Intermezzo

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

(-met'zō), in music, an interlude; a short composition of a lively character played between the parts of a more important work, or between the acts of a drama, etc. FEVER. See INTERMITTENT AGUE. INTERNAL COMBUSTION EN- GINE, a type of prime mover in which the actuating energy, in the form of heat, is generated by combustion within the cylinder of the engine. The commercial introduction and improvements of the internal combustion engine have been comparatively recent, as it was only in 1878 that Otto placed the first important commercial gas engines upon the market. In his engine, as in the common motor of to-day, the gas was compressed before it was ignited. The two great classes into which internal combustion engines may be divided are: CYLINDER HEAD EXHAUST VALVE EXHAUST PISTON RINGS WRIST PIN CYLINDER CAM SHAFT CRANK CASE CRANK SHAFT A. Those in which the ignition of the fuel occurs at constant volume. B. Those in which the ignition of the fuel occurs at constant pressure. The common gasoline motor of today is of the first type, and usually operates under what is known as the Otto cycle: first, charging the cylinder with fuel, which is done on a down stroke of the piston; second, the compression of the fuel on the up stroke of the piston; third, the ignition of the fuel, which is INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE 171 INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE done at approximately the end of the compression; fourth, the expansion on of the gas, resulting from combustion, which forces the piston down; and fifth and last, forcing out the burnt gases on the up stroke of the piston. This type of motor, which requires four strokes of the piston to complete its cycle, is known as a four-cycle motor, while some motors with special valve arrangements and SPARK PLUG VALVE HEAD INLET VALVE INLET FOR FUEL MIXTURE VALVE SPRING VALVE ROD PISTON CAM CAM TIMING SHAFT GEAR C FRAME CROSS SECTION OF FOUR-STROKE GASOLINE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE deflectors go through a complete cycle in two strokes. Gasoline is the common fuel of this type of motor, although there are models designed to operate on natural gas, alcohol, and kerosene. The fuel is mixed with air in a carburetor or similar device. The entrance of the fuel into the cylinder, as well as the expulsion of burnt gases, is controlled by valves, which may be of the poppet an and cam type, or of the sleeve variety. In a INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE 172 INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE modern motor the fuel is ignited by an electric spark, properly timed, which is usually furnished by a storage battery and intensified by a coil, or generated by a magneto. The lubricating system is usually either of the force feed or the splash type, and a great majority of the engines are water jacketed for cooling. This type of motor is used for motor vehicles of all types, for small power plants, airplanes, and motor boats. The typical internal combustion engine of the second type is the Diesel Engine, invented by a German, Rudolf Diesel, in 1898. In the Diesel Engine air is drawn into the cylinder, compressed to about SPARK TAKES PLACE NOW EXHAUST VALVE FINLET VALVE INLET VALVE VALVE CLOSED CLOSED SPARK PLUG <← CLOSED OPEN EXHAUST CYLINDER COMPRESSION SUCTION STROKE STROKE 500 pounds per square inch, which creates a temperature of about 1000° F., then at the beginning of the down stroke of the motor, oil under high pressure is sprayed into the cylinder, where it is ignited by the heat of the air in the cylinder. A constant pressure is maintained during expansion. On the up stroke of the piston the burnt gases are expelled from the cylinder, and the cycle is repeated. This type of engine is practical only in large sizes, and is used for stationary power plants, and for heavy marine duty. It may be either vertical or horizontal, and recent experimentation has improved the speed control and simplified starting, which were the drawbacks of early models. A very high fuel economy is possible with this type of motor. AGRICULTURE, an institution located at Rome and having for its object the collecting and distributing of information and statistics about Agriculture. Founded by an American, David Lubin of California, who, after several vain attempts to secure government support, persuaded King Victor Emmanuel of Italy to give it his patronage in 1905. The King has endowed the institution with funds which give it an annual income of $60,000 and the Italian Govern- VALVE OPEN INLET VALVE VALVE CLOSED INLET VALVE EXHAUST CLOSED CLOSED EXHAUST PISTON EXHAUST POWER STROKE STROKE SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM SHOWING HOW A FOUR-STROKE CYCLE SINGLE-CYLINDER INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE WORKS ment has erected a handsome building for its home. A general assembly of delegates is held every two years and over 40 different countries are now represented in its deliberations. In 1913 the assembly discussed methods of crop reporting, an international service of statistics, and made proposals to the departments of agriculture of the various nations concerning concerning the control of plant diseases. The institute has collected a valuable library dealing with all phases of agricultural life, issuing weekly bulletins of books received or published on the subject. It has also aided the various countries in any special agricultural works in which it happens to be engaged, recommending experts and INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGES 173 placing at their disposal its valuable library. LANGUAGES, languages artificially formed in order to do away with the difficulties of communication between people whose natural languages are different. Most of the schemes proposed intend merely to help business men and travelers, there is no aim to produce a literature in a language artificially formed. Early attempts to make an international language date back to Diderot and the French Revolution, but perhaps the most famous of them are Volapük, Bolak or the Blue Language and Esperanto. The first, Volapük, was invented by Schleyer in 1879 and attained considerable popularity, but the fact that it copied English too closely aroused the opposition of the Continent. The second, Bolak, was formed by M. Bollack, a merchant of Paris who devoted a lifetime to the task and produced nine ponderous volumes on the subject. The difficulty with the Blue Language as it is called is that it is almost if not quite as difficult to learn as a foreign language and consequently has proved of little practical value. Esperanto is the international language most in vogue at the present time, its great eat advantage being that it makes considerable use of living languages. It eliminates what is special and irregular in the various languages, and retains that which is regular. Thus Esperanto is the easiest to acquire of any of these artificially formed languages. Americans have since proposed two other international languages, Ro by Foster (1910), and Pangerman by Molee (1911). INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. From the beginning of the United States Government till 1860, the question of a system of internal improvements carried on by the general Government was a party question. The Republican (Democratic-Republican), and after it the Democratic party as the party of strict construction, opposed such a system. Improvements, the property in which remains in the general government, as lighthouses, etc., were not opposed, but improvements on rivers and roads, the benefit of which passes to the States, were the objects of attack. Most of the earlier States were on the sea-coast, and the improvement of their harbors was at first carried on by means of tonnage taxes on the commerce of the port, levied with the consent of Congress (see Constitution, Article I, section 10, clause 3). This practice was, in isolated cases, continued till the middle of the 19th century; it was generally discontinued much Vol. V-Cyc-L earlier. As early as 1806 the improvement of roads by the National Government was conceived in order to indemnify the interior States, and in 1823, the improvement by the National Government directly of rivers and harbors was begun. The Republican ican (Democratic- Republican) Presidents, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, opposed these improvements as unconstitutional, though toward the end of his term Monroe became more favorable to the system. John Quincy Adams was a warm advocate thereof and Jackson its stern opponent. The Though the Democrats opposed any general system of improvements, they continued to apply funds to particular purposes. The Whigs now adopted the system originated by the Democrat, Jackson, viz., the distribution of the surplus among the States. But once did the Whigs attempt to put this into execution, and then, in 1841, the veto of President Tyler, er, at odds with his party in Congress, put that scheme, which has not since been an end to revived. The introduction of railroads has partly done away with the question of improvements for roads, while a system of assistance to the railroads, by means of the grant of land along the line of their route, has sprung up. From this policy a revulsion has set in and the present tendency is to the recovery of as much of the land so granted as has not been earned by a strict compliance with the terms of the grant. To this both of the great political parties stand committed.