig. 73 will help to explain this. Here we have
in section a number of conductors on the right
of the drum (marked with a cross to show that
current is moving, as it were, into the page),
connected with conductors on the left (marked
with a dot to signify current coming out of the
page). If the "crossed" and "dotted" conductors
were respectively the "up" and "down" turns of
a single coil terminating in a simple split com-
mutator (Fig. 69), when the coil had been re-
volved through an angle of 90° some of the up
turns would be ascending and some descending,
so that conflicting currents would arise. Yet we
want to utilize the whole surface of the drum;
and by winding a number of coils in the manner
hinted at, each coil, as it passes the zero point,
top or bottom, at once generates a current in the
desired direction and reinforces that in all the
other turns of its own and of other coils on the
same side of a line drawn vertically through the
centre. There is thus practically no fluctuation
in the pressure of the current generated.

   The action of single and multiple coil wind-
ings may be compared to that of single and
multiple pumps. Water is ejected by a single
pump in gulps; whereas the flow from a pipe
fed by several pumps arranged to deliver con-
secutively is much more constant.

    Hitherto we have considered the magnetic
field produced by one bi-polar magnet only.
Large dynamos have four, six, eight, or more
field magnets set inside a casing, from which
their cores project towards the armature so as
almost to touch it (Fig. 74). The magnet coils
are wound to give N. and S. poles alternately
at their armature ends round the field; and the
lines of force from each N. pole stream each
way to the two adjacent S. poles across the path
of the armature coils. In dynamos of this kind
several pairs of collecting brushes pick current
off the commutator at equidistant points on its
  FIG. 74.—A Holmes continuous current dy-
  namo: A, armature; C, commutator; M, field


   Until current passes through the field magnet
coils, no magnetic field can be created. How
are the coils supplied with current? A dynamo,
starting for the first time, is excited by a current
from an outside source; but when it has once
begun to generate current it feeds its magnets
itself, and ever afterwards will be self-excit-
ing,[19] owing to the residual magnetism left in
the magnet cores.

     FIG. 75.—Partly finished commutator.

   Look carefully at Figs. 77 and 78. In the first
of these you will observe that part of the wire
forming the external circuit is wound round the
arms of the field magnet. This is called a series
winding. In this case all the current generated
helps to excite the dynamo. At the start the re-
sidual magnetism of the magnet cores gives a
weak field. The armature coils cut this and pass
a current through the circuit. The magnets are
further excited, and the field becomes stronger;
and so on till the dynamo is developing full
power. Series winding is used where the current
in the external circuit is required to be very con-
   FIG. 76.—The brushes of a Holmes dy-

   Fig. 78 shows another method of wind-
ing—the shunt. Most of the current generated
passes through the external circuit 2, 2; but a
part is switched through a separate winding for
the magnets, denoted by the fine wire 1, 1. Here
the strength of the magnetism does not vary dir-
ectly with the current, as only a small part of the
current serves the magnets. The shunt winding
is therefore used where the voltage (or pressure)
must be constant.
      FIG. 77.—Sketch showing a "series" windin

   A third method is a combination of the two
already named. A winding of fine wire passes
from brush to brush round the magnets; and
there is also a series winding as in Fig. 77. This
compound method is adapted more especially
for electric traction.


   These have their field magnets excited by
a separate continuous current dynamo of small
size. The field magnets usually revolve inside a
fixed armature (the reverse of the arrangement
in a direct-current generator); or there may be
a fixed central armature and field magnets re-
volving outside it. This latter arrangement is
found in the great power stations at Niagara
Falls, where the enormous field-rings are moun-
ted on the top ends of vertical shafts, driven
by water-turbines at the bottom of pits 178 feet
deep, down which water is led to the turbines
through great pipes, or penstocks. The weight
of each shaft and the field-ring attached totals
about thirty-five tons. This mass revolves 250
times a minute, and 5,000 horse power is con-
stantly developed by the dynamo. Similar dy-
namos of 10,000 horse power each have been
installed on the Canadian side of the Falls.
                                    FIG. 79.


   Alternating current is used where power has
to be transmitted for long distances, because
such a current can be intensified, or stepped up,
by a transformer somewhat similar in principle
to a Ruhmkorff coil minus a contact-breaker
(see p. 122). A typical example of transform-
ation is seen in Fig. 79. Alternating current of
5,000 volts pressure is produced in the gener-
ating station and sent through conductors to a
distant station, where a transformer, B, reduces
the pressure to 500 volts to drive an alternating
motor, C, which in turn operates a direct cur-
rent dynamo, D. This dynamo has its + termin-
al connected with the insulated or "live" rail of
an electric railway, and its – terminal with the
wheel rails, which are metallically united at the
joints to act as a "return." On its way from the
live rail to the return the current passes through
the motors. In the case of trams the conduct-
or is either a cable carried overhead on standar-
ds, from which it passes to the motor through a
trolley arm, or a rail laid underground in a con-
duit between the rails. In the top of the conduit
is a slit through which an arm carrying a con-
tact shoe on the end projects from the car. The
shoe rubs continuously on the live rail as the car

    To return for a moment to the question of
transformation of current. "Why," it may be
asked, "should we not send low-pressure direct
current to a distant station straight from the dy-
namo, instead of altering its nature and pres-
sure? Or, at any rate, why not use high-pressure
direct current, and transform that?" The answer
is, that to transmit a large amount of electrical
energy at low pressure (or voltage) would ne-
cessitate large volume (or amperage) and a big
and expensive copper conductor to carry it.
High-pressure direct current is not easily gener-
ated, since the sparking at the collecting brushes
as they pass over the commutator segments
gives trouble. So engineers prefer high-pressure
alternating current, which is easily produced,
and can be sent through a small and inexpensive
conductor with little loss. Also its voltage can
be transformed by apparatus having no re-
volving parts.


   Anybody who understands the dynamo will
also be able to understand the electric motor,
which is merely a reversed dynamo.

   Imagine in Fig. 70 a dynamo taking the place
of the lamp and passing current through the
brushes and commutator into the coil w x y z.
Now, any coil through which current passes be-
comes a magnet with N. and S. poles at either
end. (In Fig. 70 we will assume that the N.
pole is below and the S. pole above the coil.)
The coil poles therefore try to seek the contrary
poles of the permanent magnet, and the coil re-
volves until its S. pole faces the N. of the mag-
net, and vice versâ. The lines of force of the coil
and the magnet are now parallel. But the mo-
mentum of revolution carries the coil on, and
suddenly the commutator reverses its polarity,
and a further half-revolution takes place. Then
comes a further reversal, and so on ad infinitum.
The rotation of the motor is therefore merely a
question of repulsion and attraction of like and
unlike poles. An ordinary compass needle may
be converted into a tiny motor by presenting the
N. and S. poles of a magnet to its S. and N.
poles alternately every half-revolution.

    In construction and winding a motor is prac-
tically the same as a dynamo. In fact, either ma-
chine can perform either function, though per-
haps not equally well adapted for both. Motors
may be run with direct or alternating current,
according to their construction.

   On electric cars the motor is generally sus-
pended from the wheel truck, and a small pinion
on the armature shaft gears with a large pinion
on a wheel axle. One great advantage of electric
traction is that every vehicle of a train can carry
its own motor, so that the whole weight of the
train may be used to get a grip on the rails when
starting. Where a single steam locomotive is
used, the adhesion of its driving-wheels only is
available for overcoming the inertia of the load;
and the whole strain of starting is thrown on to
the foremost couplings. Other advantages may
be summed up as follows:—(1) Ease of starting
and rapid acceleration; (2) absence of waste of
energy (in the shape of burning fuel) when the
vehicles are at rest; (3) absence of smoke and


    Dynamos are used to generate current for
two main purposes—(1) To supply power to
motors of all kinds; (2) to light our houses,
factories, and streets. In private houses and
theatres incandescent lamps are generally used;
in the open air, in shops, and in larger buildings,
such as railway stations, the arc lamp is more
often found.


    If you take a piece of very fine iron wire and
lay it across the terminals of an accumulator,
it becomes white hot and melts, owing to the
heat generated by its resistance to the current.
A piece of fine platinum wire would become
white hot without melting, and would give out
an intense light. Here we have the principle of
the glow or incandescent lamp—namely, the in-
terposition in an electric circuit of a conductor
which at once offers a high resistance to the cur-
rent, but is not destroyed by the resulting heat.

   In Fig. 80 is shown a fan propelling liquid
constantly through a pipe. Let us assume that
the liquid is one which develops great friction
on the inside of the pipe. At the contraction,
where the speed of travel is much greater than
elsewhere in the circuit, most heat will be pro-
FIG. 80.—Diagram to show circulation of
         water through a pipe.
    In quite the early days of the glow-lamp plat-
inum wire was found to be unreliable as regards
melting, and filaments of carbon are now used.
To prevent the wasting away of the carbon by
combination with oxygen the filament is en-
closed in a glass bulb from which practically all
air has been sucked by a mercury pump before
FIG. 81.—The electrical counterpart of Fig.
 80. The filament takes the place of the con-
             traction in the pipe.

    The manufacture of glow-lamps is now an
important industry. One brand of lamp[20] is
made as follows:—First, cotton-wool is dis-
solved in chloride of zinc, and forms a treacly
solution, which is squirted through a fine nozzle
into a settling solution which hardens it and
makes it coil up like a very fine violin string.
After being washed and dried, it is wound on
a plumbago rod and baked in a furnace until
only the carbon element remains. This is the
filament in the rough. It is next removed from
the rod and tipped with two short pieces of
fine platinum wire. To make the junction elec-
trically perfect the filament is plunged in ben-
zine and heated to whiteness by the passage of
a strong current, which deposits the carbon of
the benzine on the joints. The filament is now
placed under the glass receiver of an air-pump,
the air is exhausted, hydro-carbon vapour is in-
troduced, and the filament has a current passed
through it to make it white hot. Carbon from
the vapour is deposited all over the filament un-
til the required electrical resistance is attained.
The filament is now ready for enclosure in the
bulb. When the bulb has been exhausted and
sealed, the lamp is tested, and, if passed, goes
to the finishing department, where the two plat-
inum wires (projecting through the glass) are
soldered to a couple of brass plates, which make
contact with two terminals in a lamp socket.
Finally, brass caps are affixed with a special
water-tight and hard cement.

                  ARC LAMPS.

   In arc lighting, instead of a contraction at a
point in the circuit, there is an actual break of
very small extent. Suppose that to the ends of
the wires leading from a dynamo's terminals we
attach two carbon rods, and touch the end of the
rods together. The tips become white hot, and if
they are separated slightly, atoms of incandes-
cent carbon leap from the positive to the neg-
ative rod in a continuous and intensely lumin-
ous stream, which is called an arc because the
path of the particles is curved. No arc would be
formed unless the carbons were first touched to
start incandescence. If they are separated too far
for the strength of the current to bridge the gap
the light will flicker or go out. The arc lamp
is therefore provided with a mechanism which,
when the current is cut off, causes the carbons
to fall together, gradually separates them when
it is turned on, and keeps them apart. The prin-
ciple employed is the effort of a coil through
which a current passes to draw an iron rod into
its centre. Some of the current feeding the lamp
is shunted through a coil, into which projects
one end of an iron bar connected with one car-
bon point. A spring normally presses the points
together when no current flows. As soon as cur-
rent circulates through the coil the bar is drawn
upwards against the spring.


   When current passes from one lamp to an-
other, as in Fig. 82, the lamps are said to be in
series. Should one lamp fail, all in the circuit
would go out. But where arc lamps are thus
arranged a special mechanism on each lamp
"short-circuits" it in case of failure, so that cur-
rent may pass uninterruptedly to the next.
          FIG. 82.—Incandescent lamps connect

   Fig. 83 shows a number of lamps set in par-
allel. One terminal of each is attached to the
positive conductor, the other to the negative
conductor. Each lamp therefore forms an in-
dependent bridge, and does not affect the ef-
ficiency of the rest. Parallel series signifies a
combination of the two systems, and would be
illustrated if, in Fig. 83, two or more lamps
were connected in series groups from one con-
ductor to the other. This arrangement is often
used in arc lighting.

          FIG. 83.—Incandescent lamps connecte

    This may be either direct or alternating. The
former is commonly used for arc lamps, the
latter for incandescent, as it is easily stepped-
down from the high-pressure mains for use in a
house. Glow-lamps usually take current of 110
or 250 volts pressure.

    In arc lamps fed with direct current the tip of
the positive carbon has a bowl-shaped depres-
sion worn in it, while the negative tip is poin-
ted. Most of the illumination comes from the in-
ner surface of the bowl, and the positive carbon
is therefore placed uppermost to throw the light
downwards. An alternating current, of course,
affects both carbons in the same manner, and
there is no bowl.

   The carbons need frequent renewal. A
powerful lamp uses about 70 feet of rod in
1,000 hours if the arc is exposed to the air.
Some lamps have partly enclosed arcs—that is,
are surrounded by globes perforated by a single
small hole, which renders combustion very
slow, though preventing a vacuum.


    Electroplating is the art of coating metals
with metals by means of electricity. Silver, cop-
per, and nickel are the metals most generally de-
posited. The article to be coated is suspended in
a chemical solution of the metal to be deposited.
Fig. 84 shows a very simple plating outfit. A is
a battery; B a vessel containing, say, an acidu-
lated solution of sulphate of copper. A spoon, S,
hanging in this from a glass rod, R, is connec-
ted with the zinc or negative element, Z, of the
battery, and a plate of copper, P, with the pos-
itive element, C. Current flows in the direction
shown by the arrows, from Z to C, C to P, P to S,
S to Z. The copper deposited from the solution
on the spoon is replaced by gradual dissolution
of the plate, so that the latter serves a double

                       FIG. 84.—An electroplating o

    In silver plating, P is of silver, and the solu-
tion one of cyanide of potassium and silver
salts. Where nickel or silver has to be deposited
on iron, the article is often given a preliminary
coating of copper, as iron does not make a good
junction with either of the first two metals, but
has an affinity for copper.
   [17] From the Latin commuto, "I exchange."

   [18] Only the "drum" type of armature is
     treated here.

   [19] This refers to continuous-current dy-
     namos only.

   [20] The Robertson.

                 Chapter X.

            RAILWAY BRAKES.

   The Vacuum Automatic brake—The West-
      inghouse air-brake.
I  N the early days of the railway, the pulling
   up of a train necessitated the shutting off of
steam while the stopping-place was still a great
distance away. The train gradually lost its velo-
city, the process being hastened to a comparat-
ively small degree by the screw-down brakes on
the engine and guard's van. The goods train of
to-day in many cases still observes this practice,
long obsolete in passenger traffic.

   An advance was made when a chain, run-
ning along the entire length of the train, was
arranged so as to pull on subsidiary chains
branching off under each carriage and operating
levers connected with brake blocks pressing on
every pair of wheels. The guard strained the
main chain by means of a wheel gear in his van.
This system was, however, radically defective,
since, if any one branch chain was shorter than
the rest, it alone would get the strain. Further-
more, it is obvious that the snapping of the
main chain would render the whole arrange-
ment powerless. Accordingly, brakes operated
by steam were tried. Under every carriage was
placed a cylinder, in connection with a main
steam-pipe running under the train. When the
engineer wished to apply the brakes, he turned
high-pressure steam into the train pipe, and the
steam, passing into the brake cylinders, drove
out in each a piston operating the brake gear.
Unfortunately, the steam, during its passage
along the pipe, was condensed, and in cold
weather failed to reach the rear carriages. Water
formed in the pipes, and this was liable to
freeze. If the train parted accidentally, the ap-
paratus of course broke down.

   Hydraulic brakes have been tried; but these
are open to several objections; and railway en-
gineers now make use of air-pressure as the
most suitable form of power. Whatever air sys-
tem be adopted, experience has shown that
three features are essential:—(1.) The brakes
must be kept "off" artificially. (2.) In case of
the train parting accidentally, the brakes must
be applied automatically, and quickly bring all
the vehicles of the train to a standstill. (3.) It
must be possible to apply the brakes with great-
er or less force, according to the needs of the

   At the present day one or other of two sys-
tems is used on practically all automatically-
braked cars and coaches. These are known
as—(1) The vacuum automatic, using the pres-
sure of the atmosphere on a piston from the oth-
er side of which air has been mechanically ex-
hausted; and (2) the Westinghouse automatic,
using compressed air. The action of these
brakes will now be explained as simply as pos-

    Under each carriage is a vacuum chamber
(Fig. 85) riding on trunnions, E E, so that it may
swing a little when the brakes are applied. In-
side the chamber is a cylinder, the piston of
which is rendered air-tight by a rubber ring
rolling between it and the cylinder walls. The
piston rod works through an air-tight stuffing-
box in the bottom of the casing, and when it
rises operates the brake rods. It is obvious that
if air is exhausted from both sides of the piston
at once, the piston will sink by reason of its
own weight and that of its attachments. If air is
now admitted below the piston, the latter will
be pushed upwards with a maximum pressure
of 15 lbs. to the square inch. The ball-valve en-
sures that while air can be sucked from both
sides of the piston, it can be admitted to the
lower side only.
FIG. 85.—Vacuum brake "o
                       FIG. 86.—Vacuum brake "o

    Let us imagine that a train has been standing
in a siding, and that air has gradually filled
the vacuum chamber by leakage. The engine
is coupled on, and the driver at once turns on
the steam ejector,[21] which sucks all the air out
of the pipes and chambers throughout the train.
The air is sucked directly from the under side of
the piston through pipe D; and from the space
A A and the cylinder (open at the top) through
the channel C, lifting the ball, which, as soon as
exhaustion is complete, or when the pressure on
both sides of the piston is equal, falls back on
its seat. On air being admitted to the train pipe,
it rushes through D and into the space B (Fig.
86) below the piston, but is unable to pass the
ball, so that a strong upward pressure is exerted
on the piston, and the brakes go on. To throw
them off, the space below the piston must be ex-
hausted. This is to be noted: If there is a leak,
as in the case of the train parting, the brakes go
on at once, since the vacuum below the piston
is automatically broken.
          par- vact  or
            butbrok of
   square to 5
  admitted. fro
       full stops
atmospheric Fo
        is air In
             it used
     installed v
         an is
   ingenious gu
          be anyma
           time va
    opened atc        w
          lever, by
      whichdow   a
          the of
              in this
             device   d
          pipe se
           an of t
     upright top
                to is
                   of t
            the bottdise
          hole b
        small ch
               the bo
            va- toth en
               brokea f
    sudden as as
             its to A
               be air
          seat cau
           hasD by   as
     anyAir no
FIG. 87.—Guard's valve for applying the Va-
              cuum brake.

then rushes into the train pipe through the valve.
It is thus evident that the driver controls this
valve as effectively as if it were on the engine.
These "emergency" valves are sometimes fitted
to every vehicle of a train.

    When a carriage is slipped, taps on each side
of the coupling joint of the train pipe are turned
off by the guard in the "slip;" and when he
wishes to stop he merely depresses the lever E,
gradually opening the valve. Under the van is
an auxiliary vacuum chamber, from which the
air is exhausted by the train pipe. If the guard,
after the slip has parted from the train, finds
that he has applied his brakes too hard, he can
put this chamber into communication with the
brake cylinder, and restore the vacuum suffi-
ciently to pull the brakes off again.
    When a train has come to rest, the brakes
must be sucked off by the ejector. Until this has
been done the train cannot be moved, so that it
is impossible for it to leave the station unpre-
pared to make a sudden stop if necessary.


   This system is somewhat more complicated
than the vacuum, though equally reliable and
powerful. Owing to the complexity of certain
parts, such as the steam air-pump and the triple-
valve, it is impossible to explain the system in
detail; we therefore have recourse to simple dia-
grammatic sketches, which will help to make
clear the general principles employed.

    The air-brake, as first evolved by Mr. Ge-
orge Westinghouse, was a very simple af-
fair—an air-pump and reservoir on the engine; a
long pipe running along the train; and a cylinder
under every vehicle to work the brakes. To stop
the train, the high-pressure air collected in the
reservoir was turned into the train pipe to force
out the pistons in the coach cylinders, connec-
ted to it by short branch pipes. One defect of
this "straight" system was that the brakes at the
rear of a long train did not come into action un-
til a considerable time after the driver turned on
the air; and since, when danger is imminent, a
very few seconds are of great importance, this
slowness of operation was a serious fault. Also,
it was found that the brakes on coaches near the
engine went on long before those more distant,
so that during a quick stop there was a danger
of the forward coaches being bumped by those
behind. It goes without saying that any coaches
which might break loose were uncontrollable.
Mr. Westinghouse therefore patented his auto-
matic brake, now so largely used all over the
world. The brake ensures practically instantan-
eous and simultaneous action on all the vehicles
of a train of any length.
 FIG. 88.—Diagrammatic sketch of the details o
                       brake. Brake "off."

   The principle of the brake will be gathered
from Figs. 88 and 89. P is a steam-driven air-
pump on the engine, which compresses air into
a reservoir, A, situated below the engine or
tender, and maintains a pressure of from 80
to 90 lbs. per square inch. A three-way cock,
C, puts the train pipe into communication with
A or the open air at the wish of the driver.
Under each coach is a triple-valve, T, an aux-
iliary reservoir, B, and a brake cylinder, D. The
triple-valve is the most noteworthy feature of
the whole system. The reader must remember
that the valve shown in the section is only dia-

     Now for the operation of the brake. When
the engine is coupled to the train, the com-
pressed air in the main reservoir is turned into
the train pipe, from which it passes through the
triple-valve into the auxiliary reservoir, and fills
it till it has a pressure of, say, 80 lbs. per square
inch. Until the brakes are required, the pres-
sure in the train pipe must be maintained. If
accidentally, or purposely (by turning the cock
C to the position shown in Fig. 89), the train-
pipe pressure is reduced, the triple-valve at once
shifts, putting B in connection with the brake
cylinder D, and cutting off the connection
between D and the air, and the brakes go on. To
get them off, the pressure in the train pipe must
be made equal to that in B, when the valve will
assume its original position, allowing the air in
D to escape.

    The force with which the brake is applied
depends upon the reduction of pressure in the
train pipe. A slight reduction would admit air
very slowly from B to D, whereas a full escape
from the train pipe would open the valve to
its utmost. We have not represented the means
whereby the valve is rendered sensitive to these
changes, for the reason given above.
                            FIG. 89.—Brake "on."

    The latest form of triple-valve includes a
device which, when air is rapidly discharged
from the train pipe, as in an emergency applic-
ation of the brake, opens a port through which
compressed air is also admitted from the train
pipe directly into D. It will easily be understood
that a double advantage is hereby gained—first,
in utilizing a considerable portion of the air in
the train pipe to increase the available brake
force in cases of emergency; and, secondly, in
producing a quick reduction of pressure in the
whole length of the pipe, which accelerates the
action of the brakes with extraordinary rapidity.

   It may be added that this secondary commu-
nication is kept open only until the pressure in
D is equal to that in the train pipe. Then it is cut
off, to prevent a return of air from B to the pipe.

   An interesting detail of the system is the
automatic regulation of air-pressure in the main
reservoir by the air-pump governor (Fig. 90).
The governor is attached to the steam-pipe lead-
ing from the locomotive boiler to the air-pump.
Steam from the boiler, entering at F, flows
through valve 14 and passes by D into the pump,
which is thus brought into operation, and con-
tinues to work until the pressure in the main
reservoir, acting on the under side of the dia-
phragm 9, exceeds the tension to which the reg-
ulating spring 7 is set. Any excess of pressure
forces the diaphragm upwards, lifting valve 11,
and allowing compressed air from the main
reservoir to flow into the chamber C. The air-
pressure forces piston 12 downwards and closes
steam-valve 14, thus cutting off the supply of
steam to the pump. As soon as the pressure in
the reservoir is reduced (by leakage or use) be-
low the normal, spring 7 returns diaphragm 9 to
the position shown in Fig. 90, and pin-valve 11
closes. The compressed air previously admitted
to the chamber C escapes through the small port
a to the atmosphere. The steam, acting on the
lower surface of valve 14, lifts it and its piston
to the position shown, and again flows to the
pump, which works until the required air-pres-
sure is again obtained in the reservoir.
 FIG. 90.—Air-pump of Westinghouse
[21] This resembles the upper part of the
  rudimentary water injector shown in Fig.
  15. The reader need only imagine pipe B to
  be connected with the train pipe. A rush of
 steam through pipe A creates a partial va-
 cuum in the cone E, causing air from the
 train pipe to rush into it and be expelled by
 the steam blast.

              Chapter XI.


The block system—Position of sig-
   nals—Interlocking       the      sig-
   nals—Locking gear—Points—Points
   and signals in combination—Working
   the block system—Series of signalling
   operations—Single line signals—The
   train staff—Train staff and tick-
   et—Electric     train    staff   sys-
   tem—Interlocking—Signalling opera-
   tions—Power signalling—Pneumatic
   signalling—Automatic signalling.
U      NDER certain conditions—namely, at
       sharp curves or in darkness—the most
powerful brakes might not avail to prevent a
train running into the rear of another, if trains
were allowed to follow each other closely over
the line. It is therefore necessary to introduce an
effective system of keeping trains running in the
same direction a sufficient distance apart, and
this is done by giving visible and easily under-
stood orders to the driver while a train is in mo-

    In the early days of the railway it was cus-
tomary to allow a time interval between the
passings of trains, a train not being permitted to
leave a station until at least five minutes after
the start of a preceding train. This method did
not, of course, prevent collisions, as the first
train sometimes broke down soon after leav-
ing the station; and in the absence of effective
brakes, its successor ran into it. The advent of
the electric telegraph, which put stations in rap-
id communication with one another, proved of
the utmost value to the safe working of rail-

             THE BLOCK SYSTEM.

    Time limits were abolished and distance lim-
its substituted. A line was divided into blocks,
or lengths, and two trains going in the same dir-
ection were never allowed on any one block at
the same time.

   The signal-posts carrying the movable arms,
or semaphores, by means of which the signal-
man communicates with the engine-driver, are
well known to us. They are usually placed on
the left-hand side of the line of rails to which
they apply, with their arms pointing away from
the rails. The side of the arms which faces the
direction from which a train approaches has a
white stripe painted on a red background, the
other side has a black stripe on a white back-

    The distant and other signal arms vary
slightly in shape (Fig. 91). A distant signal has a
forked end and a V-shaped stripe; the home and
starting signals are square-ended, with straight
stripes. When the arm stands horizontally, the
signal is "on," or at "danger"; when dropped, it
is "off," and indicates "All right; proceed." At
the end nearest the post it carries a spectacle
frame glazed with panes of red and green glass.
When the arm is at danger, the red pane is op-
posite a lamp attached to the signal post; when
the arm drops, the green pane rises to that pos-
ition—so that a driver is kept as fully informed
at night as during the day, provided the lamp re-
mains alight.
     FIG. 91.—Distant and home signals.


    On double lines each set of rails has its own
separate signals, and drivers travelling on the
"up" line take no notice of signals meant for
the "down" line. Each signal-box usually con-
trols three signals on each set of rails—the dis-
tant, the home, and the starting. Their respective
positions will be gathered from Fig. 92, which
shows a station on a double line. Between the
distant and the home an interval is allowed of
800 yards on the level, 1,000 yards on a falling
gradient, and 600 yards on a rising gradient.
The home stands near the approach end of the
station, and the starting at the departure end of
the platform. The last is sometimes reinforced
by an "advance starting" signal some distance
farther on.
    It should be noted that the distant is only a
caution signal, whereas both home and start-
ing are stop signals. This means that when the
driver sees the distant "on," he does not stop his
train, but slackens speed, and prepares to stop at
the home signal. He must, however, on no ac-
count pass either home or starting if they are at
danger. In short, the distant merely warns the
driver of what he may expect at the home. To
prevent damage if a driver should overrun the
home, it has been laid down that no train shall
be allowed to pass the starting signal of one
box unless the line is clear to a point at least a
quarter of a mile beyond the home of the next
box. That point is called the standard clearing

   Technically described, a block is a length of
line between the last stop signal worked from
one signal-box and the first stop signal worked
from the next signal-box in advance.
             FIG. 92.—Showing position of signals


   A signalman cannot lower or restore his sig-
nals to their normal positions in any order he
likes. He is compelled to lower them as fol-
lows:—Starting and home; then distant. And re-
store them—distant; then starting and home. If
a signalman were quite independent, he might,
after the passage of a train, restore the home or
starting, but forget all about the distant, so that
the next train, which he wants to stop, would
dash past the distant without warning and have
to pull up suddenly when the home came in
sight. But by a mechanical arrangement he is
prevented from restoring the home or starting
until the distant is at danger; and, vice versâ, he
cannot lower the last until the other two are off.
This mechanism is called locking gear.

                LOOKING GEAR.

    There are many different types of locking
gear in use. It is impossible to describe them
all, or even to give particulars of an elaborate
locking-frame of any one type. But if we con-
fine ourselves to the simplest combination of a
stud-locking apparatus, such as is used in small
boxes on the Great Western Railway, the reader
will get an insight into the general principles of
these safety devices, as the same principles un-
derlie them all.
   FIG. 93.—A signal lever and its connections. T
 pressed towards B raising the catch-rod from its
   guides; R R, anti-friction rollers; S, sockets for

    The levers in the particular type of locking
gear which we are considering have each a tail-
piece or "tappet arm" attached to it, which
moves backwards and forwards with the lever
(Fig. 93). Running at right angles to this tappet,
and close to it, either under or above, are the
lock bars, or stud bars. Refer now to Fig. 94,
which shows the ends of the three tappet arms,
D, H, and S, crossed by a bar, B, from which
project these studs. The levers are all forward
and the signals all "on." If the signalman tried to
pull the lever attached to D down the page, as it
were, he would fail to move it on account of the
stud a, which engages with a notch in D. Before
this stud can be got free of the notch the tappets
H and S must be pulled over, so as to bring their
notches in line with studs b and c (Fig. 95). The
signalman can now move D, since the notch eas-
ily pushes the stud a to the left (Fig. 96). The
signals must be restored to danger. As H and
S are back-locked by D—that is, prevented by
D from being put back into their normal posi-
tions—D must be moved first. The interlocking
of the three signals described is merely repeated
in the interlocking of a large number of signals.
FIG. 94.
FIG. 95.
   On entering a signal-box a visitor will notice
that the levers have different colours:—Green,
signifying distant signals; red, signifying home
and starting signals; blue, signifying facing
points; black, signifying trailing points; white,
signifying spare levers. These different colours
help the signalman to pick out the right levers

   To the front of each lever is attached a small
brass tablet bearing certain numbers; one in
large figures on the top, then a line, and other
numbers in small figures beneath. The large
number is that of the lever itself; the others,
called leads, refer to levers which must be
pulled before that particular lever can be re-
FIG. 96.
FIG. 97.—Model signal equipment in a signallin
                       the "G.W.R. Magazine

    Mention was made, in connection with the
lever, of points. Before going further we will
glance at the action of these devices for en-
abling a train to run from one set of rails to
another. Figs. 98 and 99 show the points at a
simple junction. It will be noticed that the rails
of the line to the left of the points are continued
as the outer rails of the main and branch lines.
The inner rails come to a sharp V-point, and to
the left of this are the two short rails which, by
means of shifting portions, decide the direction
of a train's travel. In Fig. 98 the main line is
open; in Fig. 99, the branch. The shifting parts
are kept properly spaced by cross bars (or tie-
rods), A A.
FIG. 98.—Points open to main

FIG. 99.—Points open to branc
    It might be thought that the wheels would
bump badly when they reach the point B, where
there is a gap. This is prevented, however, by
the bent ends E E (Fig. 98), on which the tread
of the wheel rests until it has reached some dis-
tance along the point of V. The safety rails S R
keep the outer wheel up against its rail until the
V has been passed.


    Let us suppose that a train is approaching
the junction shown in Figs. 98 and 99 from the
left. It is not enough that the driver should know
that the tracks are clear. He must also be assured
that the track, main or branch, as the case may
be, along which he has to go, is open; and on
the other hand, if he were approaching from the
right, he would want to be certain that no train
on the other line was converging on his. Danger
is avoided and assurance given by interlocking
the points and signals. To the left of the junc-
tion the home and distant signals are doubled,
there being two semaphore arms on each post.
These are interlocked with the points in such a
manner that the signals referring to either line
can be pulled off only when the points are set
to open the way to that line. Moreover, before
any shifting of points can be made, the signals
behind must be put to danger. The convergence
of trains is prevented by interlocking, which
renders it impossible to have both sets of distant
and home signals at "All right" simultaneously.


   We may now pass to the working of the
block system of signalling trains from station
to station on one line of a double track. Each
signal-box (except, of course, those at termini)
has electric communication with the next box
in both directions. The instruments used vary
on different systems, but the principle is the
same; so we will concentrate our attention on
those most commonly employed on the Great
Western Railway. They are:—(1.) Two tapper-
bell instruments, connected with similar instru-
ments in the adjacent boxes on both sides. Each
of these rings one beat in the corresponding
box every time its key is depressed. (2.) Two
Spagnoletti disc instruments—one, having two
keys, communicating with the box in the rear;
and the other, in connection with the forward
box, having no keys. Their respective functions
are to give signals and receive them. In the
centre of the face of each is a square opening,
behind which moves a disc carrying two
"flags"—"Train on line" in white letters on red
ground, and "Line clear" in black letters on a
white ground. The keyed instrument has a red
and a white key. When the red key is depressed,
"Train on line" appears at the opening; also in
that of a keyless disc at the adjacent signal-
box. A depression of the white key similarly
gives "Line clear." A piece of wire with the ends
turned over and passed through two eyes slides
over the keys, and can be made to hold either
down. In addition to these, telephonic and tele-
graphic instruments are provided to enable the
signalmen to converse.


 FIG. 100.—The signaling instruments in three a
                      show the connection of t

    We may now watch the doings of signalmen
in four successive boxes, A, B, C, and D, during
the passage of an express train. Signalman A
calls signalman B's attention by one beat on the
tapper-bell. B answers by repeating it to show
that he is attending. A asks, "Is line clear for
passenger express?"—four beats on the bell. B,
seeing that the line is clear to his clearing point,
sends back four beats, and pins down the white
key of his instrument. "Line clear" appears on
the opening, and also at that of A's keyless disc.
A lowers starting signal. Train moves off. A
gives two beats on the tapper = "Train entering
section." B pins indicator at "Train on line,"
which also appears on A's instrument. A places
signals at danger. B asks C, "Is line clear?"
C repeats the bell code, and pins indicator at
"Line clear," shown on B's keyless disc also.
B lowers all signals. Train passes. B signals
to C, "Train entering section." B signals to A,
"Train out of section," and releases indicator,
which returns to normal position with half of
each flag showing at the window. B signals
to C, "Train on line," and sets all his signals
to danger. C pins indicator to "Train on line."
C asks, "Is line clear?" But there is a train at
station D, and signalman D therefore gives no
reply, which is equivalent to a negative. The
driver, on approaching C's distant, sees it at
danger, and slows down, stopping at the home.
C lowers home, and allows train to proceed to
his starting signal. D, when the line is clear to
his clearing point, signals "Line clear," and pins
indicator at "Line clear." C lowers starting sig-
nals, and train proceeds. C signals to D, "Train
entering section," and D pins indicator at "Train
on line." C signals to B, "Train out of section,"
sets indicator at normal, and puts signals at
danger. And so the process is repeated from sta-
tion to station. Where, however, sections are
short, the signalman is advised one section
ahead of the approach of a train by an additional
signal signifying, "Fast train approaching." The
block indicator reminds the signalman of the
whereabouts of the train. Unless his keyless in-
dicator is at normal, he may not ask, "Is line
clear?" And until he signals back "Line clear"
to the box behind, a train is not allowed to enter
his section. In this way a section of line with a
full complement of signals is always interposed
between any two trains.


   We have dealt with the signalling arrange-
ments pertaining to double lines of railway,
showing that a system of signals is necessary to
prevent a train running into the back of its pre-
decessor. Where trains in both directions pass
over a single line, not only has this element of
danger to be dealt with, but also the possibility
of a train being allowed to enter a section of line
from each end at the same time. This is effec-
ted in several ways, the essence of each being
that the engine-driver shall have in his posses-
sion visible evidence of the permission accor-
ded him by the signalman to enter a section of
single line.


    The simplest form of working is to allocate
to the length of line a "train staff"—a piece of
wood about 14 inches long, bearing the names
of the stations at either end. This is adopted
where only one engine is used for working a
section, such as a short branch line. In a case
like this there is obviously no danger of two
trains meeting, and the train staff is merely the
authority to the driver to start a journey. No
telegraphic communication is necessary with
such a system, and signals are placed only at the
ends of the line.


   On long lengths of single line where more
than one train has to be considered, the line
is divided into blocks in the way already de-
scribed for double lines, and a staff is assigned
to each, the staffs for the various blocks differ-
ing from each other in shape and colour. The
usual signals are provided at each station, and
block telegraph instruments are employed, the
only difference being that one disc, of the key
pattern, is used for trains in both directions. On
such a line it is, of course, possible that two or
more trains may require to follow each other
without any travelling intermediately in the op-
posite direction. This would be impossible if the
staff passed uniformly to and fro in the block
section; but it is arranged by the introduction of
a train staff ticket used in conjunction with the

    No train is permitted to leave a staff station
unless the staff for the section of line to be tra-
versed is at the station; and the driver has the
strictest possible instructions that he must see
the staff. If a second train is required to follow,
the staff is shown to the driver, and a train staff
ticket handed him as his authority to proceed.
If, however, the next train over the section will
enter from the opposite end, the staff is handed
to the driver.

    To render this system as safe as possible,
train staff tickets are of the same colour and
shape as the staff for the section to which they
apply, and are kept in a special box at the sta-
tions, the key being attached to the staff and the
lock so arranged that the key cannot be with-
drawn unless the box has been locked.


   These systems of working are developments
of the last mentioned, by which are secured
greater safety and ease in working the line. On
some sections of single line circumstances often
necessitate the running of several trains in one
direction without a return train. For such cases
the train staff ticket was introduced; but even
on the best regulated lines it is not always pos-
sible to secure that the staff shall be at the sta-
tion where it is required at the right time, and
cases have arisen where, no train being avail-
able at the station where the staff was, it had
to be taken to the other station by a man on
foot, causing much delay to traffic. The electric
train staff and tablet systems overcome this dif-
ficulty. Both work on much the same principle,
and we will therefore describe the former.
  FIG. 101.—An electric train staff holder: S S,
  staffs in the slot of the instrument. Leaning
against the side of the cabin is a staff showing
  the key K at the end for unlocking a siding
points between two stations. The engine driver
 cannot remove the staff until the points have
                been locked again.

    At each end of a block section a train staff
instrument (Fig. 101) is provided. In the base of
these instruments are a number of train staffs,
any one of which would be accepted by an
engine-driver as permission to travel over the
single line. The instruments are electrically con-
nected, the mechanism securing that a staff can
be withdrawn only by the co-operation of the
signalman at each end of the section; that, when
all the staffs are in the instruments, a staff may
be withdrawn at either end; that, when a staff
has been withdrawn, another cannot be obtained
until the one out has been restored to one or
other of the instruments. The safety of such a
system is obvious, as also the assistance to the
working by having a staff available for a train
no matter from which end it is to enter the sec-

   The mechanism of the instruments is quite
simple. A double-poled electro-magnet is ener-
gized by the depression of a key by the signal-
man at the further end of the block into which
the train is to run, and by the turning of a handle
by the signalman who requires to withdraw a
staff. The magnet, being energized, is able to lift
a mechanical lock, and permits the withdrawal
of a staff. In its passage through the instrument
the staff revolves a number of iron discs, which
in turn raise or lower a switch controlling the
electrical connections. This causes the electric
currents actuating the electro-magnet to oppose
each other, the magnetism to cease, and the
lock to fall back, preventing another staff be-
ing withdrawn. It will naturally be asked, "How
is the electrical system restored?" We have said
that there were a number of staffs in each in-
strument—in other words, a given number of
staffs, usually twenty, is assigned to the section.
Assume that there are ten in each instrument,
and that the switch in each is in its lower po-
sition. Now withdraw a staff, and one instru-
ment has an odd, the other an even, number of
staffs, and similarly one switch is raised while
the other remains lowered, therefore the elec-
trical circuit is "out of phase"—that is, the cur-
rents in the magnets of each staff instrument
are opposed to one another, and cannot release
the lock. The staff travels through the section
and is placed in the instrument at the other end,
bringing the number of staffs to eleven—an odd
number, and, what is more important, raising
the switch. Both switches are now raised, con-
sequently the electric currents will support each
other, so that a staff may be withdrawn. Briefly,
then, when there is an odd number of staffs in
one instrument and an even number in the oth-
er, as when a staff is in use, the signalmen are
unable to obtain a staff, and consequently can-
not give authority for a train to enter the section;
but when there is either an odd or an even num-
ber of staffs in each instrument a staff may be
withdrawn at either end on the co-operation of
the signalmen.

    We may add that, where two instruments are
in the same signal-box, one for working to the
box in advance, the other to the rear, it is ar-
ranged that the staffs pertaining to one section
shall not fit the instrument for the other, and
must be of different colours. This prevents the
driver accidentally accepting a staff belonging
to one section as authority to travel over the oth-

    The remarks made on the interlocking of
points and signals on double lines apply also to
the working of single lines, with the addition
that not only are the distant, home, and starting
signals interlocked with each other, but with
the signals and points governing the approach
of a train from the opposite direction—in other
words, the signals for the approach of a train to
a station from one direction cannot be lowered
unless those for the approach to the station of a
train from the opposite direction are at danger,
and the points correctly set.


    In the working of single lines, as of double,
the signalman at the station from which a train
is to proceed has to obtain the consent of the
signalman ahead, the series of questions to be
signalled being very similar to those detailed
for double lines. There is, however, one notable
exception. On long lengths of single line it is
necessary to make arrangements for trains to
pass each other. This is done by providing loop
lines at intervals, a second pair of rails being
laid for the accommodation of one train while
another in the opposite direction passes it. To
secure that more than one train shall not be on
a section of single line between two crossing-
places it is laid down that, when a signalman
at a non-crossing station is asked to allow a
train to approach his station, he must not give
permission until he has notified the signalman
ahead of him, thus securing that he is not asking
permission for trains to approach from both dir-
ections at the same time. Both for single and
double line working a number of rules designed
to deal with cases of emergency are laid down,
the guiding principle being safety; but we have
now dealt with all the conditions of everyday
working, and must pass to the consideration of
FIG. 102.—An electric lever-frame in a signallin

    In a power system of signalling the signal-
man is provided with some auxiliary
means—electricity, compressed air, etc.—of
moving the signals or points under his control.
It is still necessary to have a locking-frame in
the signal-box, with levers interlocked with
each other, and connections between the box
and the various points and signals. But the
frame is much smaller than an ordinary manual
frame, and but little force is needed to move
the little levers which make or break an electric
circuit, or open an air-valve, according to the
power-agent used.


   Fig. 102 represents the locking-frame of a
cabin at Didcot, England, where an all-electric
system has been installed. Wires lead from the
cabin to motors situated at the points and sig-
nals, which they operate through worm gearing.
When a lever is moved it closes a circuit and
sets the current flowing through a motor, the
direction of the flow (and consequently of the
motor's revolution) depending on whether the
lever has been moved forward or backward. In-
dicators arranged under the levers tell the sig-
nalman when the desired movements at the
points and signals have been completed. If any
motion is not carried through, owing to failure
of the current or obstruction of the working
parts, an electric lock prevents him continuing
operations. Thus, suppose he has to open the
main line to an express, he is obliged by the
mechanical locking-frame to set all the points
correctly before the signals can be lowered. He
might move all the necessary levers in due or-
der, yet one set of points might remain open,
and, were the signals lowered, an accident
would result. But this cannot happen, as the
electric locks worked by the points in question
block the signal levers, and until the failure
has been set right, the signals must remain at

    The point motors are connected direct to the
points; but between a signal motor and its arm
there is an "electric slot," consisting of a power-
ful electro-magnet which forms a link in the rod
work. To lower a signal it is necessary that the
motor shall revolve and a control current pass
round the magnet to give it the requisite attract-
ive force. If no control current flows, as would
happen were any pair of points not in their prop-
er position, the motor can have no effect on
the signal arm to lower it, owing to the mag-
net letting go its grip. Furthermore, if the sig-
nal had been already lowered when the control
current failed, it would rise to "danger" auto-
matically, as all signals are weighted to assume
the danger position by gravity. The signal con-
trol currents can be broken by the signalman
moving a switch, so that in case of emergency
all signals may be thrown simultaneously to


    In England and the United States com-
pressed air is also used to do the hard labour
of the signalman for him. Instead of closing a
circuit, the signalman, by moving a lever half-
way over, admits air to a pipe running along the
track to an air reservoir placed beside the points
or signal to which the lever relates. The air
opens a valve and puts the reservoir in connec-
tion with a piston operating the points or signal-
arm, as the case may be. This movement having
been performed, another valve in the reservoir
is opened, and air passes back through a second
pipe to the signal-box, where it opens a third
valve controlling a piston which completes the
movement of the lever, so showing the signal-
man that the operation is complete. With com-
pressed air, as with electricity, a mechanical
locking-frame is of course used.


    To reduce expense, and increase the running
speed on lines where the sections are short, the
train is sometimes made to act as its own sig-
nalman. The rails of each section are all bonded
together so as to be in metallic contact, and each
section is insulated from the two neighbouring
sections. At the further end of a section is in-
stalled an electric battery, connected to the rails,
which lead the current back to a magnet oper-
ating a signal stationed some distance back on
the preceding section. As long as current flows
the signal is held at "All right." When a train
enters the section the wheels and axles short-
circuit the current, so that it does not reach the
signal magnet, and the signal rises to "danger,"
and stays there until the last pair of wheels has
passed out of the section. Should the current fail
or a vehicle break loose and remain on the sec-
tion, the same thing would happen.

    The human element can thus be practically
eliminated from signalling. To make things ab-
solutely safe, a train should have positive con-
trol over a train following, to prevent the driver
overrunning the signals. On electric railways
this has been effected by means of contacts
working in combination with the signals, which
either cut the current off from the section pre-
ceding that on which a train may be, or raise a
trigger to strike an arm on the train following
and apply its brakes.
               Chapter XII.


   Lenses—The image cast by a convex
      lens—Focus—Relative position of ob-
      ject and lens—Correction of lenses for
      colour—Spherical               aberra-
      tion—Distortion of image—The human
      eye—The use of spectacles—The blind

L     IGHT is a third form of that energy of
      which we have already treated two mani-
festations—heat and electricity. The distin-
guishing characteristic of ether light-waves is
their extreme rapidity of vibration, which has
been calculated to range from 700 billion move-
ments per second for violet rays to 400 billion
for red rays.
    If a beam of white light be passed through
a prism it is resolved into the seven visible
colours of the spectrum—violet, indigo, blue,
green, yellow, orange, and red—in this order.
The human eye is most sensitive to the yellow-
red rays, a photographic plate to the green-viol-
et rays.

   All bodies fall into one of two classes—(1)
Luminous—that is, those which are a source of
light, such as the sun, a candle flame, or a red-
hot coal; and (2) non-luminous, which become
visible only by virtue of light which they re-
ceive from other bodies and reflect to our eyes.


   Light naturally travels in a straight line. It is
deflected only when it passes from one trans-
parent medium into another—for example,
from air to water—and the mediums are of dif-
ferent densities. We may regard the surface of
a visible object as made up of countless points,
from each of which a diverging pencil of rays is
sent off through the ether.


    If a beam of light encounters a transparent
glass body with non-parallel sides, the rays are
deflected. The direction they take depends on
the shape of the body, but it may be laid down
as a rule that they are bent toward the thicker
part of the glass. The common burning-glass is
well known to us. We hold it up facing the sun
to concentrate all the heat rays that fall upon it
into one intensely brilliant spot, which speedily
ignites any inflammable substance on which it
may fall (Fig. 103). We may imagine that one
ray passes from the centre of the sun through
the centre of the glass. This is undeflected; but
all the others are bent towards it, as they pass
through the thinner parts of the lens.
FIG. 103.—Showing how a burning-glass concentr
                            fall upon it.

    It should be noted here that sunlight, as we
call it, is accompanied by heat. A burning-glass
is used to concentrate the heat rays, not the light
rays, which, though they are collected too, have
no igniting effect.

    In photography we use a lens to concentrate
light rays only. Such heat rays as may pass
through the lens with them are not wanted, and
as they have no practical effect are not taken any
notice of. To be of real value, a lens must be quite
symmetrical—that is, the curve from the centre
to the circumference must be the same in all dir-

    There are six forms of simple lenses, as giv-
en in Fig. 104. Nos. 1 and 2 have one flat and
one spherical surface. Nos. 3, 4, 5, 6 have two
spherical surfaces. When a lens is thicker at the
middle than at the sides it is called a convex
lens; when thinner, a concave lens. The names
of the various shapes are as follows:—No. 1,
plano-convex; No. 2, plano-concave; No. 3,
double convex; No. 4, double concave; No. 5,
meniscus; No. 6, concavo-convex. The thick-
centre lenses, as we may term them (Nos. 1, 3,
5), concentrate a pencil of rays passing through
them; while the thin-centre lenses (Nos. 2, 4, 6)
scatter the rays (see Fig. 105).
    FIG. 104.—Six forms of lens

FIG. 105.

FIG. 106.
    We said above that light is propagated in
straight lines. To prove this is easy. Get a piece
of cardboard and prick a hole in it. Set this
up some distance away from a candle flame,
and hold behind it a piece of tissue paper. You
will at once perceive a faint, upside-down im-
age of the flame on the tissue. Why is this?
Turn for a moment to Fig. 106, which shows
a "pinhole" camera in section. At the rear is a
ground-glass screen, B, to catch the image. Sup-
pose that A is the lowest point of the flame. A
pencil of rays diverging from it strikes the front
of the camera, which stops them all except the
one which passes through the hole and makes
a tiny luminous spot on B, above the centre of
the screen, though A is below the axis of the
camera. Similarly the tip of the flame (above
the axis) would be represented by a dot on the
screen below its centre. And so on for all the
millions of points of the flame. If we were to
enlarge the hole we should get a brighter image,
but it would have less sharp outlines, because a
number of rays from every point of the candle
would reach the screen and be jumbled up with
the rays of neighbouring pencils. Now, though
a good, sharp photograph may be taken through
a pinhole, the time required is so long that pho-
tography of this sort has little practical value.
What we want is a large hole for the light to
enter the camera by, and yet to secure a distinct
image. If we place a lens in the hole we can ful-
fil our wish. Fig. 107 shows a lens in position,
gathering up a number of rays from a point, A,
and focussing them on a point, B. If the lens has
1,000 times the area of the pinhole, it will pass
1,000 times as many rays, and the image of A
will be impressed on a sensitized photographic
plate 1,000 times more quickly.
                                   FIG. 107.


   Fig. 108 shows diagrammatically how a con-
vex lens forms an image. From A and B, the
extremities of the object, a simple ray is con-
sidered to pass through the centre of the lens.
This is not deflected at all. Two other rays from
the same points strike the lens above and below
the centre respectively. These are bent inwards
and meet the central rays, or come to a focus
with them at A1 and B1. In reality a countless
number of rays would be transmitted from
every point of the object and collected to form
the image.

        FIG. 108.—Showing how an image is cast


    We must now take special notice of that
word heard so often in photographic
talk—"focus." What is meant by the focus or
focal length of a lens? Well, it merely signifies
the distance between the optical centre of the
lens and the plane in which the image is formed.
FIG. 109.
    We must here digress a moment to draw at-
tention to the three simple diagrams of Fig. 109.
The object, O, in each case is assumed to be
to the right of the lens. In the topmost diagram
the object is so far away from the lens that all
rays coming from a single point in it are prac-
tically parallel. These converge to a focus at F.
If the distance between F and the centre of the
lens is six inches, we say that the lens has a six-
inch focal length. The focal length of a lens is
judged by the distance between lens and image
when the object is far away. To avoid confu-
sion, this focal length is known as the princip-
al focus, and is denoted by the symbol f. In the
middle diagram the object is quite near the lens,
which has to deal with rays striking its nearer
surface at an acuter angle than before (reckon-
ing from the centre). As the lens can only de-
flect their path to a fixed degree, they will not,
after passing the lens, come together until they
have reached a point, F1, further from the lens
than F. The nearer we approach O to the lens, the
further away on the other side is the focal point,
until a distance equal to that of F from the lens
is reached, when the rays emerge from the glass
in a parallel pencil. The rays now come to a fo-
cus no longer, and there can be no image. If O be
brought nearer than the focal distance, the rays
would diverge after passing through the lens.


 FIG. 110.—Showing how the position of the imag
                       position of the object.
   From what has been said above we deduce
two main conclusions—(1.) The nearer an ob-
ject is brought to the lens, the further away from
the lens will the image be. (2.) If the object ap-
proaches within the principal focal distance of
the lens, no image will be cast by the lens. To
make this plainer we append a diagram (Fig.
110), which shows five positions of an object
and the relative positions of the image (in dotted
lines). First, we note that the line A B, or A B1,
denotes the principal focal length of the lens,
and A C, or A C1, denotes twice the focal length.
We will take the positions in order:—

   Position I. Object further away than 2f. In-
verted image smaller than object, at distance
somewhat exceeding f.

   Position II. Object at distance = 2f. Inverted
image at distance = 2f, and of size equal to that
of object.
   Position III Object nearer than 2f. Inverted
image further away than 2f; larger than the ob-

   Position IV. Object at distance = f. As rays
are parallel after passing the lens no image is

   Position V. Object at distance less than f. No
real image—that is, one that can be caught on a
focussing screen—is now given by the lens, but
a magnified, erect, virtual image exists on the
same side of the lens as the object.

     We shall refer to virtual images at greater
length presently. It is hoped that any reader who
practises photography will now understand why
it is necessary to rack his camera out beyond the
ordinary focal distance when taking objects at
close quarters. From Fig. 110 he may gather one
practically useful hint—namely, that to copy a
diagram, etc., full size, both it and the plate
must be exactly 2f from the optical centre of the
lens. And it follows from this that the further he
can rack his camera out beyond 2f the greater
will be the possible enlargement of the original.


   We have referred to the separation of the
spectrum colours of white light by a prism.
Now, a lens is one form of prism, and therefore
sorts out the colours. In Fig. 111 we assume that
two parallel red rays and two parallel violet rays
from a distant object pass through a lens. A lens
has most bending effect on violet rays and least
on red, and the other colours of the spectrum
are intermediately influenced. For the sake of
simplicity we have taken the two extremes only.
You observe that the point R, in which the red
rays meet, is much further from the lens than is
V, the meeting-point of the violet rays. A pho-
tographer very seldom has to take a subject in
which there are not objects of several differ-
ent colours, and it is obvious that if he used a
simple lens like that in Fig. 111 and got his red
objects in good focus, the blue and green por-
tions of his picture would necessarily be more
or less out of focus.

                                   FIG. 111.
                                   FIG. 112.

   This defect can fortunately be corrected by
the method shown in Fig. 112. A compound
lens is needed, made up of a crown glass convex
element, B, and a concave element, A, of flint
glass. For the sake of illustration the two parts
are shown separated; in practice they would be
cemented together, forming one optical body,
thicker in the centre than at the edges—a men-
iscus lens in fact, since A is not so concave as
B is convex. Now, it was discovered by a Mr.
Hall many years ago that if white light passed
through two similar prisms, one of flint glass
the other of crown glass, the former had the
greater effect in separating the spectrum col-
ours—that is, violet rays were bent aside more
suddenly compared with the red rays than
happened with the crown-glass prism. Look at
Fig. 112. The red rays passing through the flint
glass are but little deflected, while the violet
rays turn suddenly outwards. This is just what
is wanted, for it counteracts the unequal inward
refraction by B, and both sets of rays come
to a focus in the same plane. Such a lens is
called achromatic, or colourless. If you hold
a common reading-glass some distance away
from large print you will see that the letters
are edged with coloured bands, proving that
the lens is not achromatic. A properly corrected
photographic lens would not show these pretty
edgings. Colour correction is necessary also for
lenses used in telescopes and microscopes.


    A lens which has been corrected for colour
is still imperfect. If rays pass through all parts
of it, those which strike it near the edge will be
refracted more than those near the centre, and
a blurred focus results. This is termed spherical
aberration. You will be able to understand the
reason from Figs. 113 and 114. Two rays, A, are
parallel to the axis and enter the lens near the
centre (Fig. 113). These meet in one plane. Two
other rays, B, strike the lens very obliquely near
the edge, and on that account are both turned
sharply upwards, coming to a focus in a plane
nearer the lens than A. If this happened in a
camera the results would be very bad. Either A
or B would be out of focus. The trouble is min-
imized by placing in front of the lens a plate
with a central circular opening in it (denoted
by the thick, dark line in Fig. 114). The rays
B of Fig. 113 are stopped by this plate, which
is therefore called a stop. But other rays from
the same point pass through the hole. These,
however, strike the lens much more squarely
above the centre, and are not unduly refracted,
so that they are brought to a focus in the same
plane as rays A.
FIG. 113.
                  FIG. 114.

   FIG. 115.—Section of a rectilinear lens.

   The lens we have been considering is a
single meniscus, such as is used in landscape
photography, mounted with the convex side
turned towards the inside of the camera, and
having the stop in front of it. If you possess a
lens of this sort, try the following experiment
with it. Draw a large square on a sheet of white
paper and focus it on the screen. The sides in-
stead of being straight bow outwards: this is
called barrel distortion. Now turn the lens
mount round so that the lens is outwards and
the stop inwards. The sides of the square will
appear to bow towards the centre: this is pin-
cushion distortion. For a long time opticians
were unable to find a remedy. Then Mr. George
S. Cundell suggested that two meniscus lenses
should be used in combination, one on either
side of the stop, as in Fig 115. Each produces
distortion, but it is counteracted by the opposite
distortion of the other, and a square is represen-
ted as a square. Lenses of this kind are called
rectilinear, or straight-line producing.
    We have now reviewed the three chief de-
fects of a lens—chromatic aberration, spherical
aberration, and distortion—and have seen how
they may be remedied. So we will now pass on
to the most perfect of cameras,

               THE HUMAN EYE.

    The eye (Fig. 116) is nearly spherical in
form, and is surrounded outside, except in front,
by a hard, horny coat called the sclerotica (S).
In front is the cornea (A), which bulges out-
wards, and acts as a transparent window to ad-
mit light to the lens of the eye (C). Inside the
sclerotica, and next to it, comes the choroid
coat; and inside that again is the retina, or
curved focussing screen of the eye, which may
best be described as a network of fibres rami-
fying from the optic nerve, which carries sight
sensations to the brain. The hollow of the ball is
full of a jelly-like substance called the vitreous
humour; and the cavity between the lens and the
cornea is full of water.

    We have already seen that, in focussing, the
distance between lens and image depends on
the distance between object and lens. Now, the
retina cannot be pushed nearer to or pulled fur-
ther away from its lens, like the focussing
screen of a camera. How, then, is the eye able to
focus sharply objects at distances varying from
a foot to many miles?
                     FIG. 116.—Section of the huma

    As a preliminary to the answer we must ob-
serve that the more convex a lens is, the shorter
is its focus. We will suppose that we have a
box camera with a lens of six-inch focus fixed
rigidly in the position necessary for obtaining
a sharp image of distant objects. It so happens
that we want to take with it a portrait of a person
only a few feet from the lens. If it were a bel-
lows camera, we should rack out the back or
front. But we cannot do this here. So we place
in front of our lens a second convex lens which
shortens its principal focus; so that in effect the
box has been racked out sufficiently.

   Nature, however, employs a much more per-
fect method than this. The eye lens is plastic,
like a piece of india-rubber. Its edges are at-
tached to ligaments (L L), which pull outwards
and tend to flatten the curve of its surfaces. The
normal focus is for distant objects. When we
read a book the eye adapts itself to the work.
The ligaments relax and the lens decreases in
diameter while thickening at the centre, until its
curvature is such as to focus all rays from the
book sharply on the retina. If we suddenly look
through the window at something outside, the
ligaments pull on the lens envelope and flatten
the curves.

   This wonderful lens is achromatic, and free
from spherical aberration and distortion of im-
age. Nor must we forget that it is aided by an
automatic "stop," the iris, the central hole of
which is named the pupil. We say that a per-
son has black, blue, or gray eyes according to
the colour of the iris. Like the lens, the iris ad-
apts itself to all conditions, contracting when
the light is strong, and opening when the light
is weak, so that as uniform an amount of light
as conditions allow may be admitted to the eye.
Most modern camera lenses are fitted with ad-
justable stops which can be made larger or
smaller by twisting a ring on the mount, and are
named "iris" stops. The image of anything seen
is thrown on the retina upside down, and the
brain reverses the position again, so that we get
a correct impression of things.


                   FIG. 117a.
                   FIG. 118a.

   The reader will now be able to understand
without much trouble the function of a pair of
spectacles. A great many people of all ages suf-
fer from short-sight. For one reason or another
the distance between lens and retina becomes
too great for a person to distinguish distant ob-
jects clearly. The lens, as shown in Fig 117a,
is too convex—has its minimum focus too
short—and the rays meet and cross before they
reach the retina, causing general confusion of
outline. This defect is simply remedied by pla-
cing in front of the eye (Fig. 117b) a concave
lens, to disperse the rays somewhat before they
enter the eye, so that they come to a focus on
the retina. If a person's sight is thus corrected
for distant objects, he can still see near objects
quite plainly, as the lens will accommodate its
convexity for them. The scientific term for
short-sight is myopia. Long-sight, or hypermet-
ropia, signifies that the eyeball is too short or
the lens too flat. Fig. 118a represents the normal
condition of a long-sighted eye. When looking
at a distant object the eye thickens slightly and
brings the focus forward into the retina. But its
thickening power in such an eye is very lim-
ited, and consequently the rays from a near ob-
ject focus behind the retina. It is therefore ne-
cessary for a long-sighted person to use convex
spectacles for reading the newspaper. As seen
in Fig. 118b, the spectacle lens concentrates the
rays before they enter the eye, and so does part
of the eye's work for it.

    Returning for a moment to the diagram of
the eye (Fig. 116), we notice a black patch on
the retina near the optic nerve. This is the "yel-
low spot." Vision is most distinct when the im-
age of the object looked at is formed on this part
of the retina. The "blind spot" is that point at
which the optic nerve enters the retina, being so
called from the fact that it is quite insensitive to
light. The finding of the blind spot is an inter-
esting little experiment. On a card make a large
and a small spot three inches apart, the one an
eighth, the other half an inch in diameter. Bring
the card near the face so that an eye is exactly
opposite to each spot, and close the eye oppos-
ite to the smaller. Now direct the other eye to
this spot and you will find, if the card be moved
backwards and forwards, that at a certain dis-
tance the large spot, though many times larger
than its fellow, has completely vanished, be-
cause the rays from it enter the open eye obli-
quely and fall on the "blind spot."

                Chapter XIII.


    The simple microscope—Use of the simple
       microscope in the telescope—The ter-
       restrial telescope—The Galilean tele-
       scope—The prismatic telescope—The
       reflecting telescope—The parabolic
       mirror—The        compound    micro-
       scope—The magic-lantern—The bio-
       scope—The plane mirror.

I   N Fig. 119 is represented an eye looking at a
    vase, three inches high, situated at A, a foot
away. If we were to place another vase, B, six
inches high, at a distance of two feet; or C, nine
inches high, at three feet; or D, a foot high, at
four feet, the image on the retina would in every
case be of the same size as that cast by A. We
can therefore lay down the rule that the appar-
ent size of an object depends on the angle that
it subtends at the eye.

                                     FIG. 119.

    To see a thing more plainly, we go nearer to
it; and if it be very small, we hold it close to the
eye. There is, however, a limit to the nearness
to which it can be brought with advantage. The
normal eye is unable to adapt its focus to an ob-
ject less than about ten inches away, termed the
"least distance of distinct vision."

                                    FIG. 120.

   A magnifying glass comes in useful when
we want to examine an object very closely. The
glass is a lens of short focus, held at a distance
somewhat less than its principal focal length, F
(see Fig. 120), from the object. The rays from
the head and tip of the pin which enter the eye
are denoted by continuous lines. As they are de-
flected by the glass the eye gets the impression
that a much longer pin is situated a consider-
able distance behind the real object in the plane
in which the refracted rays would meet if pro-
duced backwards (shown by the dotted lines).
The effect of the glass, practically, is to remove
it (the object) to beyond the least distance of
distinct vision, and at the same time to retain
undiminished the angle it subtends at the eye,
or, what amounts to the same thing, the actual
size of the image formed on the retina.[22] It fol-
lows, therefore, that if a lens be of such short fo-
cus that it allows us to see an object clearly at a
distance of two inches—that is, one-fifth of the
least distance of distinct vision—we shall get an
image on the retina five times larger in diameter
than would be possible without the lens.
   The two simple diagrams (Figs. 121 and
122) show why the image to be magnified
should be nearer to the lens than the principal
focus, F. We have already seen (Fig. 109) that
rays coming from a point in the principal focal
plane emerge as a parallel pencil. These the eye
can bring to a focus, because it normally has a
curvature for focussing parallel rays. But, ow-
ing to the power of "accommodation," it can
also focus diverging rays (Fig. 121), the eye
lens thickening the necessary amount, and we
therefore put our magnifying glass a bit nearer
than F to get full advantage of proximity. If we
had the object outside the principal focus, as in
Fig. 122, the rays from it would converge, and
these could not be gathered to a sharp point by
the eye lens, as it cannot flatten more than is re-
quired for focussing parallel rays.
FIG. 121.
                          FIG. 122.

                                     FIG. 123.

    Let us now turn to Fig. 123. At A is a distant
object, say, a hundred yards away. B is a double
convex lens, which has a focal length of twenty
inches. We may suppose that it is a lens in a
camera. An inverted image of the object is cast
by the lens at C. If the eye were placed at C,
it would distinguish nothing. But if withdrawn
to D, the least distance of distinct vision,[23] be-
hind C, the image is seen clearly. That the image
really is at C is proved by letting down the fo-
cussing screen, which at once catches it. Now,
as the focus of the lens is twice d, the image will
be twice as large as the object would appear if
viewed directly without the lens. We may put
this into a very simple formula:—

                       focal length of lens
     Magnification =

                                   FIG. 124.

   In Fig. 124 we have interposed between the
eye and the object a small magnifying glass of
2½-inch focus, so that the eye can now clearly
see the image when one-quarter d away from it.
B  already magnifies the image twice; the eye-
piece again magnifies it four times; so that the
total magnification is 2 × 4 = 8 times. This res-
ult is arrived at quickly by dividing the focus
of B (which corresponds to the object-glass of a
telescope) by the focus of the eye-piece, thus:—


   The ordinary astronomical telescope has a
very long focus object-glass at one end of the
tube, and a very short focus eye-piece at the
other. To see an object clearly one merely has
to push in or pull out the eye-piece until its fo-
cus exactly corresponds with that of the object-


   An astronomical telescope inverts images.
This inversion is inconvenient for other pur-
poses. So the terrestrial telescope (such as is
commonly used by sailors) has an eye-piece
compounded of four convex lenses which erect
as well as magnify the image. Fig. 125 shows
the simplest form of compound erecting eye-

                                  FIG. 125.

                                  FIG. 126.

   A third form of telescope is that invented
by the great Italian astronomer, Galileo,[24] in
1609. Its principle is shown in Fig. 126. The
rays transmitted by the object-glass are caught,
before coming to a focus, on a concave lens
which separates them so that they appear to
meet in the paths of convergence denoted by the
dotted lines. The image is erect. Opera-glasses
are constructed on the Galilean principle.


   In order to be able to use a long-focus
object-glass without a long focussing-tube, a
system of glass reflecting prisms is sometimes
employed, as in Fig. 127. A ray passing through
the object-glass is reflected from one posterior
surface of prism A on to the other posterior
surface, and by it out through the front on to
a second prism arranged at right angles to it,
which passes the ray on to the compound eye-
piece. The distance between object-glass and
eye-piece is thus practically trebled. The best-
known prismatic telescopes are the Zeiss field-
                    FIG. 127.


    We must not omit reference to the reflecting
telescope, so largely used by astronomers. The
front end of the telescope is open, there being
no object-glass. Rays from the object fall on a
parabolic mirror situated in the rear end of the
tube. This reflects them forwards to a focus. In
the Newtonian reflector a plane mirror or prism
is situated in the axis of the tube, at the focus,
to reflect the rays through an eye-piece project-
ing through the side of the tube. Herschel's form
of reflector has the mirror set at an angle to the
axis, so that the rays are reflected direct into an
eye-piece pointing through the side of the tube
towards the mirror.

    This mirror (Fig. 128) is of such a shape
that all rays parallel to the axis are reflected
to a common point. In the marine searchlight a
powerful arc lamp is arranged with the arc at
the focus of a parabolic reflector, which sends
all reflected light forward in a pencil of parallel
rays. The most powerful searchlight in exist-
ence gives a light equal to that of 350 million
               FIG. 128.—A parabolic reflector.


    We have already observed (Fig. 110) that
the nearer an object approaches a lens the fur-
ther off behind it is the real image formed, until
the object has reached the focal distance, when
no image at all is cast, as it is an infinite dis-
tance behind the lens. We will assume that a
certain lens has a focus of six inches. We place
a lighted candle four feet in front of it, and
find that a sharp diminished image is cast on a
ground-glass screen held seven inches behind it.
If we now exchange the positions of the candle
and the screen, we shall get an enlarged image
of the candle. This is a simple demonstration of
the law of conjugate foci—namely, that the dis-
tance between the lens and an object on one side
and that between the lens and the correspond-
ing image on the other bear a definite relation
to each other; and an object placed at either fo-
cus will cast an image at the other. Whether the
image is larger or smaller than the object de-
pends on which focus it occupies. In the case of
the object-glass of a telescope the image was at
what we may call the short focus.

        FIG. 129.—Diagram to explain the compo

   Now, a compound microscope is practically
a telescope with the object at the long focus,
very close to a short-focus lens. A greatly en-
larged image is thrown (see Fig. 129) at the con-
jugate focus, and this is caught and still further
magnified by the eye-piece. We may add that
the object-glass, or objective, of a microscope is
usually compounded of several lenses, as is also
the eye-piece.

            THE MAGIC-LANTERN.

    The most essential features of a magic-lan-
tern are:—(1) The source of light; (2) the con-
denser for concentrating the light rays on to the
slide; (3) the lens for projecting a magnified im-
age on to a screen.

    Fig. 130 shows these diagrammatically. The
illuminant is most commonly an oil-lamp, or an
acetylene gas jet, or a cylinder of lime heated to
intense luminosity by an oxy-hydrogen flame.
The natural combustion of hydrogen is attended
by a great heat, and when the supply of oxygen
is artificially increased the temperature of the
flame rises enormously. The nozzle of an oxy-
hydrogen jet has an interior pipe connected with
the cylinder holding one gas, and an exterior,
and somewhat larger, pipe leading from that
containing the other, the two being arranged
concentrically at the nozzle. By means of valves
the proportions of the gases can be regulated to
give the best results.

           FIG. 130.—Sketch of the elements of a
   The condenser is set somewhat further from
the illuminant than the principal focal length of
the lenses, so that the rays falling on them are
bent inwards, or to the slide.

    The objective, or object lens, stands in front
of the slide. Its position is adjustable by means
of a rack and a draw-tube. The nearer it is
brought to the slide the further away is the con-
jugate focus (see p. 239), and consequently the
image. The exhibitor first sets up his screen
and lantern, and then finds the conjugate foci of
slide and image by racking the lens in or out.

    If a very short focus objective be used, sub-
jects of microscopic proportions can be projec-
ted on the screen enormously magnified. Dur-
ing the siege of Paris in 1870–71 the Parisians
established a balloon and pigeon post to carry
letters which had been copied in a minute size
by photography. These copies could be en-
closed in a quill and attached to a pigeon's wing.
On receipt, the copies were placed in a special
lantern and thrown as large writing on the
screen. Micro-photography has since then made
great strides, and is now widely used for sci-
entific purposes, one of the most important be-
ing the study of the crystalline formations of
metals under different conditions.

                THE BIOSCOPE.

    "Living pictures" are the most recent im-
provement in magic-lantern entertainments.
The negatives from which the lantern films are
printed are made by passing a ribbon of sensit-
ized celluloid through a special form of camera,
which feeds the ribbon past the lens in a series
of jerks, an exposure being made automatic-
ally by a revolving shutter during each rest. The
positive film is placed in a lantern, and the in-
termittent movement is repeated; but now the
source of illumination is behind the film, and
light passes outwards through the shutter to the
screen. In the Urban bioscope the film travels at
the rate of fifteen miles an hour, upwards of one
hundred exposures being made every second.

    The impression of continuous movement
arises from the fact that the eye cannot get rid
of a visual impression in less than one-tenth of
a second. So that if a series of impressions fol-
low one another more rapidly than the eye can
rid itself of them the impressions will overlap,
and give one of motion, if the position of some
of the objects, or parts of the objects, varies
slightly in each succeeding picture.[25]

             THE PLANE MIRROR.
                                     FIG. 131.

    This chapter may conclude with a glance at
the common looking-glass. Why do we see a re-
flection in it? The answer is given graphically
by Fig. 131. Two rays, A b, A c, from a point A
strike the mirror M at the points b and c. Lines
b N, c O, drawn from these points perpendicu-
lar to the mirror are called their normals. The
angles A b N, A c O are the angles of incidence
of rays A b, A c. The paths which the rays take
after reflection must make angles with b N and
c O respectively equal to A b N, A c O. These
are the angles of reflection. If the eye is so situ-
ated that the rays enter it as in our illustration,
an image of the point A is seen at the point A1,
in which the lines D b, E c meet when produced
                    FIG. 132.

    When the vertical mirror is replaced by a
horizontal reflecting surface, such as a pond
(Fig. 132), the same thing happens. The point at
which the ray from the reflection of the spire's
tip to the eye appears to pass through the sur-
face of the water must be so situated that if a
line were drawn perpendicular to it from the
surface the angles made by lines drawn from the
real spire tip and from the observer's eye to the
base of the perpendicular would be equal.
   [22] Glazebrook, "Light," p. 157.

   [23] Glazebrook, "Light," p. 157.

   [24] Galileo was severely censured and im-
     prisoned for daring to maintain that the
     earth moved round the sun, and revolved
     on its axis.

   [25] For a full account of Animated Pictures
     the reader might advantageously consult
     "The Romance of Modern Invention," pp.
     166 foll.
               Chapter XIV.


   Nature of sound—The ear—Musical instru-
      ments—The vibration of strings—The
      sounding-board and the frame of a pi-
      ano—The strings—The striking mech-
      anism—The quality of a note.

S    OUND differs from light, heat, and electri-
     city in that it can be propagated through
matter only. Sound-waves are matter-waves,
not ether-waves. This can be proved by placing
an electric bell under the bell-glass of an air-
pump and exhausting all the air. Ether still re-
mains inside the glass, but if the bell be set in
motion no sound is audible. Admit air, and the
clang of the gong is heard quite plainly.

   Sound resembles light and heat, however,
thus far, that it can be concentrated by means of
suitable lenses and curved surfaces. An echo is
a proof of its reflection from a surface.

   Before dealing with the various appliances
used for producing sound-waves of a definite
character, let us examine that wonderful natural

                  THE EAR,

through which we receive those sensations
which we call sound.
          FIG. 133.—Diagrammatic sketch of the

   Fig. 133 is a purely diagrammatic section of
the ear, showing the various parts distorted and
out of proportion. Beginning at the left, we have
the outer ear, the lobe, to gather in the sound-
waves on to the membrane of the tympanum, or
drum, to which is attached the first of a series
of ossicles, or small bones. The last of these
presses against an opening in the inner ear, a
cavity surrounded by the bones of the head. In-
side the inner ear is a watery fluid, P, called
perilymph ("surrounding water"), immersed in
which is a membranic envelope, M, containing
endolymph ("inside water"), also full of fluid.
Into this fluid project E E E, the terminations of
the auditory nerve, leading to the brain.

    When sound-waves strike the tympanum,
they cause it to move inwards and outwards
in a series of rapid movements. The ossicles
operated by the tympanum press on the little
opening O, covered by a membrane, and every
time they push it in they slightly squeeze the
perilymph, which in turn compresses the en-
dolymph, which affects the nerve-ends, and
telegraphs a sensation of sound to the brain.

   In Fig. 134 we have a more developed
sketch, giving in fuller detail, though still not
in their actual proportions, the components of
the ear. The ossicles M, I, and S are respectively
(stirrup). Each is attached by ligaments to the
walls of the middle ear. The tympanum moves
the malleus, the malleus the incus, and the incus
the stapes, the last pressing into the opening O
of Fig. 133, which is scientifically known as the
fenestra ovalis, or oval window. As liquids are
practically incompressible, nature has made al-
lowance for the squeezing in of the oval win-
dow membrane, by providing a second opening,
the round window, also covered with a mem-
brane. When the stapes pushes the oval mem-
brane in, the round membrane bulges out, its
elasticity sufficing to put a certain pressure on
the perilymph (indicated by the dotted portion
of the inner ear).
 FIG. 134.—Diagrammatic section of the ear, sho

   The inner ear consists of two main parts,
the cochlea—so called from its resemblance in
shape to a snail's shell—and the semicircular
canals. Each portion has its perilymph and en-
dolymph, and contains a number of the nerve-
ends, which are, however, most numerous in the
cochlea. We do not know for certain what the
functions of the canals and the cochlea are; but
it is probable that the former enables us to dis-
tinguish between the intensity or loudness of
sounds and the direction from which they come,
while the latter enables us to determine the pitch
of a note. In the cochlea are about 2,800 tiny
nerve-ends, called the rods of Corti. The normal
ear has such a range as to give about 33 rods to
the semitone. The great scientist Helmholtz has
advanced the theory that these little rods are like
tiny tuning-forks, each responding to a note of a
certain pitch; so that when a string of a piano is
sounded and the air vibrations are transmitted to
the inner ear, they affect only one of these rods
and the part of the brain which it serves, and
we have the impression of one particular note. It
has been proved by experiment that a very sens-
itive ear can distinguish between sounds vary-
ing in pitch by only 1⁄64th of a semitone, or but
half the range of any one Corti fibre. This diffi-
culty Helmholtz gets over by suggesting that in
such an ear two adjacent fibres are affected, but
one more than the other.

   A person who has a "good ear" for music is
presumably one whose Corti rods are very per-
fect. Unlucky people like the gentleman who
could only recognize one tune, and that because
people took off their hats when it commenced,
are physically deficient. Their Corti rods cannot
be properly developed.

    What applies to one single note applies also
to the elements of a musical chord. A dozen
notes may sound simultaneously, but the ear is
able to assimilate each and blend it with its fel-
lows; yet it requires a very sensitive and well-
trained ear to pick out any one part of a har-
mony and concentrate the brain's attention on
that part.

   The ear has a much larger range than the eye.
"While the former ranges over eleven octaves,
but little more than a single octave is possible to
the latter. The quickest vibrations which strike
the eye, as light, have only about twice the
rapidity of the slowest; whereas the quickest
vibrations which strike the ear, as a musical
sound, have more than two thousand times the
rapidity of the slowest."[26] To come to actual
figures, the ordinary ear is sensitive to vibra-
tions ranging from 16 to 38,000 per second. The
bottom and top notes of a piano make respect-
ively about 40 and 4,000 vibrations a second.
Of course, some ears, like some eyes, cannot
comprehend the whole scale. The squeak of
bats and the chirrup of crickets are inaudible to
some people; and dogs are able to hear sounds
far too shrill to affect the human auditory appar-

   Not the least interesting part of this wonder-
ful organ is the tympanic membrane, which is
provided with muscles for altering its tension
automatically. If we are "straining our ears" to
catch a shrill sound, we tighten the membrane;
while if we are "getting ready" for a deep, loud
report like that of a gun, we allow the drum to

   The Eustachian tube (Fig. 134) communic-
ates with the mouth. Its function is probably to
keep the air-pressure equal on both sides of the
drum. When one catches cold the tube is apt
to become blocked by mucus, causing unequal
pressure and consequent partial deafness.

   Before leaving this subject, it will be well to
remind our more youthful readers that the ear
is delicately as well as wonderfully made, and
must be treated with respect. Sudden shouting
into the ear, or a playful blow, may have most
serious effects, by bursting the tympanum or in-
juring the arrangement of the tiny bones putting
it in communication with the inner ear.


   These are contrivances for producing sonor-
ous shocks following each other rapidly at reg-
ular intervals. Musical sounds are distinguished
from mere noises by their regularity. If we
shake a number of nails in a tin box, we get only
a series of superimposed and chaotic sensations.
On the other hand, if we strike a tuning-fork,
the air is agitated a certain number of times a
second, with a pleasant result which we call a

   We will begin our excursion into the region
of musical instruments with an examination of
that very familiar piece of furniture,
              THE PIANOFORTE,

which means literally the "soft-strong." By
many children the piano is regarded as a great
nuisance, the swallower-up of time which could
be much more agreeably occupied, and is ac-
cordingly shown much less respect than is giv-
en to a phonograph or a musical-box. Yet the
modern piano is a very clever piece of work,
admirably adapted for the production of sweet
melody—if properly handled. The two forms of
piano now generally used are the upright, with
vertical sound-board and wires, and the grand,
with horizontal sound-board.[27]


   As the pianoforte is a stringed instrument,
some attention should be given to the subject
of the vibration of strings. A string in a state
of tension emits a note when plucked and al-
lowed to vibrate freely. The pitch of the note de-
pends on several conditions:—(1) The diamet-
er of the string; (2) the tension of the string; (3)
the length of the string; (4) the substance of the
string. Taking them in order:—(1.) The num-
ber of vibrations per second is inversely pro-
portional to the diameter of the string: thus, a
string one-quarter of an inch in diameter would
vibrate only half as often in a given time as
a string one-eighth of an inch in diameter. (2.)
The length remaining the same, the number of
vibrations is directly proportional to the square
root of the tension: thus, a string strained by a
16-lb. weight would vibrate four times as fast as
it would if strained by a 1-lb. weight. (3.) The
number of vibrations is inversely proportional
to the length of the string: thus, a one-foot string
would vibrate twice as fast as a two-foot string,
strained to the same tension, and of equal dia-
meter and weight. (4.) Other things being equal,
the rate of vibration is inversely proportional to
the square root of the density of the substance:
so that a steel wire would vibrate more rapidly
than a platinum wire of equal diameter, length,
and tension. These facts are important to re-
member as the underlying principles of stringed

    Now, if you hang a wire from a cord, and
hang a heavy weight from the wire, the wire
will be in a state of high tension, and yield a
distinct note if struck. But the volume of sound
will be very small, much too small for a prac-
tical instrument. The surface of the string itself
is so limited that it sets up but feeble motions in
the surrounding air. Now hang the wire from a
large board and strike it again. The volume of
sound has greatly increased, because the string
has transmitted its vibrations to the large sur-
face of the board.

    To get the full sound-value of the vibrations
of a string, we evidently ought to so mount the
string that it may influence a large sounding
surface. In a violin this is effected by straining
the strings over a "bridge" resting on a hollow
box made of perfectly elastic wood. Draw the
bow across a string. The loud sound heard pro-
ceeds not from the string only, but also from the
whole surface of the box.


   A piano has its strings strained across a
frame of wood or steel, from a row of hooks in
the top of the frame to a row of tapering square-
ended pins in the bottom, the wires passing over
sharp edges near both ends. The tuner is able,
on turning a pin, to tension its strings till it gives
any desired note. Readers may be interested to
learn that the average tension of a string is 275
lbs., so that the total strain on the frame of a
grand piano is anything between 20 and 30 tons.
    To the back of the frame is attached the
sounding-board, made of spruce fir (the famili-
ar Christmas tree). This is obtained from Cent-
ral and Eastern Europe, where it is carefully se-
lected and prepared, as it is essential that the
timber should be sawn in such a way that the
grain of the wood runs in the proper direction.

                 THE STRINGS.

    These are made of extremely strong steel
wire of the best quality. If you examine the
wires of your piano, you will see that they vary
in thickness, the thinnest being at the treble end
of the frame. It is found impracticable to use
wires of the same gauge and the same tension
throughout. The makers therefore use highly-
tensioned thick wires for the bass, and finer,
shorter wires for the treble, taking advantage
of the three factors—weight, tension, and
length—which we have noticed above. The
wires for the deepest notes are wrapped round
with fine copper wire to add to their weight
without increasing their diameter at the tuning-
pins. There are about 600 yards (roughly one-
third of a mile) of wire in a grand piano.


    We now pass to the apparatus for putting
the strings in a state of vibration. The grand
piano mechanism shown in Fig. 135 may be
taken as typical of the latest improvements. The
essentials of an effective mechanism are:—(1)
That the blow delivered shall be sharp and cer-
tain; (2) that the string shall be immediately
"damped," or have its vibration checked if re-
quired, so as not to interfere with the succeed-
ing notes of other strings; (3) that the hammer
shall be able to repeat the blows in quick suc-
cession. The hammer has a head of mahogany
covered with felt, the thickness of which tapers
gradually and regularly from an inch and a
quarter at the bass end to three-sixteenths of
an inch at the extreme treble notes. The entire
eighty-five hammers for the piano are covered
all together in one piece, and then they are cut
apart from each other. The consistency of the
covering is very important. If too hard, it yields
a harsh note, and must be reduced to the right
degree by pricking with a needle. In the dia-
gram the felt is indicated by the dotted part.
          FIG. 135.—The striking mechanism of a

   The action carriage which operates the ham-
mer is somewhat complicated. When the key
is depressed, the left end rises, and pushes up
the whole carriage, which is pivoted at one end.
The hammer shank is raised by the jack B press-
ing upon a knob, N, called the notch, attached
to the under side of the shank. When the jack
has risen to a certain point, its arm, B1, catches
against the button C and jerks it from under the
notch at the very moment when the hammer
strikes, so that it may not be blocked against the
string. As it rebounds, the hammer is caught on
the repetition lever R, which lifts it to allow of
perfect repetition.

    The check catches the tail of the hammer
head during its descent when the key is raised,
and prevents it coming back violently on the
carriage and rest. The tail is curved so as to
wedge against the check without jamming in
any way. The moment the carriage begins to
rise, the rear end of the key lifts a lever con-
nected with the damper by a vertical wire, and
raises the damper of the string. If the key is
held down, the vibrations continue for a long
time after the blow; but if released at once,
the damper stifles them as the hammer regains
its seat. A bar, L, passing along under all the
damper lifters, is raised by depressing the loud
pedal. The soft pedal slides the whole keyboard
along such a distance that the hammers strike
two only out of the three strings allotted to
all except the bass notes, which have only one
string apiece, or two, according to their depth or
length. In some pianos the soft pedal presses a
special damper against the strings; and a third
kind of device moves the hammers nearer the
strings so that they deliver a lighter blow. These
two methods of damping are confined to up-
right pianos.

   A high-class piano is the result of very care-
ful workmanship. The mechanism of each note
must be accurately regulated by its tiny screws
to a minute fraction of an inch. It must be en-
sured that every hammer strikes its blow at ex-
actly the right place on the string, since on this
depends the musical value of the note. The ad-
justment of the dampers requires equal care,
and the whole work calls for a sensitive ear
combined with skilled mechanical knowledge,
so that the instrument may have a light touch,
strength, and certainty of action throughout the
whole keyboard.


    If two strings, alike in all respects and
equally tensioned, are plucked, both will give
the same note, but both will not necessarily
have the same quality of tone. The quality, or
timbre, as musicians call it, is influenced by the
presence of overtones, or harmonics, in com-
bination with the fundamental, or deepest, tone
of the string. The fact is, that while a vibrating
string vibrates as a whole, it also vibrates in
parts. There are, as it were, small waves super-
imposed on the big fundamental waves. Points
of least motion, called nodes, form on the
string, dividing it into two, three, four, five, etc.,
parts, which may be further divided by subsi-
diary nodes. The string, considered as halved
by one node, gives the first overtone, or octave
of the fundamental. It may also vibrate as three
parts, and give the second overtone, or twelfth
of the fundamental;[28] and as four parts, and
give the third overtone, the double octave.

    Now, if a string be struck at a point corres-
ponding to a node, the overtones which require
that point for a node will be killed, on account
of the excessive motion imparted to the string
at that spot. Thus to hit it at the middle kills the
octave, the double octave, etc.; while to hit it
at a point one-third of the length from one end
stifles the twelfth and all its sub-multiples.

   A fundamental note robbed of all its har-
monics is hard to obtain, which is not a matter
for regret, as it is a most uninteresting sound.
To get a rich tone we must keep as many useful
harmonics as possible, and therefore a piano
hammer is so placed as to strike the string at
a point which does not interfere with the best
harmonics, but kills those which are objection-
able. Pianoforte makers have discovered by ex-
periment that the most pleasing tone is excited
when the point against which the hammer
strikes is one-seventh to one-ninth of the length
of the wire from one end.

   The nature of the material which does the ac-
tual striking is also of importance. The harder
the substance, and the sharper the blow, the
more prominent do the harmonics become; so
that the worker has to regulate carefully both
the duration of the blow and the hardness of the
hammer covering.
   [26] Tyndall, "On Sound," p. 75.

   [27] A Broadwood "grand" is made up of
     10,700 separate pieces, and in its man-
     ufacture forty separate trades are con-
[28] Twelve notes higher up the scale.

              Chapter XV.


Longitudinal  vibration—Columns     of
   air—Resonance     of   columns   of
   air—Length and tone—The open
   pipe—The overtones of an open
   pipe—Where overtones are used—The
   arrangement of the pipes and ped-
   als—Separate sound-boards—Varieties
   of stops—Tuning pipes and reeds—The
   bellows—Electric and pneumatic ac-
   tions—The largest organ in the
   world—Human reeds.

I   N stringed instruments we are concerned
    only with the transverse vibrations of a
string—that is, its movements in a direction at
right angles to the axis of the string. A string
can also vibrate longitudinally—that is, in the
direction of its axis—as may be proved by
drawing a piece of resined leather along a violin
string. In this case the harmonics "step up" at
the same rate as when the movements were

   Let us substitute for a wire a stout bar of
metal fixed at one end only. The longitudinal vi-
brations of this rod contain overtones of a dif-
ferent ratio. The first harmonic is not an octave,
but a twelfth. While a tensioned string is di-
vided by nodes into two, three, four, five, six,
etc., parts, a rod fixed at one end only is capable
of producing only those harmonics which cor-
respond to division into three, five, seven, nine,
etc., parts. Therefore a free-end rod and a wire
of the same fundamental note would not have
the same timbre, or quality, owing to the differ-
ence in the harmonics.

              COLUMNS OF AIR.

   In wind instruments we employ, instead of
rods or wires, columns of air as the vibrating
medium. The note of the column depends on its
length. In the "penny whistle," flute, clarionet,
and piccolo the length of the column is altered
by closing or opening apertures in the substance
encircling the column.


   Why does a tube closed at one end, such
as the shank of a key, emit a note when we
blow across the open end? The act of blowing
drives a thin sheet of air against the edge of the
tube and causes it to vibrate. The vibrations are
confused, some "pulses" occurring more fre-
quently than others. If we blew against the edge
of a knife or a piece of wood, we should hear
nothing but a hiss. But when, as in the case
which we are considering, there is a partly-en-
closed column of air close to the pulses, this se-
lects those pulses which correspond to its natur-
al period of vibration, and augments them to a
sustained and very audible musical sound.
  136, In
e note
he as
  gs the
 e of
 uns pipe,
s Just
 he efaction
back travels
 e the
 t at
mn process
 ly regular
 h were
ooof fork
se it,
howing how the harmonics of a "stopped" pipe
          are formed.

  when we blow across the end, we present, as it
  were, a number of vibrating tuning-forks to the
  pipe, which picks out those air-pulses with
  which it sympathizes.

               LENGTH AND TONE.

     The rate of vibration is found to be inversely
  proportional to the length of the pipe. Thus, the
  vibrations of a two-foot pipe are twice as rapid
  as those of a four-foot pipe, and the note emit-
  ted by the former is an octave higher than that
  of the latter. A one-foot pipe gives a note an
  octave higher still. We are here speaking of the
  fundamental tones of the pipes. With them, as in
  the case of strings, are associated the overtones,
  or harmonics, which can be brought into prom-
  inence by increasing the pressure of the blast
at the top of the pipe. Blow very hard on your
key, and the note suddenly changes to one much
shriller. It is the twelfth of the fundamental, of
which it has completely got the upper hand.

    We must now put on our thinking-caps and
try to understand how this comes about. First,
let us note that the vibration of a body (in this
case a column of air) means a motion from a
point of rest to a point of rest, or from node to
node. In the air-column in Fig. 136, 1, there is
only one point of rest for an impulse—namely,
at the bottom of the pipe. So that to pass from
node to node the impulse must pass up the pipe
and down again. The distance from node to
node in a vibrating body is called a ventral
segment. Remember this term. Therefore the
pipe represents a semi-ventral segment when
the fundamental note is sounding.

   When the first overtone is sounded the
column divides itself into two vibrating parts.
Where will the node between them be? We
might naturally say, "Half-way up." But this
cannot be so; for if the node were so situated, an
impulse going down the pipe would only have
to travel to the bottom to find another node,
while an impulse going up would have to travel
to the top and back again—that is, go twice as
far. So the node forms itself one-third of the dis-
tance down the pipe. From B to A (Fig. 136, 2)
and back is now equal to from B to C. When the
second overtone is blown (Fig. 136, 3) a third
node forms. The pipe is now divided into five
semi-ventral segments. And with each succeed-
ing overtone another node and ventral segment
are added.

   The law of vibration of a column of air is
that the number of vibrations is directly propor-
tional to the number of semi-ventral segments
into which the column of air inside the pipe is
divided.[29] If the fundamental tone gives 100
vibrations per second, the first overtone in a
closed pipe must give 300, and the second 500

                THE OPEN PIPE.

    A pipe open at both ends is capable of emit-
ting a note. But we shall find, if we experiment,
that the note of a stopped pipe is an octave
lower than that of an open pipe of equal length.
This is explained by Fig. 137, 1. The air-column
in the pipe (of the same length as that in Fig.
136) divides itself, when an end is blown
across, into two equal portions at the node B, the
natural point to obtain equilibrium. A pulse will
pass from A or A1 to B and back again in half the
time required to pass from A to B and back in
Fig. 136, 1; therefore the note is an octave high-
 FIG. 137.—Showing how harmonics of an open
formed, B, B1, and C are "nodes." The arrows ind
  distance travelled by a sound impulse from a n


   The first overtone results when nodes form
as in Fig. 137, 2, at points one-quarter of the
length of the pipe from the ends, giving one
complete ventral segment and two semi-ventral
segments. The vibrations now are twice as rapid
as before. The second overtone requires three
nodes, as in Fig. 137, 3. The rate has now
trebled. So that, while the overtones of a closed
pipe rise in the ratio 1, 3, 5, 7, etc., those of an
open pipe rise in the proportion 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.

    In the flute, piccolo, and clarionet, as well
as in the horn class of instrument, the overtones
are as important as the fundamental notes. By
artificially altering the length of the column of
air, the fundamental notes are also altered,
while the harmonics of each fundamental are
produced at will by varying the blowing pres-
sure; so that a continuous chromatic, or
semitonal, scale is possible throughout the com-
pass of the instrument.

                 THE ORGAN.

   From the theory of acoustics[30] we pass to
the practical application, and concentrate our at-
tention upon the grandest of all wind instru-
ments, the pipe organ. This mechanism has a
separate pipe for every note, properly propor-
tioned. A section of an ordinary wooden pipe is
given in Fig. 138. Wind rushes up through the
foot of the pipe into a little chamber, closed by
a block of wood or a plate except for a narrow
slit, which directs it against the sharp lip A, and
causes a fluttering, the proper pulse of which is
converted by the air-column above into a mu-
sical sound.
       Insmallest more
      even organsthan     one
    actuated the
  pipe by on  key
             onekeyboard,  for
   only of
       pipes shapesdif-
  notdo different give
  ferent tone, found
  to ranks with bottomof
  have pipestheir note
           pitches. anpipe
                   length is
  different The open   of
             from the top
  measured the of to of the
    pipe;of pipe, the
  the stopped from to     the
    and again. we of
  topback When 16     speak a
  8 rank, meanof
 foot or we one the  which
         note isproduced
  lowest in that            by
 8 their equivalents
  or stopped
   o oot).
    f big we 3 16,
    4 a
  (8r In organ find2, 8,    4,
   foot some
    2stops, these
  and and of repeated        a
         timesof shape
  numberindifferent and

      THE PIPES.
   We will now study
briefly the mechan-    FIG. 138.—Section of
ism of a very simple   an ordinary wooden
single-keyboard or-        "flue" pipe.
gan, with five ranks
of pipes, or stops.
   FIG. 139.—The table of a sound-board.

   It is necessary to arrange matters so that the
pressing down of one key may make all five of
the pipes belonging to it speak, or only four,
three, two, or one, as we may desire. The pipes
are mounted in rows on a sound-board, which
is built up in several layers. At the top is the
upper board; below it come the sliders, one for
each stop; and underneath that the table. In Fig.
139 we see part of the table from below. Across
the under side are fastened parallel bars with
spaces (shown black) left between them. Two
other bars are fastened across the ends, so that
each groove is enclosed by wood at the top and
on all sides. The under side of the table has
sheets of leather glued or otherwise attached to
it in such a manner that no air can leak from
one groove to the next. Upper board, sliders,
and table are pierced with rows of holes, to
permit the passage of wind from the grooves
to the pipes. The grooves under the big pipes
are wider than those under the small pipes, as
they have to pass more air. The bars between
the grooves also vary in width according to the
weight of the pipes which they have to carry.
The sliders can be moved in and out a short dis-
tance in the direction of the axis of the rows of
pipes. There is one slider under each row. When
a slider is in, the holes in it do not correspond
with those in the table and upper board, so that
no wind can get from the grooves to the rank
over that particular slider. Fig. 140 shows the
manner in which the sliders are operated by the
little knobs (also called stops) projecting from
the casing of the organ within convenient reach
of the performer's hands. One stop is in, the oth-
er drawn out.
                     FIG. 140.

   In Fig. 141 we see the table, etc., in cross
section, with a slider out, putting the pipes of its
rank in communication with the grooves. The
same diagram shows us in section the little tri-
angular pallets which admit air from the wind-
chest to the grooves; and Fig. 142 gives us an
end section of table, sliders, and wind-chest, to-
gether with the rods, etc., connecting the key
to its pallet. When the key is depressed, the
sticker (a slight wooden rod) is pushed up. This
rocks a backfall, or pivoted lever, to which is at-
tached the pulldown, a wire penetrating the bot-
tom of the wind-chest to the pallet. As soon as
the pallet opens, wind rushes into the groove
above through the aperture in the leather bot-
tom, and thence to any one of the pipes of which
the slider has been drawn out. (The sliders in
Fig. 142 are solid black.) It is evident that if
the sound-board is sufficiently deep from back
to front, any number of rows of pipes may be
placed on it.
                   FIG. 141.


   The organ pedals are connected to the pallets
by an action similar to that of the keys. The
pedal stops are generally of deep tone, 32-foot
and 16-foot, as they have to sustain the bass
part of the musical harmonies. By means of
couplers one or more of the keyboard stops may
be linked to the pedals.


   The keyboard of a very large organ has as
many as five manuals, or rows of keys. Each
manual operates what is practically a separate
organ mounted on its own sound-board.
FIG. 142.
                               section of a two-man

    The manuals are arranged in steps, each
slightly overhanging that below. Taken in order
from the top, they are:—(1.) Echo organ, of
stops of small scale and very soft tone, enclosed
in a "swell-box." (2.) Solo organ, of stops im-
itating orchestral instruments. The wonderful
"vox humana" stop also belongs to this manual.
(3.) Swell organ, contained in a swell-box, the
front and sides of which have shutters which
can be opened and closed by the pressure of the
foot on a lever, so as to regulate the amount
of sound proceeding from the pipes inside. (4.)
Great organ, including pipes of powerful tone.
(5.) Choir organ, of soft, mellow stops, often
enclosed in a swell-box. We may add to these
the pedal organ, which can be coupled to any
but the echo manual.

   We have already remarked that the quality of
a stop depends on the shape and construction
of the pipe. Some pipes are of wood, others
of metal. Some are rectangular, others circular.
Some have parallel sides, others taper or expand
towards the top. Some are open, others stopped.

    The two main classes into which organ pipes
may be divided are:—(1.) Flue pipes, in which
the wind is directed against a lip, as in Fig. 138.
(2.) Reed pipes—that is, pipes used in combin-
ation with a simple device for admitting air in-
to the bottom of the pipe in a series of gusts.
Fig. 144 shows a striking reed, such as is found
in the ordinary motor horn. The elastic metal
tongue when at rest stands a very short distance
away from the orifice in the reed. When wind
is blown through the reed the tongue is sucked
against the reed, blocks the current, and springs
away again. A free reed has a tongue which vi-
brates in a slot without actually touching the
sides. Harmonium and concertina reeds are of
this type. In the organ the reed admits air to a
pipe of the correct length to sympathize with the
rate of the puffs of air which the reed passes.
Reed pipes expand towards the top.

            FIG. 144.—A reed pipe.

    Pipes are tuned by adjusting their length.
The plug at the top of a stopped pipe is pulled
out or pushed in a trifle to flatten or sharpen
the note respectively. An open pipe, if large, has
a tongue cut in the side at the top, which can
be pressed inwards or outwards for the purpose
of correcting the tone. Small metal pipes are
flattened by contracting the tops inwards with
a metal cone like a candle-extinguisher placed
over the top and tapped; and sharpened by hav-
ing the top splayed by a cone pushed in point
downwards. Reeds of the striking variety (see
Fig. 144) have a tuning-wire pressing on the
tongue near the fixed end. The end of this wire
projects through the casing. By moving it, the
length of the vibrating part of the tongue is ad-
justed to correctness.

   Different stops require different wind-pres-
sures, ranging from 1⁄10 lb. to 1 lb. to the square
inch, the reeds taking the heaviest pressures.
There must therefore be as many sets of bellows
and wind-chests as there are different pressures
wanted. A very large organ consumes immense
quantities of air when all the stops are out, and
the pumping has to be done by a powerful gas,
water, or electric engine. Every bellows has a
reservoir (see Fig. 143) above it. The top of
this is weighted to give the pressure required.
A valve in the top opens automatically as soon
as the reservoir has expanded to a certain fixed
limit, so that there is no possibility of bursting
the leather sides.
FIG. 145.—The keyboard and part of the pneuma
   Hereford Cathedral organ. C, composition ped
groups of stops; P (at bottom), pedals; P P (at top
                 pressed air; M, manuals (4); S S,

    We have mentioned in connection with rail-
way signalling that the signalman is sometimes
relieved of the hard manual labour of moving
signals and points by the employment of elec-
tric and pneumatic auxiliaries. The same is true
of organs and organists. The touch of the keys
has been greatly lightened by making the keys
open air-valves or complete electric circuits
which actuate the mechanism for pulling down
the pallets. The stops, pedals, and couplers also
employ "power." Not only are the performer's
muscles spared a lot of heavy work when com-
pressed air and electricity aid him, but he is
able to have the console, or keyboard, far away
from the pipes. "From the console, the player,
sitting with the singers, or in any desirable part
of the choir or chancel, would be able to com-
mand the working of the whole of the largest
organ situated afar at the western end of the
nave; would draw each stop in complete reli-
ance on the sliders and the sound-board ful-
filling their office; ... and—marvel of it all—the
player, using the swell pedal in his ordinary
manner, would obtain crescendo and diminu-
endo with a more perfect effect than by the old

    In cathedrals it is no uncommon thing for the
different sound-boards to be placed in positions
far apart, so that to the uninitiated there may ap-
pear to be several independent organs scattered
about. Yet all are absolutely under the control
of a man who is sitting away from them all, but
connected with them by a number of tubes or

   The largest organ in the world is that in the
Town Hall, Sydney. It has a hundred and
twenty-six speaking stops, five manuals, four-
teen couplers, and forty-six combination studs.
The pipes, about 8,000 in number, range from
the enormous 64-foot contra-trombone to some
only a fraction of an inch in length. The organ
occupies a space 85 feet long and 26 feet deep.

                HUMAN REEDS.

   The most wonderful of all musical reeds is
found in the human throat, in the anatomical
part called the larynx, situated at the top of the
trachea, or windpipe.

    Slip a piece of rubber tubing over the end of
a pipe, allowing an inch or so to project. Take
the free part of the tube by two opposite points
between the first fingers and thumbs and pull
it until the edges are stretched tight. Now blow
through it. The wind, forcing its way between
the two rubber edges, causes them and the air
inside the tube to vibrate, and a musical note
results. The more you strain the rubber the high-
er is the note.
    The larynx works on this principle. The
windpipe takes the place of the glass pipe; the
two vocal cords represent the rubber edges; and
the arytenoid muscles stand instead of the
hands. When contracted, these muscles bring
the edges of the cords nearer to one another,
stretch the cords, and shorten the cords. A per-
son gifted with a "very good ear" can, it has
been calculated, adjust the length of the vocal
cords to 1⁄17000th of an inch!

   Simultaneously with the adjustment of the
cords is effected the adjustment of the length of
the windpipe, so that the column of air in it may
be of the right length to vibrate in unison. Here
again is seen a wonderful provision of nature.

   The resonance of the mouth cavity is also of
great importance. By altering the shape of the
mouth the various harmonics of any fundament-
al note produced by the larynx are rendered
prominent, and so we get the different vocal
sounds. Helmholtz has shown that the funda-
mental tone of any note is represented by the
sound oo. If the mouth is adjusted to bring out
the octave of the fundamental, o results. a is
produced by accentuating the second harmonic,
the twelfth; ee by developing the second and
fourth harmonics; while for ah the fifth and sev-
enth must be prominent.

    When we whistle we transform the lips into
a reed and the mouth into a pipe. The tension of
the lips and the shape of the mouth cavity de-
cide the note. The lips are also used as a reed
for blowing the flute, piccolo, and all the brass
band instruments of the cornet order. In blowing
a coach-horn the various harmonics of the fun-
damental note are brought out by altering the lip
tension and the wind pressure. A cornet is prac-
tically a coach-horn rolled up into a conveni-
ent shape and furnished with three keys, the de-
pression of which puts extra lengths of tubing in
connection with the main tube—in fact, makes
it longer. One key lowers the fundamental note
of the horn half a tone; the second, a full tone;
the third, a tone and a half. If the first and third
are pressed down together, the note sinks two
tones; if the second and third, two and a half
tones; and simultaneous depression of all three
gives a drop of three tones. The performer thus
has seven possible fundamental notes, and sev-
eral harmonics of each of these at his command;
so that by a proper manipulation of the keys he
can run up the chromatic scale.

    We should add that the cornet tube is an
"open" pipe. So is that of the flute. The clarionet
is a "stopped" pipe.
   [29] It is obvious that in Fig. 136, 2, a pulse
     will pass from A to B and back in one-third
     the time required for it to pass from A to B
     and back in Fig. 136, 1.
    [30] The science of hearing; from the Greek
      verb, ἀκούειν, "to hear."

    [31] "Organs and Tuning," p. 245.

                 Chapter XVI.


    The phonograph—The recorder—The re-
       producer—The    gramophone—The
       making of records—Cylinder re-
       cords—Gramophone records.

I  N the Patent Office Museum at South Kens-
   ington is a curious little piece of ma-
chinery—a metal cylinder mounted on a long
axle, which has at one end a screw thread
chased along it. The screw end rotates in a sock-
et with a thread of equal pitch cut in it. To the
other end is attached a handle. On an upright
near the cylinder is mounted a sort of drum. The
membrane of the drum carries a needle, which,
when the membrane is agitated by the air-waves
set up by human speech, digs into a sheet of tin-
foil wrapped round the cylinder, pressing it into
a helical groove turned on the cylinder from end
to end. This construction is the first phonograph
ever made. Thomas Edison, the "wizard of the
West," devised it in 1876; and from this rude
parent have descended the beautiful machines
which record and reproduce human speech and
musical sounds with startling accuracy.
              FIG. 146.—The "governor" of a ph

   We do not propose to trace here the devel-
opment of the talking-machine; nor will it be
necessary to describe in detail its mechanism,
which is probably well known to most readers,
or could be mastered in a very short time on
personal examination. We will content
ourselves with saying that the wax cylinder of
the phonograph, or the ebonite disc of the
gramophone, is generally rotated by clockwork
concealed in the body of the machine. The
speed of rotation has to be very carefully gov-
erned, in order that the record may revolve un-
der the reproducing point at a uniform speed.
The principle of the governor commonly used
appears in Fig. 146. The last pinion of the
clockwork train is mounted on a shaft carrying
two triangular plates, A and C, to which are at-
tached three short lengths of flat steel spring
with a heavy ball attached to the centre of each.
A is fixed; C moves up the shaft as the balls
fly out, and pulls with it the disc D, which rubs
against the pad P (on the end of a spring) and
sets up sufficient friction to slow the clockwork.
The limit rate is regulated by screw S.

              THE PHONOGRAPH.
   Though the recording and reproducing ap-
paratus of a phonograph gives very wonderful
results, its construction is quite simple. At the
same time, it must be borne in mind that an im-
mense amount of experimenting has been de-
voted to finding out the most suitable materials
and forms for the parts.
        FIG. 147.—Section of an Edison Bell phon

   The recorder (Fig. 147) is a little circular
box about one and a half inches in diameter.[32]
From the top a tube leads to the horn. The bot-
tom is a circular plate, C C, hinged at one side.
This plate supports a glass disc, D, about 1⁄150th
of an inch thick, to which is attached the cutting
stylus—a tiny sapphire rod with a cup-shaped
end having very sharp edges. Sound-waves
enter the box through the horn tube; but instead
of being allowed to fill the whole box, they are
concentrated by the shifting nozzle N on to the
centre of the glass disc through the hole in C
C. You will notice that N has a ball end, and C
C a socket to fit N exactly, so that, though C C
and N move up and down very rapidly, they still
make perfect contact. The disc is vibrated by
the sound-impulses, and drives the cutting point
down into the surface of the wax cylinder, turn-
ing below it in a clockwork direction. The only
dead weight pressing on S is that of N, C C, and
the glass diaphragm.


  FIG. 148.—Perspective view of a
       phonograph recorder.

volves, the recorder is shifted continuously
along by a leading screw having one hundred or
more threads to the inch cut on it, so that it
traces a continuous helical groove from one end
of the wax cylinder to the other. This groove
is really a series of very minute indentations,
not exceeding 1⁄1000th of an inch in depth.[33]
Seen under a microscope, the surface of the re-
cord is a succession of hills and valleys, some
much larger than others (Fig. 151, a). A loud
sound causes the stylus to give a vigorous dig,
while low sounds scarcely move it at all. The
wonderful thing about this sound-recording is,
that not only are the fundamental tones of mu-
sical notes impressed, but also the harmonics,
which enable us to decide at once whether the
record is one of a cornet, violin, or banjo per-
formance. Furthermore, if several instruments
are playing simultaneously near the recorder's
horn, the stylus catches all the different shades
of tone of every note of a chord. There are, so to
speak, minor hills and valleys cut in the slopes
of the main hills and valleys.
FIG. 149.—Section of the reproducer of an Edi
    The reproducer (Fig. 149) is somewhat more
complicated than the recorder. As before, we
have a circular box communicating with the
horn of the instrument. A thin glass disc forms a
bottom to the box. It is held in position between
rubber rings, R R, by a screw collar, C. To the
centre is attached a little eye, from which hangs
a link, L. Pivoted at P from one edge of the box
is a floating weight, having a circular opening
immediately under the eye. The link passes
through this to the left end of a tiny lever, which
rocks on a pivot projecting from the weight. To
the right end of the lever is affixed a sapphire
bar, or stylus, with a ball end of a diameter
equal to that of the cutting point of the recorder.
The floating weight presses the stylus against
the record, and also keeps the link between the
rocking lever of the glass diaphragm in a state
ow of
k the by
e into
 e at
n are
—Perspective view of a phonograph reproducer.

                 THE GRAMOPHONE.

        This effects the same purpose as the phono-
    graph, but in a somewhat different manner. The
    phonograph recorder digs vertically downwards
    into the surface of the record, whereas the stylus
    of the gramophone wags from side to side and
    describes a snaky course (Fig. 151b). It makes
    no difference in talking-machines whether the
    reproducing stylus be moved sideways or ver-
    tically by the record, provided that motion is
    imparted by it to the diaphragm.
FIG. 151a.           b
             FIG. 151b.
              FIG. 151c.—Section of a gramophone

   In Fig. 151c the construction of the gramo-
phone reproducer is shown in section. A is the
cover which screws on to the bottom B, and
confines the diaphragm D between itself and a
rubber ring. The portion B is elongated into a
tubular shape for connection with the horn, an
arm of which slides over the tube and presses
against the rubber ring C to make an air-tight
joint. The needle-carrier N is attached at its up-
per end to the centre of the diaphragm. At a
point indicated by the white dot a pin passes
through it and the cover. The lower end is tu-
bular to accommodate the steel points, which
have to be replaced after passing once over a re-
cord. A screw, S, working in a socket project-
ing from the carrier, holds the point fast. The
record moves horizontally under the point in a
plane perpendicular to the page. The groove be-
ing zigzag, the needle vibrates right and left,
and rotating the carrier a minute fraction of an
inch on the pivot, shakes the glass diaphragm
and sends waves of air into the horn.

   The gramophone is a reproducing instru-
ment only. The records are made on a special
machine, fitted with a device for causing the re-
corder point to describe a spiral course from the
circumference to the centre of the record disc.
Some gramophone records have as many as 250
turns to the inch. The total length of the tracing
on a ten-inch "concert" record is about 1,000


   For commercial purposes it would not pay
to make every record separately in a recording
machine. The expense of employing good sing-
ers and instrumentalists renders such a method
impracticable. All the records we buy are made
from moulds, the preparation of which we will
now briefly describe.


   First of all, a wax record is made in the or-
dinary way on a recording machine. After be-
ing tested and approved, it is hung vertically
and centrally from a rotating table pivoted on
a vertical metal spike passing up through the
record. On one side of the table is a piece of
iron. On each side of the record, and a small
distance away, rises a brass rod enclosed in a
glass tube. The top of the rods are hooked, so
that pieces of gold leaf may be suspended from
them. A bell-glass is now placed over the re-
cord, table, and rods, and the air is sucked out
by a pump. As soon as a good vacuum has been
obtained, the current from the secondary circuit
of an induction coil is sent into the rods support-
ing the gold leaves, which are volatilized by the
current jumping from one to the other. A mag-
net, whirled outside the bell-glass, draws round
the iron armature on the pivoted table, and con-
sequently revolves the record, on the surface
of which a very thin coating of gold is depos-
ited. The record is next placed in an electro-
plating bath until a copper shell one-sixteenth
of an inch thick has formed all over the out-
side. This is trued up on a lathe and encased in
a brass tube. The "master," or original wax re-
cord, is removed by cooling it till it contracts
sufficiently to fall out of the copper mould, on
the inside surface of which are reproduced, in
relief, the indentations of the wax "master."

   Copies are made from the mould by immers-
ing it in a tank of melted wax. The cold metal
chills the wax that touches it, so that the mould
soon has a thick waxen lining. The mould and
copy are removed from the tank and mounted
on a lathe, which shapes and smooths the inside
of the record. The record is loosened from the
mould by cooling. After inspection for flaws, it
is, if found satisfactory, packed in cotton-wool
and added to the saleable stock.

    Gramophone master records are made on a
circular disc of zinc, coated over with a very
thin film of acid-proof fat. When the disc is
revolved in the recording machine, the sharp
stylus cuts through the fat and exposes the zinc
beneath. On immersion in a bath of chromic
acid the bared surfaces are bitten into, while
the unexposed parts remain unaffected. When
the etching is considered complete, the plate is
carefully cleaned and tested. A negative copper
copy is made from it by electrotyping. This con-
stitutes the mould. From it as many as 1,000
copies may be made on ebonite plates by com-
bined pressure and heating.
   [32] The Edison Bell phonograph is here re-
     ferred to.
[33] Some of the sibilant or hissing sounds
  of the voice are computed to be represen-
  ted by depressions less than a millionth of
  an inch in depth. Yet these are reproduced
  very clearly!

            Chapter XVII.


Why the wind blows—Land and sea
  breezes—Light air and moisture—The
  barometer—The column baromet-
  er—The wheel barometer—A very
  simple barometer—The aneroid baro-
  meter—Barometers and weather—The
  diving-bell—The diving-dress—Air-
  pumps—Pneumatic tyres—The air-
  gun—The self-closing door-stop—The
  action of wind on oblique sur-
       faces—The balloon—The flying-ma-

W        HEN a child's rubber ball gets slack
         through a slight leakage of air, and loses
some of its bounce, it is a common practice to
hold it for a few minutes in front of the fire till it
becomes temporarily taut again. Why does the
heat have this effect on the ball? No more air
has been forced into the ball. After perusing the
chapter on the steam-engine the reader will be
able to supply the answer. "Because the molec-
ules of air dash about more vigorously among
one another when the air is heated, and by strik-
ing the inside of the ball with greater force put it
in a state of greater tension."

    If we heat an open jar there is no pressure de-
veloped, since the air simply expands and flows
out of the neck. But the air that remains in the
jar, being less in quantity than when it was not
yet heated, weighs less, though occupying the
same space as before. If we took a very thin
bladder and filled it with hot air it would there-
fore float in colder air, proving that heated air,
as we should expect, tends to rise. The fire-
balloon employs this principle, the air inside
the bag being kept artificially warm by a fire
burning in some vessel attached below the open
neck of the bag.

    Now, the sun shines with different degrees
of heating power at different parts of the world.
Where its effect is greatest the air there is hot-
test. We will suppose, for the sake of argument,
that, at a certain moment, the air envelope all
round the globe is of equal temperature. Sud-
denly the sun shines out and heats the air at a
point, A, till it is many degrees warmer than the
surrounding air. The heated air expands, rises,
and spreads out above the cold air. But, as a giv-
en depth of warm air has less weight than an
equal depth of cold air, the cold air at once be-
gins to rush towards B and squeeze the rest of
the warm air out. We may therefore picture the
atmosphere as made up of a number of colder
currents passing along the surface of the earth to
replace warm currents rising and spreading over
the upper surface of the cold air. A similar cir-
culation takes place in a vessel of heated water
(see p. 17).


   A breeze which blows from the sea on to
the land during the day often reverses its dir-
ection during the evening. Why is this? The
earth grows hot or cold more rapidly than the
sea. When the sun shines hotly, the land warms
quickly and heats the air over it, which becomes
light, and is displaced by the cooler air over the
sea. When the sun sets, the earth and the air
over it lose their warmth quickly, while the sea
remains at practically the same temperature as
before. So the balance is changed, the heavier
air now lying over the land. It therefore flows
seawards, and drives out the warmer air there.


   Light, warm air absorbs moisture. As it
cools, the moisture in it condenses. Breathe on
a plate, and you notice that a watery film forms
on it at once. The cold surface condenses the
water suspended in the warm breath. If you
wish to dry a damp room you heat it. Moisture
then passes from the walls and objects in the
room to the atmosphere.

              THE BAROMETER.

   This property of air is responsible for the
changes in weather. Light, moisture-laden air
meets cold, dry air, and the sudden cooling
forces it to release its moisture, which falls as
rain, or floats about as clouds. If only we are
able to detect the presence of warm air-strata
above us, we ought to be in a position to foretell
the weather.

    We can judge of the specific gravity of the
air in our neighbourhood by means of the ba-
rometer, which means "weight-measurer." The
normal air-pressure at sea-level on our bodies or
any other objects is about 15 lbs. to the square
inch—that is to say, if you could imprison and
weigh a column of air one inch square in section
and of the height of the world's atmospheric en-
velope, the scale would register 15 lbs. Many
years ago (1643) Torricelli, a pupil of Galileo,
first calculated the pressure by a very simple
experiment. He took a long glass tube sealed
at one end, filled it with mercury, and, closing
the open end with the thumb, inverted the tube
and plunged the open end below the surface of
a tank of mercury. On removing his thumb he
found that the mercury sank in the tube till the
surface of the mercury in the tube was about 30
inches in a vertical direction above the surface
of the mercury in the tank. Now, as the upper
end was sealed, there must be a vacuum above
the mercury. What supported the column? The
atmosphere. So it was evident that the down-
ward pressure of the mercury exactly counter-
balanced the upward pressure of the air. As a
mercury column 30 inches high and 1 inch
square weighs 15 lbs., the air-pressure on a
square inch obviously is the same.
                 FIG. 152.—A
               Fortin barometer.


is a simple Torricellian tube, T, with the lower
end submerged in a little glass tank of mercury
(Fig. 152). The bottom of this tank is made of
washleather. To obtain a "reading" the screw S,
pressing on the washleather, is adjusted until
the mercury in the tank rises to the tip of the
little ivory point P. The reading is the figure of
the scale on the face of the case opposite which
the surface of the column stands.
                     FIG. 153.


also employs the mercury column (Fig. 153).
The lower end of the tube is turned up and ex-
panded to form a tank, C. The pointer P, which
travels round a graduated dial, is mounted on a
spindle carrying a pulley, over which passes a
string with a weight at each end. The heavier
of the weights rests on the top of the mercury.
When the atmospheric pressure falls, the mer-
cury in C rises, lifting this weight, and the point-
er moves. This form of barometer is not so del-
icate or reliable as Fortin's, or as the siphon ba-
rometer, which has a tube of the same shape as
the wheel instrument, but of the same diamet-
er from end to end except for a contraction at
the bend. The reading of a siphon is the distance
between the two surfaces of the mercury.

is made by knocking off the neck of a small
bottle, filling the body with water, and hanging
it up by a string in the position shown (Fig.
154). When the atmospheric pressure falls, the
water at the orifice bulges outwards; when it
rises, the water retreats till its surface is slightly
                    FIG. 154.


    On account of their size and weight, and
the comparative difficulty of transporting them
without derangement of the mercury column,
column barometers are not so generally used
as the aneroid variety. Aneroid means "without
moisture," and in this particular connection sig-
nifies that no liquid is used in the construction
of the barometer.

    Fig. 155 shows an aneroid in detail. The
most noticeable feature is the vacuum chamber,
V C, a circular box which has a top and bottom
of corrugated but thin and elastic metal. Sec-
tions of the box are shown in Figs. 156, 157. It
is attached at the bottom to the base board of the
instrument by a screw (Fig. 156). From the top
rises a pin, P, with a transverse hole through it
to accommodate the pin K E, which has a trian-
gular section, and stands on one edge.
                      FIG. 155.—An aneroid barom

    Returning to Fig. 155, we see that P projects
through S, a powerful spring of sheet-steel. To
this is attached a long arm, C, the free end of
which moves a link rotating, through the pin E,
a spindle mounted in a frame, D. The spindle
moves arm F. This pulls on a very minute chain
wound round the pointer spindle B, in opposi-
tion to a hairspring, H S. B is mounted on arm H,
which is quite independent of the rest of the an-
                    FIG. 156.
         The vacuum chamber of an aneroid baro

    The vacuum chamber is exhausted during
manufacture and sealed. It would naturally as-
sume the shape of Fig. 157, but the spring S,
acting against the atmospheric pressure, pulls it
out. As the pressure varies, so does the spring
rise or sink; and the slightest movement is
transmitted through the multiplying arms C, E,
F, to the pointer.
    A good aneroid is so delicate that it will
register the difference in pressure caused by
raising it from the floor to the table, where it
has a couple of feet less of air-column resting
upon it. An aneroid is therefore a valuable help
to mountaineers for determining their altitude
above sea-level.


   We may now return to the consideration of
forecasting the weather by movements of the
barometer. The first thing to keep in mind is,
that the instrument is essentially a weight re-
corder. How is weather connected with atmo-
spheric weight?

   In England the warm south-west wind gen-
erally brings wet weather, the north and east
winds fine weather; the reason for this being
that the first reaches us after passing over the
Atlantic and picking up a quantity of moisture,
while the second and third have come overland
and deposited their moisture before reaching us.

   A sinking of the barometer heralds the ap-
proach of heated air—that is, moist air—which
on meeting colder air sheds its moisture. So
when the mercury falls we expect rain. On the
other hand, when the "glass" rises, we know
that colder air is coming, and as colder air
comes from a dry quarter we anticipate fine
weather. It does not follow that the same condi-
tions are found in all parts of the world. In re-
gions which have the ocean to the east or the
north, the winds blowing thence would be the
rainy winds, while south-westerly winds might
bring hot and dry weather.

              THE DIVING-BELL.

   Water is nearly 773 times as heavy as air.
If we submerge a barometer a very little way
below the surface of a water tank, we shall at
once observe a rise of the mercury column. At a
depth of 34 feet the pressure on any submerged
object is 15 lbs. to the square inch, in addition
to the atmospheric pressure of 15 lbs. per square
inch—that is, there would be a 30-lb. absolute
pressure. As a rule, when speaking of hydraulic
pressures, we start with the normal atmospheric
pressure as zero, and we will here observe the
                  FIG. 158.—A diving bell.

   The diving-bell is used to enable people to
work under water without having recourse to
the diving-dress. A sketch of an ordinary
diving-bell is given in Fig. 158. It may be de-
scribed as a square iron box without a bottom.
At the top are links by which it is attached to
a lowering chain, and windows, protected by
grids; also a nozzle for the air-tube.
FIG. 159.
    A simple model bell (Fig. 159) is easily
made out of a glass tumbler which has had a tap
fitted in a hole drilled through the bottom. We
turn off the tap and plunge the glass into a ves-
sel of water. The water rises a certain way up
the interior, until the air within has been com-
pressed to a pressure equal to that of the water
at the level of the surface inside. The further the
tumbler is lowered, the higher does the water
rise inside it.

    Evidently men could not work in a diving-
bell which is invaded thus by water. It is imper-
ative to keep the water at bay. This we can do by
attaching a tube to the tap (Fig. 160) and blow-
ing into the tumbler till the air-pressure exceeds
that of the water, which is shown by bubbles
rising to the surface. The diving-bell therefore
has attached to it a hose through which air is
forced by pumps from the atmosphere above, at
a pressure sufficient to keep the water out of the
bell. This pumping of air also maintains a fresh
supply of oxygen for the workers.
                    FIG. 160.

   Inside the bell is tackle for grappling any ob-
ject that has to be moved, such as a heavy stone
block. The diving-bell is used mostly for lay-
ing submarine masonry. "The bell, slung either
from a crane on the masonry already built above
sea-level, or from a specially fitted barge,
comes into action. The block is lowered by its
own crane on to the bottom. The bell descends
upon it, and the crew seize it with tackle sus-
pended inside the bell. Instructions are sent up
as to the direction in which the bell should be
moved with its burden, and as soon as the exact
spot has been reached the signal for lowering is
given, and the stone settles on to the cement laid
ready for it."[34]

   For many purposes it is necessary that the
worker should have more freedom of action
than is possible when he is cooped up inside an
iron box. Hence the invention of the

which consists of two main parts, the helmet
and the dress proper. The helmet (Fig. 161) is
made of copper. A breastplate, B, shaped to fit
the shoulders, has at the neck a segmental screw
bayonet-joint. The headpiece is fitted with a
corresponding screw, which can be attached or
removed by one-eighth of a turn. The neck edge
of the dress, which is made in one piece, legs,
arms, body and all, is attached to the breastplate
by means of the plate P1, screwed down tightly
on it by the wing-nuts N N, the bolts of which
pass through the breastplate. Air enters the hel-
met through a valve situated at the back, and is
led through tubes along the inside to the front.
This valve closes automatically if any accident
cuts off the air supply, and encloses sufficient
air in the dress to allow the diver to regain the
surface. The outlet valve O V can be adjusted
by the diver to maintain any pressure. At the
sides of the headpiece are two hooks, H, over
which pass the cords connecting the heavy lead
weights of 40 lbs. each hanging on the diver's
breast and back. These weights are also at-
tached to the knobs K K. A pair of boots, having
17 lbs. of lead each in the soles, complete the
dress. Three glazed windows are placed in the
headpiece, that in the front, R W, being remov-
able, so that the diver may gain free access to
the air when he is above water without being
obliged to take off the helmet.
                         FIG. 161.—A diver's helme

    By means of telephone wires built into the
life-line (which passes under the diver's arms
and is used for lowering and hoisting) easy
communication is established between the diver
and his attendants above. The transmitter of the
telephone is placed inside the helmet between
the front and a side window, the receiver and
the button of an electric bell in the crown. This
last he can press by raising his head. The life-
line sometimes also includes the wires for an
electric lamp (Fig. 162) used by the diver at
depths to which daylight cannot penetrate.

   The pressure on a diver's body increases in
the ratio of 4⅓ lbs. per square inch for every
10 feet that he descends. The ordinary working
limit is about 150 feet, though "old hands" are
able to stand greater pressures. The record is
held by one James Hooper, who, when remov-
ing the cargo of the Cape Horn sunk off the
South American coast, made seven descents of
201 feet, one of which lasted for forty-two

         FIG. 162.—Diver's electric
   A sketch is given (Fig. 163) of divers work-
ing below water with pneumatic tools, fed from
above with high-pressure air. Owing to his
buoyancy a diver has little depressing or push-
ing power, and he cannot bore a hole in a post
with an auger unless he is able to rest his back
against some firm object, or is roped to the post.
Pneumatic chipping tools merely require hold-
ing to their work, their weight offering suffi-
cient resistance to the very rapid blows which
they make.
FIG. 163.—Divers at work below water with pneu
                  matic tools.

        FIG. 164.                 FIG. 165.

    Mention having been made of the air-pump,
we append diagrams (Figs. 164, 165) of the
simplest form of air-pump, the cycle tyre in-
flator. The piston is composed of two circular
plates of smaller diameter than the barrel, hold-
ing between them a cup leather. During the up-
stroke the cup collapses inwards and allows air
to pass by it. On the downstroke (Fig. 165) the
edges of the cup expand against the barrel, pre-
venting the passage of air round the piston. A
double-action air-pump requires a long, well-
fitting piston with a cup on each side of it, and
the addition of extra valves to the barrel, as the
cups under these circumstances cannot act as

             PNEUMATIC TYRES.
                   FIG. 166.

   The action of the pneumatic tyre in reducing
vibration and increasing the speed of a vehicle
is explained by Figs. 166, 167. When the tyre
encounters an obstacle, such as a large stone,
it laps over it (Fig. 166), and while supporting
the weight on the wheel, reduces the deflection
of the direction of movement. When an iron-
tyred wheel meets a similar obstacle it has to
rise right over it, often jumping a considerable
distance into the air. The resultant motions of
the wheel are indicated in each case by an ar-
row. Every change of direction means a loss of
forward velocity, the loss increasing with the
violence and extent of the change. The pneu-
matic tyre also scores because, on account of
its elasticity, it gives a "kick off" against the
obstacle, which compensates for the resistance
during compression.
            FIG. 168.—Section of the mechanism

                 THE AIR-GUN.

   This may be described as a valveless air-
pump. Fig. 168 is a section of a "Gem" air-gun,
with the mechanism set ready for firing. In the
stock of the gun is the cylinder, in which an
accurately fitting and hollow piston moves. A
powerful helical spring, turned out of a solid bar
of steel, is compressed between the inside end
of the piston and the upper end of the butt. To
set the gun, the catch is pressed down so that its
hooked end disengages from the stock, and the
barrel is bent downwards on pivot P. This slides
the lower end of the compressing lever towards
the butt, and a projection on the guide B, work-
ing in a groove, takes the piston with it. When
the spring has been fully compressed, the trian-
gular tip of the rocking cam R engages with a
groove in the piston's head, and prevents recoil
when the barrel is returned to its original po-
sition. On pulling the trigger, the piston is re-
leased and flies up the cylinder with great force,
and the air in the cylinder is compressed and
driven through the bore of the barrel, blocked
by the leaden slug, to which the whole energy
of the expanding spring is transmitted through
the elastic medium of the air.

   There are several other good types of air-
gun, all of which employ the principles de-
scribed above.

is another interesting pneumatic device. It con-
sists of a cylinder with an air-tight piston, and a
piston rod working through a cover at one end.
The other end of the cylinder is pivoted to the
door frame. When the door is opened the pis-
ton compresses a spring in the cylinder, and air
is admitted past a cup leather on the piston to
the upper part of the cylinder. This air is con-
fined by the cup leather when the door is re-
leased, and escapes slowly through a leak, al-
lowing the spring to regain its shape slowly, and
by the agency of the piston rod to close the door.


   Why does a kite rise? Why does a boat sail
across the wind? We can supply an answer al-
most instinctively in both cases, "Because the
wind pushes the kite or sail aside." It will,
however, be worth while to look for a more sci-
entific answer. The kite cannot travel in the dir-
ection of the wind because it is confined by a
string. But the face is so attached to the string
that it inclines at an angle to the direction of
the wind. Now, when a force meets an inclined
surface which it cannot carry along with it, but
which is free to travel in another direction, the
force may be regarded as resolving itself into
two forces, coming from each side of the origin-
al line. These are called the component forces.
FIG. 169.
   To explain this we give a simple sketch of
a kite in the act of flying (Fig. 169). The wind
is blowing in the direction of the solid arrow
A. The oblique surface of the kite resolves its
force into the two components indicated by the
dotted arrows B and C. Of these C only has lift-
ing power to overcome the force of gravity. The
kite assumes a position in which force C and
gravity counterbalance one another.
FIG. 170.
   A boat sailing across the wind is acted on in
a similar manner (Fig. 170). The wind strikes
the sail obliquely, and would thrust it to leeward
were it not for the opposition of the water. The
force A is resolved into forces B and C, of which
C propels the boat on the line of its axis. The
boat can be made to sail even "up" the wind,
her head being brought round until a point is
reached at which the force B on the boat, masts,
etc., overcomes the force C. The capability of a
boat for sailing up wind depends on her "lines"
and the amount of surface she offers to the

                THE BALLOON

is a pear-shaped bag—usually made of
silk—filled with some gas lighter than air. The
tendency of a heavier medium to displace a
lighter drives the gas upwards, and with it the
bag and the wicker-work car attached to a net-
work encasing the bag. The tapering neck at the
lower end is open, to permit the free escape of
gas as the atmospheric pressure outside dimin-
ishes with increasing elevation. At the top of the
bag is a wooden valve opening inwards, which
can be drawn down by a rope passing up to it
through the neck whenever the aeronaut wishes
to let gas escape for a descent. He is able to
cause a very rapid escape by pulling another
cord depending from a "ripping piece" near the
top of the bag. In case of emergency this is torn
away bodily, leaving a large hole. The ballast
(usually sand) carried enables him to maintain
a state of equilibrium between the upward pull
of the gas and the downward pull of gravity. To
sink he lets out gas, to rise he throws out ballast;
and this process can be repeated until the ballast
is exhausted. The greatest height ever attained
by aeronauts is the 7¼ miles, or 37,000 feet, of
Messrs. Glaisher and Coxwell on September 5,
1862. The ascent nearly cost them their lives,
for at an elevation of about 30,000 feet they
were partly paralyzed by the rarefaction of the
air, and had not Mr. Coxwell been able to pull
the valve rope with his teeth and cause a des-
cent, both would have died from want of air.

                                  FIG. 171.

   The flying-machine, which scientific engin-
eers have so long been trying to produce, will
probably be quite independent of balloons, and
will depend for its ascensive powers on the ac-
tion of air on oblique surfaces. Sir Hiram Max-
im's experimental air-ship embodied the prin-
ciples shown by Fig. 171. On a deck was moun-
ted an engine, E, extremely powerful for its
weight. This drove large propellers, S S. Large
aeroplanes, of canvas stretched over light
frameworks, were set up overhead, the forward
end somewhat higher than the rear. The ma-
chine was run on rails so arranged as to prevent
it rising. Unfortunately an accident happened at
the first trial and destroyed the machine.

   In actual flight it would be necessary to have
a vertical rudder for altering the horizontal dir-
ection, and a horizontal "tail" for steering up
or down. The principle of an aeroplane is that
of the kite, with this difference, that, instead of
moving air striking a captive body, a moving
body is propelled against more or less station-
ary air. The resolution of forces is shown by the
arrows as before.

   Up to the present time no practical flying-
machine has appeared. But experimenters are
hard at work examining the conditions which
must be fulfilled to enable man to claim the
"dominion of the air."
   [34] The "Romance of Modern Mechan-
     ism," p. 243

              Chapter XVIII.


   The siphon—The bucket pump—The
      force-pump—The most marvellous
      pump—The blood channels—The
      course of the blood—The hydraulic
       press—Household water-supply fit-
       tings—The ball-cock—The water-
       meter—Water-supply      systems—The
       household filter—Gas traps—Water en-
       gines—The cream separator—The "hy-

I   N the last chapter we saw that the pressure of
    the atmosphere is 15 lbs. to the square inch.
Suppose that to a very long tube having a sec-
tional area of one square inch we fit an air-tight
piston (Fig. 172), and place the lower end of the
tube in a vessel of water. On raising the piston a
vacuum would be created in the tube, did not
the pressure of the atmosphere force water up
into the tube behind the piston. The water
would continue to rise until it reached a point 34
feet perpendicularly above the level of the wa-
ter in the vessel. The column would then weigh
15 lbs., and exactly counterbalance the atmo-
spheric pressure; so that a further raising of the
piston would not raise the water any farther. At
sea-level, therefore, the lifting power of a pump
by suction is limited to 34 feet. On the top
of a lofty mountain, where the air-pressure is
less, the height of the column would be dimin-
ished—in fact, be proportional to the pressure.
        FIG. 172.                    FIG. 173.

                    THE SIPHON

is an interesting application of the principle of
suction. By its own weight water may be made
to lift water through a height not exceeding 34
feet. This is explained by Fig. 173. The siphon
pipe, A B C D, is in the first instance filled by
suction. The weight of the water between A and
B counter-balances that between B and C. But
the column C D hangs, as it were, to the heels
of B C, and draws it down. Or, to put it other-
wise, the column B D, being heavier than the
column B A, draws it over the topmost point of
the siphon. Any parting between the columns,
provided that B A does not exceed 34 feet, is
impossible, as the pressure of the atmosphere
on the mouth of B A is sufficient to prevent the
formation of a vacuum.
             THE BUCKET PUMP.

    We may now pass to the commonest form
of pump used in houses, stables, gardens, etc.
(Fig. 174). The piston has a large hole through
it, over the top of which a valve is hinged. At
the bottom of the barrel is a second valve, also
opening upwards, seated on the top of the sup-
ply pipe. In sketch (a) the first upstroke is in
progress. A vacuum forms under the piston, or
plunger, and water rises up the barrel to fill
it. The next diagram (b) shows the first down-
stroke. The plunger valve now opens and allows
water to rise above the piston, while the lower
closes under the pressure of the water above and
the pull of that below. During the second up-
stroke (c) the water above the piston is raised
until it overflows through the spout, while a
fresh supply is being sucked in below.
                  FIG. 174.

        FIG. 175. Force-pump; suction stroke.

    For driving water to levels above that of the
pump a somewhat different arrangement is re-
quired. One type of force-pump is shown in
Figs. 175, 176. The piston now is solid, and the
upper valve is situated in the delivery pipe. Dur-
ing an upstroke this closes, and the other opens;
the reverse happening during a downstroke. An
air-chamber is generally fitted to the delivery
pipe when water is to be lifted to great heights
or under high pressure. At each delivery stroke
the air in the chamber is compressed, absorbing
some of the shock given to the water in the pipe
by the water coming from the pump; and its ex-
pansion during the next suction stroke forces
the water gradually up the pipe. The air-cham-
ber is a very prominent feature of the fire-en-
   A double-action force-pump is seen in Fig.
177, making an upward stroke. Both sides of
the piston are here utilized, and the piston rod
works through a water-tight stuffing-box. The
action of the pump will be easily understood
from the diagram.
                   FIG. 177.


known is the heart. We give in Fig. 178 a dia-
grammatic sketch of the system of blood circu-
lation in the human body, showing the heart, the
arteries, and the veins, big and little. The body
is supposed to be facing the reader, so that the
left lung, etc., is to his right.
FIG. 178.—A diagrammatic representation of the

   The heart, which forces the blood through
the body, is a large muscle (of about the size
of the clenched fist) with four cavities. These
are respectively known as the right and left
auricles, and the right and left ventricles. They
are arranged in two pairs, the auricle upper-
most, separated by a fleshy partition. Between
each auricle and its ventricle is a valve, which
consists of strong membranous flaps, with loose
edges turned downwards. The left-side valve is
the mitral valve, that between the right auricle
and ventricle the tricuspid valve. The edges of
the valves fall together when the heart con-
tracts, and prevent the passage of blood. Each
ventricle has a second valve through which it
ejects the blood. (That of the right ventricle has
been shown double for the sake of convenien-
    The action of the heart is this:—The auricles
and ventricles expand; blood rushes into the
auricles from the channels supplying them, and
distends them and the ventricles; the auricles
contract and fill the ventricles below quite full
(there are no valves above the auricles, but the
force of contraction is not sufficient to return
the blood to the veins); the ventricles contract;
the mitral and tricuspid valves close; the valves
leading to the arteries open; blood is forced out
of the ventricles.


are of two kinds—(1) The arteries, which lead
the blood into the circulatory system; (2) the
veins, which lead the blood back to the heart.
The arteries divide up into branches, and these
again divide into smaller and smaller arteries.
The smallest, termed capillaries (Latin, capil-
lus, a hair), are minute tubes having an average
diameter of 1⁄3000th of an inch. These permeate
every part of the body. The capillary arteries
lead into the smallest veins, which unite to form
larger and larger veins, until what we may call
the main streams are reached. Through these the
blood flows to the heart.

    There are three main points of difference
between arteries and veins. In the first place,
the larger arteries have thick elastic walls, and
maintain their shape even when empty. This
elasticity performs the function of the air-cham-
ber of the force-pump. When the ventricles con-
tract, driving blood into the arteries, the walls of
the latter expand, and their contraction pushes
the blood steadily forward without shock. The
capillaries have very thin walls, so that fluids
pass through them to and from the body, feed-
ing it and taking out waste matter. The veins are
all thin-walled, and collapse when empty. Se-
condly, most veins are furnished with valves,
which prevent blood flowing the wrong way.
These are similar in principle to those of the
heart. Arteries have no valves. Thirdly, arteries
are generally deeply set, while many of the
veins run near the surface of the body. Those
on the front of the arm are specially visible.
Place your thumb on them and run it along to-
wards the wrist, and you will notice that the
veins distend owing to the closing of the valves
just mentioned.

    Arterial blood is red, and comes out from a
cut in gulps, on account of the contraction of the
elastic walls. If you cut a vein, blue blood is-
sues in a steady stream. The change of colour is
caused by the loss of oxygen during the passage
of the blood through the capillaries, and the ab-
sorption of carbon dioxide from the tissues.

   The lungs are two of the great purifiers of
the blood. As it circulates through them, it gives
up the carbon dioxide which it has absorbed,
and receives pure oxygen in exchange. If the
air of a room is "foul," the blood does not get
the proper amount of oxygen. For this reason
it is advisable for us to keep the windows of
our rooms open as much as possible both day
and night. Fatigue is caused by the accumula-
tion of carbon dioxide and other impurities in
the blood. When we run, the heart pumps blood
through the lungs faster than they can purify it,
and eventually our muscles become poisoned to
such an extent that we have to stop from sheer


   It takes rather less than a minute for a drop
of blood to circulate from the heart through the
whole system and back to the heart.

   We may briefly summarize the course of the
circulation of the blood thus:—It is expelled
from the left ventricle into the aorta and the
main arteries, whence it passes into the smaller
arteries, and thence into the capillaries of the
brain, stomach, kidneys, etc. It here imparts
oxygen to the body, and takes in impurities. It
then enters the veins, and through them flows
back to the right auricle; is driven into the right
ventricle; is expelled into the pulmonary (lung)
arteries; enters the lungs, and is purified. It re-
turns to the left auricle through the pulmonary
veins; enters the left auricle, passes to left vent-
ricle, and so on.

   A healthy heart beats from 120 times per
minute in a one-year-old infant to 60 per minute
in a very aged person. The normal rate for a
middle-aged adult is from 80 to 70 beats.

    Heart disease signifies the failure of the
heart valves to close properly. Blood passes
back when the heart contracts, and the circula-
tion is much enfeebled. By listening through a
stethoscope the doctor is able to tell whether the
valves are in good order. A hissing sound dur-
ing the beat indicates a leakage past the valves;
a thump, or "clack," that they shut completely.


    It is a characteristic of fluids and gases that
if pressure be brought to bear on any part of a
mass of either class of bodies it is transmitted
equally and undiminished in all directions, and
acts with the same force on all equal surfaces,
at right angles to those surfaces. The great nat-
ural philosopher Pascal first formulated this re-
markable fact, of which a simple illustration is
given in Fig. 179. Two cylinders, A and B, hav-
ing a bore of one and two inches respectively,
are connected by a pipe. Water is poured in, and
pistons fitting the cylinders accurately and of
equal weight are inserted. On piston B is placed
a load of 10 lbs. To prevent A rising above the
level of B, it must be loaded proportionately.
The area of piston A is four times that of B, so
that if we lay on it a 40-lb. weight, neither pis-
ton will move. The walls of the cylinders and
connecting pipe are also pressed outwards in
the ratio of 10 lbs. for every part of their interior
surface which has an area equal to that of piston
FIG. 179.
IG.   180.—The cylinder and ram of a hydraulic

      The hydraulic press is an application of this
  law. Cylinder B is represented by a force pump
  of small bore, capable of delivering water at
  very high pressures (up to 10 tons per square
  inch). In the place of A we have a stout cylinder
  with a solid plunger, P (Fig. 180), carrying the
  table on which the object to be pressed is
  placed. Bramah, the inventor of the hydraulic
  press, experienced great difficulty in preventing
  the escape of water between the top of the cylin-
  der and the plunger. If a "gland" packing of the
  type found in steam-cylinders were used, it
  failed to hold back the water unless it were
  screwed down so tightly as to jam the plunger.
  He tried all kinds of expedients without suc-
  cess; and his invention, excellent though it was
  in principle, seemed doomed to failure, when
his foreman, Henry Maudslay,[35] solved the
problem in a simple but most masterly manner.
He had a recess turned in the neck of the cyl-
inder at the point formerly occupied by the
stuffing-box, and into this a leather collar of U-
section (marked solid black in Fig. 180) was
placed with its open side downwards. When
water reached it, it forced the edges apart, one
against the plunger, the other against the walls
of the recess, with a degree of tightness propor-
tionate to the pressure. On water being released
from the cylinder the collar collapsed, allowing
the plunger to sink without friction.

    The principle of the hydraulic press is em-
ployed in lifts; in machines for bending,
drilling, and riveting steel plates, or forcing
wheels on or off their axles; for advancing the
"boring shield" of a tunnel; and for other pur-
poses too numerous to mention.

    Among these, the most used is the tap, or
cock. When a house is served by the town or
district water supply, the fitting of proper taps
on all pipes connected with the supply is stip-
ulated for by the water-works authorities. The
old-fashioned "plug" tap is unsuitable for con-
trolling high-pressure water on account of the
suddenness with which it checks the flow. Lest
the reader should have doubts as to the nature
of a plug tap, we may add that it has a tapering
cone of metal working in a tapering socket. On
the cone being turned till a hole through it is
brought into line with the channel of the tap,
water passes. A quarter turn closes the tap.
FIG. 181.—A screw-down wate
    Its place has been taken by the screw-down
cock. A very common and effective pattern is
shown in Fig. 181. The valve V, with a facing of
rubber, leather, or some other sufficiently elast-
ic substance, is attached to a pin, C, which pro-
jects upwards into the spindle A of the tap. This
spindle has a screw thread on it engaging with a
collar, B. When the spindle is turned it rises or
falls, allowing the valve to leave its seating, V
S, or forcing it down on to it. A packing P in the
neck of B prevents the passage of water round
the spindle. To open or close the tap completely
is a matter of several turns, which cannot be
made fast enough to produce a "water-hammer"
in the pipes by suddenly arresting the flow. The
reader will easily understand that if water flow-
ing at the rate of several miles an hour is ab-
ruptly checked, the shock to the pipes carrying
it must be very severe.

               THE BALL-COCK
is used to feed a cistern automatically with wa-
ter, and prevent the water rising too far in the
cistern (Fig. 182). Water enters the cistern
through a valve, which is opened and closed
by a plug faced with rubber. The lower ex-
tremity of the plug is flattened, and has a rect-
angular hole cut in it. Through this passes a
lever, L, attached at one end to a hollow copper
sphere, and pivoted at the other on the valve
casing. This casing is not quite circular in sec-
tion, for two slots are cast in the circumference
to allow water to pass round the plug freely
when the valve is open. The buoyancy of the
copper sphere is sufficient to force the plug's
face up towards its seating as the valve rises,
and to cut off the supply entirely when a certain
level has been attained. If water is drawn off,
the sphere sinks, the valve opens, and the loss is
made good.
     FIG. 182.—An automatic ball-

                   FIG. 183.

   Some consumers pay a sum quarterly for the
privilege of a water supply, and the water com-
pany allows them to use as much as they re-
quire. Others, however, prefer to pay a fixed
amount for every thousand gallons used. In
such cases, a water-meter is required to record
the consumption. We append a sectional dia-
gram of Kennedy's patent water-meter (Fig.
183), very widely used. At the bottom is the
measuring cylinder, fitted with a piston, (6),
which is made to move perfectly water-tight
and free from friction by means of a cylindrical
ring of india-rubber, rolling between the body
of the piston and the internal surface of the cyl-
inder. The piston rod (25), after passing through
a stuffing-box in the cylinder cover, is attached
to a rack, (15), which gears with a cog, (13),
fixed on a shaft. As the piston moves up and
down, this cog is turned first in one direction,
then in the other. To this shaft is connected
the index mechanism (to the right). The cock-
key (24) is so constructed that it can put either
end of the measuring cylinder in communica-
tion with the supply or delivery pipes, if given a
quarter turn (see Fig. 184). The weighted lever
(14) moves loosely on the pinion shaft through
part of a circle. From the pinion project two
arms, one on each side of the lever. When the
lever has been lifted by one of these past the
vertical position, it falls by its own weight on
to a buffer-box rest, (18). In doing so, it strikes
a projection on the duplex lever (19), which is
joined to the cock-key, and gives the latter a
quarter turn.

    In order to follow the working of the meter,
we must keep an eye on Figs. 183 and 184 sim-
ultaneously. Water is entering from A, the sup-
ply pipe. It flows through the cock downwards
through channel D into the lower half of the cyl-
inder. The piston rises, driving out the water
above it through C to the delivery pipe B. Just
as the piston completes its stroke the weight,
raised by the rack and pinion, topples over, and
strikes the key-arm, which it sends down till
stopped by the buffer-box. The tap is then at
right angles to the position shown in Fig. 184,
and water is directed from A down C into the
top of the cylinder, forcing the piston down,
while the water admitted below during the last
stroke is forced up the passage D, and out by
the outlet B. Before the piston has arrived at
the bottom of the cylinder, the lifter will have
lifted the weighted lever from the buffer-box,
and raised it to a vertical position; from there it
will have fallen on the right-hand key-arm, and
have brought the cock-key to its former posi-
tion, ready to begin another upward stroke.
                                    FIG. 184.

    The index mechanism makes allowance for
the fact that the bevel-wheel on the pinion shaft
has its direction reversed at the beginning of
every stroke of the piston. This bevel engages
with two others mounted loosely on the little
shaft, on which is turned a screw thread to re-
volve the index counter wheels. Each of these
latter bevels actuates the shaft through a ratchet;
but while one turns the shaft when rotating in
a clockwise direction only, the other engages it
when making an anti-clockwise revolution. The
result is that the shaft is always turned in the
same direction.


   The water for a town or a district supply is
got either from wells or from a river. In the
former case it may be assumed to be free from
impurities. In the latter, there is need for remov-
ing all the objectionable and dangerous matter
which river water always contains in a great-
er or less degree. This purification is accom-
plished by first leading the water into large set-
tling tanks, where the suspended matter sinks
to the bottom. The water is then drawn off into
filtration beds, made in the following manner.
The bottom is covered with a thick layer of con-
crete. On this are laid parallel rows of bricks,
the rows a small distance apart. Then come a
layer of bricks or tiles placed close together; a
layer of coarse gravel; a layer of finer gravel;
and a thick layer of sand at the top. The sand
arrests any solid matter in the water as it per-
colates to the gravel and drains below. Even the
microbes,[36] of microscopic size, are arrested
as soon as the film of mud has formed on the
top of the sand. Until this film is formed the fil-
ter is not in its most efficient condition. Every
now and then the bed is drained, the surface
mud and sand carefully drained off, and fresh
sand put in their place. A good filter bed should
not pass more than from two to three gallons
per hour for every square foot of surface, and it
must therefore have a large area.

   It is sometimes necessary to send the water
through a succession of beds, arranged in ter-
races, before it is sufficiently pure for drinking


    When there is any doubt as to the whole-
someness of the water supply, a small filter is
often used. The microbe-stopper is usually
either charcoal, sand, asbestos, or baked clay of
some kind. In Fig. 185 we give a section of a
Maignen filter. R is the reservoir for the filtered
water; A the filter case proper; D a conical per-
forated frame; B a jacket of asbestos cloth se-
cured top and bottom by asbestos cords to D;
C powdered carbon, between which and the as-
bestos is a layer of special chemical filtering
medium. A perforated cap, E, covers in the car-
bon and prevents it being disturbed when wa-
ter is poured in. The carbon arrests the coarser
forms of matter; the asbestos the finer. The as-
bestos jacket is easily removed and cleansed by
heating over a fire.
                       FIG. 185.

   The most useful form of household filter is
one which can be attached to a tap connected
with the main. Such a filter is usually made of
porcelain or biscuit china. The Berkefeld filter
has an outer case of iron, and an interior hollow
"candle" of porcelain from which a tube passes
through the lid of the filter to a storage tank
for the filtered water. The water from the main
enters the outer case, and percolates through the
porcelain walls to the internal cavity and thence
flows away through the delivery pipe.

    Whatever be the type of filter used it must
be cleansed at proper intervals. A foul filter is
very dangerous to those who drink the water
from it. It has been proved by tests that, so far
from purifying the water, an inefficient and con-
taminated filter passes out water much more
highly charged with microbes than it was before
it entered. We must not therefore think that, be-
cause water has been filtered, it is necessarily
safe. The reverse is only too often the case.

                  GAS TRAPS.

    Dangerous microbes can be breathed as well
as drunk into the human system. Every com-
munication between house and drains should
be most carefully "trapped." The principle of a
gas trap between, say, a kitchen sink and the
drain to carry off the water is given in Fig. 186.
Enough water always remains in the bend to
rise above the level of the elbow, effectually
keeping back any gas that there may be in the
pipe beyond the bend.
FIG. 186.—A trap for foul air.

   Before the invention of the steam-engine hu-
man industries were largely dependent on the
motive power of the wind and running water.
But when the infant nursed by Watt and Steph-
enson had grown into a giant, both of these nat-
ural agents were deposed from the important
position they once held. Windmills in a state
of decay crown many of our hilltops, and the
water-wheel which formerly brought wealth to
the miller now rots in its mountings at the end
of the dam. Except for pumping and moving
boats and ships, wind-power finds its occupa-
tion gone. It is too uncertain in quantity and
quality to find a place in modern economics.
Water-power, on the other hand, has received
a fresh lease of life through the invention of
machinery so scientifically designed as to use
much more of the water's energy than was pos-
sible with the old-fashioned wheel.
FIG. 187.—A Pelton wheel which develops 5,000 h
                     shape of the double bucke

    The turbine, of which we have already
spoken in our third chapter, is now the favourite
hydraulic engine. Some water-turbines work on
much the same principle as the Parsons steam-
turbine; others resemble the De Laval. Among
the latter the Pelton wheel takes the first place.
By the courtesy of the manufacturers we are
able to give some interesting details and illus-
trations of this device.
FIG. 188.—Pelton wheel mounted, with n
    The wheel, which may be of any diameter
from six inches to ten feet, has buckets set at
regular intervals round the circumference,
sticking outwards. Each bucket, as will be
gathered from our illustration of an enormous
5,000 h.p. wheel (Fig. 187), is composed of two
cups. A nozzle is so arranged as to direct wa-
ter on the buckets just as they reach the low-
est point of a revolution (see Fig. 188). The wa-
ter strikes the bucket on the partition between
the two cups, which turns it right and left round
the inside of the cups. The change of direction
transfers the energy of the water to the wheel.
                FIG. 189.—Speed regulator for Pel

    The speed of the wheel may be automatic-
ally regulated by a deflecting nozzle (Fig. 189),
which has a ball and socket joint to permit of
its being raised or lowered by a centrifugal gov-
ernor, thus throwing the stream on or off the
buckets. The power of the wheel is conse-
quently increased or diminished to meet the
change of load, and a constant speed is main-
tained. When it is necessary to waste as little
water as possible, a concentric tapered needle
may be fitted inside the nozzle. When the
nozzle is in its highest position the needle tip is
withdrawn; as the nozzle sinks the needle pro-
trudes, gradually decreasing the discharge area
of the nozzle.

    Pelton wheels are designed to run at all
speeds and to use water of any pressure. At
Manitou, Colorado, is an installation of three
wheels operated by water which leaves the
nozzle at the enormous pressure of 935 lbs. per
square inch. It is interesting to note that jets of
very high-pressure water offer astonishing res-
istance to any attempt to deflect their course.
A three-inch jet of 500-lb. water cannot be cut
through by a blow from a crowbar.

    In order to get sufficient pressure for work-
ing hydraulic machinery in mines, factories,
etc., water is often led for many miles in flumes,
or artificial channels, along the sides of valleys
from the source of supply to the point at which
it is to be used. By the time that point is reached
the difference between the gradients of the
flume and of the valley bottom has produced a
difference in height of some hundreds of feet.
FIG. 190.—The Laxey water-wheel, Isle of Man.
 right-hand corner is a Pelton wheel of proportio
  required to do the same amount of work with t
        consumption of water at the same pressu

    The full-page illustration on p. 380 affords
a striking testimony to the wonderful progress
made in engineering practice during the last
fifty years. The huge water-wheel which forms
the bulk of the picture is that at Laxey, in the
Isle of Man. It is 72½ feet in diameter, and is
supposed to develop 150 horse-power, which is
transmitted several hundreds of feet by means
of wooden rods supported at regular intervals.
The power thus transmitted operates a system
of pumps in a lead mine, raising 250 gallons of
water per minute, to an elevation of 1,200 feet.
The driving water is brought some distance to
the wheel in an underground conduit, and is car-
ried up the masonry tower by pressure, flowing
over the top into the buckets on the circumfer-
ence of the wheel.

    The little cut in the upper corner represents
a Pelton wheel drawn on the same scale, which,
given an equal supply of water at the same pres-
sure, would develop the same power as the
Laxey monster. By the side of the giant the oth-
er appears a mere toy.


    In 1864 Denmark went to war with Ger-
many, and emerged from the short struggle
shorn of the provinces of Lauenburg, Holstein,
and Schleswig. The loss of the two last, the
fairest and most fertile districts of the kingdom,
was indeed grievous. The Danish king now
ruled only over a land consisting largely of
moor, marsh, and dunes, apparently worthless
for any purpose. But the Danes, with admirable
courage, entered upon a second struggle, this
time with nature. They made roads and rail-
ways, dug irrigation ditches, and planted forest
trees; and so gradually turned large tracts of
what had been useless country into valuable
possessions. Agriculture being much depressed,
owing to the low price of corn, they next gave
their attention to the improvement of dairy
farming. Labour-saving machinery of all kinds
was introduced, none more important than the
device for separating the fatty from the watery
constituents of milk. It would not be too much
to say that the separator is largely responsible
for the present prosperity of Denmark.
                     191.—Section of a Cream Sepa

    How does it work? asks the reader. Centrifu-
gal force[37] is the governing principle. To ex-
plain its application we append a sectional il-
lustration (Fig. 191) of Messrs. Burmeister and
Wain's hand-power separator, which may be
taken as generally representative of this class of
machines. Inside a circular casing is a cylindric-
al bowl, D, mounted on a shaft which can be re-
volved 5,000 times a minute by means of the
cog-wheels and the screw thread chased on it
near the bottom extremity. Milk flows from the
reservoir R (supported on a stout arm) through
tap A into a little distributer on the top of the
separator, and from it drops into the central tube
C of the bowl. Falling to the bottom, it is flung
outwards by centrifugal force, finds an escape
upwards through the holes a a, and climbs up
the perforated grid e, the surface of which is a
series of pyramidical excrescences, and finally
reaches the inner surface of the drum proper.
The velocity of rotation is so tremendous that
the heavier portions of the milk—that is, the
watery—crowd towards the point furthest from
the centre, and keep the lighter fatty elements
away from contact with the sides of the drum.
In the diagram the water is represented by small
circles, the cream by small crosses.

    As more milk enters the drum it forces up-
wards what is already there. The cap of the
drum has an inner jacket, F, which at the bottom
all but touches the side of the drum. The dis-
tance between them is the merest slit; but the
cream is deflected up outside F into space E, and
escapes through a hole one-sixteenth of an inch
in diameter perforating the plate G. The cream
is flung into space K and trickles out of spout
B, while the water flies into space H and trickles
away through spout A.
                  THE "HYDRO.,"

used in laundries for wringing clothes by cent-
rifugal force, has a solid outer casing and an in-
ner perforated cylindrical cage, revolved at high
speed by a vertical shaft. The wet clothes are
placed in the cage, and the machine is started.
The water escapes through the perforations and
runs down the side of the casing to a drain.
After a few minutes the clothes are dry enough
for ironing. So great is the centrifugal force that
they are consolidated against the sides of the
cage, and care is needed in their removal.
   [35] Inventor of the lathe slide-rest.

   [36] Living germs; some varieties the cause
     of disease.

   [37] That is, centre-fleeing force. Water
     dropped on a spinning top rushes towards
     the circumference and is shot off at right
    angles to a line drawn from the point of
    parting to the centre of the top.

               Chapter XIX.


   The hot-water supply—The tank sys-
      tem—The cylinder system—How a
      lamp    works—Gas        and     gas-
      works—Automatic stoking—A gas
      governor—The                      gas
      meter—Incandescent gas lighting.

             HOT-WATER SUPPLY.

A     WELL-EQUIPPED house is nowadays
      expected to contain efficient apparatus for
supplying plenty of hot water at all hours of the
day. There is little romance about the kitchen
boiler and the pipes which the plumber and his
satellites have sometimes to inspect and put
right, but the methods of securing a proper cir-
culation of hot water through the house are suf-
ficiently important and interesting to be noticed
in these pages.

   In houses of moderate size the kitchen range
does the heating. The two systems of storing
and distributing the heated water most com-
monly used are—(1) The tank system; (2) the
cylinder system.

             THE TANK SYSTEM

is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 192. The
boiler is situated at the back of the range, and
when a "damper" is drawn the fire and hot gases
pass under it to a flue leading to the chimney.
The almost boiling water rises to the top of
the boiler and thence finds its way up the flow
pipe into the hot-water tank A, displacing the
somewhat colder water there, which descends
through the return pipe to the bottom of the

    Water is drawn off from the flow pipe. This
pipe projects some distance through the bottom
of A, so that the hottest portion of the contents
may be drawn off first. A tank situated in the
roof, and fed from the main by a ball-cock
valve, communicates with A through the siphon
pipe S. The bend in this pipe prevents the ascent
of hot water, which cannot sink through water
colder than itself. From the top of A an expan-
sion pipe is led up and turned over the cold-wa-
ter tank to discharge any steam which may be
generated in the boiler.

   A hot-water radiator for warming the house
may be connected to the flow and return pipes
as shown. Since it opens a "short circuit" for the
circulation, the water in the tank above will not
be so well heated while it is in action. If cocks
are fitted to the radiator pipes, the amount of
heat thus deflected can be governed.
            FIG. 192.—The "tank" system of hot-

    A disadvantage of the tank system is that the
tank, if placed high enough to supply all flows,
is sometimes so far from the boiler that the wa-
ter loses much of its heat in the course of cir-
culation. Also, if for any reason the cold water
fails, tank A may be entirely emptied, circula-
tion cease, and the water in the boiler and pipes
boil away rapidly.


(Fig. 193) is open to neither of these objections.
Instead of a rectangular tank up aloft, we now
have a large copper cylinder situated in the kit-
chen near the range. The flow and return pipes
are continuous, and the cold supply enters the
bottom of the cylinder through a pipe with a si-
phon bend in it. As before, water is drawn off
from the flow pipe, and a radiator may be put in
the circuit. Since there is no draw-off point be-
low the top of the cylinder, even if the cold sup-
ply fails the cylinder will remain full, and the
failure will be discovered long before there is
any danger of the water in it boiling away.
          FIG. 193.—The "cylinder" system of ho

    Boiler explosions are due to obstructions in
the pipes. If the expansion pipe and the cold-
water supply pipe freeze, there is danger of a
slight accumulation of steam; and if one of the
circulation pipes is also blocked, steam must
generate until "something has to go,"[38] which
is naturally the boiler. Assuming that the pipes
are quite full to the points of obstruction, the
fracture would result from the expansion of the
water. Steam cannot generate unless there be a
space above the water. But the expanding wa-
ter has stored up the heat which would have
raised steam, and the moment expansion begins
after fracture this energy is suddenly let loose.
Steam forms instantaneously, augmenting the
effects of the explosion. From this it will be
gathered that all pipes should be properly pro-
tected against frost; especially near the roof.
   Another cause of disaster is the furring up
of the pipes with the lime deposited by hard
water when heated. When hard water is used,
the pipes will sooner or later be blocked near
the boiler; and as the deposit is too hard to be
scraped away, periodical renewals are unavoid-

            HOW A LAMP WORKS.

    From heating we turn to lighting, and first to
the ordinary paraffin lamp. The two chief things
to notice about this are the wick and the chim-
ney. The wick, being made of closely-woven
cotton, draws up the oil by what is known as
capillary attraction. If you dip the ends of two
glass tubes, one half an inch, the other one-
eighth of an inch in diameter, into a vessel of
water, you will notice that the water rises higher
in the smaller tube. Or get two clean glass plates
and lay them face to face, touching at one end,
but kept slightly apart at the other by some
small object. If they are partly submerged per-
pendicularly, the water will rise between the
plates—furthest on the side at which the two
plates touch, and less and less as the other edge
is approached. The tendency of liquids to rise
through porous bodies is a phenomenon for
which we cannot account.

    Mineral oil contains a large proportion of
carbon and hydrogen; it is therefore termed
hydro-carbon. When oil reaches the top of a
lighted wick, the liquid is heated until it turns
into gas. The carbon and hydrogen unite with
the oxygen of the air. Some particles of the car-
bon apparently do not combine at once, and as
they pass through the fiery zone of the flame
are heated to such a temperature as to become
highly luminous. It is to produce these light-
rays that we use a lamp, and to burn our oil ef-
ficiently we must supply the flame with plenty
of oxygen, with more than it could naturally ob-
tain. So we surround it with a transparent chim-
ney of special glass. The air inside the chim-
ney is heated, and rises; fresh air rushes in at
the bottom, and is also heated and replaced. As
the air passes through, the flame seizes on the
oxygen. If the wick is turned up until the flame
becomes smoky and flares, the point has been
passed at which the induced chimney draught
can supply sufficient oxygen to combine with
the carbon of the vapour, and the "free" carbon
escapes as smoke.

    The blower-plate used to draw up a fire (Fig.
194) performs exactly the same function as the
lamp chimney, but on a larger scale. The plate
prevents air passing straight up the chimney
over the coals, and compels it to find a way
through the fire itself to replace the heated air
rising up the chimney.
   FIG. 194.—Showing how a blower-plate
             draws up the fire.

            GAS AND GASWORKS.

    A lamp is an apparatus for converting hydro-
carbon mineral oil into gas and burning it ef-
ficiently. The gas-jet burns gases produced by
driving off hydro-carbon vapours from coal in
apparatus specially designed for the purpose.
Gas-making is now, in spite of the competition
of electric lighting, so important an industry
that we shall do well to glance at the processes
which it includes. Coal gas may be produced on
a very small scale as follows:—Fill a tin can-
ister (the joints of which have been made by
folding the metal, not by soldering) with coal,
clap on the lid, and place it, lid downwards,
in a bright fire, after punching a hole in the
bottom. Vapour soon begins to issue from the
hole. This is probably at first only steam, due
to the coal being more or less damp. But if a
lighted match be presently applied the vapour
takes fire, showing that coal gas proper is com-
ing off. The flame lasts for a long time. When it
dies the canister may be removed and the con-
tents examined. Most of the carbon remains in
the form of coke. It is bulk for bulk much lighter
than coal, for the hydrogen, oxygen, and other
gases, and some of the carbon have been driven
off by the heat. The coke itself burns if placed
in a fire, but without any smoke, such as issues
from coal.
         FIG. 195.—Sketch of the apparatus used

    Our home-made gas yields a smoky and un-
satisfactory flame, owing to the presence of cer-
tain impurities—ammonia, tar, sulphuretted hy-
drogen, and carbon bisulphide. A gas factory
must be equipped with means of getting rid
of these objectionable constituents. Turning to
Fig. 195, which displays very diagrammatically
the main features of a gas plant, we observe
at the extreme right the retorts, which corres-
pond to our canister. These are usually long
fire-brick tubes of D-section, the flat side at the
bottom. Under each is a furnace, the flames of
which play on the bottom, sides, and inner end
of the retort. The outer end projecting beyond
the brickwork seating has an iron air-tight door
for filling the retort through, immediately be-
hind which rises an iron exit pipe, A, for the
gases. Tar, which vaporizes at high temperat-
ures, but liquefies at ordinary atmospheric heat,
must first be got rid of. This is effected by
passing the gas through the hydraulic main, a
tubular vessel half full of water running the
whole length of the retorts. The end of pipe A
dips below the surface of the water, which con-
denses most of the tar and steam. The partly-
purified gas now passes through pipe B to the
condensers, a series of inverted U-pipes stand-
ing on an iron chest with vertical cross divisions
between the mouths of each U. These divisions
dip into water, so that the gas has to pass up one
leg of a U, down the other, up the first leg of the
second pipe, and so on, till all traces of the tar
and other liquid constituents have condensed on
the inside of the pipe, from which they drop in-
to the tank below.

    The next stage is the passage of the scrub-
ber, filled with coke over which water perpetu-
ally flows. The ammonia gas is here absorbed.
There still remain the sulphuretted hydrogen
and the carbon bisulphide, both of which are ex-
tremely offensive to the nostrils. Slaked lime,
laid on trays in an air-tight compartment called
the lime purifier, absorbs most of the sulphur-
ous elements of these; and the coal gas is then
fit for use. On leaving the purifiers it flows into
the gasometer, or gasholder, the huge cake-like
form of which is a very familiar object in the
environs of towns. The gasometer is a cylindric-
al box with a domed top, but no bottom, built of
riveted steel plates. It stands in a circular tank
of water, so that it may rise and fall without any
escape of gas. The levity of the gas, in conjunc-
tion with weights attached to the ends of chains
working over pulleys on the framework sur-
rounding the holder, suffices to raise the holder.
FIG. 196.—The largest gasholder in the world: So
    ropolitan Gas Co., Greenwich Gas Works. Ca
                   12,158,600 cubic feet.

    Some gasometers have an enormous capa-
city. The record is at present held by that built
for the South Metropolitan Gas Co., London, by
Messrs. Clayton & Son of Leeds. This monster
(of which we append an illustration, Fig. 196)
is 300 feet in diameter and 180 feet high. When
fully extended it holds 12,158,600 cubic feet of
gas. Owing to its immense size, it is built on the
telescopic principle in six "lifts," of 30 feet deep
each. The sides of each lift, or ring, except the
topmost, have a section shaped somewhat like
the letter N. Two of the members form a deep,
narrow cup to hold water, in which the "dip"
member of the ring above it rises and falls.
 FIG. 197.—Drawing retorts. (Photo by

    The labour of feeding the retorts with coal
and removing the coke is exceedingly severe. In
the illustration on p. 400 (made from a very fine
photograph taken by Mr. F. Marsh of Clifton)
we see a man engaged in "drawing" the retorts
through the iron doors at their outer ends. Auto-
matic machinery is now used in large gasworks
for both operations. One of the most ingenious
stokers is the De Brouwer, shown at work in
Fig. 198. The machine is suspended from an
overhead trolley running on rails along the face
of the retorts. Coal falls into a funnel at the
top of the telescopic pipe P from hoppers in the
story above, which have openings, H H, con-
trolled by shutters. The coal as it falls is caught
by a rubber belt working round part of the cir-
cumference of the large wheel W and a number
of pulleys, and is shot into the mouth of the
retort. The operator is seen pulling the handle
which opens the shutter of the hopper above the
feed-tube, and switching on the 4 h.p. electric
motor which drives the belt and moves the ma-
chine about. One of these feeders will charge a
retort 20 feet long in twenty-two seconds.
     FIG. 198.—De Brouwer automatic retort cha

              A GAS GOVERNOR.

    Some readers may have noticed that late at
night a gas-jet, which a few hours before burned
with a somewhat feeble flame when the tap was
turned fully on, now becomes more and more
vigorous, and finally may flare up with a hiss-
ing sound. This is because many of the burners
fed by the main supplying the house have been
turned off, and consequently there is a greater
amount of gas available for the jets still burn-
ing, which therefore feel an increased pressure.
As a matter of fact, the pressure of gas in the
main is constantly varying, owing partly to the
irregularity of the delivery from the gasometer,
and partly to the fact that the number of burners
in action is not the same for many minutes to-
gether. It must also be remembered that houses
near the gasometer end of the main will receive
their gas at a higher pressure than those at the
other end. The gas stored in the holders may be
wanted for use in the street lamps a few yards
away, or for other lamps several miles distant. It
is therefore evident that if there be just enough
pressure to give a good supply to the nearest
lamp, there will be too little a short distance
beyond it, and none at all at the extreme point;
so that it is necessary to put on enough pressure
to overcome the friction on all these miles of
pipe, and give just enough gas at the extreme
end. It follows that at all intermediate points the
pressure is excessive. Gas of the average quality
is burned to the greatest advantage, as regards
its light-giving properties, when its pressure is
equal to that of a column of water half an inch
high, or about 1⁄50 lb. to the square inch. With
less it gives a smoky, flickering light, and with
more the combustion is also imperfect.
FIG. 199.
    Every house supply should therefore be fit-
ted with a gas governor, to keep the pressure
constant. A governor frequently used, the Stott,
is shown in section in Fig. 199. Gas enters from
the main on the right, and passes into a circular
elbow, D, which has top and bottom apertures
closed by the valves V V. Attached to the valve
shaft is a large inverted cup of metal, the tip of
which is immersed in mercury. The pressure at
which the governor is to act is determined by
the weights W, with which the valve spindle is
loaded at the top. As soon as this pressure is ex-
ceeded, the gas in C C lifts the metal cup, and V
V are pressed against their seats, so cutting off
the supply. Gas cannot escape from C C, as it has
not sufficient pressure to force its way through
the mercury under the lip of the cup. Immedi-
ately the pressure in C C falls, owing to some of
the gas being used up, the valves open and ad-
mit more gas. When the fluctuations of pressure
are slight, the valves never close completely,
but merely throttle the supply until the pressure
beyond them falls to its proper level—that is,
they pass just as much gas as the burners in use
can consume at the pressure arranged for.

    Governors of much larger size, but working
on much the same principle, are fitted to the
mains at the point where they leave the gaso-
meters. They are not, however, sensitive to loc-
al fluctuations in the pipes, hence the necessity
for separate governors in the house between the
meter and the burners.

               THE GAS-METER

commonly used in houses acts on the principle
shown in Fig. 200. The air-tight casing is di-
vided by horizontal and vertical divisions into
three gas-chambers, B, C, and D. Gas enters at
A, and passes to the valve chamber B. The slide-
valves of this allow it to pass into C and D, and
also into the two circular leather bellows E, F,
which are attached to the central division G, but
are quite independent of one another.
  tion We
  in that
  nd valves
  - admitting
       C gas
 chamber are
 sin lows
  ds head
 e of
 ethe of
n to
  rs (not
 F the the
  ouse. inflation
uD gas
 in forces
 egh the
    are of
d tached
 lly theAs . in
  is Esoon as B
n, slide-valves
  yF and
 t ation
he and
  -allow of
   and F
 to contents
 eeof cape
 g, mechanism
strain a     operate
     side in
         the a
ve scase.
y, As
  - agive that
 er of
y: or
ch them
 FIG. 200.—Sketch of the bellows and cham-
          bers of a "dry" gas meter.

this is registered by the counter. The apparatus
practically has two double-action cylinders (of
which the bellows ends are the pistons) working
on the same principle as the steam-cylinder
(Fig. 21). The valves have three ports—the
central, or exhaust, leading to the outlet, the
outer ones from the inlet. The bellows are fed
through channels in the division G.


   The introduction of the electric arc lamp and
the incandescent glow-lamp seemed at one time
to spell the doom of gas as an illuminating
agent. But the appearance in 1886 of the Wels-
bach incandescent mantle for gas-burners
opened a prosperous era in the history of gas
    The luminosity of a gas flame depends on
the number of carbon particles liberated within
it, and the temperature to which these particles
can be heated as they pass through the intensely
hot outside zone of the flame. By enriching the
gas in carbon more light is yielded, up to a cer-
tain point, with a flame of a given temperat-
ure. To increase the heat of the flame various
devices were tried before the introduction of
the incandescent mantle, but they were found
to be too short-lived to have any commercial
value. Inventors therefore sought for methods
by which the emission of light could be ob-
tained from coal gas independently of the in-
candescence of the carbon particles in the flame
itself; and step by step it was discovered that
gas could be better employed merely as a heat-
ing agent, to raise to incandescence substances
having a higher emissivity of light than carbon.
    Dr. Auer von Welsbach found that the sub-
stances most suitable for incandescent mantles
were the oxides of certain rare metals, thorium,
and cerium. The mantle is made by dipping a
cylinder of cotton net into a solution of nitrate
of thorium and cerium, containing 99 per cent.
of the former and 1 per cent. of the latter metal.
When the fibres are sufficiently soaked, the
mantle is withdrawn, squeezed, and placed on a
mould to dry. It is next held over a Bunsen gas
flame and the cotton is burned away, while the
nitrates are converted into oxides. The mantle is
now ready for use, but very brittle. So it has to
undergo a further dipping, in a solution of gun-
cotton and alcohol, to render it tough enough
for packing. When it is required for use, it is
suspended over the burner by an asbestos thread
woven across the top, a light is applied to the
bottom, and the collodion burned off, leaving
nothing but the heat-resisting oxides.
    The burner used with a mantle is constructed
on the Bunsen principle. The gas is mixed, as
it emerges from the jet, with sufficient air to
render its combustion perfect. All the carbon is
burned, and the flame, though almost invisible,
is intensely hot. The mantle oxides convert the
heat energy of the flame into light energy. This
is proved not only by the intense whiteness of
the mantle, but by the fact that the heat issuing
from the chimney of the burner is not nearly so
great when the mantle is in position as when it
is absent.

   The incandescent mantle is more extensively
used every year. In Germany 90 per cent. of
gas lighting is on the incandescent system, and
in England about 40 per cent. We may notice,
as an interesting example of the fluctuating for-
tunes of invention, that the once doomed gas-
burner has, thanks to Welsbach's mantle, in
many instances replaced the incandescent elec-
tric lamps that were to doom it.
   [38] If, of course, there is no safety-valve in
     proper working order included in the in-

                 Chapter XX.


   CLOCKS AND WATCHES:—A short history
      of timepieces—The construction of
      timepieces—The driving power—The
      escapement—Compensating     pendu-
      lums—The spring balance—The cylin-
      der escapement—The lever escape-
      ment—Compensated          balance-
      wheels—Keyless winding mechanism
      for watches—The hour hand train.
      LOCKS:—The Chubb lock—The Yale
      lock. THE CYCLE:—The gearing of a
      cycle—The free wheel—The change-
      speed       gear.     AGRICULTURAL
      MACHINES:—The               threshing-
      machine—Mowing-machines.         SOME
      heat    varies    in   intensity—The
      tides—Why high tide varies daily.


T    HE oldest device for measuring time is the
     sun-dial. That of Ahaz mentioned in the
Second Book of Kings is the earliest dial of
which we have record. The obelisks of the
Egyptians and the curious stone pillars of the
Druidic age also probably served as shadow-
    The clepsydra, or water-clock, also of great
antiquity, was the first contrivance for gauging
the passage of the hours independently of the
motion of the earth. In its simplest form it was
a measure into which water fell drop by drop,
hour levels being marked on the inside. Subse-
quently a very simple mechanism was added to
drive a pointer—a float carrying a vertical rack,
engaging with a cog on the pointer spindle; or
a string from the float passed over a pulley at-
tached to the pointer and rotated it as the float
rose, after the manner of the wheel barometer
(Fig. 153). In 807 A.D. Charlemagne received
from the King of Persia a water-clock which
struck the hours. It is thus described in Gifford's
"History of France":—"The dial was composed
of twelve small doors, which represented the di-
vision of the hours. Each door opened at the
hour it was intended to represent, and out of
it came a small number of little balls, which
fell one by one, at equal distances of time, on
a brass drum. It might be told by the eye what
hour it was by the number of doors that were
open, and by the ear by the number of balls that
fell. When it was twelve o'clock twelve horse-
men in miniature issued forth at the same time
and shut all the doors."

   Sand-glasses were introduced about 330
A.D. Except for special purposes, such as timing
sermons and boiling eggs, they have not been of
any practical value.

   The clepsydra naturally suggested to the
mechanical mind the idea of driving a mechan-
ism for registering time by the force of gravity
acting on some body other than water. The in-
vention of the weight-driven clock is attributed,
like a good many other things, to Archimedes,
the famous Sicilian mathematician of the third
century B.C.; but no record exists of any actual
clock composed of wheels operated by a weight
prior to 1120 A.D. So we may take that year as
opening the era of the clock as we know it.

   About 1500 Peter Hele of Nuremberg in-
vented the mainspring as a substitute for the
weight, and the watch appeared soon afterwards
(1525 A.D.). The pendulum was first adopted
for controlling the motion of the wheels by
Christian Huygens, a distinguished Dutch
mechanician, in 1659.

    To Thomas Tompion, "the father of English
watchmaking," is ascribed the honour of first
fitting a hairspring to the escapement of a
watch, in or about the year 1660. He also in-
troduced the cylinder escapement now so com-
monly used in cheap watches. Though many
improvements have been made since his time,
Tompion manufactured clocks and watches
which were excellent timekeepers, and as a re-
ward for the benefits conferred on his fellows
during his lifetime, he was, after death, granted
the exceptional honour of a resting-place in
Westminster Abbey.


   A clock or watch contains three main ele-
ments:—(1) The source of power, which may
be a weight or a spring; (2) the train of wheels
operated by the driving force; (3) the agent for
controlling the movements of the train—this in
large clocks is usually a pendulum, in small
clocks and watches a hairspring balance. To
these may be added, in the case of clocks, the
apparatus for striking the hour.

            THE DRIVING POWER.

   Weights are used only in large clocks, such
as one finds in halls, towers, and observatories.
The great advantage of employing weights is
that a constant driving power is exerted. Springs
occupy much less room than weights, and are
indispensable for portable timepieces. The em-
ployment of them caused trouble to early exper-
imenters on account of the decrease in power
which necessarily accompanies the uncoiling of
a wound-up spring. Jacob Zech of Prague over-
came the difficulty in 1525 by the invention of
the fusee, a kind of conical pulley interposed
between the barrel, or circular drum containing
the mainspring, and the train of wheels which
the spring has to drive. The principle of the
"drum and fusee" action will be understood
from Fig. 201. The mainspring is a long steel
ribbon fixed at one end to an arbor (the watch-
maker's name for a spindle or axle), round
which it is tightly wound. The arbor and spring
are inserted in the barrel. The arbor is prevented
from turning by a ratchet, B, and click, and
therefore the spring in its effort to uncoil causes
the barrel to rotate.
          finea st
           very o
             is cat
   the to end
            of on
circumference     co
    which fixe
     the end ing
          thethe o
            or to
      driving-w   is
       ratchet o
          and by
       clicka clo
             is the
            fusee T
            key tur
            to ab
        the the
         this e
          and of
      fusee squn
          the dru  str
                  dr t
          the fu
      fusee ofT
           by strin
       coil, it,  to
          the so
      fusee wo    tur
          smalles by
          ra- of
            the it
becomes as diu

   chrono- fu
 marinestill is
     a have fo
mainspring me
         In and
                   FIG. 201.

the latter it has been rendered unnecessary by
the introduction of the going-barrel by Swiss
watchmakers, who formed teeth on the edge of
the mainspring barrel to drive the train of
wheels. This kind of drum is called "going" be-
cause it drives the watch during the operation of
winding, which is performed by rotating the
drum arbor to which the inner end of the spring
is attached. A ratchet prevents the arbor from
being turned backwards by the spring. The ad-
option of the going-barrel has been made satis-
factory by the improvements in the various es-
capement actions.

              THE ESCAPEMENT.
                      FIG. 202.

   The spring or weight transmits its power
through a train of cogs to the escapement, or
device for regulating the rate at which the
wheels are to revolve. In clocks a pendulum
is generally used as the controlling agent. Ga-
lileo, when a student at Pisa, noticed that certain
hanging lamps in the cathedral there swung on
their cords at an equal rate; and on investigation
he discovered the principle that the shorter a
pendulum is the more quickly will it swing to
and fro. As has already been observed, Huygens
first applied the principle to the governing of
clocks. In Fig. 202 we have a simple represent-
ation of the "dead-beat" escapement commonly
used in clocks. The escape-wheel is mounted on
the shaft of the last cog of the driving train, the
pallet on a spindle from which depends a split
arm embracing the rod and the pendulum. We
must be careful to note that the pendulum con-
trols motion only; it does not cause movement.

   The escape-wheel revolves in a clockwise
direction. The two pallets a and b are so de-
signed that only one can rest on the teeth at
one time. In the sketch the sloping end of b
has just been forced upwards by the pressure
of a tooth. This swings the pallet and the pen-
dulum. The momentum of the latter causes a
to descend, and at the instant when b clears
its tooth a catches and holds another. The left-
hand side of a, called the locking-face, is part
of a circle, so that the escape-wheel is held
motionless as long as it touches a: hence the
term, "dead beat"—that is, brought to a dead
stop. As the pendulum swings back, to the left,
under the influence of gravity, a is raised and
frees the tooth. The wheel jerks round, and an-
other tooth is caught by the locking-face of b.
Again the pendulum swings to the right, and
the sloping end of b is pushed up once more,
giving the pendulum fresh impetus. This pro-
cess repeats itself as long as the driving power
lasts—for weeks, months, or years, as the case
may be, and the mechanism continues to be in
good working order.


    Metal expands when heated; therefore a steel
pendulum which is of the exact length to govern
a clock correctly at a temperature of 60° would
become too long at 80°, and slow the clock, and
too short at 40°, and cause it to gain. In common
clocks the pendulum rod is often made of wood,
which maintains an almost constant length at
all ordinary temperatures. But for very accur-
ate clocks something more efficient is required.
Graham, the partner of Thomas Tompion, took
advantage of the fact that different kinds of met-
al have different ratios of expansion to produce
a self-compensating pendulum on the principle
illustrated by Fig. 203. He used steel for the
rod, and formed the bob, or weighted end, of a
glass jar containing mercury held in a stirrup;
the mercury being of such a height that, as the
pendulum rod lengthened with a rise of tem-
perature, the mercury expanded upwards suffi-
ciently to keep the distance between the point of
suspension and the centre of gravity of the bob
always the same. With a fall of temperature the
rod shortened, while the mercury sank in the jar.
This device has not been improved upon, and
is still used in observatories and other places
where timekeepers of extreme precision are re-
quired. The milled nut S in Fig. 203 is fitted at
the end of the pendulum rod to permit the exact
adjustment of the pendulum's length.

   For watches, chronometers, and small clocks


takes the place of the pendulum. We still have
an escape-wheel with teeth of a suitable shape
to give impulses to the controlling agent. There
are two forms of spring escapement, but as both
employ a hairspring and balance-wheel we will
glance at these before going further.
                   FIG. 203.

   The hairspring is made of very fine steel rib-
bon, tempered to extreme elasticity, and shaped
to a spiral. The inner end is attached to the
arbor of the balance-wheel, the outer end to
a stud projecting from the plate of the watch.
When the balance-wheel, impelled by the es-
capement, rotates, it winds up the spring. The
energy thus stored helps the wheel to revolve
the other way during the locking of a tooth
of the escape-wheel. The time occupied by the
winding and the unwinding depends upon the
length of the spring. The strength of the impulse
makes no difference. A strong impulse causes
the spring to coil itself up more than a weak im-
pulse would; but inasmuch as more energy is
stored the process of unwinding is hastened. To
put the matter very simply—a strong impulse
moves the balance-wheel further, but rotates it
quickly; a weak impulse moves it a shorter dis-
tance, but rotates it slowly. In fact, the principle
of the pendulum is also that of the hairspring;
and the duration of a vibration depends on the
length of the rod in the one case, and of the
spring in the other.

   Motion is transmitted to the balance by one
of two methods. Either (1) directly, by a cyl-
inder escapement; or (2) indirectly, through a

FIG. 204.—"Cylinder" watch escape-


is seen in Fig. 204. The escape-wheel has sharp
teeth set on stalks. (One tooth is removed to
show the stalk.) The balance-wheel is mounted
on a small steel cylinder, with part of the cir-
cumference cut away at the level of the teeth,
so that if seen from above it would appear like
a in our illustration. A tooth is just beginning
to shove its point under the nearer edge of the
opening. As it is forced forwards, b is revolved
in a clockwise direction, winding up the hair-
spring. When the tooth has passed the nearer
edge it flies forward, striking the inside of the
further wall of the cylinder, which holds it while
the spring uncoils. The tooth now pushes its
way past the other edge, accelerating the un-
winding, and, as it escapes, the next tooth jumps
forward and is arrested by the outside of the
cylinder. The balance now reverses its motion,
is helped by the tooth, is wound up, locks the
tooth, and so on.

is somewhat more complicated. The escape-
wheel teeth are locked and unlocked by the pal-
lets P P1 projecting from a lever which moves
on a pivot (Fig. 205). The end of the lever is
forked, and has a square notch in it. On the ar-
bor of the balance-wheel is a roller, or plate, R,
which carries a small pin, I. Two pins, B B, pro-
jecting from the plate of the watch prevent the
lever moving too far. We must further notice the
little pin C on the lever, and a notch in the edge
of the roller.
FIG. 205.—"Lever" watch escap
    In the illustration a tooth has just passed
under the "impulse face" b of P1. The lever
has been moved upwards at the right end; and
its forked end has given an impulse to R, and
through it to the balance-wheel. The spring
winds up. The pin C prevents the lever drop-
ping, because it no longer has the notch oppos-
ite to it, but presses on the circumference of
R. As the spring unwinds it strikes the lever at
the moment when the notch and C are opposite.
The lever is knocked downwards, and the tooth,
which had been arrested by the locking-face a
of pallet P, now presses on the impulse face b,
forcing the left end of the lever up. The impulse
pin I receives a blow, assisting the unwinding
of the spring, and C again locks the lever. The
same thing is repeated in alternate directions
over and over again.

    The watchmaker has had to overcome the
same difficulty as the clockmaker with regard
to the expansion of the metal in the controlling
agent. When a metal wheel is heated its spokes
lengthen, and the rim recedes from the centre.
Now, let us suppose that we have two rods of
equal weight, one three feet long, the other six
feet long. To an end of each we fasten a 2-lb.
weight. We shall find it much easier to wave
the shorter rod backwards and forwards quickly
than the other. Why? Because the weight of the
longer rod has more leverage over the hand than
has that of the shorter rod. Similarly, if, while
the mass of the rim of a wheel remains con-
stant, the length of the spokes varies, the effort
needed to rotate the wheel to and fro at a con-
stant rate must vary also. Graham got over the
difficulty with a rod by means of the compens-
ating pendulum. Thomas Earnshaw mastered it
in wheels by means of the compensating bal-
ance, using the same principle—namely, the
unequal expansion of different metals. Any one
who owns a compensated watch will see, on
stopping the tiny fly-wheel, that it has two
spokes (Fig. 206), each carrying an almost com-
plete semicircle of rim attached to it. A close
examination shows that the rim is compounded
of an outer strip of brass welded to an inner lin-
ing of steel. The brass element expands more
with heat and contracts more with cold than
steel; so that when the spokes become elong-
ated by a rise of temperature, the pieces bend
inwards at their free ends (Fig. 207); if the tem-
perature falls, the spokes are shortened, and the
rim pieces bend outwards (Fig. 208).[39] This
ingenious contrivance keeps the leverage of the
rim constant within very fine limits. The screws
S S are inserted in the rim to balance it correctly,
and very fine adjustment is made by means of
the four tiny weights W W. In ships' chronomet-
ers,[40] the rim pieces are sub-compensated to-
wards their free ends to counteract slight errors
in the primary compensation. So delicate is the
compensation that a daily loss or gain of only
half a second is often the limit of error.

           FIG. 206.                       FIG. 20
A "compensating" watch balance, at normal, su

   The inconvenience attaching to a key-wound
watch caused the Swiss manufacturers to put on
the market, in 1851, watches which dispensed
with a separate key. Those of our readers who
carry keyless watches will be interested to learn
how the winding and setting of the hands is ef-
fected by the little serrated knob enclosed inside
the pendant ring.

   There are two forms of "going-barrel" key-
less mechanism—(1) The rocking bar; (2) the
shifting sleeve. The rocking bar device is
shown in Figs. 209, 210. The milled head M
turns a cog, G, which is always in gear with a
cog, F. This cog gears with two others, A and
B, mounted at each end of the rocker R, which
moves on pivot S. A spring, S P, attached to the
watch plate presses against a small stud on the
rocking bar, and keeps A normally in gear with
C, mounted on the arbor of the mainspring.
          FIG. 209.—The winding mechanism of a

   To wind the watch, M is turned so as to give
F an anti-clockwise motion. The teeth of F now
press A downwards and keep it in gear with
C while the winding is done. A spring click
(marked solid black) prevents the spring uncoil-
ing (Fig. 209). If F is turned in a clockwise dir-
ection it lifts A and prevents it biting the teeth
of C, and no strain is thrown on C.

   To set the hands, the little push-piece P is
pressed inwards by the thumb (Fig. 210) so as
to depress the right-hand end of R and bring B
into gear with D, which in turn moves E, moun-
ted on the end of the minute-hand shaft. The
hands can now be moved in either direction
by turning M. On releasing the push-piece the
winding-wheels engage again.

   The shifting sleeve mechanism has a bevel
pinion in the place of G (Fig. 209) gearing with
the mainspring cog. The shaft of the knob M
is round where it passes through the bevel and
can turn freely inside it, but is square below. On
the square part is mounted a little sliding clutch
with teeth on the top corresponding with the
other teeth on the under side of the bevel-wheel,
and teeth similar to those of G (Fig. 209) at the
end. The clutch has a groove cut in the circum-
ference, and in this lies the end of a spring lever
which can be depressed by the push-piece. The
mechanism much resembles on a small scale
the motor car changing gear (Fig. 49).
Normally, the clutch is pushed up the square
part of the knob shaft by the spring so as to
engage with the bevel and the winding-wheels.
On depressing the clutch by means of the push-
piece it gears with the minute-hand pinion, and
lets go of the bevel.
            FIG. 210.—The hand-setting mechani

   In one form of this mechanism the push-
piece is dispensed with, and the minute-wheel
pinion is engaged by pulling the knob upwards.


                FIG. 211.—The hour-hand train o
    The teeth of the mainspring drum gear with
a cog on the minute-hand shaft, which also car-
ries one of the cogs of the escapement train.
The shaft is permitted by the escapement to re-
volve once an hour. Fig. 211 shows diagram-
matically how this is managed. The hour-hand
shaft A (solid black) can be moved round inside
the cog B, driven by the mainspring drum. It
carries a cog, C. This gears with a cog, D, having
three times as many teeth. The cog E, united to
D, drives cog F, having four times as many teeth
as E. To F is attached the collar G of the hour-
hand. F and G revolve outside the minute-hand
shaft. On turning A, C turns D and E, E turns F
and the hour-hand, which revolves ⅓ of ¼ = 1⁄12
as fast as A.[41]

ON these unfortunately necessary mechanisms
a great deal of ingenuity has been expended.
With the advance of luxury and the increased
worship of wealth, it becomes more and more
necessary to guard one's belongings against the
less scrupulous members of society.
                                  FIG. 212.

    The simplest form of lock, such as is found
in desks and very cheap articles, works on the
principle shown in Fig. 212. The bolt is split
at the rear, and the upper part bent upwards to
form a spring. The under edge has two notches
cut in it, separated by a curved excrescence. The
key merely presses the bolt upwards against the
spring, until the notch, engaging with the frame,
moves it backwards or forwards until the spring
drives the tail down into the other notch. This
primitive device affords, of course, very little
security. An advance is seen in the

               TUMBLER LOCK.
                                  FIG. 213.

   The bolt now can move only in a horizontal
direction. It has an opening cut in it with two
notches (Figs. 213, 214). Behind the bolt lies
the tumbler T (indicated by the dotted line),
pivoted at the angle on a pin. From the face of
the tumbler a stud, S, projects through the hole
in the bolt. This stud is forced into one or other
of the notches by the spring, S1, which presses
on the tail of the tumbler.
                                 FIG. 214.

   In Fig. 213 the key is about to actuate the
locking mechanism. The next diagram (Fig.
214) shows how the key, as it enters the notch
on the lower side of the bolt to move it along,
also raises the tumbler stud clear of the projec-
tion between the two notches. By the time that
the bolt has been fully "shot," the key leaves the
under notch and allows the tumbler stud to fall
into the rear locking-notch.

    A lock of this type also can be picked very
easily, as the picker has merely to lift the tum-
bler and move the bolt along. Barron's lock, pat-
ented in 1778, had two tumblers and two studs;
and the opening in the bolt had notches at the
top as well as at the bottom (Fig. 215). This
made it necessary for both tumblers to be raised
simultaneously to exactly the right height. If
either was not lifted sufficiently, a stud could
not clear its bottom notch; if either rose too far,
it engaged an upper notch. The chances there-
fore were greatly against a wrong key turning
the lock.
                     FIG. 215.—The bolt of a Barron

               THE CHUBB LOCK

is an amplification of this principle. It usually
has several tumblers of the shape shown in Fig.
216. The lock stud in these locks projects from
the bolt itself, and the openings, or "gates,"
through which the stud must pass as the lock
moves, are cut in the tumblers. It will be noticed
that the forward notch of the tumbler has square
serrations in the edges. These engage with sim-
ilar serrations in the bolt stud and make it im-
possible to raise the tumbler if the bolt begins to
move too soon when a wrong key is inserted.
                     FIG. 216.—Tumbler of Chubb

   Fig. 217 is a Chubb key with eight steps.
That nearest the head (8) operates a circular re-
volving curtain, which prevents the introduc-
tion of picking tools when a key is inserted and
partly turned, as the key slot in the curtain is no
longer opposite that in the lock. Step 1 moves
the bolt.
           FIG. 217.—A Chubb key.

    In order to shoot the bolt the height of the
key steps must be so proportioned to the depth
of their tumblers that all the gates in the tum-
blers are simultaneously raised to the right level
for the stud to pass through them, as in Fig. 218.
Here you will observe that the tumbler D on the
extreme right (lifted by step 2 of the key) has a
stud, D S, projecting from it over the other tum-
blers. This is called the detector tumbler. If a
false key or picking tool is inserted it is cer-
tain to raise one of the tumblers too far. The de-
tector is then over-lifted by the stud D S, and a
spring catch falls into a notch at the rear. It is
now impossible to pick the lock, as the detector
can be released only by the right key shooting
the bolt a little further in the locking direction,
when a projection on the rear of the bolt lifts the
catch and allows the tumbler to fall. The detect-
or also shows that the lock has been tampered
with, since even the right key cannot move the
bolt until the overlocking has been performed.

FIG. 218.—A Chubb key raising all the tum-
         blers to the correct height.

   Each tumbler step of a large Chubb key can
be given one of thirty different heights; the bolt
step one of twenty. By merely transposing the
order of the steps in a six-step key it is possible
to get 720 different combinations. By diminish-
ing or increasing the heights the possible com-
binations may be raised to the enormous total of
     FIG. 219.—Section of a Yale

which comes from America, works on a quite
different system. Its most noticeable feature is
that it permits the use of a very small key,
though the number of combinations possible is
still enormous (several millions). In our illustra-
tions (Figs. 219, 220, 221) we show the mech-
anism controlling the turning of the key. The
keyhole is a narrow twisted slot in the face of a
cylinder, G (Fig. 219), which revolves inside a
larger fixed cylinder, F. As the key is pushed in,
the notches in its upper edge raise up the pins
  1 1 1 1 1
A , B , C , D , E , until their tops exactly reach
the surface of G, which can now be revolved by
the key in Fig. 220, and work the bolt through
the medium of the arm H. (The bolt itself is not
shown.) If a wrong key is inserted, either some
of the lower pins will project upwards into the
fixed cylinder F (see Fig. 221), or some of the
pins in F will sink into G. It is then impossible
to turn the key.
                       FIG. 220.—Yale key turnin

    There are other well-known locks, such as
those invented by Bramah and Hobbs. But as
these do not lend themselves readily to illus-
tration no detailed account can be given. We
might, however, notice the time lock, which is
set to a certain hour, and can be opened by
the right key or a number of keys in combin-
ation only when that hour is reached. Another
very interesting device is the automatic combin-
ation lock. This may have twenty or more keys,
any one of which can lock it; but the same one
must be used to unlock it, as the key automatic-
ally sets the mechanism in favour of itself. With
such a lock it would be possible to have a differ-
ent key for every day in the month; and if any
one key got into wrong hands it would be use-
less unless it happened to be the one which last
locked the lock.
FIG. 221.—The wrong key inserted. The pins do

           THE CYCLE.
THERE are a few features of this useful and
in some ways wonderful contrivance which
should be noticed. First,


   To a good many people the expression
"geared to 70 inches," or 65, or 80, as the case
may be, conveys nothing except the fact that the
higher the gear the faster one ought to be able to
travel. Let us therefore examine the meaning of
such a phrase before going farther.

    The safety cycle is always "geared up"—that
is, one turn of the pedals will turn the rear wheel
more than once. To get the exact ratio of turning
speed we count the teeth on the big chain-
wheel, and the teeth on the small chain-wheel
attached to the hub of the rear wheel, and divide
the former by the latter. To take an ex-
ample:—The teeth are 75 and 30 in number re-
spectively; the ratio of speed therefore = 75⁄30 =
5⁄ 2   = 2½. One turn of the pedal turns the rear
wheel 2½ times. The gear of the cycle is calcu-
lated by multiplying this result by the diamet-
er of the rear wheel in inches. Thus a 28-inch
wheel would in this case give a gear of 2½ × 28
= 70 inches.

   One turn of the pedals on a machine of this
gear would propel the rider as far as if he were
on a high "ordinary" with the pedals attached
directly to a wheel 70 inches in diameter. The
gearing is raised or lowered by altering the
number ratio of the teeth on the two chain-
wheels. If for the 30-tooth wheel we substituted
one of 25 teeth the gearing would be—
            75⁄25   × 28 inches = 84 inches.

A handy formula to remember is, gearing = T/t
× D, where T = teeth on large chain-wheel; t =
teeth on small chain-wheel; and D = diameter of
driving-wheel in inches.

   Two of the most important improvements
recently added to the cycle are—(1) The free
wheel; (2) the change-speed gear.

               THE FREE WHEEL

    is a device for enabling the driving-wheel to
overrun the pedals when the rider ceases ped-
alling; it renders the driving-wheel "free" of the
driving gear. It is a ratchet specially suited for
this kind of work. From among the many pat-
terns now marketed we select the Micrometer
free-wheel hub (Fig. 222), which is extremely
simple. The ratchet-wheel R is attached to the
hub of the driving-wheel. The small chain-
wheel (or "chain-ring," as it is often called)
turns outside this, on a number of balls running
in a groove chased in the neck of the ratchet.
Between these two parts are the pawls, of half-
moon shape. The driving-wheel is assumed to
be on the further side of the ratchet. To propel
the cycle the chain-ring is turned in a clockwise
direction. Three out of the six pawls at once en-
gage with notches in the ratchet, and are held
tightly in place by the pressure of the chain-ring
on their rear ends. The other three are in a mid-
way position.
                  FIG. 222.

   When the rider ceases to pedal, the chain-
ring becomes stationary, but the ratchet contin-
ues to revolve. The pawls offer no resistance to
the ratchet teeth, which push them up into the
semicircular recesses in the chain-ring. Each
one rises as it passes over a tooth. It is obvious
that driving power cannot be transmitted again
to the road wheel until the chain-wheel is turned
fast enough to overtake the ratchet.


    A gain in speed means a loss in power, and
vice versâ. By gearing-up a cycle we are able to
make the driving-wheel revolve faster than the
pedals, but at the expense of control over the
driving-wheel. A high-geared cycle is fast on
the level, but a bad hill-climber. The low-geared
machine shows to disadvantage on the flat, but
is a good hill-climber. Similarly, the express en-
gine must have large driving-wheels, the goods
engine small driving-wheels, to perform their
special functions properly.

   In order to travel fast over level country, and
yet be able to mount hills without undue exer-
tion, we must be able to do what the motorist
does—change gear. Two-speed and three-speed
gears are now very commonly fitted to cycles.
They all work on the same principle, that of the
epicyclic train of cog-wheels, the mechanisms
being so devised that the hub turns more slowly
than, at the same speed as, or faster than the
small chain-wheel,[42] according to the wish of
the rider.

   We do not propose to do more here than ex-
plain the principle of the epicyclic train, which
means "a wheel on (or running round) a wheel."
Lay a footrule on the table and roll a cylinder
along it by the aid of a second rule, parallel
to the first, but resting on the cylinder. It will
be found that, while the cylinder advances six
inches, the upper rule advances twice that dis-
tance. In the absence of friction the work done
by the agent moving the upper rule is equal to
that done in overcoming the force which op-
poses the forward motion of the cylinder; and
as the distance through which the cylinder ad-
vances is only half that through which the upper
rule advances, it follows that the force which
must act on the upper rule is only half as great
as that overcome in moving the cylinder. The
carter makes use of this principle when he puts
his hand to the top of a wheel to help his cart
over an obstacle.
            FIG. 223.                          FIG. 22

   Now see how this principle is applied to the
change-speed gear. The lower rule is replaced
by a cog-wheel, C (Fig. 223); the cylinder by
a cog, B, running round it; and the upper rule
by a ring, A, with internal teeth. We may sup-
pose that A is the chain-ring, B a cog mounted
on a pin projecting from the hub, and C a cog at-
tached to the fixed axle. It is evident that B will
not move so fast round C as A does. The amount
by which A will get ahead of B can be calcu-
lated easily. We begin with the wheels in the po-
sition shown in Fig. 223. A point, I, on A is ex-
actly over the topmost point of C. For the sake
of convenience we will first assume that instead
of B running round C, B is revolved on its axis
for one complete revolution in a clockwise dir-
ection, and that A and C move as in Fig. 224. If
B has 10 teeth, C 30, and A 40, A will have been
moved 10⁄40 = ¼ of a revolution in a clockwise
direction, and   C 10⁄30   = ⅓ of a revolution in an
anti-clockwise direction.

   Now, coming back to what actually does
happen, we shall be able to understand how far
A rotates round C relatively to the motion of B,
when C is fixed and B rolls (Fig. 225). B ad-
vances ⅓ of distance round C; A advances ⅓ +
¼ = 7⁄12 of distance round B. The fractions, if
reduced to a common denominator, are as 4:7,
and this is equivalent to 40 (number of teeth on
A): 40 + 30 (teeth on A + teeth on C.)

   To leave the reader with a very clear idea we
will summarize the matter thus:—If T = num-
ber of teeth on A, t = number of teeth on C, then
movement of A: movement of B:: T + t: T.

   Here is a two-speed hub. Let us count the
teeth. The chain-ring (= A) has 64 internal teeth,
and the central cog (= C) on the axle has 16
teeth. There are four cogs (= B) equally spaced,
running on pins projecting from the hub-shell
between A and C. How much faster than B does
A run round C? Apply the formula:—Motion of
A: motion of B:: 64 + 16: 64. That is, while A
revolves once, B and the hub and the driving-
wheel will revolve only 64⁄80 = ⅘ of a turn. To
use scientific language,   B   revolves 20 per cent.
slower than A.
    This is the gearing we use for hill-climbing.
On the level we want the driving-wheel to turn
as fast as, or faster than, the chain-ring. To make
it turn at the same rate, both A and C must re-
volve together. In one well-known gear this is
effected by sliding C along the spindle of the
wheel till it disengages itself from the spindle,
and one end locks with the plate which carries
A. Since B is now being pulled round at the bot-
tom as well as the top, it cannot rotate on its
own axis any longer, and the whole train re-
volves solidly—that is, while A turns through a
circle B does the same.

   To get an increase of gearing, matters must
be so arranged that the drive is transmitted from
the chain-wheel to B, and from A to the hub.
While B describes a circle, A and the driving-
wheel turn through a circle and a part of a
circle—that is, the driving-wheel revolves
faster than the hub. Given the same number of
teeth as before, the proportional rates will be A
= 80, B = 64, so that the gear rises 25 per cent.

   By means of proper mechanism the power is
transmitted in a three-speed gear either (1) from
chain-wheel to A, A to B, B to wheel = low gear;
or (2) from chain-wheel to A and C simultan-
eously = solid, normal, or middle gear; or (3)
from chain-wheel to B, B to A, A to wheel = high
gear. In two-speed gears either 1 or 3 is omitted.


BREAD would not be so cheap as it is were
the flail still the only means of separating the
grain from the straw. What the cream separator
has done for the dairy industry (p. 384), the
threshing-machine has done for agriculture. A
page or two ought therefore to be spared for this
useful invention.

                         FIG. 226.—Section of a thr

   In Fig. 226 a very complete fore-and-aft sec-
tion of the machine is given. After the bands of
the sheaves have been cut, the latter are fed in-
to the mouth of the drum A by the feeder, who
stands in the feeding-box on the top of the ma-
chine. The drum revolves at a very high velo-
city, and is fitted with fluted beaters which act
against a steel concave, or breastwork, B, the
grain being threshed out of the straw in passing
between the two. The breastwork is provided
with open wires, through which most of the
threshed grain, cavings (short straws), and chaff
passes on to a sloping board. The straw is flung
forward on to the shakers C, which gradually
move the straw towards the open end and throw
it off. Any grain, etc., that has escaped the drum
falls through the shakers on to D, and works
backwards to the caving riddles, or moving
sieves, E. The main blower, by means of a re-
volving fan, N, sends air along the channel X up-
wards through these riddles, blowing the short
straws away to the left. The grain, husks, and
dust fall through E on to G, over the end of
which they fall on to the chaff riddle, H. A
second column of air from the blower drives the
chaff away. The heavy grain, seeds, dust, etc.,
fall on to I, J, and K in turn, and are shaken
until only the grain remains to pass along L to
the elevator bottom, M. An endless band with
cups attached to it scoops up the grain, carries
it aloft, and shoots it into hopper P. It then
goes through the shakers Q, R, is dusted by the
back end blower, S, and slides down T into the
open end of the rotary screen-drum U, which
is mounted on the slope, so that as it turns the
grain travels gradually along it. The first half
of the screen has wires set closely together. All
the small grain that falls through this, called
"thirds," passes into a hopper, and is collected
in a sack attached to the hopper mouth. The
"seconds" fall through the second half of the
drum, more widely spaced, into their sack; and
the "firsts" fall out of the end and through a
third spout.

               FIG. 227.
    The ordinary lawn—mower employs a re-
volving reel, built up of spirally-arranged
knives, the edges of which pass very close to
a sharp plate projecting from the frame of the
mower. Each blade, as it turns, works along the
plate, giving a shearing cut to any grass that
may be caught between the two cutting edges.
The action is that of a pair of scissors (Fig. 227),
one blade representing the fixed, the other the
moving knife. If you place a cylinder of wood
in the scissors it will be driven forward by the
closing of the blades, and be marked by them as
it passes along the edges. The same thing hap-
pens with grass, which is so soft that it is cut
right through.


   The hay-cutter is another adaptation of the
same principle. A cutter-bar is pulled rapidly
backwards and forwards in a frame which runs
a few inches above the ground by a crank driven
by the wheels through gearing. To the front
edge of the bar are attached by one side a num-
ber of triangular knives. The frame carries an
equal number of spikes pointing forward hori-
zontally. Through slots in these the cutter-bar
works, and its knives give a drawing cut to
grass caught between them and the sides of the

          SOME NATURAL

THE more squarely parallel heat-rays strike a
surface the greater will be the number that can
affect that surface. This is evident from Figs.
228, 229, where A B is an equal distance in
both cases. The nearer the sun is to the horizon,
the more obliquely do its rays strike the earth.
Hence midday is necessarily warmer than the
evening, and the tropics, where the sun stands
overhead, are hotter than the temperate zones,
where, even in summer at midday, the rays fall
more or less on the slant.

                    FIG. 228.

   The atmospheric envelope which encom-
passes the earth tends to increase the effect of
obliquity, since a slanting ray has to travel fur-
ther through it and is robbed of more heat than
a vertical ray.

                   THE TIDES.

    All bodies have an attraction for one another.
The earth attracts the moon, and the moon at-
tracts the earth. Now, though the effect of this
attraction is not visible as regards the solid part
of the globe, it is strongly manifested by the wa-
ter which covers a large portion of the earth's
surface. The moon attracts the water most
powerfully at two points, that nearest to it and
that furthest away from it; as shown on an ex-
aggerated scale in Fig. 230. Since the earth and
the water revolve as one mass daily on their ax-
is, every point on the circumference would be
daily nearest to and furthest from the moon at
regular intervals, and wherever there is ocean
there would be two tides in that period, were the
moon stationary as regards the earth. (It should
be clearly understood that the tides are not great
currents, but mere thickenings of the watery en-
velope. The inrush of the tide is due to the tem-
porary rise of level.)
                   FIG. 230.


   The moon travels round the earth once in
twenty-eight days. In Fig. 231 the point a is
nearest the moon at, say, twelve noon. At the
end of twenty-four hours it will have arrived at
the same position by the compass, but yet not
be nearest to the moon, which has in that peri-
od moved on 1⁄28th of a revolution round the
earth.[43] Consequently high tide will not occur
till a has reached position b and overtaken the
moon, as it were, which takes about an hour on
the average. This explains why high tide occurs
at intervals of more than twelve hours.
  FIG. 232.—Relative positions of sun, moon, an
             earth at "spring" tides.


   The sun, as well as the moon, attracts the
ocean, but with less power, owing to its being
so much further away. At certain periods of the
month, sun, earth, and moon are all in line. Sun
and moon then pull together, and we get the
highest, or spring tides (Fig. 232). When sun
and moon pull at right angles to one anoth-
er—namely, at the first and third quarters—the
excrescence caused by the moon is flattened
(Fig. 233), and we get the lowest, or neap tides.
   [39] In both Figs. 207 and 208 the degree of
     expansion is very greatly exaggerated.

   [40] As the sun passes the meridian (twelve
     o'clock, noon) the chronometer's reading
     is taken, and the longitude, or distance east
 or west of Greenwich, is reckoned by the
 difference in time between local noon and
 that of the chronometer.

[41] For much of the information given here
  about clocks and watches the author is in-
  debted to "The History of Watches," by
  Mr. J.F. Kendal.

[42] We shall here notice only those gears
  which are included in the hub of the

[43] The original position of the moon is in-
  dicated by the dotted circle.
NOTE.—Figures in italics signify that an illus-
                   tration of
  the thing referred to appears on the page.
              Aberration, spherical, of lens,

              Acoustics, 294.

              Achromatic lens, 243.

              Action carriage of piano, 283.

              Advancing the spark, 102.

              Air-gun, 342.

              Air-pump for cycle tyres, 340;
                for Westinghouse brake, 199.
Alternating currents, 164;
  dynamo, 164.

Amperage, 125.

Angle of advance, 57, 58;
  incidence, 268;
  reflection, 268.

Aorta, 360.

Arc lamp, 182.

Archimedes, 412.

Armature, 162.

Arteries, 358.

Arterial blood, 359.

Atmospheric pressure, 350.

Auditory nerve, 272.
Automatic brakes, 188;
  signalling, 228;
  stoker, 399.

Backfall, 298.

Balance-wheel, 419.

Ball cock, 366, 367.

Balloon, fire, 323;
  gas, 347.

Barometer, aneroid, 328, 329;
  and weather, 331;
  Fortin's, 326;
  meaning of, 325;
  simple, 328;
  wheel, 327.

Beau de Rochas, 89.

Bell, diving, 332;
  electric, 119, 120.
Bellows of organ, 303.

Bioscope, 266.

Blades, turbine, 81, 83.

Block system, 201, 212.

Blood, arterial, 359;
  circulation of, 356, 357, 360;
  venous, 359.

Blower-plate, 393, 394.

Boat, sails of, 346.

Boiler, Babcock and Wilcox, 21,
  explosions, 34, 391;
  fire-tube, 21;
  fittings, 31;
  Lancashire, 25, 26;
  locomotive, 20, 23;
  multitubular, 21;
  principle of, 15;
  stored energy in, 32;
  vertical, 25;
  water supply to, 39;
  water-tube, 21.

Brakes, hydraulic, 188;
  motor car, 110;
  railway, 187;
  vacuum, 189, 190, 191;
  Westinghouse, 194, 195, 197.

Bramah, 363, 437.

Breezes, land and sea, 324.

Brushes of dynamo, 161, 172.

Bunsen burner, 409.

Burning-glass, 232.

Camera, the, 233;
  pinhole, 234, 235.
Canals, semicircular, 273.

Capillary attraction, 392;
  veins, 358.

Carbon dioxide, 27, 359;
  monoxide, 27.

Carburetter, 98, 99.

Cardan shaft, 93.

Carmania, the, 83.

Centrifugal force, 382.

Change-speed gear, 105, 442.

Chassis of motor car, 92.

Circulation of water in a boiler,
17, 18, 19;
  of water in a motor car, 95,
Clarionet, 308.

Clock, first weight-driven, 412;
  water, 410.

Clutch of motor car, 105.

Coal, as fuel, 15;
  gas, 394;
  gas making, 394;
  gas plant, 396;
  gas, purification of, 397.

Cochlea, 273.

Coherer, 140.

Coil, Ruhmkorff, 121.

Coke, 395.

Combinations in Chubb lock,
  Yale lock, 436.
Combustion, 26, 393;
  perfect, 28.

Compensating gear, 107, 108.

Compound engines, 59;
  arrangement of, 61;
  invention of, 59.

Compound locomotives, 62.

Compound microscope, 261.

Condenser, marine, 71, 72;
  of Ruhmkorff coil, 123.

Conduit, 176.

Convex lens, image cast by, 236.

Conjugate foci, 262.

Cornet, 308.
Corti, rods of, 274.

Coxwell, 348.

Cream separator, 381, 383.

Current, reversal of electric,
130, 131;
  transformation of, 124.

Cushioning of steam, 55.

Cycle, gearing of, 439.

Cylinder, hydraulic press, 363;
  steam, 49.

Danes, 382.

Dead point, 47.

De Brouwer stoker, 401.

Detector in Chubb lock, 435.
Diving-bell, 332;
  simple, 333, 334.

Diving-dress, 335.

Direction of current in dynamo
circuit, 163.

Diver's feats, 338;
  helmet, 336;
  lamp, 338.

Donkey-engines, 68.

Doorstop, self-closing, 344.

Double-cylinder engines, 47.

Draught, forced, 28, 29;
  induced, 29.

Drum and fusee, 414.

Durability of motor-car engine,

D-valve, 67.
Dynamo, alternating, 164, 174;
  brushes, 172;
  compound, 174;
  continuous-current, 165;
  multipolar, 169;
  series wound, 173;
  shunt wound, 173;
  simple, 161, 162.

Ear, the, 271, 273;
  a good, 274, 307;
  sensitiveness of, 275.

Eccentric, 52, 53;
  setting of, 53.

Edison, Thomas, 310.

Edison-Bell phonograph, 310.
Electricity, current, 115;
  forms of, 113;
  nature of, 112;
  static, 114.

Electric bell, 119, 120;
  signalling, 225;
  slot, 226.

Electroplating, 185, 186.

Electro-magnets, 117.

Endolymph, 272.

Engines, compound, 59;
  donkey, 68;
  double-cylinder, 47;
  internal-combustion, 87, 95;
  reciprocating, 44.

Escapement of timepieces, 416;
  cylinder, 420;
  lever, 421, 422.
Ether, 270.

Eustachian tube, 276.

Eye, human, 246, 247;
  self-accommodation of, 248.

Expansive working of steam, 56.

Faraday, Michael, 159.

Field, magnetic, 159;
  magnets, 171;
  ring, 174.

Filters, 374;
   Maignen, 373;
   Berkefeld, 374.

Filtration beds, 372.

Flute, 308.

Flying-machines, 348.
Fly-wheel, use of, 48.

Focus, meaning of, 237;
  principal, 238.

Foci, conjugate, 262.

Force, lines of, 116.

Forces, component, 345.

Free wheel, 440.

Furring-up of pipes, 391.

Fusee, drum and, 414.

Galileo, 259, 325, 416.

Galilean telescope, 259.

Gas, coal, 394;
  governor, 402;
  meter, 405;
  traps, 374;
  works, 394.

Gasometer, 397;
  largest, 398, 399.

Gauge, steam, 36, 38;
  water, 35, 36.

Gear, compensating, 107, 108.

Gear-box of motor car, 105.

Gearing of cycle, 439.

Glaisher, 348.

Gland, 50, 363.

Glass, flint and crown, 242.

Going-barrel for watches, 415.

Gooch reversing gear, 65.
Governors, speed, 67;
  of motor car, 103, 104.

Graham, 418.

Gramophone, 317;
  records, 319, 321;
  reproducer, 318.

Hairspring, 412.

Hay-cutter, 451.

Heart, the, 355;
  disease, 361;
  rate of pulsation of, 361;
  size of, 357.

Heat of sun, 451.

Hele, Peter, 412.

Helmet, diver's, 336.
Helmholtz, 274, 308.

Hero of Alexandria, 74.

Herschel, 261.

Hertz, Dr., 138.

Hertzian waves, 138.

Hot-water supply, 386.

Hour-hand train in timepieces,

Household water supply, 364.

Hughes type-printer, 134.

Hydraulic press, 361, 362.

Hydro, 385.
Ignition of charge in motor-car
cylinder, 100, 101.

Image and object, relative posi-
tions of, 239;
   distortion of, 245.

Incandescent gas mantle, 407;
  electric lamp, 179.

Incus, 272.

Index mechanism of water-
meter, 37.

Indicator of electric bell, 119.

Induction coil, 121;
  uses of, 125.

Injector, 39;
   Giffard's, 41;
   principle of, 40;
   self-starting, 42.
Interlocking of signals, 204,

Internal-combustion engine, 87.

Iris of eye, 249;
   stop, 249.

Kelvin, Lord, 158.

Keyless winding mechanism,
425, 426, 428.

Kite, 345.

Lamp, arc, 182;
  how it works, 392;
  incandescent, 179;
  manufacture of incandescent
lamps, 180.

Lap of slide-valve, 57, 59.
Larynx, 306.

Laxey wheel, 380, 381.

Leads, 208.

Lenses, 231;
  correction of for colour, 240,
  focus of, 236;
  rectilinear, 245;
  spherical aberration in, 243.

Levers, signal, colours of, 208.

Limit of error in cylinder, 52.

Light, electric, 179;
  nature of, 230;
  propagation of, 231.

Li Hung Chang, 157.

Lindsay, James Bowman, 145.
Lines of force, 116, 162.

"Linking up," 65.

Locks, 430;
  Barron, 433;
  Bramah, 437;
  Chubb, 433, 434;
  Hobbs, 437;
  simplest, 431;
  tumbler, 432;
  Yale, 436.

Locking gear for signals, 205.

Locomotive, electric, 178;
  advantages of, 179.

Lungs, 359.

Magic-lantern, 263, 264.

Magnet, 115;
 permanent, 115, 116;
  temporary, 115.

Magnetism, 115.

Magnetic needle, influence of
current on, 129.

Mainspring, invention of, 412.

Malleus, 272.

Marconi, 140, 146.

Marine chronometers, 415;
 delicacy of, 425.

Marine speed governor, 71.

Marine turbine, advantages of,

Maudslay, Henry, 363.

Maxim, Sir Hiram, 348.
Micrometer free wheel, 441.

Micro-photography, 265.

Microscope, 254;
 compound, 261, 263;
 in telescope, 257;
 simple, 254.

Mineral oil, 392.

Mirror, parabolic, 261, 262;
 plane, 267.

Morse, 132, 145;
 code, 128;
 inker, 142;
 sounder, 132.

Motor car, the, 92;
 electric, 177.

Mouth, 307.

Mowing-machines, 450.
Musical sounds, 277.

Nerve, auditory, 272;
  optic, 246.

Nodes on a string, 285;
  column of air, 291.

Note, fundamental, 285;
  quality of, 285.

Niagara Falls, power station at,

Organ, the, 294, 300;
  bellows, 303;
  console, 305;
  echo, solo, swell, great, and
choir, 301;
  electric and pneumatic, 305;
  largest in the world, 306;
  pedals, 298;
  pipes, 295;
  pipes, arrangement of, 295;
  sound-board, 296;
  wind-chest, 297.

Otto cycle, 91.

Overtones, 285.

Pallets of organ, 297.

Parallel arrangement of electric
lamps, 184.

Paris, siege of, 265.

Pedals of organ, 298.

Pelton wheel, 377.

Pendulum, 412;
  compensating, 418, 419.

Perilymph, 272.
Perry, Professor, 16.

Petrol, 98.

Phonograph, 310;
  governor, 311;
  recorder, 312, 313;
  records, making of, 319;
  reproducer, 315;
  tracings on record of, 317.

Pianoforte, 277;
  sounding-board, 280;
  striking mechanism, 281;
  strings, 281.

Piccolo, 308.

Pipes, closed, 289;
  flue, 301;
  open, 292;
  organ, 295;
  reed, 301, 302;
  tuning, 302.
Piston valve, 67.

Pneumatic tyres, 341.

Poldhu, signalling station at,

Points, railway, 208, 210;
  and signals in combination,

Poles of a magnet, 115.

Popoff, Professor A., 138, 145.

Power, transmission of, 175.

Preece, Sir William, 145.

Primary winding of induction
coil, 122.

Pump, air, 340;
  bucket, 352, 353;
  force, 354;
  most marvellous, 355;
  Westinghouse air, 199.

Railway brakes, 187;
  signalling, 200.

Rays, converging and diverging,
  heat, concentrated by lens,
  light, 232, 235, 236, 237.

Records, master, 319, 320.

Reciprocation, 51.

Reed, human, 306;
  pipes, 301, 302.

Reflecting telescope, 260.

Relays, telegraphic, 133, 141.
Retina, 247.

Retorts, 395.

Reversing gear, 62;
  Allan, 65;
  Gooch, 65;
  radial, 66.

Rocking bar mechanism for
watches, 425.

Rods of Corti, 274.

Ruhmkorff coil, 121, 122.

Safety-valve, 32, 33, 391.

Sand-glasses, 411.

Scissors, action of, 450.

Secondary winding of induction
coil, 122.
Series arrangement of electric
lamps, 183.

Series winding of dynamo, 173.

Shunt wound dynamo, 173.

Sight, long and short, 250.

Signalling, automatic, 228;
  electric, 225;
  pneumatic, 225;
  power, 225.

Signal levers, 206.

Signals, interlocking of, 204;
  position of, 202;
  railway, 200;
  single line, 215.

Silencer on motor cars, 109.

Siphon, 351.
Slide-valve, 49, 50, 51;
   setting of, 53.

Sliders, 297.

Sound, nature of, 270;
  board of organ, 296;
  board of piano, 280.

Spagnoletti     disc   instrument,

Sparking-plug, 102.

Spectacles, use of, 249.

Spectrum, colours of, 230.

Speed governors, 67, 68, 69;
  Hartwell, 70;
  marine, 71.

Speed of motor cars, 110.
Spot, blind, in eye, 251;
  yellow, in eye, 251.

Spring balance for watches, 419;
  compensating, 423, 424.

Stapes, 272.

Steam, what it is, 13;
  energy of, 14;
  engines, 44;
  engines, reciprocating, 45;
  expansive working of, 59, 81;
  gauge, 36;
  gauge, principle of, 37;
  turbine, 74;
  turbine, De Laval, 76, 77;
  turbine, Hero's, 74;
  turbine, Parsons, 79, 80;
  volume of, as compared with
water, 15.

Stephenson, George, 63, 375.

Stop, in lens, 244;
  iris, 249;
  use of, 244.

Sun-dial of Ahaz, 410.

Syntonic transmission of wire-
less messages, 143.

Talking-machines, 310.

Tapper in wireless telegraphy re-
ceiver, 141.

Tappet arm, 205.

Telegraph, electric, 127;
  insulator, 133;
  needle, 128;
  recording, 133;
  sounder, 132.

Telegraphy, high-speed, 135;
  wireless, 137.
Telephone, 147;
  Bell, 148;
  circuit, double-line, 155;
  circuit, general arrangement,
152, 153;
  exchange, 154, 155.

Telephony, submarine, 157.

Telescope, 257;
  Galilean, 259;
  prismatic, 260;
  reflecting, 260;
  terrestrial, 259.

Threshing-machine, 447, 448.

Thurston, Professor, 31.

Tides, 452;
  high, 453;
  neap and spring, 455.

Timbre, 285.
Tompion, Thomas, 412.

Torricelli, 325.

Trachea, 306.

Train staff signalling, 216;
  single, 216;
  and ticket, 217;
  electric, 218.

Transformation of current, 124,

Transmission of power, 174,

Transmitter, Edison telephone,
  granular carbon, 150, 151.

Triple-valve, 196.

Trolley arm, 176.
Turbines, steam, 74.

Turbinia, the, 79.

Tympanum, 137, 271, 272.

Universal joint, 93.

Vacuum brake, 189, 190, 191.

Vacuum chamber of aneroid ba-
rometer, 330.

Valve, piston, 67;
  safety, 32;
  of internal-combustion en-
gine, 89.

Valves of the heart, 357.

Veins, 358;
  capillary, 358;
  pulmonary, 361.
Ventral segments, 291.

Ventricles, 357.

Vibration of columns of air, 288,
  of rods, 287;
  of strings, 278;
  of strings, conditions regulat-
ing, 278.

Viper, the, 86.

Virag, Pollak—high-speed tele-
graphy, 136.

Vitreous humour, 246.

Voltage, 121, 161.

Vowel sounds, 308.

Wasborough, Matthew, 51.
Watches, first, 412.

Water cock, 365;
 engines, 375;
 gauge, 35, 36;
 jacket, 19, 95;
 meter, 368;
 supply, 371;
 turbines, 174, 376;
 wheels, 375.

Watt, James, 51, 69, 375.

Welsbach incandescent mantle,

Westinghouse air-brake, 194,
195, 197;
  George, 194.

Wheatstone needle instrument,
128, 131;
  automatic transmitter, 135.
Wind, why it blows, 323;
 action of on kites, 345;
 on sails, 346.

Windmills, 375.

Window, oval, in ear, 272;
 round, in ear, 272.

Wireless telegraphy, 137;
 advance of, 145;
 receiver, 140, 141;
 syntonic, 143;
 transmitter, 138, 139.

Yale lock, 436, 437.

Yellow spot, in eye, 251.

Zech, Jacob, 414.

Zeiss field-glasses, 260.
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of
How it Works, by Archibald Williams


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