Scientific American Supplement, No. 484, April 11, 1885 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 125 pages of information about Scientific American Supplement, No. 484, April 11, 1885.

Scientific American Supplement, No. 484, April 11, 1885 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 125 pages of information about Scientific American Supplement, No. 484, April 11, 1885.

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PHOTO-TRICYCLE APPARATUS.

[Illustration:  A PHOTO-TRICYCLE APPARATUS.]

This consists of a portable folding camera, with screw focusing arrangement, swing back, and an adapter frame placed in the position of the focus screen, allowing the dark slide to be inserted so as to give the horizontal or vertical position to the dry plate when in the camera.  To the front and base-board a brass swiveled side bar, made collapsible by means of a center slot, is attached by hinges, and this renders the camera rigid when open or secure when closed.  The base-board is supported on a brass plate within which is inserted a ball-and-socket (or universal joint in a new form), permitting the camera to be tilted to any necessary angle, and fixed in such position at will.  The whole apparatus is mounted upon a brass telescopic draw-stand, which, by means of clamps, is attached to the steering handle or other convenient part of the tricycle, preferably the form made by Messrs. Rudge & Co., of Coventry, represented in the cut.—­Photo.  News.

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A PHOTO PRINTING LIGHT.

[Illustration]

A printing frame is placed in the carrier, and exposed to the light of a gas burner kept at a fixed distance, behind which is a spherical reflector.  The same frame may be used for other purposes.-Photographic News.

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A NEW ACTINOMETER.

A selenium actinometer has been described in the Comptes Rendus in a communication from M. Morize, of Rio de Janeiro.  The instrument is used to measure the actinic power of sunlight when the sun is at various altitudes; but the same principle is applicable to other light sources.  The sensitive part of the apparatus consists of a cylinder formed of 38 disks of copper, isolated from each other by as many disks of mica.  The latter being of smaller diameter than the copper disks, the annular spaces between the two are filled with selenium, by the simple process of rubbing a stick of this substance over the edges, and afterward gently warming.  The selenium then presents a grayish appearance, and is ready for use.  Connection is made by conductors, on opposite sides, with the odd and even numbers of the disks, which diminishes the resistance of the selenium.  The cylinder thus formed is insulated by glass supports in the inside of a vacuum tube, for the purpose of preserving it from the disturbing influence of dark rays.  The whole is placed upon a stand, and shielded from reflected light, but fully exposed to that which is to be measured for actinic intensity.  If now a constant current of electricity is passed through the apparatus, as indicated by a galvanometer, the variations of the latter will show the effect produced

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Scientific American Supplement, No. 484, April 11, 1885 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.