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much superior to the other machine in this respect. You can take out this box, put on a very small quantity of oil,—a measured quantity or a weighed quantity, and then put it on again, and run the machine till it begins to show an increase of friction. But suppose there is a little inequality :· -the metals will then soon come in contact, the oil being crowded aside. In order to test fairly the lubricating quality of oils, we must have a simple friction of the oils themselves, and no rubbing of the bare metals on each other. We should have two perfectly fitting surfaces, and keep the oil between them. It is desirable. to have something which represents the circumstances that prevail in practice; and at first sight this arrangement appears to be such. Here we have a shaft and a bearing, as usual; only the bearing in this case is made of hard metal, rarely used in actual practice.

Now, it seems to me- to take up one other point—that the harder the journal is, and the softer the box is, or the greater the difference between them, the better it will be, because then they will soon wear equal, and tend to stay so. Of course there is a practical difficulty there. If we could, in fact, use mere tallow for a bearing, or something which is very soft indeed, it would do very well; but tallow would soon crush and leave no support. We all know that wood makes a pretty good bearing, if we have pretty hard wood: it adapts itself to the metal very well; but it will wear out after a while. Babbitt's metal is sometimes used, and it is certainly a very good thing. We have, in a Babbitt's metal box and an iron shaft, a very great difference in the two bearing surfaces. If there is any inequality in the shaft itself, it will soon be compensated for by the actual scraping out of the softer metal; and the tendency is to wear to a true fit. There are softer metals, like lead, which yield too much, and are, so to speak, too viscous; that is, while being abraded, they catch on the iron of the shaft, and cause a dragging. They are somewhat like resin, which catches and sticks to rubbing surfaces, and increases friction. Babbitt's metal is soft enough and brittle enough to be scraped to a fit by the harder iron, and yet it is firm enough to bear up against a pretty strong pressure, and hence comes its great utility for lining boxes.

One thing we should observe in this connection, and that is, the tendency to cohesion between metals in contact. Any thing which tends to cleanse metallic surfaces tends to make them

Mr. Garsed, from the Committee on Nominations, submitted the following report: For President, — A. D. LOCKWOOD, Providence, R.I.; for Vice-Presidents, — A. G. CUMNOCK, Lowell, Mass.; CHARLES NOURSE, Woonsocket, R.I.; for Directors, — JOHN KILBURN, Lowell, Mass.; CYRUS I. BARKER, Lewiston, Me.; HERVEY KENT, Exeter, N.H.; D. J. JOHNSTON, Cohoes, N.Y.; WALTER PAINE, 3d, Fall River, Mass.; CHARLES L. LOVERING, Taunton, Mass.

On motion of Mr. Atkinson (no objection being made), Mr. Garsed was authorized to cast the vote, in behalf of the Associa tion, for the officers for the ensuing year, and the gentlemen named by the nominating committee were declared elected.

The PRESIDENT. That completes the business of organization, the hearing of the Reports, and the choice of officers for the ensuing year. Before taking up the business in order, as per the printed circular sent to the various members, I would call the attention of the Association to that part of the Secretary's Report pertaining to the sale or distribution of the annual and semi-annual Reports of the Association. This matter was discussed somewhat in the Board of Government, and it was thought best to refer it to the Association, for them to consider whether these Reports should be sold at the bookstores, or whether they should be confined to the members, and such friends as they might desire to furnish with copies. That is the question now before the meeting. I would be glad to have an expression of opinion from the members.

It always

Mr. KENT. The good book tells us that we are to "love our neighbors as ourselves;" but in this case we are going beyond the requirement of that good book, and are doing better by our neighbors than we do by ourselves. seemed to me a little unjust to those who become members, and pay five dollars a year for these publications, to sell them for fifty cents apiece, or a dollar a year. The amount received is very trifling; I think the sales last year amounted only to some twenty dollars, and the influence would be to restrict the number of members. If those living at a distance can get the whole of the proceedings for a dollar a year, there is not any very strong inducement for them to become members at an expense of five dollars a year. I move that the distribution be confined to members, and such friends as they may desire to send copies to.

The PRESIDENT. The motion is, that our Reports be not placed in the bookstores for sale. Will gentlemen express their views on that motion?

Mr. GARSED. From the amount of money we received into the treasury for those books, it seems to me of very little consequence whether we sell them or not; and I think gentlemen. here will agree with me, that, if they are worth any thing, they are worth a great deal more than fifty cents. You gentlemen here may not take my view of the matter. It does not cost you a great deal to come to Boston, but it costs some of the members a great deal besides their assessments. If I could get all the proceedings of this meeting in Philadelphia for fifty cents, it is not likely that I would come all the way to Boston to hear them. Therefore, I am entirely opposed to the whole matter, and I trust there will be a decided expression of opinion about it, so that we shall not have to recur to the question again. If we have any surplus, as we seem to have at times, let the members have a certain number for distribution, and reserve the balance to be distributed as occasion may require.

The PRESIDENT. I may say, for the information of such members as may not understand it, that, as the editions are exhausted, the Secretary has been in the habit of reprinting, so that the members, from time to time, especially new members who come in, are enabled to get the Reports from the commencement. Occasionally, in order to do this, he has to take some one number of the Reports, and have it reprinted.

Gentlemen, are you ready for the question on the motion of Mr. Kent, namely, that the sale of these Reports at the bookstores be discontinued? As many as are in favor of the motion. will signify it by saying "Ay."

The motion was carried unanimously.

Mr. CUMNOCK. I move that the Secretary be requested to call the next meeting at the time appointed by the Government, at ten o'clock in the morning, and that we take a recess from one o'clock until two, and adjourn the afternoon session at four. I have a special reason for making this motion.

After the discussion of the oil-question at our last meeting, my friend Mr. Atkinson invited me into the next building to see a short spinning-frame that he had arranged to test the running qualities of different oils, and, at the same time, ascertain the power required to drive the frame. I was greatly

pleased at the mechanical skill and ingenuity displayed in the
arrangement. I had a desire at once to have the oil I was
using tested; and, at the request of Mr. Atkinson, I sent a
quart to Professor John M. Ordway, and at the same time I sent
three one-quart cans of other oils from the sellers of the same.
The test proved that the oil I was using stood well as to
evaporation, and it had a high flashing-point, but had “much
gum."
One of the other oils mentioned showed as good a per-
centage as to evaporation and flashing-point, and had but "little
gum." As the result of the test, I ordered the oil in quite a
quantity, at a cost of ten cents per gallon less in price; and in
the course of three weeks it showed a gain of eight per cent in
power.

I have come to the conclusion, that, although the first-mentioned oil gave good satisfaction as a lubricant, it was largely due to the "gum" at the expense of the power. I hardly think manufacturers are aware how much the investigation of the oil-question has done for us, and is going to do for us in the future, in giving us oils better adapted to our wants. Power is a very expensive item in manufacturing; and any oil sold in the market, that has a large amount of gum or resinous matter, is a dear article to purchase. The discussion of this and other subjects should have more of our time and attention. We come here, and spend an hour or so, and then start for home. The hour I spent in the next building examining the spinning-frame, and watching the oil-tests, convinced me that the bottom of the oil-question had not been reached, and it was not likely to be for some time to come.

Mr. GREENE. I move an amendment, that instead of adjourning at four o'clock, we adjourn when we get through, at our convenience.

Mr. Cumnock accepted the amendment.

The PRESIDENT. The motion, as amended, is that we hold a morning session from ten o'clock until one, and an afternoon session, commencing at two o'clock.

Mr. ATKINSON. I cannot help saying how gratified I am at what Mr. Cumnock has stated. The questions that have come before me in this oil-investigation have become so complex, so difficult of determination, and yet so important, that I have sometimes almost been willing to give it up, for fear lest I was pursuing a question that others did not appreciate fully.

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Not that I have had any sign of that, but it has imposed upon me a burden and a load, and I felt that I had started a difficult question, and I could not see my way out.

The PRESIDENT. The business named in the notice for this meeting is an address by Professor Ordway, in continuation of his address delivered here six months ago, on the question of lighting and lubricating oils. While we are waiting for Professor Ordway, if any member of the Association has any thoughts to give us in regard to the subject under consideration, we shall be glad to hear them.

Mr. GARSED. I would like to ask if any member present can tell us what the result of the New York Legislature was upon the tare-question. They had a bill before them to fix a tare on cotton: I have lost sight of it, and I thought likely there might be some New York members here who could tell me whether that bill passed or failed.

The PRESIDENT. I do not know whether there are any members from New York here; but Mr. B. F. Nourse is posted upon every thing appertaining to cotton, and, if he can answer the question of Mr. Garsed, I have no doubt the Association would be very glad to hear from him.

Mr. NOURSE. I have no positive information as to the legis lation in New York, except that it was proposed. I had some correspondence on the subject. My impression is, that it did not pass to legislative enactment. I do not know any thing in regard to the present position of the matter.

Professor ORDWAY. It is desired that a further report should be made, in addition to what I have already given in October last; but, so far as the data are concerned, we have accumulated very few. We have continued in the examination of oils, obtaining rather empirical than scientific results. We have increased the number examined, and our work has sifted itself down mainly to the determination of the evaporation of oils, and the flashing-point. There is not a constant ratio between these two, and what we depend most on, for determining the value of any particular oil for lubrication, is the evaporation in twelve hours at 140° Fahrenheit. Of course, these numbers are purely arbitary any other time would do; but it is necessary to have a uniform time, for the sake of comparison. I regret to say that my own attention has been so much occupied with my regular duties, that I have not been able to give the personal atten

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