FORE:Inherent or cooling strains in castings is much more intricate than shrinkage: it is, in fact, one of the most uncertain and obscure matters that pattern-makers and moulders have to contend with. Inherent strains may weaken castings, or cause them to break while cooling, or sometimes even after they are finished; and in many kinds of works such strains must be carefully guarded against, both in the preparation of designs and the arrangement of patterns, especially for wheels and pulleys with spokes, and for struts or braces with both ends fixed. The main difficulty resulting from cooling strains, however, is that of castings being warped and sprung; this difficulty is continually present in the foundry and machine-shop, and there is perhaps no problem in the whole range of mechanical manipulation of which there exists more diversity of opinion and practice than of means to prevent the springing of castings. This being the case, an apprentice can hardly hope for much information here. There is no doubt of springing and strains in castings being the result of constant causes that might be fully understood if it were not for the ever-changing conditions which exist in casting, both as to the form of pieces, the temperature and quality of metal, mode of cooling, and so on.As he reached for the letter, and searched on the fourth page, all three of his listeners were holding their breath in suspense.
FORE:In person Aristotle resembled the delicate student of modern times rather than the athletic figures of his predecessors. He was not a soldier like Socrates, nor a gymnast like Plato. To judge from several allusions in his works, he put great faith in walking as a preservative of healtheven when lecturing he liked to pace up and down a shady avenue. And, probably, a constitutional was the severest exercise that290 he ever took. He spoke with a sort of lisp, and the expression of his mouth is said to have been sarcastic; but the traits preserved to us in marble tell only of meditation, and perhaps of pain. A free-spoken and fearless critic, he was not over-sensitive on his own account. When told that somebody had been abusing him in his absence, the philosopher replied, He may beat me, too, if he likesin my absence. He might be abused, even in his own presence, without departing from the same attitude of calm disdain, much to the disappointment of his petulant assailants. His equanimity was but slightly disturbed by more public and substantial affronts. When certain honorary distinctions, conferred on him by a popular vote at Delphi, were withdrawn, probably on the occasion of his flight from Athens, he remarked with his usual studied moderation, that, while not entirely indifferent, he did not feel very deeply concerned; a trait which illustrates the character of the magnanimous man far better than anything related of Alexander. Two other sayings have an almost Christian tone; when asked how we should treat our friends, he replied, As we should wish them to treat us; and on being reproached with wasting his bounty on an unworthy object, he observed, it was not the person, but the human being that I pitied.181"I should like to know what you make of them," said Lawrence.