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Account of the performance of the Screw-Ship Archimedes
JOUH!NAL OFTHE
FRANKLIN
INSTITUTE OF THE
of ~entrs~lttanfa,
State
AND
DECEBLIIER.
1830.
--ro(bMc
Practical
and Theoretic&l lVIeehanica and Chemjstry,
&count
of the performance
TO THE EDITOR OF THE
of the Screw-Ship
JOURNAL
.flrchimedes.
OF THE FRANKLIN
IN~~TITUTE.
Sir-Previously to my leaving London last Se tember, I visited the screw ship Archimedes, and was very much gratifie i with her appearance aa a ship, and with the compactness of her engines and screw propeller. The following account of her first voyage from London to Portsmouth is not without great interest to steam navigation. Very respectfully, yours, W. STRICKLAND. Philadelphia, November alst, 1839. The first voyage the Archimedes performed was to Sheerness, from theace to Margate and Ramsgate; she accomplished every thing that was required At Sheerness, Admiral Sir Robert of her, in the most perfect manner. Otway came on board, who took the helm and steered her for some time, and in a letter to Chas. Caldwell, Esq., dated Sheerness, May 12th, he expressed himself in the following terms. (6 I steered her myself for some time, and I was much surprised and pleased at the quick manner in which she answered the helm, and I mast also observe, that she moved quickly over the water, and at a fair fate. f think your having got rid of the paddle boxes, and the enginea bsiyg placed so 10~ down, are very great improvements, and must lead to$the tntroduction of the screw into Her Majesty’s service. ~6I enclose a most gratifying report from an intelligent officer, who hap Dened to be on board the Archimedes at the time, and went in her to London .” 31 VOL. XXIV.--NO. 6-bC~UBER,l839.
362
Practical
4 Theoretical Mechanics & Chemistry. Report of Lieutenant
Wright.
(( In compliance with your desire respecting portunity
of making
the observations I had an opon the passage from SheerI beg to state, that from what I saw, I
on board the Archimedes,
ness to London, last Wednesday, the principle of propelling by the screw as perfectly established, the vessel having gone at one time, an exact mile in six minutes and a half,
consider
though under the disadvantage of the propeller being too large for the power of the engine, to give it the necessary rapidity of rotation. She steered admirably well, stopped, and backed with a readiness and facility equal to the steamers with paddles, and during the short time we were under sail and the vessel heeling over considerably, she behaved fully as well, and I could not detect the least motion in the vessel, caused by the propeller, similar to that of vessels with paddles; she went very smoothly through the water, leaving only an agitated stream on each side of her rudder, and so on in her wake. “Upon the whole, I consider the invention will turn out to be one well The adapted to combine both the sailing and steaming of vessels together. propeller from its situation, two feet below the surface ot’ the water, is completely protected from the range of shot, and being above the keel, could not be injured by touching the ground, and I believe it will be found perfectly practicable to ship and unship the propeller with great speed, by raising or lowering it down in a groove inside the vessel; The great number ofadvantages the invention off’ers, over the paddles, must, of course, be obvious to every one. I must now notice the points that appeared to me objectionable. The first is, the very great vibration of the engine, caused by the cogged wheels, necessary to carry the power to the main rod of the propeller, but this objection, I believe, may be removed. The next is, that I should fear that the great length of overhanging stern required to make the requisite room for the propeller, might, in a heavy sea, and the vessel pitching much, cause
her to be much stramed abaft; but at the same time, I should hope that even this objection
might be remedied.”
Eminently successful in this our first experiment, the Archimedes was prepared to go to Portsmouth, upon the occasion of the launch of IIer Majesty’s ship, the Queen, of 120 guns.
She performed this voyage with equal success to the first, 1 may add in a most brilliant manner,under stressof severe weather,and head winds, for the most part of the voyage, accomplishing the distance from Sheerness to Portsmouth, in 21 hours, including the time occupied in taking up her station alongside the Victory. She there remained till the 19th of May, when she returned to London. During the time she was at Portsmouth, she was visited by all the great naval characters who were assembled to witness the launch of the Queen, and she was open to the inspection of nautical men of every description, and elicited from them expressions of unequivocal admi. ration. I here add an extract from a letter of Admiral Flemmimg to rtlr TurnelI, dated, Portsmouth, May 19th. ‘6I was on board and went out of the harbour in her, so did Lord ]Dun donald, and several other naval men, who all think most favourably. The day of the laynch, there was no one to attend, and next day, unfortunately, a court martial, which prevented two Captains going there.
On the .iVew Metal,
Aatan&m.
868
CcI think it a most useful invention, and capable _of account in war vessels; she made a gye’ft !mpression and a most favourable one. In rivers I! Is_lqvaIuable, to hurt boats. It is not affected by the IuCllnlog of the only drawback is from the constant friction.”
being turned to good on all who saw her as it causes no swell vessel under sailfthe
These combined facts,and theopi.nious ofsuch authoritiesappeardistinctly to llrove the problem solved respecting the powers of the screw iu navigation and its superiority over the paddle; nevertheless, the public will requird still further evidences, and it is obviously our business to furnish them, The above is extracted from a statement drawn up by Lord Western. On the ?zew&Val, Lntanium.
By JAWS C. BOOTII AND CAMPBELL MORFIT.
A notice of the discovery of this element having already appeared in one of our Scientific Journals, it occurred to us that an account of some of our experiments with it might present a subject of sufficient interest to the readers of the Institute Journal. The Ilame is derived from the Greek MYW%~,to lie hid;* it is called in Swedish and Germso, Lantao, but in English Lstanium,’ for the sake of euphony and in accordance with the @tierally received termination of the names of the elements. The ordinary method ofobtaining cerium by precipi. tation with the bisulphate of potassa, threw down a bi-salt of Latanium at the same time, the latter constituting two-fifths of the whole saline mass. The method of separating the two depends on the ready solubility of oxide of latanium in dilute acid after ignition, a property lost by cerium under the From its nitric solution, it may be best thrown down same circumstances. as a white, crystaline carbonate, by carbonate of ammonia, and from thisits other compounds may be formed.-- The dry chloride heated with potassium was reduced to a gray metallic powder possessing a dark lead-color, and capable of being flattened together by pressing. It is slowly converted into oxide in the air, and in cold water into a hydrated oxide with the evolution of hydrogen. An effervescence takes place in hot water. The ordinary salts possess a faint reddish It has two isomeric states. tinge, but when the yellowish red oxide is heated in hydrogen gas, it becomes white with a faint shade of green, and dissolves with more dil?iculty in acids, forming salts which possess a greenish hue. With bisulphate of potassa it forms a slowly soluble salt, which,however, does not precipitate like the correspondin, w salt of cerium, unless thelatter Its atomic weight is lower than that adopted be also present in solution. for the oxide of cerium. The above notice is mainly extracted from Berzelius’ letter to Poggendorf, published in Nos. 4 and 5 of Poggend. Annals for the present year. Our experiments were as follows. Having prepared the sulphate of cerium and potassa by the ordinary methods from the mineral cerite, it was dissolved in a large quantity of boiling water, and the hydrated oxides of cerium and latanium precipitated by caustic potassa. These were dissolved in nitric acid after being thoroughly washed, evaporated to dryness, and heated in a pIatinurn crucible until The oxides remained of a light reddish all the nitric acid was expelled. brown color, and were transferred to a glass containing nitric acid diluted ??
From its concealment hitberto in the compounds of Cerium.
FRANKLIN
INSTITUTE OF THE
of ~entrs~lttanfa,
State
AND
DECEBLIIER.
1830.
--ro(bMc
Practical
and Theoretic&l lVIeehanica and Chemjstry,
&count
of the performance
TO THE EDITOR OF THE
of the Screw-Ship
JOURNAL
.flrchimedes.
OF THE FRANKLIN
IN~~TITUTE.
Sir-Previously to my leaving London last Se tember, I visited the screw ship Archimedes, and was very much gratifie i with her appearance aa a ship, and with the compactness of her engines and screw propeller. The following account of her first voyage from London to Portsmouth is not without great interest to steam navigation. Very respectfully, yours, W. STRICKLAND. Philadelphia, November alst, 1839. The first voyage the Archimedes performed was to Sheerness, from theace to Margate and Ramsgate; she accomplished every thing that was required At Sheerness, Admiral Sir Robert of her, in the most perfect manner. Otway came on board, who took the helm and steered her for some time, and in a letter to Chas. Caldwell, Esq., dated Sheerness, May 12th, he expressed himself in the following terms. (6 I steered her myself for some time, and I was much surprised and pleased at the quick manner in which she answered the helm, and I mast also observe, that she moved quickly over the water, and at a fair fate. f think your having got rid of the paddle boxes, and the enginea bsiyg placed so 10~ down, are very great improvements, and must lead to$the tntroduction of the screw into Her Majesty’s service. ~6I enclose a most gratifying report from an intelligent officer, who hap Dened to be on board the Archimedes at the time, and went in her to London .” 31 VOL. XXIV.--NO. 6-bC~UBER,l839.
362
Practical
4 Theoretical Mechanics & Chemistry. Report of Lieutenant
Wright.
(( In compliance with your desire respecting portunity
of making
the observations I had an opon the passage from SheerI beg to state, that from what I saw, I
on board the Archimedes,
ness to London, last Wednesday, the principle of propelling by the screw as perfectly established, the vessel having gone at one time, an exact mile in six minutes and a half,
consider
though under the disadvantage of the propeller being too large for the power of the engine, to give it the necessary rapidity of rotation. She steered admirably well, stopped, and backed with a readiness and facility equal to the steamers with paddles, and during the short time we were under sail and the vessel heeling over considerably, she behaved fully as well, and I could not detect the least motion in the vessel, caused by the propeller, similar to that of vessels with paddles; she went very smoothly through the water, leaving only an agitated stream on each side of her rudder, and so on in her wake. “Upon the whole, I consider the invention will turn out to be one well The adapted to combine both the sailing and steaming of vessels together. propeller from its situation, two feet below the surface ot’ the water, is completely protected from the range of shot, and being above the keel, could not be injured by touching the ground, and I believe it will be found perfectly practicable to ship and unship the propeller with great speed, by raising or lowering it down in a groove inside the vessel; The great number ofadvantages the invention off’ers, over the paddles, must, of course, be obvious to every one. I must now notice the points that appeared to me objectionable. The first is, the very great vibration of the engine, caused by the cogged wheels, necessary to carry the power to the main rod of the propeller, but this objection, I believe, may be removed. The next is, that I should fear that the great length of overhanging stern required to make the requisite room for the propeller, might, in a heavy sea, and the vessel pitching much, cause
her to be much stramed abaft; but at the same time, I should hope that even this objection
might be remedied.”
Eminently successful in this our first experiment, the Archimedes was prepared to go to Portsmouth, upon the occasion of the launch of IIer Majesty’s ship, the Queen, of 120 guns.
She performed this voyage with equal success to the first, 1 may add in a most brilliant manner,under stressof severe weather,and head winds, for the most part of the voyage, accomplishing the distance from Sheerness to Portsmouth, in 21 hours, including the time occupied in taking up her station alongside the Victory. She there remained till the 19th of May, when she returned to London. During the time she was at Portsmouth, she was visited by all the great naval characters who were assembled to witness the launch of the Queen, and she was open to the inspection of nautical men of every description, and elicited from them expressions of unequivocal admi. ration. I here add an extract from a letter of Admiral Flemmimg to rtlr TurnelI, dated, Portsmouth, May 19th. ‘6I was on board and went out of the harbour in her, so did Lord ]Dun donald, and several other naval men, who all think most favourably. The day of the laynch, there was no one to attend, and next day, unfortunately, a court martial, which prevented two Captains going there.
On the .iVew Metal,
Aatan&m.
868
CcI think it a most useful invention, and capable _of account in war vessels; she made a gye’ft !mpression and a most favourable one. In rivers I! Is_lqvaIuable, to hurt boats. It is not affected by the IuCllnlog of the only drawback is from the constant friction.”
being turned to good on all who saw her as it causes no swell vessel under sailfthe
These combined facts,and theopi.nious ofsuch authoritiesappeardistinctly to llrove the problem solved respecting the powers of the screw iu navigation and its superiority over the paddle; nevertheless, the public will requird still further evidences, and it is obviously our business to furnish them, The above is extracted from a statement drawn up by Lord Western. On the ?zew&Val, Lntanium.
By JAWS C. BOOTII AND CAMPBELL MORFIT.
A notice of the discovery of this element having already appeared in one of our Scientific Journals, it occurred to us that an account of some of our experiments with it might present a subject of sufficient interest to the readers of the Institute Journal. The Ilame is derived from the Greek MYW%~,to lie hid;* it is called in Swedish and Germso, Lantao, but in English Lstanium,’ for the sake of euphony and in accordance with the @tierally received termination of the names of the elements. The ordinary method ofobtaining cerium by precipi. tation with the bisulphate of potassa, threw down a bi-salt of Latanium at the same time, the latter constituting two-fifths of the whole saline mass. The method of separating the two depends on the ready solubility of oxide of latanium in dilute acid after ignition, a property lost by cerium under the From its nitric solution, it may be best thrown down same circumstances. as a white, crystaline carbonate, by carbonate of ammonia, and from thisits other compounds may be formed.-- The dry chloride heated with potassium was reduced to a gray metallic powder possessing a dark lead-color, and capable of being flattened together by pressing. It is slowly converted into oxide in the air, and in cold water into a hydrated oxide with the evolution of hydrogen. An effervescence takes place in hot water. The ordinary salts possess a faint reddish It has two isomeric states. tinge, but when the yellowish red oxide is heated in hydrogen gas, it becomes white with a faint shade of green, and dissolves with more dil?iculty in acids, forming salts which possess a greenish hue. With bisulphate of potassa it forms a slowly soluble salt, which,however, does not precipitate like the correspondin, w salt of cerium, unless thelatter Its atomic weight is lower than that adopted be also present in solution. for the oxide of cerium. The above notice is mainly extracted from Berzelius’ letter to Poggendorf, published in Nos. 4 and 5 of Poggend. Annals for the present year. Our experiments were as follows. Having prepared the sulphate of cerium and potassa by the ordinary methods from the mineral cerite, it was dissolved in a large quantity of boiling water, and the hydrated oxides of cerium and latanium precipitated by caustic potassa. These were dissolved in nitric acid after being thoroughly washed, evaporated to dryness, and heated in a pIatinurn crucible until The oxides remained of a light reddish all the nitric acid was expelled. brown color, and were transferred to a glass containing nitric acid diluted ??
From its concealment hitberto in the compounds of Cerium.