Page:Scientific American - Series 1 - Volume 002 - Issue 10.pdf/1



VOL. 2.

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN:

PUBLISHED WEEKLY.

At 128 Fulton Street, (sixth building,) NEW YORK.

BY MUNN & COMPANY.}}}}

RUFUS PORTER, EDITOR.

TERMS—$2 a year-$l in advance, and the on last page.

for in 6 months.

See Advertisement on last page

KNOWING FOLKS.

How wondrous wise some people are ! How vast their knowledge is! They know the sun is not astar, Nor the moon a piece of cheese.

They're very sure society Consists of various sects, And know that causes oftentimes Are followed by effects.

They bore one with strange theories Of sciences occult, And know a process must be tried To come to a result.

They tell you with a look profound— Of course you must believe— That often, in these wicked times, Appearances deceive.

They think consistency should mark The ways of those who teach ; And think-as who does not ?-they should Practice as well as preach.

They likewise have found out that he Who quotes much holy writ, And wears a face long as your arm, Maybe a hypocrate.

They know—good Heav'ns what don't they know? That honesty is rare; That virtue is not always found In maidens who are fair.

In every matter, great or small, What wisdom they display; They swear that if the wind is right, 'T will be a rainy day.

And when a man in climbing falls And breaks his neck—what then? They know as sure as eggs are eggs, He won't climb there again.

And when they hear a Yankee has Been kill'd in Greece or Rome, They doubt nothe'd been living still, If he had staid at home. In short, they know quite every thing That's sanctioned by the schools, Except one little item-that Themselves are knowing fools.

Grammatical Tautology. I'll prove the word that I've made my theme, Is that that may be doubled without blame; And that that that, thus trebled, I may use, And that that THAT that critics may abuse, And that that THAT (that that THAT that began) Repeated seven times is right!-Deny't who

May be correct. Farther-the dons to bother- Five THATS may closely follow one another ! For be it known that we may safely write Or say, that that THAT that that man wrote was right: Nay, e'en, that that THAT that THAT that fol- lowed; And that that THAT (that that THAT that began) Repeated seven times is right!-Deny't who can.

About Right. In a recent Breach of Promise case in Con- necticut, it was proved that the gentle man had visited the 1 dy every Sunday evening for two years. He was mulcted in the sum of $800 -eight dollars a visit.

This Telescope is one of the principal arti- ficial wonders of the world. It has been re- cently completed by the Earl of Rosse at an expense of nearly 60,000 dollars. The tube is 56 feet long. The speculum is six feet india- meter and weighs nearly four tons. Its com- position is 120 parts of copper to 57 1-2 parts of tin; its focal length is 54 feet-the tube is of deal; its lower part, that in which the spe- culum is placed, is a cube of 8 feet; the cir- cular part of the tube is, at its centre, 7 1-2 feet in diameter, and at its extremities, 6 1-2 The telescope lies between two stone walls, about 71 feet from north to south, about 50 feet high, and abr 23 eet asunder. These walls are as nearly as possible parallel with the meridian.

The engraving shows a view of the inside of the eastern wall with all the machincay seen in section. A is the mason work in the ground; B the universal joint which allows the tube to turn in all directions, C the spec- ulum in its box; D the tube; E the eye-piece, F the moveable pully; G the fixed one; H the chain from the side of the tube; I the chain from the beam; K the counterpoise; L the lever; M the chain connecting it with the tube; 2 the chain which passes from the tube to the windlass over a pulley on a truss beam which runs from W to the same situation on the opposite wall-the pully is not seen X; is a railroad on which the speculnm is drawn either to or from its box-part is cut away to show the counterpoise. The dotted line, a, represents the course of the weight R as the tube rises or falls; it is a segement of a circle of which the chain I is the radius. With a little attention to these several points the working of the machinery, we think will be easily comprehended. The weight on the lever L sinks only fifteen feet under the hori- zontal position, it then rests on the ground, and is, of course, no load on the tube, which is,

when this happens, 30 degrees above the hor izon. Now, it is easily seen how, when the tube is ascending: d loosing its weight also lengthening the cl in H, that on account of the chain I, whosc.ength is Falways constant, the counterpoise K is moving fr the perpen- cular position under Gand, fore loosing ts power upon the tube, and aching the perpendicular under W, and for this reason, transferring all its weight to the fixed,chain I when the tube-passes the perpendicular the chain H is again shortened and the counter- [poise begins once more to draw it back so that the action of this tends to keep the tube al- ways upright to whatever side it may point, and its power is always equal to the varying weight. Under these circumstances we see how caly and evenly the windlass can ele- vate the Telescope and turn it to the north, but when it arrives there it must be brought back again and this is accomplished by the lever L. When the tube reaches within thirty de- grees of the horizon the lever rests on the ground, and the tube is therefore able to de- scend by its own weight. When the tube points to the north the lever is elevated above the horizon and has not of course so much power as when it coincided with it, but it is in this case helped by the counterpoise K, which always tends to bring the tube to the perpendicular. This continues to help it un- til it becomes itself sufficiently able, from its hoizontal position, to do all the work: it then commences.opposing it. but it now has that help off the increasing weight of the tube de- self and so all the parts are elegantly blended into one another with the most perfect concort and efficiency.

A perspective view of the building erected for the accommodation of the tele scope with further remarks on the subject will be seen on another page.

Plain Speaking. A correspondent of the Baltimore American relates the following incident of the capitula- tion at Monterey :

"The bearer of the flag of truce proposed a surrender of the town, allowing them to re- move all the public property; Gen. Taylor asked an unconditional surrender of every thing; quite a difference. They had from 8 to 12 o'clock to answer. At 12 they sent for General Taylor. After exhausting his pati- ence with diplomacy, and Ampudia declared he was no ways straitened to submission, Gen. Taylor said, Sir, I hold your town, yourself and your army in the hollow of my hand, and you know it; the conference is closed. In thirty minutes you shall hear from my batteries He took his hat to leave the room;

Ampudia called him back and submitted.- This was told me in person by Gen. Taylor and is strictly true of course."

A Yankee Cargo, The packet ship St. Petersburgh lately sailed from Baston with 20,500 bushels Indian Corn, 300 hhaa. tallow, 1,500 bbls. flour, 1200 do naval stores, 500 do apples, 400 do sperm oil, 300 do lard, 100 do grease, 30 do shoe pegs, 100 do onions, 60 cases clocks, 150 rocking chairs, 15,000 lps. wool, besides sundry lots of Yan- kee notions, and 50 sleerage passengers.

A gentleman has sent to the editor of the Petersburgh Intelligencer a potatoe weighing 9 1-2 ponds, and a turnip weighing 17 lbs.- He has cow that gives 13 quarts at a milk- ing. This is pretty well for Virginia,

A LIST OF PATENTS

Issued from the 7th of October to the 17th of October, 1846, inclusive.

To Stuart Perry, of New York City, for improvement in Gas Engines. Patented 7th Oct.

To John Goldenburgh, of Cincinnati, Ohio for improvement in Fire Place Grates. Patented 7th October, 1810.

To James A. Cutting and George Butterfield, of Boston, Mass. for improvement in Couplings for railroad cars. Patented 7th Oct., 1846.

To William B. Treadwell, of Albany, N. Y.for improvement in Cooking Stoves. Patented 7th Oct, 1846,

To Jonathan W. Gordon, of Jamestown, N. C., for improvement in Corn Shellers. Patented 7th Oct. 1846.

To Rene L'Anglois, of Assumption, La., for improvement in Lightning Conductors. Patented 7th Oct. 1846.

To Samuel C. Wilt, of Hartleton, Penn., for for improvement in Lanterns for destroying Insects. Patented 7th Oct., 1846.

To Issac Slack, of Avondale, Penn., for for improvement in carriage Axles. Patented 10th Oct. 1846.

To Henry W. Sabin, of Rushville, N. Y., for improvement in Windlasses. Patented 10th Oct. 1846.

To Charles H. Rogers and Samuel H. Hancox, of Troy, N. Y. for improvement in Stoves. Patented 10th Oct. 1846.

To Rose Winatus, of Baltimore, Md., for improvement in Locomotive Engines. Patented 10th Oct. 1846.

To J. W Howlett, and F. M. Walker, of Greenboro, N. C., for improvement in Preparing Grain for Flouring. Patented 14th Oct.

To Benjamin Babbitt, New York City, for improvement in Machinery for Trimming Brushes. Patented 14th Oct. 1846.

To Clinton Foster and Levi Jones, of Laport Ia., for improvment in Treshing Machines. Patented 17th Oct. 1846.

To Timothy Demark Jackson and Alfred Judson, of Rochester, N. Y., for improvement in Bell Machinery for Hotels, &c. (said Alfred Judson having assigned his right, title and interest in said improvement to T. D. Jackson.) Patented 17th Oct. 1846.

To Peter Von Schmidt, of Washington, D. C., for improvement in Cotton Gins. Patented 17th Oct. 1846.

To Nicholas I Lampman, of Coxsackie, N, for improvement in Hay and Cotton Presses.

Patented 17th Oct. 1846.

RE-ISSUES.

To Erastus B. Bigelow, of Boston, Mass.,for improvement in the Power Loom for wearing Coach Lace and other similar fabrics. Original Letters Patent dated 20th April, 1837.- Re-issued 251 Sept. 1846.

To Clement O. Read, of Milford, Mass., for improved Machine for manufacturing Wood Screws. Original Letters Patent dated 15th December, 1837.

DESIGNS.

To Samuel W. Gibbs, of Albany, N. Y., for Design for Stoves. (Assigned to Augustus Quackenboss, of Albany.) Patented 3d October, 1846.

To John S. and Merritt Peckham, of Utica, N. Y., for Designs for Stoves. Patented 3d October, 1846.

To Robert A. Gregory, of New York City, for Design for Stoves. Patented 3d Oct. 1846.

To Ezra Ripley, of Troy, N. Y., for Design for Stove. (Assigned to Johnson & Cox.) Patented 3d Oct., 1846.

To Cresson, Stewart, Beesely & Sailor, of Philadelphia, Pa., for Design for Stove. (Assigned to W. P. Cresson.) Patented 3d Oct., 1846.

To W. & R. P. Resor, of Cincinnati, Ohio for Design for Vases. Patented 20th Oct. 1846