Page:Scientific American - Series 1 - Volume 001 - Issue 01.pdf/1



VOLUME I.

Each number will be furnished with from two to five original Engravings, many of them elegant, and illustrative of New Inventions, Scientific Principles, and Curious Works; and will contain, in high addition to the most interesting news of passing events, general notices of progress of Mechanical and other Scientific Improvements; American and Foreign. Improvements and Inventions; Catalogues of American Patents; Scientific Essays, illustrative of the principles of the sciences of Mechanics, Chemistry, and Architecture: useful information and instruction in various Arts and Trades; Curious Philosophical Experiments; Miscellaneous Intelligence, Music and Poetry.

This paper is especially entitled to the patronage of Mechanics and Manufactures, being the only paper in America, devoted to the interest of those classes; but is particularly useful to farmers, as it will not only appraise them of improvements in agriculture implements, But instruct them in various mechanical trades, and guard them against impositions As a family newspaper, it will convey more useful intelligence to children and young people, than five times its cost in school instruction. Another important argument in favor of this paper, is that it will be worth two dollars at the end of the year when the volume is complete, (Old volumes of the New York Mechanic, being now worth double the original cost, in cash.)


 * —The "Scientific American" will be furnished to subscribers at $2.00 per annum,—one dollar in advance, and the balance in six months.

Five copies will be sent to one address six months for four dollars in advance.

Any person procuring two or more subscribers, will be entitled to a commission of 25 cents each.

If the stock of our bliss be in stranger hands vested, The fund, ill secured, oft in bankruptcy ends; But the heart issues bills which are never protested, When drawn on the firm of—wife, children and friends.

Through valour still glows in life's dying embers, The death-wounded tar, who his colours defends, Drops a tear of regret as he, dying, remembers How blest was his home with—wife, children and friends.

The soldier, whose deeds live immortal in story, Whom duty to far distant latitude sends, With transport would barter whole ages of glory For one happy day with—wife, children and friends.

The day-spring of youth, still unclouded by sorrow, Alone on itself for enjoyment depends; But drear is the twilight of age, if it borrow No warmth from the smile of—wife, children and friends.

Let the breath of renown ever freshen and nourish The laurel which o'er the dead favourite bends, O'er me wave the willow, and long may it flourish, Bedewed with the tears of—wife, children, and friends!

Attraction is a curious power, That none can understand: Its influence is every where— In water, air and land; It keeps the earth compact and tight, As though strong bolts were through it; And, what is more mysterious yet, It binds us mortals to it.

You throw a stone up in the air, And down it comes—ker-whack! The centrifugal casts it up— The centripetal—back. My eyes! I can't discover how One object 'tracts another; Unless they love each other, like A sister and a brother.

I know the compass always points Directly at the pole; Some say the north star causes this, And some say—Symm's Hole! Prehaps it does—prehaps it don't;   Prehaps some other cause; Keep on prehapsing—who can solve Attraction's hidden laws?

A fly lights on a 'lasses cup— Attraction bids him woo it; And, when he's in, attraction keeps The chap from paddling through it. Attraction lures the sot to drink, To all his troubles drown; But when his legs give way, he falls, And "traction keeps him down.

Attraction is a curious power, That none can understand; Its influence is everywhere— In water, air and land. It operates on every thing— The sea, the tides, the weather; And sometimes draws the sexes up, And binds them fast together.



There is perhaps no mechanical subject in which improvements has advanced so rapidly, within the last ten years, as that of railroad passenger cars. Let any person contrast the awkward and uncouth cars of '35 with the superbly splendid long cars now running on several of the eastern roads, and he will find it difficult to convey to a third party, a correct idea of the vast extent of improvement. Some of the most elegant cars of this class, and which are of a capacity to accommodate from sixty to eighty passengers, and run with a steadiness hardly equalled by a steamboat in still water, are manufactured by Davenport & Bridges, at their establishment in Cambridgeport, Mass. The manufactures have recently introduced a variety of excellent improvements in the construction of trucks, springs, and connections, which are calculated to avoid atmospheric resistance, secure safety and convenience, and contribute ease and comfort to passengers, while flying at the rate of 30 to 40 miles per hour. We purpose to give a particular description of these improvements, accompanied with suitable engravings, in our next number, that our readers may be enabled to appreciate more fully the progress of improvements in this branch of mechanism.

; By Rev., is a neat 18mo of 234 pages just issued by Powers & Bagley, Lowell. It is full of facts of general interest. We learn from it that the Merrimac Company (whose dividends are so often quoted) employs 1250 women, whose average earnings considerably exceed $2 each per week above the cost of their board. The laboring men average 85 cents per day above their board; fifty-six overseers receive $2 each per day with occasional premiums. [These are the reduced wages we hear of.] None are employed under fifteen years of age. No woman is retained a day after she is known to be guilty of licentious conduct, but not one in a hundred is ever discharged for any such cause. The average running time is 12 hours 10 minutes per day, which is too long and should be shortened; but the average working time of each hand is but ten hours and a half. In the Boot Mills, a careful account of working time has been kept, and it appears that 106 girls averaged 267 days each in a year and 10 hours 8 minutes per day, each being paid according to her work, and ☞ all are paid in cash every month,—not one farthing in store orders, or barter of any kind. The average earnings of the women in all the factories, including novices, is $1,93 per week besides their board. Many girls who have been school teachers gladly take places in the mills, as the pay is higher here, and the work lighter, though the hours are longer. No one has lost a sixpence of her earnings in the Lowell factories since the first was started. The girls have about $100,000 in the Savings Bank.

—Such is the condition of the Laboring Class in the principal Manufacturing town in America. Granted that it is not all it should be—that it might and should be improved—it is still true that no where else does a Laboring class of equal numbers earn so much, year by year; no where else are they so constantly employed, comfortably situated and adequately rewarded. Let those who would overthrow this state of things go to work and build up something better, or show how it may be done. Until they have some crude notions of this sort, ought they not to cease their incessant warfare on American Manufactures?—Tribune.

—The handles for knives, razors, and other articles moulded in horn, are thus made: The horn is first cut into appropriate pieces with the saw, and when heated, these are prepared with a knife or spoke-shave, to the general and size required; after which the pieces are pressed into moulds. An idea of the mould will be conveyed by imagining two dies or pieces of metal, parallel on their outer surfaces, and with a cavity sunk entirely in the one, or partially in each, according to circumstances: it is made either straight, curved, twisted, rounded, bevelled, &c, of it is engraved with some device, according to the pattern of the work to be produced. The pressure is applied to the dies by enclosing them in a kind of clamp made with a strong pair of nut crackers, but with a powerful screw at the end opposite the joint; the mould, dies, and horn are dipped in boiling water or a few minutes, and then screwed as fast as possible immediately on removing the same, and in about twenty minutes the work is ready for finishing; some handles are made of two pieces and joined together.

.—An invention, which promises to be one of great utility, has been recently made by Mr. J. P. Dempfil, a French gentleman, of much scientific talent.—The invention consists of "an attachment" to the chimney of a locomotive, dividing it by a partition in two parts or passages, upward and downward, with a flywheel at the bottom of the downward draft, and a layer of gravel or sand underneath the wheel. The top of the chimney is closed, and the smoke and cinders pass upward through one passage to the top, then descending through the other, (a strong draught being made by the revolution of the flywheel, which is put in motion by the steam,) and all the refuse of the smoke pipe is retained by the grand filter, and the heated air again passes into the furnaces.

.—A correspondent of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, gives an account of a burning well that may be seen at Southington Centre, in Trumbull county, Ohio. The well is 91 feet deep, all but 24 feet through sand-stone, quick sand and hard rock, which the augur used for boring could not penetrate. When it was withdrawn, a peculiar odor accompanied by a rushing sound, was perceived. Suspecting the presence of inflammable gas, Mr. Wannemaker, the owner of the well, lowered a lamp into it. A violent explosion, that did some injury to the by-standers, was the consequence, and the gas still continues to burn. It is doubtless carburetted hydrogen.

.—We are told that a Yankee broom maker in Ohio has leased some twelve hundred acres of bottom land, on the Scioto river, near Columbus, and planted the entire plot in broom corn, with a view to export the crop to England, where he intends to proceed himself, and engage extensively in the manufacturing of brooms, taking with him the wood for the handles, and the machinery used for the purpose. Brooms made from the American broom corn are so much superior, for various uses, to any thing to be had in England, that they have become, within a few years past, quite a favorite in that country and are now exported thither in large quantities.—Ex. paper.

.—The inhabitants of the village of Moulton were greatly astonished on Saturday last, at observing a considerable quantity of hay (from a field where it was in cocks for stacking) rise rapidly into the air. There was not the slightest breeze of wind perceptible at the time; however the hay continued to ascend until it apparently passed through the clouds, which were sailing high at the time. After the lapse of a few minutes it again appeared like a small black streak in the cloudy vapour, where it continued to form a most novel and extraordinary sight for ten or fifteen minutes, when it gradually descended again to the earth.—Linconsure Chronicle.

.—Already has a canal been commenced around the dangerous falls in the Columbia river, at Willamette, by Dr. McLauglin, an American citizen. Its length will be about half a mile, part of the way through a solid bed of primitive rock, and the fall in the entire distance will be about thirty-five feet. The projector expects to complete the work in two years, at a cost of thirty thousand dollars. His charter, procured from the Oregon Legislature is to twenty-one years. It is said that the improvement which will be effected in the navigation of the Columbia, by this construction of the canal will, of itself, fully reward the community for the privilege conferred by the Legislature.

.—A portrait painter in large practice might write a pretty book on the vanity and singularity of his sitters. A certain man came to Copely, and had himself, his wife and seven children all included in a family piece. "It was, but one thing." said he, "and that is the portrait of my first wife—for this one is my second." "But," said the artist, "she is dead you know sir; what can I do? she is only to be admitted as an angel." "Oh, no! not at all," answered the other; "she must come in as a woman—no angels for me." The portrait was added, but some time elapsed before the person came back; when he returned, he had a stranger lady on his arm. "I must have another case of your hand, Copely," he said; "an accident befell my second wife; this lady is my third and she is come to have her likeness included in the family picture." The painter complied—the likeness was introduced—and the husband looked with a glance of satisfaction on his three spouses. Not so the lady, she remonstrated; never was such a thing heard of—out her predecessors must go. The artist painted them out accordingly, and had to bring an action at law to obtain payment for the portraits which he had obliterated.—Life of Copely, Family Library.

.—A very important improvement has been made in the lithographic printing machine by a young French engineer named Nicolle, by which the same precision and regularity of pressure is obtained as by the common hand-press. By the common lithographic process, not more than from 200 to 250 good impressions of designs, or about 1,000 copies of lithographic writing, can be obtained in twelve hours; by this new machine, which is also worked by hand, as many as 2,000 of the former, and 20,000 of the latter, can be obtained within the same period of time.

.—One of the truck horses of Mr. Hinds was unloosed for a minute or two from the trucks, a few days since, in this city, when, he the driver looking around for him, behold he was missing. It was an hour or two, before the driver could discover his whereabout. It was very mysterious, he being a steady beast, and not subject to flights of fancy. However, he was at last found in the smith's shop, where he was wont to have his shoes repaired. The smith said the horse entered and took the usual stand for shoeing. Upon examining his feet he found one shoe off, which he supplied. That horse is a sensible beast.

.—Professor Farraday, as we are informed in the London Athenaeum, has made this metal the subject of many interesting experiments. He has discovered that it assumes new properties on being melted and poured into water, the metal becoming very malleable and soft, losing none of it tenacity, but still capable of being spun into the finest wire, pressed into any required form, or rolled into any thinness desired. This promises to be a very useful discovery.

, raised from seeds received from Italy, which came originally from Syria, has been presented to the National Institute. Some of the seeds have been forwarded to Florida to the Hon. D. Levy, for the purpose of being cultivated.

.—Thunder is one of the consequences resulting from lightning, and lightning appears to be occasioned by the combustion of some of the inflammable particles of air; or according to more recent opinions, of a condensation of aerial matter conducing to electricity, by which in either case, a vacuum is created. The surrounding atoms which remain uninfluenced by this change, being forced together, by the whole weight of the atmosphere, greatly constrict each other; but their elastic nature causes them immediately to expand, and by this enlargement their sonorous property is acquired. A centrifugal force being thus established, it acts in all directions alike; but as the circle extends, its propulsive power becomes gradually diminished, till at last its pressure is no longer felt, nor sound created. The fumbling noise of thunder is produced by that portion of the sonorous circle which strikes upon the earth, whence it becomes condensed; and, being intercepted in its upward course by dense masses of vapor, it is again reflected, and this alternate motion and reverberation continue, until the interruption ceases, or the original force is exhausted. Echo is occasioned also by reverbration from one cloud to another.—Webster's Principles of Sound.

.—Among the property destroyed by the late fire, in this city, was a large quantity of intoxicating liquors, for which nobody ought to mourn. It is announced that 912 pipes of brandy, 200 pipes of gin, 100 puncheons of rum, 2000 pipes; half and quarter pipes of Madeira wine, 3000 casks of port wine, 1000 Malaga, 1500 Marseilles, 1000 claret, and 5000 baskets of Champaigne were consumes. How much more that is not told of, on account of the little sympathy the take would excit, is not known. The operations of sundry large wine merchants are also rudely put a stop to.


 * Bee Hives—Improvement in Bee Hives by Aaron E. James, Point Pleasant, Va., Jan 6th.
 * Do. Samuel & J. D. Cope, Damascusville, Ohio, Feb 8th.
 * Do. George B. West, Fairfield, Ohio, April 20th.
 * Do. James A. Cutting, Haverhill, N.H., June 24th.
 * Do. Jacob D. Fulkerson, Unity, Ohio, July 1st.
 * Do. Oliver Reynolds, Webster, N.Y., Dec. 4th.
 * Bee Palaces, Lemon Hamlin, Kirkersville, Ohio, July 13th.
 * Improvements in Churns—George W. Cook, St. Louis, Mo., Feb. 28th
 * Do. Harmess Bently, Ballston, N.Y., April 20th.
 * Do. Jason B. Schermerhorn, New York, June 5th.
 * Do. Thomas Ling, Portland, Me., Aug 21st.
 * Corn and Cane Cutters—Jacob Peck, Oakland, Penn., Aug. 28th.
 * Corn Fodder, Cutting and Crushing—Rudolph Miller, York, Penn., Oct. 3rd.
 * Corn-Sheller—William McAll, Talladega, Indiana, April 13th.
 * Cultivator—Robert Nelson, West Point, Ia., Jan 15th.
 * William Dyzert, Gettysburg, Penn., Aug. 16th.
 * Cultivator Teeth—James Birdaall, Hamerton, Penn., Nov 9th.
 * Fruit-gatherer—Alexander McWilliams, Washington, D.C. March 13th.
 * Harrow, award-cutting—Dennis Rice, Rowe, Mass., May 17th.
 * Hulling Clover Machines—A. B. Crawford, Wooster, Ohio, Dec. 31st.
 * Hulling and Pearling Rice—Jacob Groat, Troy, N.Y., July 11th.
 * Mowing, Grain Cradle—William A. Wood and John C. Loveland, Hoosick Falls, N.Y., Nov 13th.
 * Mowing, Harvesting Machines—George Esterly, Heart Prairie, W. T., Oct. 22nd.
 * Mowing, Hemp Cradle—Griffin Reynolds, jun. Washington, Ky., May 30th.
 * Mowing, Reeping Machine—William F. Kotchum, Buffalo, N.Y., Nov. 18th.
 * Improvements in Ploughs—John Thompson, Ripley, Ohio, April 17th.
 * Do. Aaron Smith, Bloomfield, Mich., May 6th.
 * Do. Jonathan Mooers, Hazelton, Penn., July 1st.
 * Do. Anthony Taylor, New Garden, Ohio, Dec. 19th.
 * Plough, adjusting—William R. Allan, Brownston, Ky., Jan 31st.
 * Plough, combined—Harvey Crown, Payson, Ill., March 9th.
 * Plough, double—Aaron Smith, Bloomfield, Mich., May 10th.
 * Plough, excavating ditches—James Herbert, Lagrange, In., April 13th.
 * Plough, gathering weeds under the furrow—Alice-Dudley Hills, East Hartford, Ct. Oct 7th.
 * Plough, wheel—Israel Long, Bucyrus, Ohio, March 9th.
 * Potato-Diggers—Archibald G. Ketchum, Schenectady, N.Y., Feb 20th.
 * Rake, grain—Benoni F. Partridge, On-ndaga, N.Y., March 13th.
 * Rattoon and Cane Cutters—Robert Laure, Plaquemines, La., Sept 17th.
 * Seeding, planting machines—Dierck Brewer, Petersburgh, Tenn., April 4th.
 * Seeding, seed planters—Loea Pratt, Amherst, N. H., April 25th and Richard G. Gatling Murfreesborough, N. C. May 10th
 * U. Kilburn, Lawrenceville, Penn., and F. Haines, Marietta, Penn., Dec 31st.
 * Seeding, sowing machines—Ezra Fisk, Fayette, Me., Nov 18th.
 * Smut Machine—Meredith Mallory, Mount Morris, N.Y, Jan 20th.
 * Jacob W. Brown, Mount Airy, N.C. Feb 28th.
 * Do. James M. Clarke, Strasburg, Penn. March 20th.
 * Do. Samuel Scammon and R. Nason, Waterville, Me., April 10th.
 * Do. Elisha S. Snyder, Charleston, Va., April 30th.
 * Do. Henry B. James, Mount Holly, N.J., May 17th.
 * Do. Abraham Straub, Milton, Penn., May 17th.
 * Do. Elisha W. Young, Parkman, Ohio, June 5th.
 * Do. Thomas H. Nelson, Harrisburg, Penn., June 5th.
 * Do. James W. Webster, Luray, Va., June 5th.
 * Do. John Pagin, Michigan City, Ia., Aug 19th.
 * Do. Jacob Groat, Troy, N.Y., Nov 9th.
 * Straw-Cutter—William Hovey, Worcester, Mass. Feb 12th.
 * Do. Hiram M. Smith, Richmond, Va., Feb 20th.
 * Do. Eliakim Taylor, Rochester, N.Y., Oct 12th.
 * Do. Ezra Taylor, Monrow, N.Y., Nov 6th.
 * Threshing Machine—Luther & Ezra Whitman, Winthro-, Me., March 20th.
 * Do. Charles W. Cathdart, New Durham, Ind., April 25th and Frederick A. Stuart, Catharine, N.Y., June 5th.
 * Threshing and Winnowing Machine, and Grain Separators—Jacob V. Wemple, Mohawk, and George Westinghouse, Schoharie, N.Y., July 13th.
 * Winnowing, Fanning Mill for cleaning grain—Calvin O. Gnerusey, Russia, N.Y.., Oct 12th.
 * Winnowing, separating grain from straw—Manniag Packard and Christian B. Packard, Clarandon, N.Y., Nov 8th.