July, ~9o4.] .Yd/~s ~zJt,/ C,,,JHJzc~zZ.,. 63

)"cst A/o. 4 . - -Same condit ion prevai l ing with regard to joint, as in the preceding test.

A s ta r t ing pressure of iooo pounds was applied, and then increased to 2,ooo pounds, 2,5oo pounds, 3,0o0 pounds, 3,800 pounds, 4,00o pounds, and then by s tages of coo pounds until having reached a pressure of 5,900 pounds, flange pulled nearly off from pipe, while the pipe bulged ~- inch at center.

The same factor of safe ty applies to both tests, Nos. and 4, as the pressure applied and a t ta ined was the same in both cases.

(Signed) OULx~l~v ENGIN~;EK~N(; CO.X~VANV, per W. S. (2ui~im.

F@, ~z shows a pho tograph of several test pieces as ex- hibi ted at the meet ing.

IMPROVE3IENT IN YARN MANUFACTURE.

An invention has recently been made by an t~ngligh manufacturer which relates to improvements in yarns such as are to be used in the manufacture of textile goods, the object being to construct a serviceable yarn from material which has hitherto been considered of little or no value, or to construct an exceptionally strong yarn at a very cheap rate. The invention consists of a yarn having a core or center thread around or upon which is the body or yarn proper. The core yarn may consist of one or more materials, such as cotton or worsted, or a combination of the two, and the body of cotton or other material, such as silk, wool, shoddy, mungo, flax, waste, or a combination of any of these. According to this invention, the core thread (consisting, say, of cotton) is covered entirely with any other desired fiber (say, of wool), so combining the s trength of the core with the utility or appearance of the body. By combining the core and body as described, fibers, such as waste or mungo of such short staple as to be of practically no spinning value, may be utilized in the manufacture of textile goods possessing equal or greater strength and being similar in appearance to goo~ls manufactured from high class fiber. The core and body consti tuting the improved yarn are combined in the following Irlanuer:

The fiber forming the body of the yarn is removed from the swift, or carder, by means of a condenser doffer and card and iron strippers in the ordinary way, and the core thread is brought from any adjacent point to and between the card stripper and the iron stripper, from which point the two together Pass between the rubbers and the body is rubbed around the core sufficiently to keep the two together when on the eoudenser bobbin, from which the yarn is spun in the ordinary manner.--Scieat~fic ..l~lle~'icaJl S~@~leJ~tdpN.

<' ! N o t c s aJ~d (_)~mme!tts . [J. F. l . ,

R A I ) I I - M IN M I N E R A l . W A T E R > .

A~ bea r ing on t he d i s t r i hu t ion of r a d i u m in na ture , some resu l t s ob ta ined by R. J. S t ru t t and g i ven by h i m in a pape r read before the Roya l Society, 5 Ia rch co, T904, are o f in te res t . Mr. S t ru t t f ound t ha t depos i t s f r om two ho t s p r i n g s at Bath and Olle at Bux tou , E n g l a n d , showed radio-ac t iv i ty . T h e rate of decay ,~f e m a n a t i o n from lice depos i t s was found to be iden t ica l wi th tha t of the encanat ion f rom r ad i um, and the re is every reason to bel ieve iu the p re sence of r ad i um. T h e q u a n t i t y p r e s e n t of t h i s e l e m e n t is, however . very smal l , t he total a m o u n t c o n t a i n e d in t he wate r d i s cha rged by t h e Bath sp r i ng d u r i n g a year be i ng e s t i m a t e d at ~; o f a g r a m . T h e s p r i n g g ives off abou t ~oo cubic feet of gas per day , abou t o ' I per cent . of wh ich is h e l i u m , so t ha t abou t I,ooo l i te rs o f h e l i u m are g iven off a n n u a l l y . T h e p ropor t ion of h e l i u m to r ad ium, t h o u g h s o m e w h a t la rger t h a n in t he rad io-ac t ive m i u - erals, is in acco rdance wi th t he view t ha t t he s p r i n g d raws its s u p p l y f rom the d i s in t eg ra t ion of such minerals.--Eltgineeri~tg~ and illi~ti~2" foz~rna/.

E F F I C I E N C Y OF M O D E R N D I S T I L L I N G A P P A R A T U S .

Tile c o m b u s t i o n of I p o u n d of coal in a we l l -des igned boi ler f u rnace will evapora te f rom 8 to co p o u n d s of water , w h i c h is cons ide red a fair c o m m e r c i a l ra t ing . But in t he pur i f i ca t ion of bad water or sea water hy dis! i l la t ion t he fuel cost of t he di rect p rocess is p rac t i ca l ly p roh ib i t ive . By u s i n g dis t i l lers bui l t on t he so-ca l led Y a r v a n mul t ip l e -e f f ec t s y s t e m it is poss ib le a n d pract i - cable, however , to m o r e t h a n q u a d r u p l e the evapora t ive power of a p o u n d of coal, or r a the r to more t h a n q u a d r u p l e t he p roduc t of d is t i l l ed w a t e r T h e s team from the m a i n boiler is led into w h a t to all pu rpose s is a n o t h e r boiler. au,I by its c o n d e n s a t i o u it evapora t e s t he water c o n t a i n i n g impur i t i e s , the st, :am from wh ich passes in to a n o t h e r so-cal led boiler and r epea t s tile opera- t ion The resu l t is t ha t each d r u m acts bo th as an evapora tor and as a con- , lenser. T h e success ive evapora t i ons are m a d e possible by m a i n t a i n i n g a -uccessiv~dx decreased p r e s s t n e in each boiler. A Scot t i sh firm, Mirr lees, \Vatsoll & Co., Glasgow. r ecen t ly bui l t two sex tup le -e f fec t d is t i l le rs for the E g y p t i a n ~iOVel"nlclelc~_ u h i c h ~ield ab~,ut 45 p o u n d s of d is t i l led water for each p o u n d of coal. Kaeh p lan t omsis t .~ , , f six lmlizcmtal c v l i n d e r s a r r a n g e d

The twessure ~I each -hel l is g r adua t ed , !~ein~ l~ss h~ each ~uccess iveef fec t th~til in the lnece , l ing ~me, ~ h i c h makt:> it poss ib le to boil t!,,c wa te r in one ~,~ :~bsort)ing the hea t o( t l , e ~ t e a m in the t r e c e , t i u g efl)ct. The appara tus , ~:~ course, i nc ludes ate.am !romps for m a i n t a i n i l ' ~ the e i rcula t i tm. Jl, rc/lilzcrv.

C RYOSTASt ,L

_\ curiosit'~ of the p h 3 s i c ; , c h e m i c a ! d o m a h ~ { ~ c r y o s t a s e a m i x t u r e o f equal t~arts o f pheno l , saponin , c amphor , and a l i t t le t u r p e n t i n e oil. T h i s body possesses the a s t o n i s h i n g p rope r ty of l i q u e f y i n g in cool ing and so l id i fy ing on b~.iug hea ted . True, a l b u m i n o i d s also have th i s pecu l ia r i ty , but iu d i s t inc t ion from these , the princess can be repea ted any n u m h e r of t imes wi th cryostase. Solidified a l b u m e n c a n n o t l~e l iquef ied aga in bv m e a n s of cold..-/)eulsche fl/eJi:/~z Zeil¢o1,~.