Writing Tech Brief By HackerNoon

His name was Sylvester Bonaffon, a retired merchant of Philadelphia.

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One of those odd geniuses, who spend their lives and means in collecting curious and rare articles, lately died. His name was Sylvester Bonaffon, a retired merchant of Philadelphia. His elaborate collections were sold at auction, and their oddity has attracted general attention. His chief mania was for clocks, which literally covered every portion of available space in his apartments, whether they were placed on chairs, tables, shelves, or hung against the wall. Some of these timepieces were of unique construction. One clock was made to run for 400 days after one winding; another was set in the dashboard of his carriage, and he used Mr. Bonaffon also had an especial fondness for electrical apparatus. His windows were provided with ingenious burglar alarms, his rooms with fire alarms, and he ignited his gas always by electricity. His place of business, his stable, the Continental Hotel where he dined, were all connected with instruments in his room; and he even had perfected arrangements so that he could set at home and send his own messages to California. Besides the clocks and electric apparatus, there was an immense collection of bric-a-brac of every conceivable variety, which was sold at the auction—as is usually the case—at prices much below those paid by its late owner.

The mines were of irregular shape, and were surrounded by reef. The top reef was a loose shale, and had given great trouble from the frequent slips.

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At a recent meeting of the Institution of Civil Engineers, the paper read was "On the Diamond Fields and Mines of South Africa," by Mr. James N. Paxman, Asoc. M. Inst. C.E.

The author commenced by stating that Kimberley was situated in Griqualand West, above 700 miles northeast from Table Bay, and 450 miles inland from Port Elizabeth and Natal on the east coast. Lines of railway were in course of construction from Table Bay and Port Elizabeth to Kimberley, and were about half completed. In Griqualand there were several diamond mines, the principal of which were Kimberley, De Beer's, Du Toit's Pan, and Bultfontein.

In the Orange Free States there were also two mines, viz., Jagersfontein and Koffeyfontein, the first of which produced fine white stones. The mines were all divided into claims, the greatest number of which were to be found in the Du Toit's Pan mine. Bultfontein came next.

The deepest and most regularly worked was the Kimberley mine. The next deepest was De Beer's, which, however, was very unevenly worked. Then followed Du Toit's Pan and Bultfontein. The Du Toit's Pan mine ranked next in importance to Kimberley mine. Diamonds were first discovered in 1867 by Mr. O'Reilley, a trader and hunter, who visited a colonist named van Niekirk, residing in Griqua. The first diamond, on being sent to the authorities, was valued at 500l. Considerable excitement was caused throughout the colony, and the natives commenced to look for diamonds, and many were found, among which was one of eighty-three and a half carats, valued at 15,000l. In 1868 many enterprising colonists made their way up the Vaal River, and were successful in finding a good number of diamonds. The center of the river diggings on the Transvaal side was Klipdrift, and on the opposite side Pniel. In all there were fourteen river diggings. Du Toit's Pan and Bultfontein mines were discovered in 1870 at a distance of twenty-four miles from the river diggings. The diggers took possession of these places. Licenses were granted giving the first diggers a right to work. In 1871 De Beer's and Kimberley mines were discovered, and in 1872, Mr. Spalding's great diamond of 282½ carats was found at the river diggings.

It must be borne in mind that the quadrumanous indications are found in the lower classes of the most developed races.

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[Footnote: Abstract of a lecture delivered before the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia, Jan. 20.1881, in exposition of principles laid down in The Hypothesis of Evolution, New Haven, 1870, p. 31.]

By E. D. COPE.

The ability to read character in the form of the human face and figure is a gift possessed by comparatively few persons, although most people interpret, more or less correctly, the salient points of human expression. The transient appearances of the face reveal temporary phases of feeling which are common to all men; but the constant qualities of the mind should be expressed, if at all, in the permanent forms of the executive instrument of the mind, the body. To detect the peculiarities of the mind by external marks has been the aim of the physiognomist of all times; but it is only in the light of modern evolutionary science that much progress in this direction can be made. The mind, as a function of part of the body, partakes of its perfections and its defects, and exhibits parallel types of development. Every peculiarity of the body has probably some corresponding significance in the mind; and the causes of the former are the remoter causes of the latter. Hence, before a true physiognomy can be attempted, the origin of the features of the face and general form must be known. Not that a perfect physiognomy will ever be possible. A mental constitution so complex as that of man cannot be expected to exhibit more than its leading features in the body; but these include, after all, most of what it is important for us to be able to read, from a practical point of view.

The several adjustments enable the operator to do all kinds of light and heavy boring, with ease and with great rapidity.

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Our readers will recollect an illustrated description of an universal wood-working machine, published on page 79, Vol. XIII. of the Scientific American. The machine herewith illustrated is manufactured by the same firm, and is a valuable addition to the many excellent wood-working machines now in use. 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 upper wheel is adjusted by a screw pressing against a rubber spring which compensates for the expansion and contraction of the saw.

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The engraving shows a new hand power band saw made by Frank & Co., of Buffalo, N. Y., and designed to be used in shops where there is no power and where a larger machine would be useless. It is calculated to meet the wants of a large class of mechanics, including carpenters and builders, cabinet makers, and wagon makers. It is capable of sawing stuff six inches thick, and has a clear space of thirty inches between the saw and the frame. The upper wheel is adjusted by a screw pressing against a rubber spring which compensates for the expansion and contraction of the saw.

The machine has a very complete device for raising, lowering, and adjusting the wheel, and all of the parts are made with a view to obtaining the best results in the simplest and most desirable way.

The machine is six feet wide and five feet high, and weighs 380 lb. The wheels are covered with pure rubber bands well cemented.

This causes the eye-pieces to revolve around their axes, vv, and brings the two tubes parallel with each other.

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Inasmuch as high power combined with small size is usually required in an opera glass, manufacturers have always striven to unite these two features in their instruments, and have succeeded in producing glasses which, although sufficiently small to be carried in the waistcoat pocket, are nevertheless powerful enough to allow quite distant objects to be clearly distinguished. Recently, a Parisian optician has succeeded in constructing an instrument of this kind that is somewhat of a novelty in its way, since its mechanism allows it to be closed in such a manner as to take up no more space than a package of cigarettes (Fig. 1.) It is constructed as follows:

AB and CD (Fig. 1) are two metallic tubes, in which slide with slight friction two other tubes. Into the upper part of the latter are inserted two hollow elliptical eye-pieces, which move therein with slight friction, and which are united by the two supports tor the wheel, bb (Fig. 4), and endless screw that serve for focusing the instrument. The eyepieces, TT, are held in the tube by means of two screws, vv (Figs. 2 and 4), in such a way that they can revolve around the latter as axes. The lenses of the eye-piece are fixed therein by means of a copper ring. The object glasses are placed in the ends of the tubes, AB and CD, at oo.

When the instrument is closed, it forms a cylinder 35 millimeters in diameter by 11 centimeters in length. To open it, it is grasped by the extremities and drawn apart horizontally so as to bring it into the position shown in Fig. 2. Then it is turned over so that the screw, V, points upward, while at the same time the two tubes are pressed gently downward. This causes the eye-pieces to revolve around their axes, vv, and brings the two tubes parallel with each other.—La Nature.

There is in it no unity, no energy, no rational choice of a commander, no authority, no responsibility.

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Having characterised in detail the different aims to which war may be directed, we shall go through the organisation of war as a whole for each of the three separate gradations corresponding to these aims.

In conformity with all that has been said on the subject up to the present, two fundamental principles reign throughout the whole plan of the war, and serve as a guide for everything else.

The first is: to reduce the weight of the enemy’s power into as few centres of gravity as possible, into one if it can be done; again, to confine the attack against these centres of force to as few principal undertakings as possible, to one if possible; lastly, to keep all secondary undertakings as subordinate as possible. In a word, the first principle is, to act concentrated as much as possible.

The best thing that I know of, to put the fire out in a burning chimney is salt;

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Messrs. Editors:—I am satisfied that a great many fires originate through poorly constructed chimneys; and, although not a bricklayer by trade, I would offer a few hints how to construct a fire-proof chimney. Let the bed be laid of brick and mortar, iron, or stone; then the workman should take a brick in his left hand, and with the trowel, draw the mortar upon the end of the brick, from the under side, and not from the outside edge, as is usual. Then, by pressing the brick against the next one, the whole space between the two bricks will be filled with mortar; and so he should point up the inside as perfectly as the outside, as he proceeds.

That by observing, with two instruments, the same objects at the same time, and in the same manner

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No person will deny that the highest degree of attainable accuracy is an object to be desired, and it is generally found that the last advances towards precision require a greater devotion of time, labour, and expense, than those which precede them. The first steps in the path of discovery, and the first approximate measures, are those which add most to the existing knowledge of mankind.

The extreme accuracy required in some of our modern inquiries has, in some respects, had an unfortunate influence, by favouring the opinion, that no experiments are valuable, unless the measures are most minute, and the accordance amongst them most perfect. It may, perhaps, be of some use to show, that even with large instruments, and most practised observers, this is but rarely the case. The following extract is taken from a representation made by the present Astronomer-Royal, to the Council of the Royal Society, on the advantages to be derived from the employment of two mural circles:—

"That by observing, with two instruments, the same objects at the same time, and in the same manner, we should be able to estimate how much of that OCCASIONAL DISCORDANCE FROM THE MEAN, which attends EVEN THE MOST CAREFUL OBSERVATIONS, ought to be attributed to irregularity of refraction, and how much to THE IMPERFECTIONS OF INSTRUMENTS."

Unmarked iron is weak and variable, and to this circumstance may be attributed the reduction, announced this week, in various descriptions of common iron hardwa

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The British Mercantile Gazette of January 15 states that the situation and prospects of the iron trade have not materially improved in the month of December, but some week or two must elapse yet before trade returns to its regular channels. In the north of England the tone of the market is tolerably cheerful, and prospects, though still vague, are considered encouraging. Makers of pig iron go into the next quarter with a good supply of orders on their books, and merchants and consumers are desirous of buying over the first half of the year. Notwithstanding the great depression which has ruled throughout 1876, there is likely to be a greater production of pig iron by several thousand tons than ever there was before, and the total make must considerably exceed two million tons, which is twice the quantity turned out in Scotland, though in the latter district a greater number of furnaces have been kept in blast. Prices are nominally the same as were quoted last week, but show an upward tendency. The bulk of the mills and forges, foundries, etc., have resumed work, and the finished iron trade is again in full swing. The plate department is well provided with orders, but the rail manufacturers, though rather better off than they were, are still in a poor position. The miscellaneous branches of the iron trade, such as the foundries and tube, wire, and cut-nail manufactories are generally well off for orders, and engineers find plenty to do. The wages agreement in the finished iron trade ends this week, but it is thought that no alteration will be made. In the South Staffordshire iron trade, work has been only partially resumed as yet, and many of the mills and forges will not be started until the quarterly meetings, next week. Orders have rarely been so scarce as they are at this moment, arrears having been pretty generally cleared off before the holidays, and no new ones coming in. Nevertheless, the feeling of the trade is more hopeful than it was a month ago. The number of furnaces in blast in this district is now only 58 out of 153; but should the expected improvement in trade arrive with the quarterly meeting, this number will soon be increased. In the finished iron branch, in which quotations for marked iron contain the basis of $45 for bars, makers of leading brands of sheets and bars are better off than the manufacturers of cheap iron, who suffer much from competition in the north. Some considerable contracts for girders, bridges, gasometers, etc., are under execution at the works devoted to constructive ironwork; but the merchant iron trade, as a whole, is very dull. Unmarked iron is weak and variable, and to this circumstance may be attributed the reduction, announced this week, in various descriptions of common iron hardware.