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LEGHORN HENS.

SAWDUST IN ROUGH CASTING.

Siehr recommends very highly the use of sawdust in mortar as superior even to hair for the prevention of cracking and subsequent peeling off of rough casting under the action of storms and frost. His own house, exposed to prolonged storms on the seacoast, had patches of mortar to be renewed each spring, and after trying without effect a number of substances to prevent it, he found sawdust perfectly satisfactory. It was first thoroughly dried and sifted through an ordinary grain sieve to remove the larger particles. The mortar was made by mixing 1 part cement, 2 lime, 2 sawdust, and 5 sharp sand, the sawdust being first well mixed dry with the cement and sand.

SUINT FOR WATERPROOFING FABRICS.--A German chemist has patented the waterproofing of finely woven fabrics, linen, cotton, etc., by means of suint composition. He adapts his method to securing the suint to wool-washing establishments at a small cost.

ABSENCE OF WHITE COLOR IN ANIMALS.

IMPROVED TROLLING HOOK.

Mr. Henry C. Brush, of Brush's Mills, N.Y., has patented through the Scientific American Patent Agency an improved troller, the novel feature in which consists in attaching a float to the shank of the implement under the revolving blade, the object being to keep the troller near the surface of the water, where the fish may see it more readily, and whereby the liability of catching in weeds and logs is obviated.

PURIFICATION OF WOOL AND WOOLEN STUFF.

The process, patented some time ago, for the removal of straw, burrs, etc., from wool, by treatment with sulphuric acid, has been modified by Lisc as follows: The stuff is worked for one to two hours in a bath consisting of about 26 gallons sulphuric acid, of 3? to 6?, 1 lb. alum, 1/2 lb. salt, and 750 grains borax. It is then treated in a centrifugal machine, and afterward subjected to a temperature of 212? to 248?. For removal of the acid it is first washed with pure water for 1 1/2 hours, then treated for two hours with fuller's earth, soda, and lime, and finally washed for two hours with fresh water. As sulphuric acid can only be employed with uncolored cloths, or such as have been dyed with indigo, chloride of zinc and chloride of manganese diluted to 6? are substituted with fabrics otherwise dyed.

CAFFEONE.

Caffeone, the aromatic principle of coffee, may be isolated by distilling 5 or 6 lbs. roasted coffee with water, agitating the aqueous distillate with ether, and afterwards evaporating the ether. It is a brown oil, heavier than water, in which it is only very slightly soluble. An almost imponderable quantity of this essential oil will suffice to aromatize a gallon of water.

THE HEMI-PLUNGER.

From the plunger, A, rise two hollow columns, E, to which metallic plates, F, are attached to diminish friction through the water. These support the upper division or platform, B. The second shaft , which rises above the platform in Fig. 1, serves to ventilate the plunger. The columns, E, serve as shoots down which merchandise is lowered to the compartments, N; and their upper ends are received in two immense inverted cups attached to the bottom of the part, B. Through these cups pass large screws, which confine the columns so that, by removing the connection, the whole submarine apparatus may in case of necessity be freed from the upper works. On each side of the platform, B, which is of elliptical figure, is a large float, seen in Fig. 3, which, by means of racks and gearing, may be raised or lowered at will. Usually these floats are carried at a height of a yard above the water. In calm weather, this distance is increased, and in storms it is diminished, the object of the floats being to keep the whole vessel on an even plane, and to prevent too violent oscillations. In order to facilitate navigation in shallow water, the columns, E, may be made telescopic, and operated by hydraulic apparatus, so that they may be shortened at will. Any form of engine or propeller may be used.

Besides the advantage of the vessel being unaffected by waves, since its submerged portion travels far below them, the inventor claims that it will meet less resistance from the water than would a vessel of corresponding volume sailing on the surface. It will make faster progress, because it has no waves to mount and descend; and hence it always travels in a nearly right line. The screw being submerged at a great depth will not tend to turn the vessel from her straight path. The platform being easily detachable may serve as a raft in case of injury to the submarine boat. For fast travel, on lakes, rivers, and shallow water generally, M. Tommasi proposes to support his platform on two floats which rest on the surface of the water. No weight, therefore, is thrown on the submarine vessel, which need be constructed with only just enough buoyancy to sustain itself and its engine. In this way, the upper craft has no engine or other load than its cargo; and as it merely rests upon the surface, the inventor thinks that it will skim over the same like an ice boat on ice.

For war purposes, the hemi-plunger is especially adapted, because the vulnerable portions, engines, boiler, rudder, etc., are wholly out of the reach of shot. Guns are mounted on the platform, which thus becomes a circular or elliptical turret, just above the water when the vessel is in fighting trim. Instead of steel armor, M. Tommasi has a new invention which he calls hydro-metallic plating. He reserves the details of this for future publication; but generally the armor consists of tubes in which liquid is forced under a pressure equivalent to the resistance, say, of forged steel. He thinks this will oppose shot as effectually as the solid metal, and will have the additional advantage of superior lightness.

IN-SOLES saturated with salicylic acid have been introduced as a remedy for perspiration of the feet.

SUPREME COURT PATENT DECISION.

A United States patent was granted May 23, 1854, to John Myers and Robert G. Eunson for a wood-sawing machine for cutting boards into thin stuff for making picture frame and mirror backs. One of the principal claims was for the employment of two deflecting plates, one on each side of the circular saw, by which both sides of the sawed stuff, as fast as it was cut, was slightly deflected so as not to bind upon the saw. Suit was brought by the patentee against Dunbar and Hopper for infringement, and judgment was given in favor of the patentees, in the United States Circuit Court, this city, the damages awarded being ,121. The defendants thereupon took an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, which tribunal has reversed the finding of the Circuit Court and dismissed the complaint. It was held by the Supreme Court that, inasmuch as the use of a single deflecting plate was old, well known, and in common use, it was simply an exercise of ordinary mechanical skill, and not a patentable invention, to employ a second deflecting plate, although the superiority of the double deflectors, for certain kinds of work, appears to be conceded.

PLANING MILL MACHINERY.

The first man to employ power in the operation of smoothing the surface of wood was Sir Samuel Bentham, of London, England, and to him belongs the honor of having discovered the principle upon which all planing machines operate. A brief personal notice of this remarkable inventor will serve to show under what circumstances the planing machine originated. His education was secured at the Westminster school of London, and, as far as can be ascertained from the meager records of his life that have come down to us, was of the most thorough kind, both classical and scientific, that could be obtained at that time . When his education was finished, he was bound to the master shipwright of the Woolwich dockyard, to whom he served an apprenticeship of seven years, acquiring in that time a practical knowledge of the methods of working in both wood and iron then in vogue, and receiving the best scientific instruction that the development of that period afforded. After his term of apprenticeship had expired, he spent about two years in looking up the local peculiarities of other shipyards whose methods of working differed in some respects from those of the Woolwich mechanics.

In 1779 he was ordered by the government to examine into the progress of shipbuilding in Northern Europe, and in carrying out this commission he repaired to Russia, where he invented the first machine for planing wood. Its mode of operation, whether reciprocating or rotating, it is impossible to ascertain positively, but the conclusion arrived at, after referring to the specifications of his first patent, which was issued in 1791, is that it worked upon the former principle by means closely analogous to the operation of planing by hand. He seems to have made no use of his venture in Russia, though he resided there several years and filled several important positions under the Russian Government. He returned to his native country in 1791 and joined his brother, Jeremy Bentham, who had at that time just received an appointment from the government to introduce industrial prisons in England. To utilize the unskilled labor of the convicts, the talents of Sir Samuel were called into use, and he devised a number of new machines, the greater part of which were for working wood. For want of a more suitable place, these machines were constructed at the residence of Jeremy Bentham, which was thus converted into the first manufactory for woodworking machines. This factory was established in 1794, but was soon found to be too small for the purpose, and another building was occupied. In a lecture before the Society of Arts, in 1853, Professor Willis, referring to the shops of the Benthams, stated that "there were constructed machines for all general operations in woodwork, including planing, molding, rebating, grooving, mortising, and sawing, both in coarse and fine work, in curved, winding, and transverse directions, and shaping wood in complicated forms; and further, as an example, that all parts of a highly finished window sash are prepared, also all parts of an ornamented carriage wheel were made so that nothing remained to be done by hand but to put the component parts together."

In 1797 the Admiralty consented to the introduction of such of these machines as could be used to advantage in the different dockyards, and they were manufactured under the direction of Jeremy Bentham, and forwarded from time to time to Portsmouth and Plymouth, where they were used with good results, performing all that was claimed for them.

Bentham was joined in 1810 by another genius by the name of Brunel, who had invented several valuable machines, among which was one for shaping block shells, which seems to have had Bentham's indorsement. As Inspector General, in 1803, Sir Samuel advised the Admiralty to introduce many of his new machines, and also to permit the use of steam engines; accordingly, the dockyards were fitted with engines for sawing, planing, boring, tenoning, mortising, etc. The labor saved by their use can be inferred from the fact that Brunel, who had assisted in their construction, received as a premium for his inventions the amount saved in the yards by their use in one year, which reached the respectable sum of ,000. In the same year the government settled with Jeremy Bentham, after arbitration, and allowed him for machines furnished the yards and prisons, 0,000. We learn from testimony given before the arbitrators that "Sir Samuel Bentham prepared a system of machinery for the employment of men without skill, and particularly with a view to utilizing convict labor. In 1793 patents were taken out on these inventions to secure their exclusive use for the prisons." The testimony states that no skill was required in the use of these machines; they were introduced into the dockyards and worked by common laborers. It was claimed that nine tenths of the labor was saved by the use of Bentham's machines, which proves that they were at least effective, which cannot be said in all cases of those of modern manufacture.

The patent of Bentham, issued in 1793, is doubtless one of the most remarkable ones ever issued, both for the importance of the inventions it protected and the clearness with which they and the principles on which they operated are described. Richards, in referring to that section of this patent which relates to rotary tools for woodcutting, quotes the inventor as saying: "The idea of adapting the rotative motion of a tool with more or less advantage, to give all sorts of substances any shape that may be required, is my own, and, as I believe, entirely new."

For those not skilled in nor acquainted with the nature and extent of the various operations in wood conversion which come under the head of shaping with rotary cutters, it will be difficult to convey an idea of the invention here set forth; it includes, indeed, nearly all operations in woodworking, and as an original invention may be said to consist in the discovery of the fact that flat surfaces, or surfaces of any contour, can be properly prepared by the action of rotating tools. It is not to be wondered at that such an operation should not have been sooner discovered, for even at the present time there are few processes in treating material which seem so anomalous as that of planing a flat surface with cutters revolving in a circle of a few inches in diameter.

In reference to planing mouldings, it is said: "If the circumference of a circular cutter be formed in the shape of any moulding, and projecting above the bench no more than necessary, the piece being shoved over the cutter will thus be cut to a moulding corresponding to the cutter--that is, the reverse of it, just as a plane iron cuts the reverse. If a plane cutter, such as that above spoken of for cutting a groove in the breadth of a piece, be made so thick, or, as we might be apt to say now, so broad, or so long, as to cover the whole breadth of the piece, it will present the idea of a roller. This I call a cutting roller; it maybe employed in many cases with great advantage to perform the office of a plane."

The cutting roller of Bentham is the present cutter block of England, or the cutting cylinder of America, and after what has been quoted it may be seen that the idea of rotary planing and moulding machines had been fully grasped by Bentham. He goes on as usual to the various conditions which attach to the process of planing, and says further: "if a cutting roller of this sort be placed with its axis horizontal and the bench beneath, it may be made to rise and lower. The bench may be very readily adjusted, so as to determine the thickness to which a piece will be reduced by being passed under the roller." "To gain time, cutters may be applied to different sides of a piece at once, and such of them as make parallel cuts may be mounted on the same spindle."

These extracts would not be out of place in an explanatory lecture or essay on woodcutting at the present day, and cannot help awakening surprise that they should have been written eighty-three years ago, when there had, so far as we know, been no precedents, nor even suggestions from previous practice.

The foregoing shows that nearly all the fundamental principles, upon which woodcutting by machinery in its present development depends, were familiar to Sir Samuel Bentham, and though his name has been almost forgotten, it may be safely asserted that he gave to the world more useful inventions than any other man of his age. His work shows throughout a constant method and system of reasoning, which point rather to a life of persistent labor than to one of what would ordinarily be called genius. That latter quality he must certainly have possessed in the highest degree, for without it even his knowledge and experience could not have been equal to the work he accomplished. Directed to different ends, his talent and genius would doubtless have secured for him a fame that would live for years, though it does not seem possible that he could have conferred upon the world a greater benefit.

SUICIDE STATISTICS.

Footnote 9:

There is a fairly general agreement as to its definition; and beneath different formulas, according as they emanate from a moralist, a theologian, a philosopher, or a biologist, we always find the same essential characters: "it is an intemperate want;" "it is an inclination or liking carried to excess;" "it is a violent and sustained desire which dominates the whole cerebral being," etc.; the terminology alone varies.

Footnote 10:

If we seek the special mark of passion and its characteristics among the phenomena of the affective life, we must distinguish it from emotion on one side and insanity on the other; for it is situated midway between the two.

The normal intellectual state is a plurality of states of consciousness determined by the mechanism of association. If at a given moment a perception or representation arises and occupies alone the chief field of consciousness, ruling as a sovereign, making a space around it, and only permitting associations which are in direct relation with itself, we have a state of attention. This "monoide?sm" is by its nature exceptional and transitory. If it does not change its object, persisting or repeating itself constantly, we have the fixed idea, which may be called permanent attention. It is not necessarily morbid, as Newton's celebrated phrase and other evidence show; but the latent or actual sovereignty of the fixed idea is absolute and tyrannical.

In the same way the normal state of feeling is the succession of pleasures, troubles, desires, whims, etc., which in their temperate form, and often dulled by repetition, constitute the prosaic round of ordinary life. At a given moment some circumstance causes a shock; that is emotion. Some tendency annihilates all the others, momentarily confiscating the whole activity to its profit; that is the equivalent of attention. Usually this passage of movements in a single direction is not enduring; but if, instead of disappearing, the emotion remains fixed, or repeats itself incessantly, always the same, with the slight modifications involved in passing from the acute to the chronic stage--that is passion, which is permanent emotion. In spite of apparent eclipses, it is always ready to appear, absolute and tyrannical.

After distinguishing passion from emotion, it is still necessary to separate it from insanity, its other neighbour. Certain authors have at once classed all passions with insanity; I cannot accept this proposition. It may suit the moralist, by no means the psychologist. But the task of separation is very delicate, and cannot be attempted in this Introduction. The distinction between the normal and the morbid, always difficult, is especially so in the case of the psychology of the feelings. I shall endeavour elsewhere to find the indications which enable us to establish this separation legitimately, and the task which we now put aside in its general form will come before us later on in the case of each particular emotion.

GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY.

PHYSICAL PAIN.

Many definitions of pain have, very unnecessarily, been offered. Some are even tautological, others imply a hypothesis as to its nature by relating it to strong stimulations. Let us regard it as an internal state which every one knows by experience, and of which consciousness reveals innumerable modes, but which by its generality and its multiplicity of aspect escapes definition.

Footnote 11:

"Pain is a powerful and prolonged vibration of the conscious nervous centres, resulting from a strong peripheral excitation, and consequently of a sudden change of condition in the nervous centres" . "It is the most violent stimulation of certain sensorial regions--a stimulation to which contribute the more extended stimulations of other regions" .

The transmission of painful impressions from the periphery to the cortical centres is far from being determined in all the stages of its course.

Footnote 12:

Are there special nerves for the transmission of pain? Goldscheider, well known for his researches on cold and heat points on the skin, at first maintained that there are. According to him, the pain-bearing nerve filaments are interlaced with the sensorial nerves, more numerously with the nerves of general sensation , less numerously with those of special sense. If the existence of these special pain nerves were well established, it would have as great an importance for our subject as the discoveries of Sachs and others, on the nervous filaments peculiar to the muscles, have had for the study of the kinaesthetic sense. But this physiologist has since repudiated his first assertion, and maintained that it was misunderstood; he admits pain points , but not a specific organ for pain nor special nerves to transmit it. Frey, on the other hand, professes to have proved experimentally both pain nerves and appropriate terminal organs. His observations have been rejected as inaccurate. At the present time there is nothing to establish the existence of pain nerves, and most authors have given strong reasons against the probability of such a discovery. Rejecting this hypothesis, we may admit that an impression of pain, like any other impression, is transmitted by the nerves of general or special sensibility. When it has entered the spinal cord at the posterior roots, the road it follows to reach the higher centres has given rise to much investigation and discussion. According to Schiff, transmission takes place through the grey substance, tactile impressions passing by the posterior fibres; there would thus be two distinct paths, one for the feeling, the other for the sensation properly so-called. Brown-S?quard also admits distinct paths, but through the grey substance alone; the anterior region is devoted to touch, the median to temperature, the posterior to pain. According to Wundt, impressions of touch and temperature have a primary path through the white substance when stimulation is moderate, a secondary path through the grey substance acting as a surplus channel when stimulation is violent. The hypothesis of separate paths, whatever they may be, has the advantage of harmonising with the well-known fact, to which we shall return, that the transmission of pain is slower than sensorial transmission. Lehmann, who takes up a rigidly intellectualist position, cannot admit that the element of feeling has a certain independence in relation to the element of sensation, existing by itself. He believes that the delay is explained by the fact that "pain requires a stronger excitation in the sensorial region than sensation without pain, and that consequently pain is only produced after sensation, as the excitation increases in intensity." This explanation may be accepted, but it assumes that pain always depends on intensity of stimulus, which is not proved.

Footnote 13:

Footnote 14:

Footnote 15:

Footnote 16:

The hypothesis of a cortical centre is not, therefore, probable; I shall return to this point in discussing the emotions.

The modifications of the organism which accompany physical pain have been so often described that it is enough to trace a slight outline of them. They may be reduced to a single formula: pain is associated with diminution and disorganisation of the vital functions.

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