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Action of sulphur in the voltaic battery
Action of Sulphur in the F'oltale Battery.
411
only of the analysis were completed, owing to deficiency of material. The first in the following table was taken from Adrian's Villa at Tivoli, near Rome ; it is a tolerably hard and firm mortar, of a rather dark-grey color. The second is plaster from the interior of a wall at Herculaneum ; it is hard, evidently exposed on one side to the action of hot volcanic mud, and of a red tint. The third specimen is from the roof of the Latin tombs near Rome, of a pale reddish-brown color. The fourth is a cement or mortar from a mosaic forming the floor of the baths of Caracalla, Rome. All these mortars were hard and firm, and contained an appreciable amount of silicic acid in combination: Lime,
Magnesia, Potash, Soda,
Carbonic acid, Peroxide of iron, Alumina, . Silicic acid and sand, Organic.matter, Water,
Adrian's Villa. 15"30 •30 1.01 2.12 11'80 4-92 14"70 41 "10 2"28 5"20 98'73
Herculaneum. 29'88 .25 3"40 3.49 23'80 2.32 2.86 33"36 1"50 1 "O0
Latin tom~s. 19' 7l .7[
Mosaic. 25.19 '90
not estimated. not estimated. 13"6l 1 '23 16"39 36'26 ~ 8"~0
17"97 3"67 10"64 30.24 2"48 5"50
101 '86
General t~emarks.--These analyses appear to show that the lime in mortars and plasters becomes, in the course of time, completely carbonated, and does not form a combination consisting of CaO, HO + CaO, CO2, a conclusion that has been arrived at by some authorities. They also show that in all cases where the mortar is freely exposed to the weather, a certain proportion of alkaline or earthy silicate is formed, which in all probability confers additional hardness, and that those mortars are the hardest which have been long below ground. It is well known to builders that those walls are strongest that are built during a rainy season, and that when mortar dries quickly it becomes crumbly and possesses little binding power. When kept wet for some time, a small proportion of silicate of lime will be formed, which will not only make the mortar itself harder, but will unite it more firmly with the stone. It is curious that the mortar which is probably the most ancient, (the specimen from a PhoBnician temple,) is by far ,he hardest and firmest ; in fact, like a piece of rock. It is a concrete rather than a mortar, and its excellence seems to indicate that a large grained sand is best for building purposes, and that even small gravel may, in certain cases, be used with advantage. Mechanics' Institution, Glasgow.
Action of Sulphur in the Voltaic Battery. M. Blanc, a young telegraphic operator in France, proposed to the Directors of the telegraphs a new pile which is described as follows by )¢I. Matteucci : " M . Blanc showed me a pile formed by a plate of zinc immersed
412
J~ranklin Institute.
in salt water with a sheet of lead galvanically covered with copper. The circuit having been closed, with a galvanometer in circuit, and the needle being settled at 0 °, M. :Blanc adds some 15 or 20 grammes of flour of sulphur to the liquid, and stirs so as to make a thin paste. At once the needle begins to rise, and after some hours attains the same deviation as though a plate of copper had been employed in a cell fitted with sulphate of copper, in place of the sheet of lead." M. Matteucci, after satisfying himself that this pile gives a current nearly as strong as a Daniell battery, and constant for four or five days, during which the current was permanently closed, studied its phenomena, and he communicated his results to the Academy of Sciences at Paris. His conclusions are as follows: First. Sulphur, in a state of powder, placed in contact with the electro-negative elements of a pile formed of zinc, copper, and a solution of sea-salt, augments considerably the electro-motive force, the constancy, and the duration of the battery. It may be hoped that by the use of sulphur a voltaic combination may be obtained presenting some advantages over the batteries now generally used in the arts. Secondly. The sulphur, although insoluble and non-conducting, enters into combination with the sodium set free by the current. There remains to be explained the action exerted by a very smaU quantity of sulphuret of copper which is shown by experiment to bo indispensable.
Hot.air .Engine. )/[~I. Burdin and Bourget present for the opinion of the Academy of Sciences of France a plan of hot-air engine from which they believe an economy of at least one-half the fuel may be obtained, and which they desire to construct and experiment upon at the expense of the government. The plan has simplicity at least. " L e t there be an ordinary furnace, such as is used for steam engine boilers, the products of combustion of which escape into the chimney after descending along an inclined plane. Let the atmospheric air be first compressed to two atmospheres in small parallel tubes lodged in the flue, the air entering at the lowest point and consequently rising." Then follows a very rational calculation of the length and diameter of the tubes necessary, and a more complicated account of the engine. The theory is excellent; if it should succeed in practice we will return to it. F R A N K L I N INSTITUTE.
.Proceedings of the Stated Monthly Meeting, May 18th, 1865. The meeting was called to order with the President, Win. Sellers, in the chair. The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved.
411
only of the analysis were completed, owing to deficiency of material. The first in the following table was taken from Adrian's Villa at Tivoli, near Rome ; it is a tolerably hard and firm mortar, of a rather dark-grey color. The second is plaster from the interior of a wall at Herculaneum ; it is hard, evidently exposed on one side to the action of hot volcanic mud, and of a red tint. The third specimen is from the roof of the Latin tombs near Rome, of a pale reddish-brown color. The fourth is a cement or mortar from a mosaic forming the floor of the baths of Caracalla, Rome. All these mortars were hard and firm, and contained an appreciable amount of silicic acid in combination: Lime,
Magnesia, Potash, Soda,
Carbonic acid, Peroxide of iron, Alumina, . Silicic acid and sand, Organic.matter, Water,
Adrian's Villa. 15"30 •30 1.01 2.12 11'80 4-92 14"70 41 "10 2"28 5"20 98'73
Herculaneum. 29'88 .25 3"40 3.49 23'80 2.32 2.86 33"36 1"50 1 "O0
Latin tom~s. 19' 7l .7[
Mosaic. 25.19 '90
not estimated. not estimated. 13"6l 1 '23 16"39 36'26 ~ 8"~0
17"97 3"67 10"64 30.24 2"48 5"50
101 '86
General t~emarks.--These analyses appear to show that the lime in mortars and plasters becomes, in the course of time, completely carbonated, and does not form a combination consisting of CaO, HO + CaO, CO2, a conclusion that has been arrived at by some authorities. They also show that in all cases where the mortar is freely exposed to the weather, a certain proportion of alkaline or earthy silicate is formed, which in all probability confers additional hardness, and that those mortars are the hardest which have been long below ground. It is well known to builders that those walls are strongest that are built during a rainy season, and that when mortar dries quickly it becomes crumbly and possesses little binding power. When kept wet for some time, a small proportion of silicate of lime will be formed, which will not only make the mortar itself harder, but will unite it more firmly with the stone. It is curious that the mortar which is probably the most ancient, (the specimen from a PhoBnician temple,) is by far ,he hardest and firmest ; in fact, like a piece of rock. It is a concrete rather than a mortar, and its excellence seems to indicate that a large grained sand is best for building purposes, and that even small gravel may, in certain cases, be used with advantage. Mechanics' Institution, Glasgow.
Action of Sulphur in the Voltaic Battery. M. Blanc, a young telegraphic operator in France, proposed to the Directors of the telegraphs a new pile which is described as follows by )¢I. Matteucci : " M . Blanc showed me a pile formed by a plate of zinc immersed
412
J~ranklin Institute.
in salt water with a sheet of lead galvanically covered with copper. The circuit having been closed, with a galvanometer in circuit, and the needle being settled at 0 °, M. :Blanc adds some 15 or 20 grammes of flour of sulphur to the liquid, and stirs so as to make a thin paste. At once the needle begins to rise, and after some hours attains the same deviation as though a plate of copper had been employed in a cell fitted with sulphate of copper, in place of the sheet of lead." M. Matteucci, after satisfying himself that this pile gives a current nearly as strong as a Daniell battery, and constant for four or five days, during which the current was permanently closed, studied its phenomena, and he communicated his results to the Academy of Sciences at Paris. His conclusions are as follows: First. Sulphur, in a state of powder, placed in contact with the electro-negative elements of a pile formed of zinc, copper, and a solution of sea-salt, augments considerably the electro-motive force, the constancy, and the duration of the battery. It may be hoped that by the use of sulphur a voltaic combination may be obtained presenting some advantages over the batteries now generally used in the arts. Secondly. The sulphur, although insoluble and non-conducting, enters into combination with the sodium set free by the current. There remains to be explained the action exerted by a very smaU quantity of sulphuret of copper which is shown by experiment to bo indispensable.
Hot.air .Engine. )/[~I. Burdin and Bourget present for the opinion of the Academy of Sciences of France a plan of hot-air engine from which they believe an economy of at least one-half the fuel may be obtained, and which they desire to construct and experiment upon at the expense of the government. The plan has simplicity at least. " L e t there be an ordinary furnace, such as is used for steam engine boilers, the products of combustion of which escape into the chimney after descending along an inclined plane. Let the atmospheric air be first compressed to two atmospheres in small parallel tubes lodged in the flue, the air entering at the lowest point and consequently rising." Then follows a very rational calculation of the length and diameter of the tubes necessary, and a more complicated account of the engine. The theory is excellent; if it should succeed in practice we will return to it. F R A N K L I N INSTITUTE.
.Proceedings of the Stated Monthly Meeting, May 18th, 1865. The meeting was called to order with the President, Win. Sellers, in the chair. The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved.