Several physicists have effected very interesting calorimetric measurements, either, like M. Perot, in order to verify Clapeyron’s formula regarding the heat of vaporization, or to ascertain the values of specific heats and their variations when the temperature or the pressure happens to change.  M. Mathias has even succeeded in completely determining the specific heats of liquefied gases and of their saturated vapours, as well as the heat of internal and external vaporization.

Sec. 2.  THE LIQUEFACTION OF GASES, AND THE PROPERTIES OF BODIES AT A
     LOW TEMPERATURE

The scientific advantages of all these researches have been great, and, as nearly always happens, the practical consequences derived from them have also been most important.  It is owing to the more complete knowledge of the general properties of fluids that immense progress has been made these last few years in the methods of liquefying gases.

From a theoretical point of view the new processes of liquefaction can be classed in two categories.  Linde’s machine and those resembling it utilize, as is known, expansion without any notable production of external work.  This expansion, nevertheless, causes a fall in the temperature, because the gas in the experiment is not a perfect gas, and, by an ingenious process, the refrigerations produced are made cumulative.

Several physicists have proposed to employ a method whereby liquefaction should be obtained by expansion with recuperable external work.  This method, proposed as long ago as 1860 by Siemens, would offer considerable advantages.  Theoretically, the liquefaction would be more rapid, and obtained much more economically; but unfortunately in the experiment serious obstacles are met with, especially from the difficulty of obtaining a suitable lubricant under intense cold for those parts of the machine which have to be in movement if the apparatus is to work.

M. Claude has recently made great progress on this point by the use, during the running of the machine, of the ether of petrol, which is uncongealable, and a good lubricant for the moving parts.  When once the desired region of cold is reached, air itself is used, which moistens the metals but does not completely avoid friction; so that the results would have remained only middling, had not this ingenious physicist devised a new improvement which has some analogy with superheating of steam in steam engines.  He slightly varies the initial temperature of the compressed air on the verge of liquefaction so as to avoid a zone of deep perturbations in the properties of fluids, which would make the work of expansion very feeble and the cold produced consequently slight.  This improvement, simple as it is in appearance, presents several other advantages which immediately treble the output.