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(12493) A. E. S. asks: 1. Can you inform your subscribers the degree of coefficient of expausion and the malleability of copper. brass, aluminium, soft iron, and steel? ) . ''he coefficients of linear expansion for the metals you name are per degree Fahrenheit, and at a temperature of 104 deg. V'ahrenheit, as follows : Copper, 0.00000610 ; brass, cast, 0.00001041; brass wire, 0.00001072; aluminium, 41.00001285; soft iron, 0.00000672; annealed steel, 0.00000607. No figures regarding malleability are reliable unless the condition of the sample is carefully determined. The general order of the pure metals in malleability, as given by Kent, is gOld, silver, aluminium, copper, tin, lead, zinc, p]atInur, iron. 2. What Is the metal or alloy Ita vlng the nearest coefficient to glass? A. Platinum is the only metal which has the same coefficient of expansion as glass. (12494) A. W. K. asks: Has anyone any experimental knowledge of a substance which, if shaped like a wedge, will weigh more when lying on its side than when lying on its back with the edge up? The writer frmly believes this to be possible, and that the heaviest substance is most likely to exhibit this phenomenon. A. We can answer your question that a wedge will weigh less when standing upon its head than when lying on Its face, since In the former position its “enter of gravity Is farther from the center of the earth than when It is on its face. It would r"quire most delicate balances to show this in any piece of metal which such balances can weigh correctly. (12495) F. R. S. says: I was interested in a method given in query 12456 for inscribing a hexagon in a circle, and hereby submit a geometrical solution for s a me . It is only a combination of two problems in the ordinary text books. I thought the solution might be o f interest to your readers. AllCa truelsc. C^. A. Theorem: Line 11 i j is side of inscribed pentagon. Proof: First, to prove that A C is a meun ratio between A R and R ( or A R :AC::AC: OR AW = A E' - E n' = (AF+ FE)' - E -i' = (AF + EB)'- /H' = AF'+2AFX EB = AF(AF + 2bB) A O(A F + FGl == AC (AC + AR) since A2R R E = —3- ( const ruetl-On) =a~C'+aOxab :. A R' - AC X AB= A 0' : . AB (AR - AO) = A C'' .·.ARXCB = AC or AB = ttt; ' . .AR: AO:: AO: OR AO CB MakeAS= CB :.SB = AO Now, from above : - AB: BS:: B8:A Sby construction and A D = A 0 by construction. :. A R : A D:: A D : A f, hence “ s BA D and S D A are .imilar, but “ 1 A D is isosceles.'. “ SDA is isosceles and A D = DS = 8B = A 0 .'. “ S D B is isosceles and < DBA = < A D S, but < D S A = < DBA + B D S = 2DBA. Hence A BD = ! of 2rt. ('hnical na les in the ordinary dietionul'Y, this eompilation should promote ease of comlJll'reial intel'course and find favor with a large class of buyers and shippers here and abruad. Between three and four thousand words and phrases are alphabetically listpd. How to Make a Wm!less Set. By Arthur Moore. Chicago: Popu ar Mechanics Company, 1911. 12mo.; 84 pp.; illustrated. Price, 25 cents. Boys all over the country are dabbling in “wireless,” and lllany more will take up the hohIJy whpn tlll'Y find how l'asily a short distancp outtit may he constnted. rrle instructions here givpn are for the making of a set that will transmit to a distance of four or five miles. How to Live in the Countly. By E. P. Powell. New York: Outing Publishing Company, 1911. 8vo.; 300 pp.; illustrated. Price, $1.75 net. Mr. Powell is well known as a prolific and sympathetic writer on rmal subjects. le speaks from the fulness of an appreciative personal experien('e, and in this instance tells how a large life may be lived on a small acreage. Both the dweller in the country and the city lllan wh o dream s o f f arm life lllay gai n str pngth and b readth of o u tlook from tl aut hor's prac t ical wisdom a n d inSpllllg description. The work is primarily a guide to choosing and ma , ing the most of a country hOllie. The chapt"r entitled “Can we maku it pay?” touches upon what is to most of u the vital point, and warns while it encourages . The Book of Roses. By Louis Durand. New York: John Lane Company, 1911. 8vo.; 101 pp. Price, $1 net; postage, 8 cents. The rose is everybody's favorite, symbolical of all the beauty and fvagrance of life. Almost any soil can be made to grow roses of one kind or another. The various soils and their preparation forms the theme of the first two chapters. The question of planting is argued. and budding, sowing, and striking as methods of propagation are examined with thoroughness. Much space is given to describing the YarietiEs-wiId, autulll blooming, decorativC, and climbing roses. 'he full-page plates will delight the heart of the flower lover, for they s(em almost to exhale the perfume or the specimens they picture. The ambition of every tiremaker in the world is to some day make a non-skid tire as good, and as popular as the famous NOBBY TREAD Eighteen months ago, Nobby Treads were first placed on the market. Since then they have been sweeping the country, replacing every form of non-skid tire or non skid device on cars in every state iu the Union, and in every possible kind of service. Skidding Protection - These Lig, thick. diagonally pliced knobs grip the slippenest road or pavement at every possible angle. They hold th,e wheel against skidding, and drive slipping” even on a wet asphalt pavement. They reach down deep into muddy or saudy roads. and hold the whfd secure where a plain tread \ouJd spill around unhindered. Wearing Quality-In decided contrast to the ordinary, so-called. non-skid tires, those tough rubber knobs expose so large a surface to the wear and lear of the road that it takes thousands of miles of the hanlest kind of serVice to wear them smooth. When they finally do wear dOWII, a plain tread still remains good for many more miles of service. For sa(ety's sake-foT economy7s sake equip your car with “ Nobbies “ WHAT do you want Ktobuy f We can tell you where to buy anything you want f Write us for the addresses of manufacturers in ANY line of business Machinery, 9 f Novelties, Special Tools, Equipments •I New Patent Labor Saving Devices MUNN&COMPANY, Inc. PUBLIS HERS OF THE SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN 361 BROADWAY, NEW YORK, U. S. A. Own a Good Saw A poor one is not “good enough” for anybody. You want a saw that cuts quick and true and holds its sharp teeth edges-a «t Simonds SaW (Pronounced Si-mondJ) It's made of tough, hard Simonds Steel, rolled and tempered by us especially so the teeth will hold their sharp, quick-cutting points against hard usage. -\ Nearly 80 years' experience is behind every \ Simonds Saw and our guaranty. \ Write for “The Carpenter's Guide Book"- j, \ FREE-and learn how to care for a saw. SIMONDS MFG. CO., Fitchburg, Ma •• Chicago Portland, Ore. San Francisco ^^f4M&£^2 New Orleans New York Seattle %:'/?;".$%£'•' ift?»~><^S«»* 90 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN July 22, 1911 Wood-Working machinery For ripping, cross· cutting, mitering, grooving, boring scroll-sawing, edge moulding, mortising; for working wood in any f."Dner. Send for l'atalog'lle A. SENECA FALLS MFG. CO. 695 Water Street Seneca Falls, N. Y, U. S. A. THE SEBASTIAN 1S-INCH ENGINE LATHE HIGH GRADE LOW PRICE Auto m obile Bu ilde rs. Ga rages. Re pair an d G eneraI Jo b bing Shop s fnd this the ideal lathe for their w ork. Cata log free. The S ebas tian Lat he Co . 120 C ul vert SI .. Cin Cinna ti. Ohio Friction Disk FOR LIGHT WORK. 1118 TheMe Great Advanta-e8: The speed can be instantly changed from 0 to 1600 wltbout stopping or shiftIng belts. Power appilad can be graduated to drive, with equal safety, the smallest or Jalgfst drills within its range-a wonderful economy in time and great saving tn drill breal.age. t Send for Drill Catalogue. W. F.&Jno. Barnes Company Drill 1»»” Ruby Street, Established 1872. Koekford, III. Make $20 to $40 Dav 111aaL selling the Automatic rCI ffCCK Combination Tool in your home county. AFenceBuilder'sTool, Post Puller, Lifting Jack, Vice, Wrench, etc. Used by Farmers Teamsters, in Factories, Mills, Mines, etc Weight 24 lbs. Capacity 3 tons. No experience necessary. Free instruction. Write forspecial offer to liveagents. Send no money. Name County where you live. Automatic Jack Co., Box 46* Bloomfleld, Ind. ELECTRIC D:!m!S SPECIAL Grinders MACHINES Polishers ROTH ELECTRIC MOTORS 198 Loomis Street, Chicago, IIIs. ?§uUS£«RINDST0NE8P If so we can supply you. An sizes mounted and ulmounted, always k(!pt in stock. Remember, w*> mnke a specialtyuf select ir;t> st ones for all ape . cial pUrp(Se8. ;ewt for catalogue “ 0 “ The CI,EVELAN 0 STONE O . 6th Floor, Hickox Bldg., Cleveland, 0. Complete lists of manufaud principle of illumination to moving picture projection.-The Berlin correspondent of the Scm"tiYic America” describes an apparatus for recording loss in weight.-The possibilit l es of aeroplanes in naval warfare are discussed by a German naval officer.-Illustrated descriptions of automobile novelties are presented.-Ralph C. Davison writes on the enormous discharge of dynamite rendered necessary in the construction of the new cut-off of the Delaware, Lacka'Wanna and Western Railroad near Andaver, New Jersey-A gaod article on taxicalogy is contributed by Professor Levin' of the University of Berlin. The Secret of the Maple IT is probable that every observant person who has visited a maple-grove in the early spring, while snow-banks are yet lingering in sheltered hollows, and has seen pailful after pailful of sweet sap drawn from the auger-holes in the trunks, has wondered what forces govern the flow or the sap. When the warm sun touches the tree-tops the flow increases. A rise of a few degrees in temperature often causes a great increase of flow, if the rise passes the zerO point, on the Centigrade scale, that is, the freezing-point of water. But a considerable change of temperature in which the fluctuations dO not cross the zero line causes no marked change in the fow of the sap. In the consideration of these and other related facts, the conelusion has been reached that neither expansion of gas in the wood, nor expansion of water, nor expansion of the waod itself, is the underlying cause of the pressure which produces the flow, but that this pressure arises from the effects of temperature in altering the osmotic permeability of the pith-ray cells. A New Route Across Africa.-The German Government is rapidly progressing with the railroad that is to connect Daressalam with Tabom in German East Africa. A force of 10,000 laborers is at work on the new road, of which 374 miles have been constructed. According to the Deutsch Ostafrikanische Zeitunf the uIHmate extension of this road to Ujiji, on Lake Tanganyika, is practically assured. As the Belgians have now decided to extend their upper Congo railway system to the west shore of Tanganyika, the time is not far distant when H will be possible to travel by rail, lake and river acrass Africa from Daressalam to the mouth of the Congo. It's a pleasure to fix things up about the house -if the tools are sharp. Ask your dealer for Carb.rundum sharping stones. The m.st remarkable sharpening agent ever discovered. H your dealer hasn't them send direct. No. 107-F Round combinati.n st.ne for carpenters . . $1.00 No. 108-F Oblong combination stone . . - . - . 1.25 No. 108-F Oblong combination st.ne in aluminum box . 2.75 No. 191-F Scythe and grass h.ok stone ...... .25 No. 1l4-F Sportsman's pocket stone in soft leather case . .75 No. 149-F Pocket stone in cardboard case..... .15 THE CARBORUNDUM CO. Niagara Falls, N. Y. HOW TO BUILD A 5 H.P_ GAS ENGINE AT HOME In Scientific American Supplements, 1641 and 1642, E. F. Lake describes simply and thoroughly how a five horse power gas engine can be built at home. Complete working drawings are published, with exact dimensions of each part. « Price by mail for the two Supplements, Twenty Cents. .. .. .. .. « Order from your newsdealer or from MUNN & CO., Inc., PUBLISHERS, 361 BROADWAY, NEW YORK dampproof - stainproof -finishes FOr CONCRETE ATTRACTIVE AND BRICK Trus-Con Exterior Wall Finish, applied with a brush, makes walls better than new-has a beautit,tl. uniform flat tone-is always clean because readily washed-has a dampproof. weather-resisting surface-hard as fint-becomes an inseparable part of the concrete, sealing the pores and filling the bair cracks-does not peel or crack off like paints. Trus-Con Exterior Wall Finish is a scientific preparation. especially compoundeJ for finishing and protecting concrete and masonry. Furnished in a variety of many pleasing colors. Write For Free Trus-Con Color Card. Tell us about your requirements. so we can gire detailed suggestions and name of nearest dealer. TRUSSED CONCRETE STEEL COMPANY, 402 Trussed Concrete Bldg .• Detroit, Mich. No-Rim-Cut Tires 10% Oversize Six Months' Sales, 220,000 The G.odyear No-Rim-Cut tire, as most motorists know, has changed the whole tire situation. The demand has become overwhelming. It is six t i mes as large as two years ago. These tires cannot rim-cut. The 650,000 in use have proven that. They are 10 per cent oversize. That means IO per cent Iore air - more carrying capacity. With the a ve rag e GOooR No-Rim-Cut Tires With or Without Non-Skid Treads THE GOODYEAR TIRE&RUBBER Branches and Agencies in 103 Principal Cities Canadian Factory: Bowmanville, Ontario car it means 25 per cent more mileage. Thousands have found that these two features together - No-Ri1l-Cut and oversize-cut tire bills in two. Yet these patented tires now cost no more than standard clincher tires. They fit any standard rim. Our Tire Book -based on I2 years of tire making - is filled with facts you should know . Ask us to mail it to you. COMPANY, First Street, AKRON, OHIO (B51) We Make All Sorta of Rubber Tire. Main Canadian Office: Toronto, Ontario 92 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN July 22, 1911 Switch 'ower o Ideal 'crete Blocks, built by the Lake Shore ( Michigan Southern R. R. La Porte, Ind. Tycrete Blocks are the 20th Century Building Material This switch tower is the type adopted by the Lake Shore System and they have built 16 of these switch towers at various points along their line. More are constantly being erected. Tycrete blocks are particularly adapted for the construction of switch towers, store houses, depots, culverts or bridges. The IDEAL line of concrete machinery is the standard adopted and used by several railway systems. Write for our catalog and further information. It will pay you to investigate. Ideal Concrete Machinery Co. London, Ontario, Canada 510 S. Emerick St., So. Bend, Ind CONSERVATION The AUGUST Magazine Number of the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN Issue of AUGUST 12th, 1911 The next magazine number of the Scientific American, August 12th, 1911, will contain a series of articles by leading authorities, which will deal with this vital subject of the conservation of our natural resources. Ex-Chief Forester the Hon. Gifford Pinchot, whose earnest fght for the preservation of the coal lands of Alaska has led to a favorable decision of the Land Office, which greatly strengthened the cause of conservation, will open the number with an article on the Conservation of our Forests. The Director and Chief Engineer of the Reclamation Service, F. H. Newell, will write a general article on the past work and future plans of the Reclamation Service. The Director of the Bureau of Mines, Dr. Joseph A. Holmes, will show that the waste of our supplies of coal is due not merely to careless and extravagant management in the mining of the coal, but also and very largely to methods in burning the fuel. Dr. David T. Day, of the United States Geological Survey, will prove, in an article on the conservation of oil and gas, that, as with coal, so with oil and gas, it is possible to effect large economies by judicious management in the oil and natural gas fields and by the use of improved appliances in burning these fuels either for light or power purposes. Dr. Hugh M. Smith, Deputy Commissioner of Fisheries, will contribute an article on the Conservation of Fish, Oysters, etc., and Seals. Conservation is a word to which we are liable to give too restricted an application. In addition to the above articles, the August 12th number will contain the usual Editorial, Aviation, and other Departments. Electricity U!loading Bananas by ElectricitY'- Fruit steamers I” New Orleans and MobIle are now bemg unloaded by means of electric conveyors. The conveyors are •provided with vertical legs that enter the hatches of the vessel. These legs support travelmg cha .ns four feet apart, which are connected by cross brs carrying canvas po()kets. Bunches of bananas are placed in these pockets and hauled out of the vessel. The loading of the conveyor is perrormed from three decks, each deck filling every third bag. Each conveyor has 1 capacity of twenty-five hundred bunches of bananas per hour. Avoiding Pole Lines in a Welsh Town. -In order to avoid the use of poles in the streets of a town in Wales, it was decided to run the wires on brackets supported on the sides of the buildings and the roofs. The brackets are made of angle i iron and extend about six feet from their support. At first there was some hesitation On the part of Owners about giving the right 'Of way over and along their buildings, but this was overcome by proper precautions on the part of the .company. The system has proved very successful, and it avoids crowding and disfiguring the streets with poles. Outdoor Ironing.—One of the most dreaded days of the household in summer time, is ironing day. Even though elec-l tric flat irons are used, the heat may become almost unbearable owing to the fact that the 'W'Ork is invariably done indoors. 'rhe ,Commonwealth Edison Company of Chicago does nDt see why the ironing should not be done outdoors 'On the porch, or in some other convenient location. All that is needed is a sufficiently long conductor to conect the flat iron with a lamp socket in the house. This idea has been seized upon to provide a very attractive circular showing the advantages of Outdoor ironing and incidentally advertising1 the use of electricity for this branch of the house work. Electric Fans f'r the Sick. -According to pDpular impression public service corporations are organized robbers. It is almost impOssible to combat this prevailing idea. Recently, however, the Electric ¦Supply Company 'Of DeKalb, Ill., has demonstrated that it can perform a work of charity in which there is no personal gain whatsDever, except for creating a better feeling on the part of thB public toward it. The company has notified all the physicians in the city that it will furnish electric fans and power to operate them without ()harge, to aJI patients who are unable to pay for such service and who, on the suggestion of the physician would be materially benBfted by the use of fans. This applies not only to such houses as are wired, iut to others as well, the company offering to install the necessary circuits, gratis. New Lighting Apparatus.-A very eCDnomical method of producing light by means Of small incandescent lamps was shown by M. Dussaud before the Frencl Academy of Sciences. He mounts 16 small lamps with one-inch 'bulbs around the edge Of a revolving disk, provided with a set of contacts so arranged that when the disk rDtates each lamp receives ¦current for a fraction 'Of a second. It is well known that tungsten lamps have the property of lighting up very quickly when the current is applied. He uses a 10-volt lamp and it receives 20 volts, or much more than tle normal current, but for a very short time. Much more light is thus given fDr the same amount of current. Each lamp in turn passes when lighted before a fixed lens so as to project the rays, and as the lamps pass rapidly the light seems continuous. His main object is to provide .a suitable light for lantern projections, and he claims to secure a light equal to an arc lamp for a very small current such as a moderate-sized primary battery will give. Thus it can be used where there are no current mains at hand. It is well adapted to be used as a small searchlight upon fishing boats or to be carried by soldiers, and for army use the battery can be placed in a sack upon the shoulders, together with an optical signaling outfit. Such' an outfit can be used also I upon aeroplanes. Science Death of G. Johnstone Stoney.-Dr. G. Johnstone Stoney died recently at thd age of 85. He had been astronomical assistant to the late Earl of Rosse in 1848, professor of natural philosophy in Queens University, Ireland, in 1852. and secretary of Queens University from 1857 until its dissolution in 1882. He was known chiefly for his writings on astronomy. An Opera Glass Comet.-We have received a communication from Prof. Edward C. Pickering 'f Harvard College Observat'Ory, in which he states that a comet has been discovered by Kiess on July 6th in R. A. 4 h. 51 m. 51.8 s., Dec. 35 deg. 15 m. 2 s. The comet can be seen •w1th an 'Opera. glass, and at the time of its discovery was moving southwest and had a visible tail. Col'r Photography.-A patent, 992,151, has been issued t'O Rodolphe Berthon of Lyon, France, for a color photography apparatus which c'Omprises an objective with a diaphragm therein having a trichrDmatic screen, a sensitive surface and means interposed between the sensitive surface and the objective so that the images on the screen are separated by refraction at points in close proximity and projected in a microscopic state on the sensitive surface. The “Internati'nal Week” of Upper Air Observati'ns.-A circular from the headquarters of the International Commission On Scientific Aeronautics announces that, 'Owing to the fact that the attention of British as well as manv foreign meteorologists will be taken up with the meeting of the British Association during the early part of September, the dates set for the “international week” of aerological observation throughout the world, in 1911, have been changed ¦from September 5-9 to September 11-16 .. A Meteor'logical Outpost in the South Atlantic.-An important addition to the meteorological reseau of the southern hemisphere was made early this year in the establishment of a meteorological station of the first order in Fernando de N'Oronha, a little group of islands about 194 miles northeast of Cape St. Roque, 'On the Brazilian coast. The islands are used by Brazil as a penal colony, and contain upward 'Of two thousand inhabitants. Darwin has described a visit here in the “Beagle,” and the “Challenger” alsD touched here. The statioIi is under the charge of two German employees 'Of the Brazilian telegraph service, and sends daily telegraphic “eports to Rio de JaneirD. The Flight of Seeds.-1t is popularly believed that winged seeds from trees travel to great distances on the wind, but the investigations of a British sci entist, who has spent much time at Singapore, indicate that winged seeds have a far narrOwer range of flight than have “powder” seeds and plumed seeds. The greatest distance traveled by the winged seeds of a, fDrest tree Ofbserved by this authority was 100 yards. Under the most favorahle circumstances, he calculates, it would take this plant just one hundred years to spread three hundred yards, and 1,500,000 years to sprHad from the Malay Peninsula to the Philippines, if a land connection existed. Illuminati'n with Ne'n Tubes.-lI. Cli. Ed. Guillaume recently lectured before the Astronomical Society of France on the subject of neon light. Neon, one of the rare gases of the atmosphere, is now obtained on a comllercial scale in the process of making liquid air. In a vacuum tube it has several excellent qualities as an illuminant. Owing to its extraordinarily feeble dielectric cohesion the voltage required is relatively small. M. Guillaume exhibited a tube six meters long, which was illuminated with a current of 1,000 vol
