Evening Star Newspaper, December 2, 1923, Page 77

3 Use of R THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, ammed Earth for Building . Revived by Washington Scientist \ e 3 Method Whick Was Known Thousands of Years Ago May Be Employed to Bring Down the Cost of Providing Homes—Structure Becomes More Solid and Approaches Quality of Stone as the Years Pass—Jefferson Advised This Form of Material for Early Settlers of America, But Log Cabins Then Seemed More Easily Built. BY EDWARD W. COFFIN, M. E. NEW type of construction or. rather, the recent revival of an exceedingly old type known : as “plse de terre” (pronounced “pisay") or rammed earth, and new to us, though it was practiced 5.000 vears ago, has just been successtully accomplished by a Washington sci- entist, and furnishes an assured so- Jution to the present building diffi- culties, which are perplexing both €ity and farm dweller: Pise gives an absotutely solid-wall- ed house or barn, church, school or shed at about one-fourth the cost of & similar structure in brick, at one- half the cost of concrete and about 30 per cent less than substantial trame. Pise gives a structure which grows more solid with the passing years, un- til the original earth finally turns to stone. It gives a building which, be- of its exceedingly thick but low-cost walls, is warm in winter and cool in summer. It may be made rat or vermin proof. It may be built by unskilled labor. Brains mixed with a little of the right sort of earth and enough muscle to ram with are the require s for pise building. « The pise construction is weill known in Burope. Many bulldings have been erected with pise in South Africa and New South Wales. Its popularity has increased si the war, because of the higher costs of those common ma- terfals which w alli know. Lyons. in France, is built in a large Part of pise, and many of the old stone buildings which tourists eo ad- mire and regard with awe, consider- ing the labor of building with stone, are simply old pise work, rammed earth, which were low in very easy to ercct and which nature turn- ed to stone in her normal way with the of time. Dr. H. B. Humphrey, ®cientist living at n where he bas just compl home, had the patience age to pursue this build to a real, practical problem, he & ) most ey cause cost, sovernment Ech Md., 4 his new d the cour-" ing problem solution. The rgued, has existed in al- century. Therefore, his- tory must have something about old- time. low methods of building. Historical research put him on the right track and letters to South Africa did the rest. A four-vear search rewarded. Literature on pise de terre was dis- covered in some old volumes in the Congressional Libra An encyelo- pedia of 1819 had an article on it. A «perusal of this and & few laboratory tests, and Dr. Humphrey arted his cost * home, after expert foreign authorities had passed on soil which he plse walls. the suitability of the proposed to use for the The house is now com- plated. the forerunner of lowar-cost homes and small bulldings in the TUnited States; homes of ample size, warm and dry; easy to heat, cool in fummer; strong, substantial buildings whose sincerity is apparent from the thickness of the window embrasures. “ ISE DE TERRE"” is actually & rammed earth. Nothing else but that. The same earth which is take out in excavating the cellar may, in many cases, after some slight treat- ments easy to give right at the build- Ing site, be used for building the bouse walls Our central and far west and the south are full of such natural pise earths. Proper soil ex- on every farm. ¢ courge,” says the quick thinker, “the soil must be pretty wet or moist to build wall; Just wrong. It must be quite dry, so dry that when a handful of it, balled up by pressure of the fingers is dropped to the &round it returns to its original state of crumbliness. “It should have plenty of clay,” thinks the theorist. Wrong again. The best earth is a good loam. But clay may be mixed with sand or loam, or goil which is too heavy may be . tempered down with sand to bring about the proper consistency. Any soil which makes rutty roads will make pise wall In fact, the rut itself “pisge’ rammed earth— rammed Ly the passing wheels. Set ihe rut on edge and repeat the opera- tion several times, and vou will have your wall. The strength will surprise you. A technical test of plse made from the soil which Drs Humphrey used s showed that a column of properly prepared earth, properly rammed, meausring eighteen inches square at the base and forty-two inches high, which -has been dried about sixteen days, had a crushing strength of is {mation was gradually forgotten. Log “THE HOUSE WITH EARTH WALLS,” BUILT HERE IN WASHINGTON BY DR. HUMPHREY, A GOVERN- MENT SCIENTIST. THE EARTH WALLS EVENTUALLY TURN TO STONE, AND THE HOU ON THE LOWEST COST SYSTEM. eighteen and one-half tons. seven thousand pounds! A block two inches high and one and| three-quarters inches in diameter supported 280 pounds before fractur- ing. The entire roof on Dr. Humph- rey's house, made of tile, weighs! eighteen tons. This is supported by | 160 feot of earth wall, capable of bearing easily ten tons to the foot An old work on civil engineer, bears further testimony to the perma- | nence and great durability of pise walls: | This method of construction is far more than that where un- burnt brick is employed and is by no means as costly. It universally | adopted in several departments of | | France and forms fireproof houses | far preferable for cottages than tim- ber framing, and well suited for stables. barns or buildings attached to the farm. “Walls properly carried up in this material form one entire mass and.| covered with a fine coat of plaster,| will endure for ages. Rondelet in- forms us that he repaired, in 1764, an ancient chateau in the department of Aisne which had endured “for up- ward of one hundred and fifty vears, and that the walls had attained the hardness nd compactness equal to ordinary stone. When it was desired to increase the size of the windows and other apertures the workmen I were obliged absolutely to use the same tools as in a quarry.” Curiously, about two months after the earth wall had been completed in this-new house it was desired to ]drill a hole through the wall for an electric conduit. The carpenter tried to use his big augur. but was forced to glve it up and resort to a cold chigel and sledge hammer before the wall could be penetrated. is * %k % HOMAS ~ JEFFERSON udvised colonists of the use of pise con- struction back in the early days of the republic. Just where he learned about it is not certain, but probably from reading of the farm buildings in the Rhine valley. Like many of the good bits of advice handed us by our far-seeing forefathers, this infor- cabins were easy to build. Trees were plentiful. Indeed, the flelds had to be cleared.; So pise was forgotten, to be resurrected now after much laborious research, as a result of the wasteful. ness of the past. It will insure perma- nent bulldings, however, for the fu- ture and be of great help in conserv- ing lumber. In other countries the art of pise has been preserved. The authorities in New South Wales prepared in 1911 an outline on pise for the benefit of the settlers In that countsy. They state: “Pise is a material readily obtain- Thirty I small |and durable buildings may be easi'y | Houses three stories high, built 200 | whether | by able by the settler, of whica cheap erected. For the construction of agr: cultural or pastoral buildings, cspe- cially In districts remote “rom rail- ways or where other building ma- terfals are not easily procurable, mse is particularly recommended. In the country earth is readily obtained. “As building material pise er boards. it ate In fact it is questionable more sulted for brickwork. For not our clim than | pise buildings, properly prepared, are} ¢ quite as durable and much cooler than bulldings constructed with solid brick walls, “This statement may be questioned those whose knowledge of pise work is limited to buildings so badly planned that the very elemental prin- ciples of building construction hav been neglected. Indifferent workman- ship, combined with indifferent pi earth, gives results which do not all for admiration. Brickwork vould just as readily be condemned if its qualities had to be estimated by the appearance presented by & building made of badly burned brick laid by unskillful tradesmen. Just as with other bullding material, the possibilities of pise can only be judged by an examination of properls planned and constructed examples of e builder’s art idea of the durability of be formed by the fact that there is a stable built of pise which has been in constant use for over sixty years and is at present time (1911) in good order. The condition of the stable is more surprising be- ause the external walls are unpro- tected from the weather, and it is generally recognized that pise work, especlally if unplastered, should be protected from the direct action of rain. Pise buildings are said to have a life of a century and a half.” There is ampie proof for giving pise that life or longer. At Empan- demf, South Africa, there were built about twenty vears ago the follow- ing bulldings, none of which shows the slightest signs of deterioration: large schoolhouse, 75 by 28 feet by 12 feet high, with walls 14 Inches thick; seven boys' dormitories, each 30 by 20 feet by 12 feet high: twelve sin- gle-room cottages, each 16 by 12; six fowl houses, eac 20 by 10 feet, and one large fowl house 250 feet long, with a front wall 7 feet high and a back wall 5 feet high, divided into fifteen compartments. These exam- ples are from the British government colonial authorities. O Simondium, South Africa, a rail- way station, subject to all the vi- bration of trains, was built of pise just before the war, or about ten vears ago. It is stronger now than when erected. At Lyon, France, even FRONT VIEW OF “THE HOUSE WITH EARTH WALLS™ THE TILED ROOF WEIGHS EIGHTEEN TONS. E IS BUILT i factory buildings are made from pise. | years ago, have turned to stone. In- | deed, an old reference cites an ex- |ample of a church at Montbrison, | which was 80 feet long, 40 wide and | 50 feet high. The roof burned off, | and after exposure to frost and rain | for a year the authorities found that | the packed earth had been hardened Do you doubt the safety of the housc? | infinitely superior and more durable | to stone by the pa & | than slabs, zalvanized iron or weath- | that the walls ing of time, and tili were perfectly akes her stone the pressure on clay and sand mixtures, n, by the ramming earth in the mold, supplies the pressure quickly, giving nature ideal conditions under which to work. She responds. Another point which authorities stress is that pise earth buildings are drier and cleaner than any other kind. The earth wall has the power of absorbing odors. Farm bufldings, stables, chicken houses and the ke, if made of earth walls, are absolutely without odor. and keep an even tem- [ perature, which cannot but help in ! matntaining healthy stock. Adobe houses are made of sun- burned brick. They lack the strength of pive, but their durability has never been questioned, and more adobe houses are being built every day in our southwestern states. Pise is in- superior and less expensive. construction contains all the principles of masonry, together with some rules peculiar to itself. Unskilled labor, very carefully super- vised, it is true, made the walls of | Dr. Humphrey's house. Three men laid two cubic vards of pise in an elght-hour day. The material was right at the site. It only was neces- sary to prepare it by screening, re- { moving all lumps, vegetable matter and large stones. The walls of this new pise house are 121 feet high and 18 inches thick. They rest on a concrete foun- dation, which raises the earth-wall oft the ground, thus avoiding mois- ture attacking the earth at the joint- ure. Inside the basement are 12-inch walls supporting the floor beams and serving as partition walls. The house is 48 feet long and 32 feet wide. After the ‘lower walls were all completed in pise, the second and third stories were put on in frame. The pise walls could have been car- ried right on up to the gable and the partitions inside on the second floor could have been made of pise at a lower cost than In frame. But this knowledge of pise was acquired after the plans had been made, and it was | considered inadvisable to change. Tn- | cidentally, Mre. Humphrey designed the house, and added many personal touches which go to make it an un- usually charming residence, and, as she pointed out, the features being molded right in the pise walls, they cost practically nothing. Dr. Humphre: is assured now that pise will make a Louse stronger than frame and make absolutely sound- proof walls. The walls may be fin- ished in any fashion desired. Those partition walls in the cellar were painted white and _vellow. The walls may be finished with ordinary plas- ter, or paper may be applied directly to the hard,.dry earth wall, as it is jperfectly smooth, like planed wood. * % ok % I pise construction a form some- ‘what similar to that used for concrete work Is employed. It must be made stronger than a comcrete form, however, as a tremendous pressure results from fhe ramming of the earth. A form three feet high and about ten feet long was advised by both old-time and modern au- thorities, and such a one was used in this building. The planks, of course, must be perfectly smooth- planed wood. The wooden frames for the win- dows, the door lintels, electric-wire conduits, soil pipe, picture molding and mop boards may all be lald and fastened in place firmly by placing ghem into the mold and ramming the earth around them. Have no fear, they will come out. Just try to knock them out with a sledge. Properly rammed earth has an un- usual grip. The blocks for the floor beame may be made with a slight taper, or “draft,” in molders’ parlance, so they may be easily removed from the (Continued on Sixth Page.) sound. Nature same way, by D. C, DECEMBER 2, 1923—PART 5. Old Square Dance Triumphs in Pari 4 Though Modern Favorites Compete Quadrille Is Great Favorite at the Moubn Rouge, Described as Most Famous "W/:alk-ArounJ" Resort in the World—Has Succeeded in Revivin g the Pre-W ar Gayety—Timid Outsider Attracted by Gay, Banging Rhythm of the Big Orchestra, Which Invites to Sociability, Though Few ?f the Visitors Join the Dancers. BY STERLING HEILIG. PARIS, November OU cannot beat the good old quadrille! New dances come and go; but the grand old square dance is always liable to bob up serenely with a new “kick” and surpass all rivals in popular favor. They put the kick in quadrille in | 1889—when the Moulin Rouge was started. Now. -again, today, the kick Is| new. It is dolled up in real lace: but no tango, fox-trot or jazz dance could have the resulting consequence —to start up, in a word, the old pre-war Parislan gayety! The quad- rille of the Moulin Rouge is going strong. Men will laughingly agree, ail over—on the pampas of the Argen- tine, the steppes of Russia, the prairies of lowa. The news will stir up reminiscences from New York brokers, English milords, Chinese mandarins, and magnates of the Transvaal. They will remember how, when they were lonesome, once, in Paris, the good old Moulin Rouge launched them, slap-bang, into society! Of course, any one can go, that, slap-bang into soclety, out introductions, without invita- tion, in the modern “dancings” of great cities. But will they—will timid, bashful men. who do mot dance, have o slap-bang good time? The Moulin Rouge had the secret of it, from the first day—in the quadrille! It broke the ice. And the whole thing was there! At the Moulin Rouge you do not dance. Its quadrille always was a show, “sight”; but just to hear that music (orchestra of forty pleces, type of quadrille from “The Grand Mogol”) was the thing that tipped the scale for the timid outsider. It got him going, that gay banging rvhthm that invites to sociability and beats down loneliness! Thers is something strained, slow, cold, about a tango joint. Even jazz is jealous—two-by-two; and down with all non-dancers! But imagine that you break from the night street into these boisterou bhalls of light. where few dance, in- deed, but simply thousands are promenading, laughing, Jjoshing, pushing, begging pardon, paving compliments. and crowding in littie eddies toward spots In the center of the dance floor, to get a sight of some special stunt! All to the crash-bang of the grand quadrille. Come fine! Itke with- in, come {n! The water's * % ok ok SAY, the public does not dance. It stands a while and watches “sets,” in cleared spots of the dance floor. It gathers, eager, laughing. hurrving. and melts away agaln, into the joshing, complimenting throng. In those days we watched La Goulue, La Mome Fromage, La Sau terelle and Grille d'Edout. What names! The Gob, Cheese Kid, Grass. hopper, Gutter Cricket! La Goulue, most famous of them all, inspired the pictorial poster of Toulouse- Lautrec—most famous of all plctorial posters, most sought for today by collectors, and eselling as high as $100 for an original in fine condition. We watched Rayon d'Or (whose hat, two yards in circumference, was always straight); Nini Patte-en-I'Alr (who took & troupe around tne world); Jeanne Avril (literary, girl and friend of artists, for whom Toulouse Lautres made his second poster); Pigeonette (who had & dancing school in New York), and fifty others! All professionals of the quadrille— just as today. All girls, no men, except just ome, & grim, punctilious amateur — Valentin the Boneless, whose silhouette appears in the fore- ground of the Lautrec poster. Val- entin never accepted a drink without paying it back immediately, and his brother, the Notary of Sceaux, mourned that ‘“he made the Moulin Rouge his offic Around the spectacle of the qua- drilles the true life of the Moudin has always gathered. Then the quadrilles were rather rude, less ele- gant and provocative than today, with outrageous comedy stunts, ec- centricities of cavaliers seuls, and some vulga: Today real lace where machine-made edging deco- rated work-girl muslin; and the comedy 18 in keeping with refined and beautiful girls. But now, as then (and vet before, at the Mabille!), the motive force of all is the qua- {arille, the chahut, hell-broke-loose— in a word, the cancan! * & ok K OT alone! The banging chahut music tells the timid outsider that here is soclety! Jazz might meke him suspicioue. He stops at an “attraction say, a sort of bagatelle board, with prizes. A timid touch is on his sleove: and a nice girl wishes him to back her skill. She craves to win that china goat. And the lone man s not alone! Or at the javelin-throwing game he meets a face that smiles with triendly interest, Will monsieur pay for ten throws? She thinks she met monsteur at Ostend. She desires to win him a knit smoking-cap, a box of cough-drops or a hand-painted mug! (Hers is hand-painted.) Their “strings”’ (“ficelles”) are nu- merous. First, you get the candy- box, then the bouquet. Each night 5,000 Ionmely, timid men buck up gratefully and let themselves be “stringed.” . Willingly. at little tables, they buy refreshments for the fair who have the “health” (“nerve”) to break the jce like a lady. When the bouquet woman comes they pay 25 francs for a few flowers. The girl with the bonbon boxes is'welcome. Flow- ers and chocolates will be sold back in an hour. This the lonely man suspects—-and laughs. Laugh, or don’t come. Last week two English boys were outrageously exploited by saucers! It is', a good custom of " the “promenoir” (or !prowl” of “walk- around”) that, once served at a little is featured, s 8o Les SOIRS LA GouLuE table, it is vours until up—by paying vour biil. With each “consumption” ete.), the waiter brings a saucer, with the price painted on it. When you wish to move on, You eount up saucers. Now, the young pride. On arriving, they choose a strategle table—and give an order. It is the right thing to do. This is their parlor. But each girl has paid a taxi fare to come—she could not walk the muddy street in those deli- cate slippers. The slippers cost something, too. And so on. till, per- haps, she may have another taxi fare, to go home. So, she will waste her refreshment by consuming it, but lets it stand. to hold the table. Later on, the lonely man will pay the saucer. You re-fresh, con-sume?” inquired quired two damsels of the English boys. “You lof wis-kee? No? Gin? Bien, fine! Nor we! Garcon, two coffees! (and continuing) You bhaf see Au-to-mo-bil Sa-lon? You lof zee six-wheeler? I haf au-to-mo-bile, and my permis! You come by zee air-route? 1 make zee air-rout to Bruxelles. Beau-ti-ful!” *x %% you give It (drink ladies have their HILE the conversatién sparkled, empty saucers kept ously appearing on the table. Girl friends, each, found means to slip a surreptitious saucer, until Bertie called out: “I say, how do they ex- plain this multiplication of saucers? Are we expected to pay for them?" “They are on your table,” we said “No, it's not our table. Tt girle’ table. Then, why bother?” There you are. It bothered. Though not precisely ladies' men, they felt they could not honorabl quit the table with the saucer- unpaid— though ®wo words of explanation to the waliter would relieve them. of all obligation. With a smile and a fourish, Bertle pald the saucers. We took a walk. . mysteri- “It wasn't right!" grumbled Bertie. mething less right happened. “You haf burn my sleeve!" ex- claimed a beautiful brunette, turning on Bertie in the promenade. “Why not | is the | ¢ Ser Ok HE PICTORIAL POSTERS, MUCH AY BY COLLECTORS. Lok e THE MOST FAMOUS OF ALL T SOUGHT AFTER TOD. [burn ladies' waist with cigarette? {One knows not to hold it?" | She stopped. studied the stuff. Sure, a small black hole was there. The throng delightedly took part. “He will, no doubt, indemnify lady!! - ot he. Observe his with fire, at incendlate the filmy Bertie protested | burned her sleeve!™ | ehickened | 50 francs don’t think I ut the crowd lease quickly offer her * whispered Augustus. “She can get a stoppage for ten! The brunette accepted. “Now, You'v.s BOU acquainted.” we ’:- d. “Why object to sprightly | methors, when you emjoy participa- tion?* A thousand girls make a good liv- {ing Dby this honest ‘“stringing.” | What chance had that South African | gold miner on his trip-to Europe to | sit alone, five minutes, at the corner | table? . He was husky, well dressed, fabout fifty, of neat Anglo-Saxon |look. smoking a (French) $1 cigar | (which means 30 cents, all the same)! | “Monsieur, you have our table!” | laughed two fine girls, interrupting. | The gold miner, flustered, timid. con- | fused, jumped up. He was, indeed, |abeut to run. | “No, Julie. we must not drive mon- sieur from our table!” chirped the other. “Monsieur, since vou are so gallant, you may sit. a moment, with us. at our table | You should |tonely man! He found |ship to pay for some saucers. He bought hand-painted candy boxes, bottles of perfumery, and a lace fan | for each girl! He laughed with them | for near an hour. | Now. supper!” they said “ 0. my wife won't let me (Here, he gave a consecrated refusal. Do you think they worried?) have seen the timid, it no hard- He gave ten—how can a man count out nine? And there is nothing petty in these takings. They ask for taxi fares, say, fifteen times per night, and get half! Adad profits of selling back the bon-bon boxes, per- fumery, bouquets and prizes won at THE PRESENT-DAY POSTER OF THE MOULIN ROUGE. | “attractions,’ plus a bit of arsou and the honest takings of aff actly: sprightly girl will run from $4 up to $40 She not an dance, is of th selves, but just and just “strings" [these “wal | the gay and |arer | * * Kk | PHEY are. They do. They do o For nine out bf ten the Parisian ouvenirs of tourists perfumed by nothing more pungent than sed- entary taxi fare adventures Yet, it Is the true Parisian of the gay Parisian resorts! all the rest exist—Ilights quadrilles, refreshment The Moulin Rouge has alwavs bec:n the ssful. among many mously successful, in giving this in pression of spontaneous fun. Humar nature does the rest. It only = =creen on which to throw the pleas No breaker of the has better | served (or need be sought for) than the grand quadrille The modern Moulin Iuxurious and smaller 1 bare, flag-decorated, | hall (nevertheless. same) and ,L’brdl’n where there was an open-ai variety show in summer and autumn {and, all the year, a iron elephant (as once, at Coney Is- land) and whose legs were windir artiste, does ' public, like our comes every amiak -around” establishments famous specialties the is e are gayet For it orchestra most succ ice uge is more 1an the rather sprawling old the colossal shee The old dance floor would look 1like cents besid of today. So big hat of the cottor ings of I the house | maid tolette Patte-en-1- yand Grille a d the machine- | made edging of one and an! In cpmparison, the silk and of Germaine Ricuk. Mercedes. hloe. Mimi Anoul, 8 nd Alice Dauxois ares refined and refinedly provoc- ative as would be th and Ir.lr-gnnt modern beauties placed he- lside (alas!) Cheese Kid, the Go- {bler and Gutter Cricket! Yet we thought La Goulou (Latin | #ula, Gluttony) hoth sprightly and {amusing; and certa our tourist friends stared at divers sets in the ch quadrille. And the real thing. which changed. is the quadrille, still called | realist, with its slap-banz music the grand lee-breaker, the quadrill Im.- chahut. in a word, the cancarr i “Detective Paint.” | PDESIGNED | when engine parts {ing. there is a German p which turns from light to a deep brown at 70 to almost black at When the overheated part is cooled. the ! paint turns back to its normal colo { The changing attracts the tention of tho \d lenc gives the opportu applying o {little ofl at the critical mom The machine itself can he thus saved from complete destruction and all danger of fires from overh machinery eliminated. The che properties of another paint. acalor: stop the heat of the sun. when applied to roofs. the rooms be- low are kept from fifteen to thir five degrees cooler. It is a light and can be applied the sun beats dow treme heat, minishing the adeptable to corrugated which often the i factory or storehouse an oven in the sum B to factory walls it reduces the tem- perature of the (aterior. Tt will far in reducinz the temperatu the attic rooms of the summe tage rooms u uninhabitahi. the Lydia, sweetly as suave nl & ap finery of the reali to its red S5 degrees. i to windows w without light. It is especially iron roof. rio unbearal en applicd ually “Human Horsepower.” MACHINE to determine the hors: power of human beings has been perfected in New York and is said 1o be in successful operation there. Tho machine, known as the eurostomete is simply constructed and combines an ordinary bicycle arrangement awgd a hand wheel. Operation of these de- | vices brings into play every set of muscles ordinarily employed by men and women while at work. In making the test the keeps the bicvele devi or wheel preceding at predetermined rate per minute, A weight brake is slowly applied until the subjest be- | kins to feel Tatigue. The weight res- isters on a scale beam graduated in terms of horsepower instead of &vo: - + dupois. It appears that the man of averasze development registers .19 ho the average woman reg horsepower, but of course figured on the accepted foot-pound' values. operator the hand sepower sters . these are theoretical To Prevent Fogs. T is reported that in Lyons, France, a plan has been adopted to prevent fogs by covering the waterways about the city with a film of oil. Seientists | have figured out that it is feasible | 20 suppress the great winiks of vapor | that follow the lines ot the str iLy preventing evaporation, at a daily cost of about $8. For two montiis of the year Lyons is beseiged and busi- ! ness suffers greatly a result of I fogs. Fogs in most places roll in from the sea and cannot be | treated. Sensitive Instrument. URING the reading of a paper be- fore a sclentific body an em| i nent séientist observed that when ti bolometer was invented, some thirty years ago, it e to measure temperature to one one-hun- dredth-thousandth of a degree. Since then the instrument and its adjunc have been so far improved that tem- perature can be measured to less than one one-hundred-millionth of & degree readily and with precision was @ about