Transactions of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts, Volume 2

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Vol. 1- includes the proceedings of the society.

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Page 20 - I conceive right to add, that in all cases, even though the composition of the water seems to bring it within the conditions of safety now stated, an attentive examination should be made of the water after it has been running for a few days through the pipes. For it is not improbable that other circumstances, besides those hitherto ascertained, may regulate the preventive influence of the neutral salts.
Page 116 - ... in such a manner as to prevent, as far as possible, any rain from penetrating through the top into the heart of the rickles.
Page 82 - Fig. 1 is an elevation, Fig. 2 a plan, and Fig. 3 a cross section. The level of the road is indicated by letter a; b represents the " string pieces,'' as they are called in America ; c the " posts" ; d the " mainbraces'' ; and e the " counter-braces." The string pieces are formed of three beams, in the manner shewn in the plan and cross section. The posts and mainbraces are in two pieces, and the counter-braces are formed of a single beam. Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7 illustrate the manner in which the joining...
Page 99 - Virginiana) is another valuable wood, the growth of which is confined to the United .States. In situations where the soil is favourable it grows to the height of 40 or 50 feet, with a diameter of 12 or 13 inches. This wood is of a bright red colour ; it is odorous, compact, fine-grained, and very light, and is used, as already stated, in ship-building, along with live oak and locust to compensate for their weight. It is considered one of the most durable woods of the United States, and being lest...
Page 5 - ... the three Sessions preceding that at which he was called to the Chair, the number of entrants amounted on an average to 45 per annum. In the last Session the number was 39 ; while, at the same time, numerous communications were pres.ented, some of them of great importance, not only in a scientific, but also in a practical point of view, as was shewn by the printed Report of the Prize Committee, in which it would be seen that a greater number of Premiums are this year awarded than during any former...
Page 98 - It is very extensively employed in the erection of bridges, particularly frame and lattice bridges, a construction peculiar to the United States, and very generally adopted in that country, which I have described in detail elsewhere.* For this purpose it is well fitted, on account of its lightness and rigidity, and also because it is found to be less apt to warp or cast on exposure to the atmosphere than most other timbers of the country. It is much used for the interior fittings of houses, and for...
Page 144 - ... that is, 5 to 1. In the preceding trials the oil was consumed in a common argand, due attention being paid to the different circumstances affecting the consumpt, such as the kind of wick, the height of flame, &c. The next trial was made with the lamp lately introduced under the name of solar lamp. In this a cylinder surrounds that containing the wick, with the upper part bent inwards, so that the aperture being contracted, the current of air that passes up between the one cylinder and the other,...
Page 97 - American oak," but it is a very different and much inferior wood to the live oak of the United States which I have just described. It is also much more widely distributed, and occurs in much greater quantity, than the live oak. It is very common throughout the northern states, and in Canada, from whence it is exported to this country. It attains an elevation of seventy or eighty feet, with a diameter of six or seven feet. It is known by the whiteness of its bark, from which it derives its name, and...
Page 93 - I should think that were the American quarries efficiently worked, there could be very little necessity for applying either to Italy or Ireland, for so great an annual supply. Those buildings which are constructed of the whitest description of American marble, carefully selected for the purpose, such as the Capitol and the President's house at Washington, the Bank of the United States, the Mint, and other public buildings at Philadelphia, and the monument erected to the memory of Washington at Baltimore,...
Page 251 - ... the tubes so as to pass through the chimney, and thus all communication would be cut off between the sparks and the tubes. Mr Sutton likewise complains of the injustice done to his invention by Dr Hales, who makes no mention of it in his book, although he knew it had been brought before the Royal Society, — and that the Doctor used his influence to get his own machine used in the navy in preference. Mr Sutton, with some boasting, says that the benefits of his invention are " perpetual ; while...

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