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    "title": "CALCULATING MACHINES",
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    "verified_text": "during the years 1910-25 great improvements have been made in these machines and in the art of calculating by mechanical means. machines designed to carry out all kinds of accounting work, in any currency or system of weights and measures, are used in banking, insurance, municipal, and many other offices in all parts of the world. some are of large capacity, many are driven by electric motors, and some, e.g., the burroughs duplex, havetwo sets of adding wheels that add two separate groups of figures simultaneously. . many of the improvements effected have been in connection with automatic locking mechanism for preventing the movement of parts of the calculating machines when they should remain at rest, the mechanism for preventing overrunning of rapidly mov- ing parts, and means for checking everything done by the machines and enabling them to work with the minimum of supervision. machines described.-the burroughs adding and listing ma- chine, invented by william seward burroughs in 1888, ts a key- set, multiple-bank machine, with independent crank handle or motor operating means. its adding mechanism includes a series of sectors, each pivoted near its centre, and carrying printing types at one end and, at the other end, a toothed segment with which the corresponding adding wheel is put into or out of gear during the operation of the machine. in operation the keys are set for each item which is then printed and added by a pull of the operating handle, the total being printed by a final pull, after depression of the total key. the sundstrand adding and listing machine and the dalton machine are key-set, independently actuated single-bank ma- chines, with item and total printing apparatus. the successive depression of the keys, to set up an item, positions a number of corresponding stops to limit the subsequent movement of the totaliser-actuating racks and type members. the comptometer, invented in 1885 by dorr eugene felt, is a key-driven machine, 7.e., the depression of a key actuatesa lever which operates a train of gears rotating the numeral wheel in the register. the machine, consequently, is rapid in its operation. the register is in the front of the machine and is cleared by a single movement of the cancelling handle. recent improvements of the comptometcr include the “ controlled key ” mechanism to prevent operators’ errors, through their making partial key strokes, and signals designed to prevent a new calculation being attempted before the register ts clear. experimental work.—many attempts have been made to de- sign machines to multiply and divide numbers, however large they may be, by a method as direct and automatic as possible and thus reduce the mental work of the operator. leibnitz made an attempt in this direction, and thomas of colmar’s machine, which employed the stepped barrel! of leibnitz and was the early form of layton’s arithmometcr, was modified for the same pur- calais—calculating machines pose. later, the steiger-egli (see 4.974) was brought into use about 1894 and the mercedes-euclid (german patent specifica- tion no. 209817) about tg09. other machines designed for the same purpose include monroe, hopkins, guy’s, brunsviga, and muldivo machines. these have a totaliser carriage mounted on the machine and arranged to be moved laterally step by step, the movement being either manual or automatic. an actuating crank handle is moved in one direction for addition and multi- plication and in the opposite direction for subtraction and divi- sion. multiplication may thus be performed by successive entry in the totaliser of partial products formed by the machine. the partial products are formed by adding the multiplicand repeat- edly in accordance with each digit of the multiplier and these products are registered upon the totalising counter in the correct denominational order, by a requisite movement of the carriage, so that the whole product is entered in the counter. in the monroe machine use is made, for controlling the number wheels, of special two-part toothed wheels, each part being moved axially under the control of a rocking plate actuated from the key- board (british patent specification no. 195694). the bruns- viga, guy's, and muldivo machines employ forms of odhner’s pin wheel with variable teeth. in the hopkins machine mul- tiplication is eflected under the control of stepped plates grouped to represent the units and tens of the partial products. a machine has been patented, by alexander rechnitzer of vienna, designed to attain complete automatic action. any two numbers to be multiplied together are set up on the machine and its motor is released, whereupon the partial products are entered automatically and the complete product is shown on the total- ising counter. the completely automatic performance, however, of these operations necessitates the use of complicated mecha- nism. (see british patent specifications nos. 4550 of 1910 and 18642 of 1912). combination machines —several forms of combined type- writers and calculating machines have been introduced. the ellis, elliott-fisher, hopkins and underwood-hanson are ex- amples. the barbel system of automatic calculation uses a unique method. the figure kevs of a typewriter are hooked to the figure keys of a calculator underneath. the values are registered by the counting of small steel balls which may be done at the rate of 80 per second. the balls are delivered to the counters by triggers and, during their passage, register their numbers upon dials connected electrically to the printing apparatus. after passing the counters, the balls are returned automatically to the tubes in which they are stored. the various operations in the machine are electrically controlled, current being supplied by a small electric generator in the machine. since 1910, automatic means have been brought into commer- cial use for compiling, classifying, and recording the numerous details of transactions (see bookkeeping), which otherwise are entered in ledgers or on filing cards. the details are represented on cards by perforations in columns, the position of any perfora- tion completely identifying one and only one of the details. in the hollerith system, the cards are read electrically by being passed along contact brushes which complete the circuit when a perforation arrives. the cards are first sorted into groups by an electrical sorter, the passage of a card into its proper group com- partment being controlled by the passage of current through the corresponding perforation in the card. the tabulation of the details is the work of an electrical tabu- lator having totalisers which are actuated by means of electro- magnets controlled by the contact brush circuits. the hollerith system was designed for use by the u.s. census bureau and was used for dealing with the results of the british census of 1o1r. in the powers system, similar cards are used, but reading 1s effected by longitudinally movable pins, which pass through the perforations in the cards, as these are presented to the pins. much has been done, especially since the war, in designing apparatus for use in anti-aircraft and naval gunnery, whereby the future positions of moving targets are predicted, use being made of the best data available. calculating areas-—the principal commercial use, during calcutta—calgary recent years, of area-calculating machines lies in the measurement of hides and sheets of leather. the machine generally employed is of the type known as the sawyer machine, in which a summa- tion of the peripheral motions of coaxial wheels beneath which the hide or sheet of leather passes is registered on a dial and may be stamped on the leather or hide. improvements in this type of machine have been designed to enable the machine to deal accurately with sheets of very thin leather. no new calculating machines of the harmonic type, to which lord kelvin’s tide-predicting machine belongs, have been in- vented since rg10. according to the british assn. reports, 1920, p. 321, harmonic predictions of the tides have been found to be unreliable for ports in estuaries or comparatively shallow seas. research is being directed, therefore, mainly towards ascertain- ing the nature of the disturbing causes in shallow-water areas. (see tipes.) the future of tide-predicting machines will depend largely on the results of this research. i ree oe calcutta, india (see 4.981), was until ror2 the seat of the govt. of india, which was in that year transferred to delhi. calcutta became the seat of a governor in council, being thus on an equality with the other presidential capitals, and in 1924 the corporation was remodelled. this consists of 85 councillors, 75 of whom are elected by the ratepayers, with a mayor, deputy mayor and aldermen elected by the council. the population of the city and suburbs, including howrah, was 1,327,547 in 1921, and is a mixture of many races and religions, the majority being moslems. many languages are spoken, of which bengali is the chief. the town hall and part of the government offices accom- modate the bengal legislature, and the governor of bengal lives in government house, vacated by the viceroy when delhi was made the capital of india. in jan. 1912 the bengal legislature created an improve- ment trust. since its creation it has carried out the clearing of insanitary areas, the widening and construction of roads, the chief being the north-south central avenue, of which 13 m. was opened in 1924; a.playground in shambazar, and parks in cossi- pore and karaya; great improvements in the bhowanipur dis- trict; the provision of model dwellings for families dispossessed under these schemes; and the laying out of suburban land for private building. a victoria memorial, the conception of which was due to lord curzon, built on the site of the old jail, was opened in 1921. it is a domed marble building, chietly renais- sance in style, which contains pictures, documents, ctc., illus- trating indian history. in the grounds are statues of queen victoria and the marquess curzon and king edward vii. memo- rial arch. the war memorial to the lascars of bengal and assam is near prince’s ghat. several magnificent buildings have been erected in the commercial quarter, including the royal ex- change; the howrah railway station has been enlarged, and in 1924 it was decided to build a steel cantilever bridge over the hooghly to howrah. an iron reservoir, said to be the second largest in the world, has recently been finished at talla, to the north of the city. in ro1g the calcutta university commission produced a scheme of reform. calcutta suffered severely from the influenza epidcmic of 1918, and for some years afterwards the death-rate from bronchitis was very high. the trade of the port, which since 1911 has been under the control of a port trust, was much affected by the war, and owing to the position of the city there was little military traffic as com- pensation. recently, after much variation, a real improvement has been noticeable. in 1913, owing to the increased trade, it was decided to build a new dock and quays below the kidder- pore docks, and four riverside berths with sheds, as a temporary measure. work on the main scheme was begun in 1920, and the first portion with five berths, and also two graving docks, was expected to be finished in 1927. the limits of the port were extended 9 m. to the north in 1921. the hooghly is a dangerous river and new shoals are constantly forming, but considerable improvements have been made by dredging and by lighting the river between sangor and kulpi. vessels of 10,000 tons, drawing 28 ft. and more, ascend to calcutta. a new storage depet for petrol has been built at budge-budge. 487 calcutta, university of.—the university of cal- cutta was founded, together with those of madras and bombay, by an indian act in 1857—as the result of the famous educational dispatch of sir charles wood in 1854—on the model of the university of london, then an “ affiliating ” university. after the report from lord curzon’s universities commission in 1902 it was given teaching powers by an act in 1904; and the univer- sity is still working entircly under the acts above named save for the substitution by an act of 1921 of the governor of bengal for the governor-general as chancellor, and of the local government for the governor-general in council, as the determining authority for a number of university matters. the university exercises almost complete control over the hundreds of secondary schools in bengal by means of the matriculation examination, for which from 16,000 to 109,000 candidates present themselves annually; it exercises control over the “ affiliated ” colleges by determining the curricula and examinations in the faculties of arts, laws, teaching (education), science, medicine and engineering; and it carries on in calcutta ‘ post-graduate ”’ teaching in arts and science and teaching in law in the university law college. a comprehensive survey of the university work was made by the calcutta university commission presided over by dr. (now sir) michael] sadler in 1917-9. they found “ the university system in bengal funda- mentally defective in almost every aspect,” and that in so far as it did good work this was in spite of the method of organisa- tion in vogue (report, vol. 5, p. 302). the system of secondary education was radically defective. the mechanical system of marking at the examinations, devised to secure uniformity of treatment, encouraged pure memorisation at the expense of intelligence, and tended to the deterioration of mental efficiency throughout the schools and university (ec. cit., p. 345). the only changes of importance made since the report were the removal of an area with a radius of five miles in the dacca district and of the province of burma from the educational jurisdiction of calcutta, and the creation of the university of dacca (q.v.) and of the university of rangoon in 1921. there are 45 ‘‘ alliliated ” colleges (spread over bengal and assam), including three in teaching, three in law, two in medicine and one in engineering, some of which, like the presidency college, the bengal medical college and the bengal engineering college, are maintained by government, but of which the majority are maintained by private enterprise and missionary effort. the colleges differ very greatly in their level of efficiency. a large number of ‘ post-graduate ” courses are restricted to teaching for the m.a. and m.sc. degrees, and others are special- ised and advanced. the teachers of the post-graduate courses have produced a considerable amount of original work. the university has a number of endowed chairs and lectureships, and a very large number of benefactions for scholarships and prizes. see calcutta university commission report, 1919 (§ vol., with 8 vol. of appendices); calcutta university calendars lan (ps) sb: calendar: sce easter, fixed. calgary, canada (see 4.1004), had in rg2r a population of 63,305. in 1925 it was estimated at 75,000. it is the centre of the ranching and grain-producing region of central and southern alberta, a distributing point for the mining districts in the mountains, and the western general headquarters of the cana- dian pacific railway. the canadian national railways has large workshops there, and it is an important station of the royal canadian mounted police. large water-power stations, lumber-mills, lighting plants, banks, wholesale houses, hotels, churches, private and public schools and a large public creamery, all go to constitute a flourishing city. natural gas is piped from the bow is. field, and electric power is developed from the bow river. an institute of technology and art was opened in 1016. four miles south of calgary is situated the agricultural experi- mental station, maintained by the provincial govt., one of the largest of its kind in the world. calgary is fast growing as a manufacturing city, and its industrial products include beet sugar, soap, furniture, boilers, farm implements and miscellaneous 488 machinery. several meat-packing factories have been estab- lished. the city stands near an oil-field of growing importance and a large oil refinery has been built.",
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