At the recent meeting of the American Society of Civil Engineers, in
this city, a paper on an improved form of the averaging machine was read
by its inventor, Mr. Wm. S. Auchincloss.

The ingenious method by which the weight of the platform is eliminated
from the result of the work of the machine was exhibited and explained.
This is accomplished by counterweights sliding automatically in tubes,
so that in any position the unloaded platform is always in equilibrium.
Any combination of representative weights can then be placed on this
platform at the proper points of the scale. By then drawing the platform
to its balancing point, the location of the center of gravity will at
once be indicated on the scale by the pointer over the central trunnion.

The weights may be arranged on a decimal system, with intermediate
weights for closer working, or they may be made so as to express
multiples or factors.

Each machine is provided with a number of differing scales, divided
suitably for various purposes. When the problem is one of time, the
scale represents months and days; for problems of proportion, the zero
of the scale is at the center of its length; for problems for the
location of center of gravity of a system from a fixed point, the zero
is at the extremity of the scale, etc.

The machine exhibited has sixty-three transverse grooves, which, by
arrangement of weights, can be made to serve the purposes of two hundred
and fifty-two grooves.

The machine is 29 inches in length, 9 inches in width, and weighs about
13 pounds.