Various

“ A boring machine, though one of the simplest, is by no means an unimportant adjunct to a full outfit of wood-working machines. The one shown in our engraving is one of the most complete ever brought to our notice, and the great variety of work it is capable of performing, renders the name chosen for it peculiarly applicable. It is called the "Universal Boring Machine" because the most prominent feature of its construction is its power to bore a hole in any desired angle with the axis of the bit. ”

“ The correction of a single radical error was, in this case, the dawn of a new system of travel, so extensive in its growth and marvelous in its results, that even the wildest dreamer could not, at that time, have imagined the consequences of so simple a discovery. ”

“ If, in the use of iodine, in some instances, fine grades of iron or steel are produced, and in as many other experiments, with the same material, failures result, it is just as fair to attribute the failures to the iodine, as the successes. A process worthy the name is one that acts with approximate uniformity, and when, in its use, results vary widely from what is usual, the variation may be traced to important differences in the conditions of its application. ”

“ There is nothing so vulgar or in such bad taste. It should only be done upon those parts of the work on which it would appear on a real oak door, namely, on the edges of the doors and on mouldings. There is a vulgar pretentiousness about what we may call the sappy style of work which is very undesirable. The figures cross the grain more or less abruptly and of course are of different shapes, sizes, and forms, a knowledge of which can only be acquired by study of the real wood. The figure may be wiped out with a piece of soft rag, held tight over the thumb nail. ”

“ We think it probable, however, that with a little more snap, a journal like Engineering might possibly attain a circulation, in this country, of 500 or 1000 copies weekly.
Why, American engineers have scarcely yet been able to organize themselves into an association for mutual advancement in their profession, much less to give the reading public the benefit of their experience and labors! This fact alone ought, of itself, to satisfy Engineering that no such journal could profitably exist in this country. ”

“ Let any one having an engine running at a good speed, loosen the crank pin brasses a little, so that, at starting, it will thump heavily. Let the engine be lightly loaded, so that only a small portion of the boiler pressure will need to be admitted to the cylinder. As its speed increases, the thump will die away; and, if at its full speed, the pressure of the steam admitted is not so great as to overcome the centrifugal strain of the reciprocating parts on the crank, as it passes the centers, the engine will revolve in silence. ”

“ OAK GRAINING IN OIL COLORS. Condensed from the Building News.
There is a charm and feeling about work executed by the hand, which gives it a value no mere machine work can possess. Machine work, from its very nature, necessitates a repetition of pattern, which cannot be avoided. Hand-work, on the contrary, can imitate every variety, and follow nature so closely that no two pieces need be alike. There is also in hand-work a wide scope for the inventive faculty and the exercise of good taste (both in form and color) and skillful workmanship. ”

“ For a considerable time, the public has been treated to highly-colored accounts of a wonderful metallurgic process whereby the best iron and steel were said to be made, from the very worst materials, almost in the twinkling of an eye. ”

“ It deserves a much wider circulation than Engineering can give it, and we would gladly transfer it to our columns, but for its exceeding length—a serious fault generally, not only with Engineering's articles, but most other technical journals published in England. It would scarcely do for them to be brief in their discussions, and above all other things, spice and piquancy must always be excluded. Engineering evidently labors under the conviction that the heavier it can make its discussions, the more profoundly will it be able to impress its readers. ”

“ The value of the Scientific American as an advertising medium cannot be over-estimated. Its circulation is ten times greater than that of any similar journal now published. It goes into all the States and Territories, and is read in all the principal libraries and reading-rooms of the world. We invite the attention of those who wish to make their business known to the annexed rates. A business man wants something more than to see his advertisement in a printed newspaper. He wants circulation. ”

“ The most important process of all is that of giving them their elegantly curved handles, for which purpose they are passed over to the "crooker." Every child knows that if we bend a tough stick moderately when the pressure is discontinued, it will soon fly back, more or less, to its former position; and if we bend it very much, it will break. Now the crooker professes to accomplish the miracle of bending a stick as it might be an iron wire, so that it shall neither break nor "backen." ”

“ Cecropia is certainly not very particular as to its food, but it is not an oak feeder. Cynthia will thrive on nothing except ailanthus, though it will eat one or two other things, but not oak. The Yamamai, on the other hand, will eat oak, indeed it is its natural food; but Mr. Warren errs greatly when he says that it will feed on mulberry. The last clause of the sentence, which says that cocoons of Pernyi are nearly as good as those of worms fed on mulberry leaves, must be a sort of entomological joke, of which the point is not discoverable by me, so I pass it over. ”

“ There may have been causes at work which do not affect such tires generally, and it would be, we think, quite premature to form favorable or unfavorable judgment, of relative economy from such data as have been yet furnished.
The difference in the current expenses of running the two most prominent types of engines, with hard and soft tires, now in use, does not affect the question of rubber tires, unless it can be shown that these tires necessitate, per se, such a form of engine as requires a greater consumption of fuel, and greater cost of attendance, to perform a given amount of work. ”

“ The Pernyi worm is much more easily reared than that of Yamamai, but still great care is needed; fresh food of course is essential, and a slight sprinkling of the branches and worms in very warm weather is advisable; although it is not so necessary as with Yamamai. It is remarkable that Pernyi worms, fed in the open air, on oak trees, do not, at present, thrive so well as those fed in-doors, but this, doubtless, is a question of acclimation. ”

“ It is quite possible they may not be able to see the foulness, but if in the majority of railroad cars run in this country, they are not able to feel it in gritty, grimy accumulations on skin and linen, and smell it in suffocating stenches which serve, with sneeze-provoking dust, to stifle anything like comfort, their skin must be thicker, their linen more neglected, and their noses less sensitive than those of the majority of fellow travellers it has been our fortune to be cooped up with for a day's railroad journey. ”

“ We venture to suggest—modestly, of course—that journalism in the two countries is not the same, and should the editor of Engineering undertake to transfer his system of intellectual labor to this side of the Atlantic, he would not be long in making the discovery that those wandering Bohemian engineers, who, he tells us, are in sorrow and heaviness over the short-comings of American technical journals, would turn out after all to be slender props for him to lean upon. ”

“ In all respects the engine is first-class, and from the fact of its presenting weight with speed, as a requisite for perfection in steam engines, it has opened a new era in this necessary branch—its economy having been clearly demonstrated in the careful trials, which ought to be published in full. ”

“ I imagine that silk can be produced in most of the States of the Union, and manufactured from the cocoon at a large profit; but for the present, we will leave the manufacture out of the question, and consider only, whether it will not pay to rear eggs and cocoons for sale? It must be remembered that European manufacturers are at this moment largely dependent on foreign countries for the supply of both eggs and cocoons; and this, because of the general prevalence of disease among all the races of Bombyx mori. ”

“ There are several other motions of the comb having the same end in view; and by using the gutta-percha or cork combs, in conjunction with the fine steel, an infinite variety of grain may be produced. Steel combs, with one or more folds of thin rag placed over the ends of the teeth are a style of comb which has nothing to recommend it. A natural variation in the grain may be produced by one comb alone, according to the manner in which it is held. ”

“ As is usual in a severe frost, we have recently heard of many severe accidents consequent upon the fracture of the tires of the wheels of railway carriages. The common-sense explanation of these accidents is, that the ground being harder than usual, the metal with which it is brought into contact is more severely tried than in ordinary circumstances. In order apparently to excuse certain railway companies, a pretence has been set up that iron and steel become brittle at a low temperature. ”

“ The smoothness of the ordinary railway track is roughness compared to that of an oiled or unctuous metallic surface; and it has been amply demonstrated that the resistance of friction, of two bearing surfaces depends, not upon their extent, but upon the pressure with which they are forced together. A traction wheel, of given weight, resting upon two square inches of hard earth or rock, would develop the same tractile power as though it had a bearing surface of two square feet of similar material. ”

“ When people boast of extraordinary successes in processes the details of which are kept profoundly hidden from public scrutiny, and when the evidences of success are presented in the doubtful form of specimens which the public has no means of tracing directly to the process, the public is apt to be skeptical, and to express skepticism often in not very complimentary terms. ”

“ The Darwinian theory of the Origin of Species, has, perhaps, aroused more attention, excited more dispute, and won more converts in a shorter time among scientific and unscientific men, than any other of equal importance promulgated in the 19th century. ”

“ On very rough and stony ways, however, another element practically of no importance on moderately rough ways, like a macadam surface or a concrete road, where the prominences are nearly of uniform hight, and so near together as to admit between their summits only very small arcs of the circumference of the wheel; comes into action. This element is the constantly recurring lifting of the superincumbent weight of the machine. Even this would not result in loss of power, could the power developed in falling be wholly applied to useful work in the direction of the advance of the engine. ”

“ The engine driving the fan is started by telegraph signal at each departure of a train from the terminal station, and the fan is kept running until the discharge from it becomes quite clear, showing that no steam or smoke remains in the tunnel; this is usually the case in about eight minutes after the time of the train entering the lower end of the tunnel, the passage of the train through the tunnel occupying about three minutes. The fan draws air in at both ends of the tunnel simultaneously, and begins to clear the lower end immediately upon the train entering ”

“ Some of our citizens, fearing that the Central Park would go the way of every other public work in the city, made strenuous effort to revive the Zoological Society, for the purpose of obtaining a perpetual lease of a suitable site, on which to establish a zoological garden, similar to those in London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Cologne. ”