SCIENCE AND INVENTIONS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1599, 17 August 1916, Page 4

SCIENCE AND INVENTIONS.

STEAM DR IMEN A EROPLAXES. Not only is the Navy Department engaged in experiments having for llieir object tbo application of -team power to aeroplanes, says an American paper, but from reports from various part:- of tincountry it would appear that many private investigators are hard at work on the same problem. Thus far the equipment most favoured is some form of (lash boiler and a eompael steam turbine. Because of the simplicity and high order ol dependability of the steam power plants, it is not unlikely that in the near future steam will supplant gasoline on heavier-than-uir machines. A USEFUL WATCH. What is unquestionably a great masterpiece of both mechanical construction anil artistic workmanship is presented in the form of a. watch recently finished by a wellknown Swiss watchmaker. Strictly speaking, the watch is more in the nature of a clock, and is provided with a clock, movement. Its mechanism automatically strikes the hours and the quarter hours, while the repeater mechanism, which is released by a spring, •'trikes the hour- and quarter hours and exact minutes that arc indicated on the dial by the bands. Aside from the usual hour, minute, and second hands, the watch contains a movement suitable for timing an event or an operation to a fraction of a second, in the form of a split-second hand and a Jiftli-second-hand. Two additional dials arc also included to indicate respectively the number of minutes and the number of hours which have elapsed during the actual use of the spli(-second mechanism. Another interesting feat nee «.f the watch is the pcrpejiial calendar which makes allowances for the JI, 3li and 28-day months, and even the 2!i flays of February each leap year. The phases of the moon can be instantly determined by referring to a crescent-shaped opening in the upper centre of the dial. Lastly, a most useful attachment is incorporated in the watch to indicate when the gong movement and

Iho watch movement were last, wound. The gold used in the ease of the watch is 18(d., and weighs nearly 7oz. Three separate mechanisms are required to perform I lie various functions of the watch: two of them are wound by turning’ the winding stem in one direction and the remaining movement wound by turning the winding stem in the opposite direction.