|
[page 149:]
|
|
|
A CHAPTER ON SCIENCE AND ART.
————
A WRITER in
the last
Southern
Literary Messenger proposed the endowment, at Washington, of a Central
School of Natural Science, as the best disposition of Mr.
Smithson's
bequest. This academy should have, it is suggested, a perfect
apparatus,
good cabinets, and the rudiments of a library, to be increased as means
would permit. The institution should commence its operations of
instruction
at the point where our highest universities close — none of which
profess,
in mathematics, for example, to carry their pupils beyond a general
acquaintance
with the principles of the Calculus. In natural philosophy itself, the
university deficiency of apparatus is a lamentable drawback upon the
utility
of our colleges. They have no facilities for the conduct of our young
men
farther than the mere vestibule of the temple. Yet we, above all people
of the earth, have the most need of the highest physical instruction,
prefaced
and aided by the profoundest analytical science. We are, beyond all
other
nations, a nation of physical wants, means, and opportunities — this
not
less from the character of our population, than from the extent and
general
nature of our territory. The entire spirit of the age, too tends rather
to physical than to moral investigation. We want means for the
immediate
development of all our powers and resources. It may be said, moreover,
in favor of physical knowledge, that it is the property not of any
individual,
or of any people, but of mankind. All are interested in its
pursuit;
its profits all share; and herein consists its great
superiority
to mere literature; for whose advancement, indeed, we have already
abundant
means — whose guidance and control may be safely left to the press.
In the attempt at establishing an
ordinary
national
University we should meet with insuperable difficulties; at all events,
with wearisome delay. The jealousy of State Colleges would greatly
interfere
for it cannot be doubted that an institution at Washington, endowed as
sometimes proposed, and immediately fostered by the Government, would
tend
materially to the injury of other universities. Taking this ground,
Congress
would not act promptly upon the question — indeed, not at all, until
the
views of the States be ascertained. Moreover, the funds left by Mr.
Smithson
are inadequate to such a purpose — as the interest alone is to be used.
An institute for men, beginning where other institutions leave
off,
would conflict with no established interest, and might be carried at
once
into effect. In respect to the designs of the testator, no doubt should
be entertained. He meant to found a College for the advancement of Science.
His whole life is a plain commentary upon this intention — and this
intention
should, in the present case, be made a paramount law. We fully agree
with
the Correspondent of the Messenger in the expediency of a Central
Academy
as suggested.
———
Some time ago, Mr. Charles Green, of
England,
published
a statement of the grounds upon which he bases his assertion of the
possibility
of passing, in a balloon, across the Atlantic, from New York, to
Europe.
His facts should certainly be depended upon; for they are the result of
observations made during two hundred and seventy-five ascents. For our
own parts, so far from gainsaying one word that the æronaut
asserts,
we have for a long time past wondered why it was that our own Wise had
not æronauted himself over to Europe — than which nothing could
be
a more feasible manoeuvre. Pure hydrogen must be discarded, as too
subtle
for our present means of retention. Balloons inflated with carburetted
hydrogen (common coal gas) will retain a good inflation for a great
length
of time. Mr. G. states that he has had gas of this kind brought in
small
balloons, to fill his large one, from a distance of five or six miles;
and we observe (what Mr. G. has not) that in Vienna, according to a
simple
method invented by M. F. Derionet, the gas is conveyed in hermetically
sealed bags, on carriages constructed for the purpose, from the factory
to all parts of the town daily. Why do not our gas companies
avail
themselves of this plan? What an incalculable saving would ensue in
regard
to the laying down of pipe, ect. [[etc.]] !
As to making a voyage from America to
Europe, the
data of the æronaut are plain, and perfectly well based. He has,
in the first place, travelled two thousand nine hundred miles with the
same supply of gas, and could have continued its use for four months if
necessary. In the second place it is demonstrated that a current of air
is continually passing round the earth, at a stated distance from the
surface,
in the direction of west-north-west — in the third place a balloon like
the celebrated Nassau can carry with ease three persons, with the
necessary
provisions and equipments for four months.
———
The Curators of the Albany Institute,
have been
presented
by Henry James, Esq., now in Europe, with a fac-simile in plaster of
the
Rosetta Stone — a copy of which, we believe, did not before exist in
this
country, except in engravings. All our readers know that the Greek,
Coptic,
and Hieroglyphic inscriptions on this stone are what led Dr. Young, of
Oxford, and afterwards Champollion, of Paris, to find the key to the
hieroglyphic
alphabet.
———
The new mode of engraving introduced
by
Hulmandel,
of London, has great advantages in the saving of labor and expense. The
process is described by Dr. Faraday as very simple, and the results as
precise and certain. The first impression is directed by spreading oil
over the plate, the interstices being filled by a watery solution of
gum.
The plate is then covered with varnish, and when immersed in water, the
gum is dissolved, when the parts required are easily etched by
aquafortis [page 150:] The method is principally
applicable,
however,
to cotton and silk printings, and is not very well adapted to the fine
arts. Hulmandel is a man of astute intellect, and has a singular tact
in
the communication of knowledge. His treatise on lithography is one of
the
most luminous books in the world.
———
A gentleman of Liverpool announces
that he has
invented
a new engine, immensely superior in every respect to the old steam
engine.
The power is created by air and steam. It will consume only one-half
the
quantity of fuel of the old one; and the rapidity by which a vessel
propelled
by it will sail, will enable it to cross the Atlantic in six days.
Owing
to a particular way in which the power acts upon the vessel, twenty
miles
per hour can be realized by the old steam-engine, and instead of
straining
and weakening the ship, will brace and strengthen it. By this method
the
steam power is more than doubled. Doubtful.
———
THE
Philadelphia Steam
Frigate
will be ready for launching by the first of September. The ship
carpenters
have commenced laying the bend or wail planking. The engine is also in
a fair state of progress. Messieurs Merrick and Towne are its makers.
The
Frigate will not carry many guns, but all are to be of huge dimensions.
The largest steamer in the British
navy is the
Gorgon,
recently built. Her burthen is 1150 tons, builder's measurement. She
will
carry twenty days' coal, one thousand soldiers, one hundred and
fifty-six
crew, with stores and provisions for all for six months. The engines
are
of three hundred and twenty horse power, and the ship is so constructed
that the steam-machinery cannot be reached by shot.
———
An instrument has been invented by a
Mr. Conger
of
new York, by means of which the existence of fire within a building can
be ascertained by a person outside. A small box, containing an
air-pump,
is placed within the house, in contact with the front wall or door, and
from the box, metal tubes, like a gas pipe, communicate with each story
of the building. By pulling a knob, such as is usually attached to the
wire of a door-bell, the least symptoms of smoke in any part of the
building
are rendered perceptible. Coincident with this invention is another
somewhat
similar — that of a self-acting fire-alarm bell. The principle on which
it is made is that of the expansion of metals by heat. From a piece of
hollow brass, a metal communication leads to a bell, the tongue of
which
is moved by a spring, not unlike that of an ordinary mouse trap. The
fire
acts upon the brass, expanding it and causing it to move the apparatus,
so as to set the bell ringing. It will strike when the heat is at 120
degrees
of Fahrenheit's thermometer, or even at a lower temperature.
———
It is well known that when
atmospherical air is
suddenly
rarefied, as wen it issues from the muzzle of an air gun into which it
was previously condensed, a fiash [[flash]] of light is perceived,
which
has been generally attributed to electricity, excited by the sudden
expansion.
Some interesting experiments on this subject have been made by Mr.
Hart,
from which he arrives at a different conclusion with regard to the
origin
of the light.
In his first trials in which he
discharged the
gun
under a variety of circumstances, using dry, damp, and warm air, and
discharging
it in warm, cold, dry, and moist weather, he failed in procuring light.
In these the gun was unloaded; but when loaded, light was instantly
perceived;
he therefore supposed that it might be occasioned by the friction of
the
wadding on the sides of the barrel, which induced him to try a variety
of substances possessing different electric powers; as dry silk, wool,
feathers, shell lac, sugar, and slips of glass. With the first four he
occasionally succeeded, but he never failed with the last two, the
glass
always giving the most vivid light, which was of a greenish color,
extending
a foot and a half from the muzzle. In repeating some of these
experiments,
the old silk which had been lying on the floor, and which had become
moist
and dirty, was again used, and by it a much more brilliant light was
emitted
than by any of the others; the same was also the case with pieces of
split
lath, and even with damp saw-dust picked up from the floor. The gun
after
this was discharged without any wadding in the barrel, when it always
gave
light at the first shot after the magazine was charged. From
this
it was suspected that as its muzzle rested against a wall during the
charging,
some sand or lime might have fallen in, the attrition of which during
the
discharge may have caused the luminousness. Accordingly, on taking
precautions
against this, no light could be obtained, which induced Mr. Hart to
introduce
a little sand, by which a beautiful stream of light was produced at
each
discharge. From these experiments, it is evident that the effects were
occasioned by attrition, and that the sand adhering to the old wadding,
saw-dust, split lath, etc., was the cause of the light; hence on trying
these when quite clean none was observed. To ascertain whether the
light
from these was produced by the abrasion of particles of iron from the
inside
of the barrel, like sparks from a cutler's wheel — sand, fragments of
spar
and sugar, were held at the muzzle of the gun when discharged, by which
they appeared slightly luminous. When a grating composed of clean and
dry
thermometer tubes was held in the same situation, there was no light —
proving that the luminousness is not occasioned by any electrical
appearance
excited by the air striking against the objects: we must therefore
consider
it as caused not by any change which the condensed air undergoes, but
merely
by attrition, and therefore similar to what occurs in common cases of
friction. |
|
|
|
|
|