Scientific American Vol 22 No. 1 (page 3)

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PUTTING UP STOVES.

BY MARK TWAIN.

We do not remember the exact date of the invention of stoves, but it was some years ago. Since then mankind have been tormented once a year, by the difficulties that beset the task of putting them up, and getting the pipes fixed. With all our Yankee ingenuity no American has ever invented any method by which the labor of putting up stoves can be lessened. The job is as severe and vexatious as humanity can possibly endure, and gets more so every year.

Men always put their stoves up on a rainy day. Why, we know not; but we never heard of any exception to this rule. The first step to be taken is to put on a very old and ragged coat, under the impression that when he gets his mouth full of plaster it will keep the shirt bosom clean. Next, the operator gets his hand inside the place where the pipe ought to go, and blacks his fingers, and then he carefully makes a black mark down the side of his nose. It is impossible to make any headway, in doing this work, until this mark is made down the side of the nose. Having got his face properly marked, the victim is ready to begin the ceremony.

The head of the family–who is the big goose of the sacrifice–grasps one side of the bottom of the stove, and his wife and the hired girl take hold of the other side. In this way the load is started from the woodshed toward the parlor. Going through the door, the head of the family will carefully swing his side of the stove around and jam his thumb nail against the door post. This part of the ceremony is never omitted. Having got the family comfort in place, the next thing is to find the legs. Two of these are left inside the stove since the spring before. The other two must be hunted after, for twenty-five minutes. They are usually found under the coal. Then the head of the family holds up one side of the stove while his wife puts two of the legs in place, and next he holds up the other while the other two are fixed, and one of the first two falls out. By the time the stove is on its legs he gets reckless, and takes off his old coat, regardless of his linen.

Then he goes for the pipe and gets two cinders in his eye. It don’t make any difference how well the pipe was put up last year it will always be found a little too short or a little too long. The head of the family jams his hat over his eyes and taking a pipe under each arm goes to the tin shop to have it fixed. When he gets back, he steps upon one of the best parlor chairs to see if the pipe fits, and his wife makes him get down for fear he will scratch the varnish off from the chairs with the nails in his boot heel. In getting down he will surely step on the cat, and may thank his stars that it is not the baby. Then he gets an old chair and climbs up to the chimney again, to find that in cutting the pipe off, the end has been left too big for the hole in the chimney. So he goes to the woodshed and splits one side of the end of the pipe with an old axe, and squeezes it in his hands to make it smaller.

Finally he gets the pipe in shape, and finds the stove does not stand true. Then himself and wife and the hired girl move the stove to the left, and the legs fall out again. Next it is to move to the right. More difficulty now with the legs. Move to the front a little. Elbow not even with the hole in the chimney, and the head of the family goes again to the woodshed after some little blocks. While putting the blocks under the legs, the pipe comes out of the chimney. That remedied, the elbow keeps tipping over, to the great alarm of the wife. Head of the family gets the dinner table out, puts the old chair on it, gets his wife to hold the chair, and balances himself on it to drive some nails into the ceiling. Drops the hammer on wife’s head. At last he gets the nails driven, takes a wire swing to hold the pipe, hammers a little here, pulls a little there, takes a long breath, and announces the ceremony concluded.

Job never put up any stoves. It would have ruined his reputation if he had. The above programme, with unimportant variations, will be carried out in many respectable families during the next six weeks.

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THE MAGIC LANTERN.

The invention of the magic lantern dates back to 1650, and is attributed to Professor Kircher, a German philosopher of rare talents and extensive reputation. The instrument is simple and familiar. It is a form of the microscope. The shadows cast by the object are, by means of lenses, focussed upon something capable of reflection, such as a wall or screen. No essential changes in the principles of construction have been made since the time of Kircher; but the modern improvements in lenses, lights, and pictures, have raised the character of the instrument from that of a mere toy to an apparatus of the highest utility. By its employment the most wonderful forms of creation, invisible, perhaps, to the eye, are not only revealed but reproduced in gigantic proportions, with all the marvelous truth of nature itself. The success of some of the most celebrated demonstrations of Faraday, Tyndall, Doremus, Morton, and others, was due to the skillful use of the magic lantern. As an educator, the employment of this instrument is rapidly extending. No school apparatus is complete without it; and now that transparencies are so readily multiplied by photography upon glass, and upon mica, or gelatin, by the printing press or the pen, it is destined to find a place in every household; for in it are combined the attractive qualities of beauty, amusement, and instruction.

The electric light affords, probably, the strongest and best illumination for the magic lantern; then comes the magnesium light; but their use is a little troublesome and rather expensive; next to these in illuminating power is the oxy-hydrogen or Drummond light. The preparation of the gases and the use of the calcium points involve considerable skill.

Need has long been felt for some form of the magic lantern, having a strong light, but more easily produced than any of those just mentioned; and this has at last been accomplished, after several years’ study and experiment, by Prof. L.J. Marcy, 632 Arch St., Philadelphia, Pa.

The “Sciopticon,” is the name of his new instrument, and from actual trial we find that it possesses many superior qualities. Its lenses are excellent, and in illuminating power its light ranks next to the oxy-hydrogen. The sciopticon light is produced from ordinary coal oil by an ingenious arrangement of double flames, intensifying the heat and resulting in a pencil of strong white light. Prof. Marcy’s instrument is the perfection of convenience, simplicity, and safety. Any one may successfully work it and produce the most brilliant pictures upon the screen. It is peculiarly adapted for school purposes and home entertainment. Those who wish to do a good thing for young people should provide one of these instruments. Photographic transparencies of remarkable places, persons, and objects, may now be purchased at small cost; while there is no end to the variety of pictures which may be drawn by hand at home upon mica, glass or gelatin, and then reproduced upon the screen by the sciopticon.

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The Largest Well in the World–Capacity 1,000,000 Gallons of Water per Day.

One of the grand necessities of the Prospect Park, Brooklyn, N.Y., that of providing for a continual supply of water for all the purposes of the Park developed itself, as the Commissioners progressed with their stupendous undertaking. Mr. Stranahan, the President of the Board, after carefully weighing the cost, the practicability, and importance of having an independent water supply for the Park, advised the Commissioners of the plan which had suggested itself, and the calculations which had been made by the engineers relative to the project, and the work was commenced, the first idea being to secure at least a partial supply of water by means of a well constructed in the Park. The subject was thus treated in the last annual report of Mr. C.C. Martin, the engineer in charge:

“This well has been located on the south side of Lookout Hill, near the lake, and work was commenced upon it late in the season. After a careful consideration of various methods for sinking the well, it was decided to build the wall and then to excavate the material from within, trusting to the weight of the wall to force it down. Sixteen feet of the wall were laid securely bolted together, before the excavation was commenced. A derrick with a boom fifty-five feet in length was set up near the wall, so that the sweep of the boom commanded the interior of it. Iron buckets containing fourteen cubic feet each were obtained, and a six-horse power hoisting engine purchased. With these appliances the excavation was commenced, and carried on with slight interruption until the work was suspended on account of the frost.”

The well is now completed, and is one of the most important features of the Park. It is worthy to rank as a feat of engineering skill with, any of the great works of modern times. The Commissioners decided to put its powers to the test yesterday afternoon, but owing to the unpropitious weather of the forenoon the trial was postponed. Nevertheless, Commissioners Stranahan, Fiske, and Haynes, with Mr. Martin, engineer in charge, and Mr. John Y. Culyer, his assistant, were at the well. During the last summer some difficulties were encountered in the sinking of the wall, which were set down by superficial observers as the utter failure of the enterprise. Mr. Stranahan received but little encouragement from his fellow Commissioners, some of whom had never seen greater works of engineering than the construction of street sewers. He assumed the responsibility of seeing the work through, feeling that the whole thing depended entirely upon the ability of the engineers, in which he had abundant faith. All obstacles were surmounted; the work proceeded and the well is now finished, and so far as is known, is understood to be the largest one in the world.

The outer wall is fifty feet in diameter, two feet thick, and fifty-four feet high. The inner curb, or wall, is thirty-five feet in diameter and two feet thick, having a depth of ten feet. The masonry, as seen from the top of the structure, is a marvel of neatness and solidity. The water surface in the well is thirteen feet above high-tide level, and the depth of water in the well is fourteen feet. The pump foundations are entirely independent of the walls. This plan was adopted so as to obviate any possible difficulty which might arise from displacement. The pump is the Worthington patent, and, with a pressure of forty pounds, is capable of raising one million gallons of water every twenty-four hours a height of 176 feet, and is competent to a lift of 180 feet.

The boiler house is a neat, pressed-brick structure trimmed with Ohio stone, standing on the surface near the mouth of the well. The interior of the well is reached by a spiral stairway built in the wall, and commencing in the boiler house. In this way the engineer is able to reach the pump. It is a fact worthy of notice in connection with the construction of the wall, or rather the sinking of it, that the outer wall rests upon four feet of wooden cribwork, two feet thick, and having an iron shield. The inner wall is built upon a similar crib only two feet deep, also shielded with iron.

The Commissioners were led to the construction of this well in presence of the danger at any time of some accident taking place in connection with the Brooklyn Water Works which would render it necessary for the Water Board to cut off the Park supply so as to secure the citizens from suffering. This well has more than the necessary capacity to supply the Park abundantly with water, yielding most when most is needed. This is established by the discovery that the time of drought from which the well is, or may be, likely to suffer, occurs in the Fall. Besides these facts, it further appears that in order to furnish the supply of water to the Park the Water Board would have to go through the process of pumping their water twice to convey it to the required elevation, equal to 225 feet from its original level.

The work of the well will be to supply the pools at an elevation of 133 feet. From the pools the water is conducted to the lake. Besides this, there is an independent connection with the lake by which, as necessity may suggest, the water can be directed to the lake, a lift of only seventy feet. The lake, when completed, will occupy an area of fifty acres, which will be kept continually supplied with fresh water, the arrangements being such, or to be such, as will insure a permanent change of water, and prevent any of the evils that may arise from stagnancy. The well is fed from the earth, consisting of a circuit of two miles, with a fall of five feet to the mile. For this reason it does not appear easy to exhaust the supply, as when the water is pumped out to four or five feet from the surface of the well it is replaced at a rate equal to the demand. Every allowance has been made for evaporation from the lake and pools, and the supply is regarded as inexhaustible. Another important fact here suggests itself; that is, that sufficient rain falls during the season in the area of two miles around the well to make the supply perennial. The Prospect Park well is a credit to Brooklyn.–_New York Times_.

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PAPER FOR BUILDING.

Our readers will find in another column an advertisement of this new building material which is now attracting much attention in the West, and of which we have received very favorable reports. It has been recently tested in Chicago with the result we are informed of fully establishing its utility. It is said that a house twenty-two feet long, sixteen wide, and fourteen high, can be covered on the outside for less than $9; and a house thirty-six feet by twenty-two, and twenty feet high, for $20. The building can be done at any season, and can be finished with great speed, and there are said to be numerous other advantages connected with the use of the paper. It differs from ordinary paper in consistency, compactness and solidity. In the manufacture it is subjected to a pressure of hundreds of tuns, which squeezes out the liquid matter, leaving a substance of the right thickness. It is said to be proof against damp and gnawing of vermin, and it being an excellent non-conductor of heat, must make a warm dwelling in winter and a cool one in summer. It is used in the place of plastering for inside walls.

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The Prussian Government has military maps of every foot of its territory so complete that every hill, ravine, brooklet, field, and forest is delineated with perfect accuracy. It is a common boast of Prussian military men, that within the space of eight days 848,000 men can be concentrated to the defense of any single point within the kingdom, and every man of them will be a trained and well-equipped soldier.

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Improved Muzzle-Pivoting Gun.

We are indebted for the following able description and criticism of this Prussian gun to our able contemporary, _The Engineer_.

Viewed as a piece of mechanism, nothing can well be more beautiful in mutual adaptation of parts to the fulfillment of given and rather recondite movements, and in point of execution, than this muzzle-pivoting arrangement of Herr Gruson’s; but having said this we are compelled to add, as impartial engineering critics, that it is nothing more.

[Illustration: GRUSON’S SYSTEM OF MUZZLE-PIVOTING APPLIED TO MONITORS.]

A very few words of description, aided by the very clear engraving annexed, will suffice to make the arrangement plain to every mechanical reader. The entire structure is metallic, chiefly of cast iron or of steel. Upon the platform of the casemate, or deck of the ship, or turret, is laid the heavy bed or traverse plate, cast hollow in iron, holding the vertical pivot at its forward end, on which the gun slide traverses in azimuth, and at its rear end the segment plate, bolted down and separately adjustable as to position upon the bedplate. The slide is also a ponderous hollow casting, the upper surfaces of which, on which the gun carriage runs forward or recoils, are curvilinear in a vertical plane, so that the inclination to the horizon is greatest at the rear end. At the rear end of the slide it traverses upon two heavy cast-iron turned conical rollers, which are geared together and actuated by the winch handle and spur gear, seen in our engraving; by these the slide is practically held fast in any position on the bedplate. The gun itself–in the model, a steel breech-loader, on the Prussian regulation system, very slightly modified–is sustained between two high and ponderous cheek plates of cast iron, which constitute the sides of the carriage, and which are connected together strongly at the lower edges by a heavy base or bottom plate, and at the top by two light cross distance bolts. The muzzle and breech extremities of the piece project well beyond those cheeks. Along the bottom of the trough of the carriage, directly under the gun, lies a nearly horizontal hydraulic press cylinder, the pump and handle actuating which are seen in the figures to the proper left of the gun, and the supply of water for which is contained in the hollow bottom of the carriage. On each side cheek of the carriage is formed, by curved planing, a circular segmental race, opening inward or toward each other, rectangular in cross section and into each of which is fitted a segmental block just filling it up, and occupying a portion of its length so as to slide easily up or downward through the whole range of the arc or segment.

The center point of the length of each of those blocks carries one side of the gun, which is connected also with the two heavy radius bars seen outside the cheeks, and pivoted close to the segment races on the outside, and with a system of link work between the gun itself and the crosshead of the ram of the hydraulic cylinder, which gives motion to the gun in elevation or depression, through a vertical arc, the imaginary center of which, and of the segments of the side cheeks, is situated in the horizontal diameter across the muzzle of the gun. This is in brief the muzzle-pivoting part of the arrangement, of which, were it worth while to go into its details, we should need some further diagrams to make it quite clear. Nor is it worth while to go into the description of various minor points of refinement about the gun mounting, such as the very exposed long tangent scale seen in the figure, by which the elevation or depression is read off, nor the still more exposed and rather ricketty arrangement by which the rear sight is arranged to rise and fall with the gun, and allowance for dispart avoided. The recoil of the gun is resisted through and by the segment blocks in the side cheeks, and by the heavy radius bars, etc., and thus transferred to the carriage itself. This moves upon four eccentro-concentric rollers, in all respects identical with those brought before the Ordnance Select Committee of Woolwich by Mr. Mallet, in 1858–then rejected, after some time adopted, and brought into use in our own service, where they are now universal, and from which they have been adopted into every artillery in the world, and, we understand, without the slightest recognition of the inventor’s rights. On the axle of each of these rollers is keyed a circular eccentric cam plate, those at the same side being connected together by a linking bar so as to move in concert. Adjustable tripping plates attached to the sides of the slide, are so arranged that when the loaded gun has been run forward its carriage base rests hard down, with its full weight upon the top faces of the slide, and thus the recoil is made under the full resistance due to the friction of the entire load. Arrived at the highest point, it rests there until loaded. The cam plates being then given a slight motion of rotation by the help of socket levers–the rectangular projections to be received by which are seen on the top edges of the cam plates in the figure–the carriage, by its own commenced descent, gets again upon its rollers, and runs forward upon these at once into firing position. The two elevated horns which are seen standing up at the rear part of the slide above the roller frame are designed to receive the thump of the two short buffer-blocks–seen at the rear part of each carriage cheek–in the event of the recoil not being wholly expended in raising the weight of gun and carriage, etc., along the curved racers of the slide. These buffer-blocks bear against plugs of vulcanized india-rubber secured in the bottoms of the buffer cylinders.

We have thus, though very briefly, described the whole of this mounting. As a carefully thought out and elaborated piece of elegant mechanical complication Herr Gruson’s muzzle-pivoting carriage attracted much attention at Paris, in 1867, and its merits were regarded as great by those whose thoughts went little further perhaps. We should have been glad had it been in our power to have joined in its praise. We are, however, obliged honestly to say that, however highly creditable to its designer as an ingenious and capable mechanism, it shows that he has never realized to himself as a practical artillerist the primary, most absolute, and indispensable conditions of construction for a serviceable muzzle-pivoting gun for either land or sea service.

As to the general merits, or general conditions, of muzzle-pivoting, however, once in doubt at first, these are admitted now by all; and the latter resolve themselves almost into this–that system of muzzle-pivoting must be best which, while preserving the essential point of leaving the muzzle of the gun free of any direct attachment, i.e., with an imaginary, not an actual, pivot of vertical arc motion, shall be _the simplest possible_ in its parts, have the least details, the fewest parts capable of being struck by splinters or shot, and all its parts of such materials and character as to receive the smallest amount of injury if so struck. In every one of these aspects Herr Gruson’s mounting is at fault. With parts and movements far more ingeniously adapted than those of the crude and unskillfully designed muzzle-pivoting carriages of Captain Heathorn, also exhibited at Paris, and much exhibited and exposed since, the Gruson mounting is even more complicated, expensive, and liable to injury of every sort to which a gun carriage can be conceived liable. We may even venture to affirm that ponderous as was the mass of cast iron, etc., in the Paris model carrying only a 12-pounder gun, were it all enlarged in such ratio as might appear to suit for a 10-inch 25-tun rifled gun of the British type, the almost proverbial relations, between weight, velocity of impulse, and brittleness of cast iron, would show themselves, in the whole machine going to pieces within a very few rounds.

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Stock Feeding by Clock Work.

Mr. F. B. Robinson, of North Haven, Conn., has invented a very neat arrangement, whereby horses or stock can be fed at any time required with certainty and without personal attention at the time of feeding. His invention consists of a hopper with a drop bottom in which the provender is placed. A latch secures the drop bottom, the latch engaging with a spring catch. A simple arrangement of clock work on the principle of the alarm clock, may be set to release the spring at any hour or minute desired, when the drop falls and the provender falls through a chute into the feeding trough. This invention may be adapted to feeding any number of horses or cattle, only one clock being required. We regard the invention as one of much value. By its use much neglect of careless attendants may be obviated, and a farmer without help, might leave home for an evening’s entertainment, or absent himself on business, without fear that his stock would suffer. Besides being so convenient the cost of the apparatus is a mere bagatelle.

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Milk, and What Comes of It.

Orange County has long been a laud flowing with milk and–butter. Three or four of these most beautiful autumn days were spent by us, says a writer in _Harper’s Weekly_, among the farmers which are supposed to butter our New York city bread, and qualify our tea and coffee. Recent mechanical improvements have taken away much of the traditional romance of the farm, but, on the whole, the loss is more than made up by the gain of perfect system and wonderful adaptation. Instead of four or five cows, known by such names as Brindle, Bess, and Sukey, milked by rosy-cheeked maidens, we have now droves of fifty or a hundred, milked by men, who know them only as “good” or “poor milkers.”

In some fine farms a large and luxuriant pasture, with running brooks and border of woodlands, affords, with the herd feeding in it, a beautiful picture; and the substantial barns constructed to keep the cattle comfortably cool in summer and warm in winter, with ample drinking troughs and stalls for fastening up at night, are indicative of the good shelter at hand when winter storms drive the cows indoors. To the farmyards the cows are brought night and morning, in summer, to be milked. The strained milk is put into large cans holding forty quarts, such as the milkmen use in distributing it through the city. These cans are then put into tanks made in some cool running stream, where the water comes nearly to the top of the can. Frequent stirring is necessary until the animal heat is quite gone. The milk is then fit to be sent to the cars. This process can never safely be omitted for, paradoxical though it may seem, milk is “fresher” and sweeter when it reaches the consumer if it is delayed at the farm for at least twelve hours. Even in hot weather, it is more certain to keep sweet when twenty-four or thirty-six hours elapse between the milking and the using in the city.

There has been much discussion as to the best means of cooling milk for market, and patent pails have been tried in which the milk passes directly from the cow through small, coiled tubes surrounded by ice. But this rapid cooling does not work well, and practical experience indicates that the old simple process is the best. Every well-appointed farm must have, therefore, a cool and unfailing stream of water. There are two such streams in one of the farms we visited. One passes through the barn, furnishing drinking troughs for the cattle, and a tank for cooling milk in winter. The other, running through the pasture, supplies a trout-breeding pond, and furnishes a tank for summer use. In a little hut under the trees, the milk cans are kept in a stream, which even the severe drought of last summer did not dry, nor the heat raise to a temperature of 60 deg..

We are assured most positively that none of the spring water finds its way over the mouth of the can into the milk. Its dilution, of which there is so much just complaint, must be done, if at all, in the city, for the wholesale buyer is said to have such means of testing the milk as effectually protects him against the farmer. May the man be busy at work who is to give each family such a protection. We have heard it said that one end of a small piece of common tape placed in a pan of milk will carry from it all the water into another vessel in which the other end of the tape should be placed; but we have never found this a safe test.

Strange to say, no butter is made on these large milk farms. The supply for the family is obtained from market, or, more rarely, from a neighbor who churns all his milk for the accommodation of those who send all theirs to the city. Our notions of the way to make butter were decidedly overturned on going to such a dairy. No setting of the milk in shallow pans for cream to rise; no skimming and putting away in jars until “churning day,” when the thick cream was agitated by a strong arm until the butter came, then worked and salted. Instead, there is a daily pouring of the unskimmed soured milk into a common churn, perhaps somewhat larger than ordinary. The dasher is fastened to a shaft, which is moved by a crank. The crank is turned by means of a nearly horizontal wheel some eight or ten feet in diameter, which is kept in motion by a dog, sheep, or calf standing on it, something after the manner of the old tread-mill.

When taken from the churn, the butter is worked by hand as of old. The farmer with whom we have talked said he was about determined to send his milk to the creamery, since butter-making made it so hard for the women. Surely woman is less a drudge than she used to be. If, after being relieved from the labor of churning, the remaining working of the butter is considered too hard for the farmer’s wife, the day of a woman’s redemption must be near at hand.

Only one butter farm, have we been able to find, and not enough is made there to supply the immediate neighborhood. Where, then, does all the Orange county butter come from? Mostly from the West. Farmers buy from the vicinity of the Alleghenies, and even further west, large quantities, which they sell in the original packages or repack in pails. Since railroads have become so numerous, New York drinks up all the milk in Orange county, and must butter her bread elsewhere.

The largest institution for the disposition of milk is the Creamery, which is, in other words, a cheese factory. Here is brought the milk which the farmers themselves are unable properly to prepare for market, for want of cool springs or sufficient help. Received here, it is placed in deep but narrow tin pails holding twelve or fourteen quartz. These are floated in large tanks of water. From these pails the cream is carefully taken and sent to market. The skimmed milk is then placed in a large vat and heated, by means of steam pipes to about 80 deg.. Then the rennet is put in. From twenty to thirty minutes suffices for curdling, and the mass is then stirred to separate the curd from the whey. After which it is heated still more; and then the whey, passing off through a strainer, goes to feed hogs, while the curd remains in the vat, to be salted and worked before putting into the presses. In two or three hours the curds become hard enough for the canvas to be put upon them ready for the shelves. Very carefully they must then be watched, lest the fly lying in wait for them makes in them a snug house for her family. Greasing and turning must be a daily labor, and some weeks must pass before they are sufficiently cured for market.

For the benefit of city consumers, who are paying ten and twelve cents a quart for milk, from a tenth to a quarter of which is not infrequently pure Croton, we may add that the highest price the farmer ever gets for his milk is seven cents a quart; and he sometimes sells it for as low as two cents and a half. Our friends, the milkmen, have, therefore, it will be seen, a pretty good margin for freight and profit.

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Improved Hay Elevator.

The method most generally used for elevating hay is evidently not the most economical application of the power of horses for the accomplishment of the purpose desired. The tackle involves a great deal of friction, and as the quantity which can be thus raised at once is, probably, on the average, not more than from 150 to 200 lbs, much more time is employed in re-adjusting the fork, than would be the case if a larger quantity were elevated.

The invention under consideration supplies a means whereby it is claimed hay may be unloaded with far greater facility than heretofore, with less labor to the team and with fewer hands than are at present employed.

A primary gear wheel is propelled horizontally by a lever worked by a horse. The primary gear impels a pinion keyed to the shaft of a windlass, upon which is wound the elevating rope, whenever the clutch, A, is made to operate through the cord and lever, B. This cord runs over a pulley on the under side the wood framework at C, and its further end may be held in the hand of the workman on the hay load, who, when he has properly adjusted the fork, pulls the cord which operates the clutch, and the “fork-full” of hay is at once elevated. The cylinder of the windlass, not being keyed to the shaft, only operates when the clutch is closed by the cord.

The horse, or horses which furnish power to the machine, may, therefore, keep on traveling in the same direction, and no time is lost in stopping and backing, as in the method in general use.

[Illustration: DERR’S CAPSTSTAN FOR ELEVATING HAY FORKS.]

There is no doubt but that this is a cheap, durable, and desirable machine, and one that can be used to great advantage, not only for the elevation of hay, but for many other purposes. We think it would be found a decided improvement in discharging cargoes of coal from barges, and for handling coal in storage yards.

The inventor claims that twice as much hay can be raised in a given time by its use, as can be done by the old method; and it dispenses with one hand at the barn or stack.

A coupling at D, enables attachments to be made, which extend the usefulness of the machine very much. It may be used as a power for driving wood saws, cutting fuel, thrashing, and other work where a simple horse power is desirable.

Address for further information, Wm. Derr, Tiffin, Ohio.

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COMPETITORS FOR PRIZES.–The interest that our friends have taken in obtaining additional names to send with their own subscriptions to the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN for the coming year, is without a parallel. The clubs sent by competitors for the cash prizes are not so many or so large as we expected, but the number of applicants for the steel plate engraving exceeds our expectation.

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The Emperor of France is said to be interested in the art of flying and to have given money to fledge some inventions.

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IMPROVEMENT IN LAMP WICKS.

Our engravings show a novel substitute for the cotton lamp wick. The wick, two forms of which are shown in Figs. 1 and 2, are made of glass, and are filled preferably with pulverized gypsum, although any finely-ground stone, mineral, or metal may be employed. The bottom of the glass tube is closed by wire gauze, or other suitable strainer, through which the fluid flows; and is carried by the capillary attraction of the pounded material to the top of the wick.

Thus a permanent wick is obtained, which may be employed with any form of lamp, and will last for an indefinite time. It may also be used in connection with an open cup, which the inventor terms a poor man’s lamp. A perforated card is laid upon the top of the cup or tumbler as a support to the wick.

[Illustration]

It may be used either with or without a chimney, and it is claimed that with good kerosene oil it is perfectly safe, and consumes less of it, while it may be also used as a candle.

Patented through the Scientific American Patent Agency, September 14, 1869, by Edward D. Boyd, of Helena, Ark.

Address for rights, etc., the patentee, as above, or Jos. P. Branch, 277 Fulton street, Brooklyn, N.Y.

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Great Transformation.

Seven years ago, says the Port Said correspondence of the London _News_, there was nothing to distinguish Ismailla or the smiling lake before you from the rest of the desert, and all was sand. It is the canal which has raised up the numerous handsome villas and fine gardens. Fresh water is all that is needed to turn the arid desert into a fruitful soil; and the supply of this is provided by the subsidary canal which the company has formed side by side with that broad salt one which now unites two worlds. Wonderful stories are told of the productiveness of the gardens, and a walk through any of those belonging to the leading officials stationed at Ismailla is to verify them all. Vines with large bunches of grapes pendent from their branches; orange trees with green fruit just showing a golden tint; ivy, roses, geraniums from England, and an endless variety of rich tropical plants are all flourishing. In the centre of the town is a square with trees and a building clothed with rich creepers in its midst. Everything here looks French. A handsome boulevard runs down to the point of embarkation, the streets and squares are on the true Parisian model, and there are _cafes_, billiard rooms, and _cafe chantants_ which might easily belong to Nantes or Lyons. There are of course huge gaps where the houses and shops will be; the roads are, many of them, still of sand; camels draw carts, and generally pervade the place in long strings; but with all this you are kept in a state of wonder during your stay at Ismailla at the marvelous conversion which has taken, place under your eyes.

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American agricultural implements are highly praised in newspaper reports of the Metropolitan Cattle Show, held recently in London.

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Moore’s Rural New Yorker

For Dec. 25 contains a splendid full page Engraving of the PRIZE FOWLS at the recent State Poultry Show–the Best Poultry Picture ever given in an American newspaper.–Also, a magnificent CHRISTMAS PICTURE, and other fine Illustrations. For sale by all Newsdealers; price 8 cents. See advertisement of RURAL in this paper.

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BUSINESS AND PERSONAL.

_The Charge for Insertion under this head is One Dollar a Line. If the Notices exceed Four Lines, One Dollar and a Half per line will be charged._

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To ascertain where there will be a demand for new machinery or manufacturers’ supplies read Boston Commercial Bulletin’s manufacturing news of the United States. Terms, $4.00 a year.

Ties, timber, and lumber seasoned by steam, without a building. Costs $2, worth $20 per M. Stops eramacausis. H.G. Bulkley, N.Y.

Wanted–Light Machinery or Articles to Manufacture. Work done in a neat, prompt manner. Address W.E. Bradner & Co., 13 Mulberry st., Newark, N.J.

Pyrites wanted–Containing Gold, Silver, or Copper. Address A.G. Hunter, Jackson, Mich.

Those wishing articles of metal or light machinery manufactured, will find it for their interest to address J.B. Heald, Milford, N.H.

One horizontal stationary steam engine, with variable cut-off, 60-H.P.; one plain do., 25-H.P.; one do., 20-H.P.; one Portable 12-H.P., on hand and for sale low. Albertson & Douglass Machine Co., New London, Conn.

For sale cheap–Good 2d-hand plate iron. 50 plates 3-8 thick, 42 inches wide, 120 inches long. Been used 3 months for a floor. Price 3 cents per lb. Address box 1352, Norwich, Conn.

The head draftsman of a locomotive works, just closed, desires another engagement. Familiar with stationary, marine, or locomotive machinery. Unexceptionable references. Watkins, 13 Dutch st., N.Y.

Wanted–Iron Planer about 4 ft., describe same and price, Geo. S. Grier, Milford, Del.

Wanted–Best Water Filter for Household purposes. Frank Alexander, Box 3769, New York.

A Brick Machine wanted. Address A. Hansen, Sumter, S.C.

For Sale for want of use–A 3-Horse portable steam engine and boiler, in perfect running order. Address B.S. Nichols & Co., Burlington, Vt.

Patent Rights bought and sold by R.T. Bradley & Co., 131 Fourth st., Cincinnati, Ohio.

Peck’s patent drop press. For circulars, address the sole manufacturers, Milo Peck & Co, New Haven, Ct.

Every wheelwright and blacksmith should have one of Dinsmore’s Tire Shrinkers. Send for circular to R.H. Allen & Co., Postoffice Box 376, New York.

For Small Engine Lathes, with foot-power, Hand Lathes, Bolt or Terret Cutters, Planers, etc., address W.E. Bradner & Co., Newark, N.J

Aneroid Barometers made to order, repaired, rated, for sale and exchange, by C. Grieshaber, 107 Clinton St., New York.

Foundery and Machine Business.–Experience with some capital, wants an engagement. South or West preferred. Address Box E.E., Catskill, N.Y.

Foreman in a Machine Shop–A person having ten years experience in that capacity is desirous of forming a new engagement. Address, with particulars, Postoffice Box 119, La Crosse, Wis.

Makers of Pipe Cutting and Tapping and Screwing Machines send circulars, without delay, to Forest City Pipe works, Cleveland, O.

For Best Spring-bed Bottoms address S.C. Jennings, Wautoma, Wis.

Parties having patents or patent goods to sell, send for The National, Buffalo, N.Y., $1 per year, 10c. single copy.

Back Nos., Vols., and Sets of Scientific American for sale. Address Theo. Tusch, No. 37 Park Row, New York.

Mineral Collections–50 selected specimens, including gold and silver ores, $15. Orders executed on receipt of the amount. L. & J Feuchtwanger, Chemists, 55 Cedar st., New York.

The Babcock & Wilcox Steam Engine received the First Premium for the Most Perfect Automatic Expansion Valve Gear, at the late Exhibition of the American Institute. Babcock, Wilcox & Co., 44 Cortlandt st., New York.

For best quality Gray Iron Small Castings, plain and fancy Apply to the Whitneyville Foundery, near New Haven, Conn.

Keuffel & Esser, 71 Nassau st., N.Y., the best place to get 1st-class Drawing Materials, Swiss Instruments, and Rubber Triangles and Curves.

Foot Lathes–E.P. Ryder’s improved–220 Center st., N.Y.

Those wanting latest improved Hub and Spoke Machinery, address Kettenring, Strong & Lauster, Defiance, Ohio.

For tinmans’ tools, presses, etc., apply to Mays & Bliss, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Mill-stone dressing diamond machine, simple, effective, durable. Also, Glazier’s diamonds. John Dickinson, 64 Nassau st., New York.

Send 3-cent stamp for a circular on the uses of Soluble Glass, or Silicates of Soda and Potash. Manufactured by L. & J.W. Feuchtwanger, Chemists and Drug Importers, 55 Cedar st., New York.

Glynn’s Anti-Incrustator for Steam Boiler–The only reliable preventative. No foaming, and does not attack metals of boiler. Liberal terms to Agents. C.D. Fredricks, 587 Broadway, New York.

Cold Rolled–Shafting, piston rods, pump rods, Collins pat. double compression couplings, manufactured by Jones & Laughlins, Pittsburgh, Pa.

For solid wrought-iron beams, etc., see advertisement. Address Union Iron Mille, Pittsburgh, Pa., for lithograph, etc.

Machinists, boiler makers, tinners, and workers of sheet metals read advertisement of the Parker Power Presses.

Diamond carbon, formed into wedge or other shapes for pointing and edging tools or cutters for drilling and working stone, etc. Send stamp for circular. John Dickinson, 64 Nassau st., New York.

The paper that meets the eye of manufacturers throughout the United States–Boston Bulletin, $4.00 a year. Advertisements 17c. a line.

Winans’ boiler powder, 11 Wall st., N.Y., removes Incrustations without injury or foaming; 12 years in use. Beware of Imitations.

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ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

_Correspondents who expect to receive answers to their letters must, in all cases, sign their names. We have a right to know those who seek information from us; besides, as sometimes happens we may prefer to address correspondents by mail.

SPECIAL NOTE.–This column is designed for the general interest and instruction of our readers, not for gratuitous replies to questions of a purely business or personal nature. We will publish such inquiries, however, when paid for as advertisemets at $1.00 a line, under the head of “Business and Personal.”

All reference to back numbers should be by volume and page._

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C.H.G., of N.Y.–To make pure nitrate of silver, dissolve pure silver in pure nitric acid, evaporate the solution to dryness, or, if crystals are preferred, evaporate until the solution is sufficiently concentrated to form crystals. If you can not get pure silver, you may purify it by dissolving coin in nitric acid, filtering the solution and precipitating the silver in the form of a chloride by hydrochloric acid. Next wash the precipitate with hot water until the washings cease to redden litmus paper. Next mix the pure chloride of silver while yet moist with its own weight of pure crystallized carbonate of soda, place the mixture in a covered porcelain crucible and heat very gradually until the fusing point of silver is reached. The reduced silver will be pure and may be removed by breaking the crucible. Wash the button thoroughly with hot water to remove the flux. In dissolving the pure silver thus obtained in nitric acid, it is better to use an excess of acid; the excess will be driven off by heat in evaporation.

G.B., of Iowa.–Nominal horse power is merely a conventional expression for diameter of cylinder and length of stroke, and does not apply to the actual power of the engine. It is found by multiplying the cube root of the stroke in feet by the square of the diameter in inches and dividing the product by 47. This rule is based upon the postulate established by Watt, that the speed of a piston with two feet stroke is 160 feet per minute, and that for longer strokes the speed varies as the cube roots of the length of the stroke. It is needless to say this rule is not observed in modern practice, yet the expression, nominal horse power, is like many other relics of past time still retained. The above rule does not apply to high pressure engines. For such engines Bourne has given the following rule: Multiply the square of the diameter of the cylinder in inches by the cube root of the stroke in feet, and divide by 15.6. The real power of an engine is estimated from the mean effective pressure in the cylinder–not the boiler–and the speed of the piston. Your data are insufficient to determine the horse power of your boiler. The horse power of boilers is estimated from the extent of heating surface when the grate and all other things are correctly proportioned, but with them as with engines, only actual test will positively determine it. The pipe you mention ought to be enlarged as proposed.

W.H.R., of Mass.–Pressure acts independently of the mode of application. A tun laid upon the head of a wedge would produce the same effect as though it were applied through toggles. When, however, a weight is dropped its effect increases as the square of its velocity.

J.B., of N.Y.–We recommend you to get “Appleton’s Dictionary of Mechanics.” Also send for descriptive catalogue to Henry Carey Baird, Philadelphia, from which you will be able to judge for yourself what works are suited to your requirements.

T.D.H., of Mass.–Ammonia, in a weak solution, may be used to cleanse the scalp, but is not recommended for the purpose. Borax in solution is better. The supposed preservation of the color of the hair by its use is a mistake.

F.B.H., of Ill.–So far as we know, nothing better than the flax seed bag has been discovered for packing the lower end of tubes in artesian wells. We have never heard of any trouble arising from the method and think you will have none.

L.G. of Mass.–Express the decimal ratio of the diameter of a circle to the circumference to which you refer, as a mixed vulgar fraction, and you will have what you ask for, if we understand your query.

A.H.S., of Sandwich Islands.–We know of no substance that in our opinion, could be used advantageously to paint the interior of sheet-iron evaporating pans for concentrating cane juice.

L.B., of Wis.–We would be glad to assist you but the data you furnish are not sufficient. The accurate solution of such a problem involves the higher mathematics.

A.H.M.–All animal and mineral oils are destructive to rubber. Linseed oil will not dissolve it. Oils should not be allowed to get on rubber belting.

T.W.J., of Pa.–For your rollers try some emery mixed in a solution of gum shellac in good alcohol.

E.B., of Mass.–The patent can be corrected by reissue.

J.M.T., of Ind.–To find the proper area for a safety valve port, when the evaporating surface is properly proportioned to the engine power, multiply the square of the diameter of the piston in inches by the speed in feet of the piston per minute, and divide the product by 375 times the pressure on the boiler per square inch. Having decided upon the length of the lever, the distance of the valve stem from the fulcrum, and the point from which the weight will be suspended, the weight necessary will be found by multiplying the area of the valve port in inches into the pressure per square inch in the boiler in pounds, and this product into the distance of the center of the valve stem from the fulcrum in inches, and dividing the product thus obtained by the distance from the fulcrum to the point of suspension of the weight in inches. The quotient will give the weight in pounds.

A.K.S., of Ohio.–The inclination of the poles of a planet to the plane of its orbit, determines its zones and also its seasons. The inclination of the earth’s axis is twenty-three and one half degrees. This places the tropics the same distance each side of the equator, and the polar circles the same distance from the poles. The torrid zone is therefore forty-seven degrees wide, and the temperate zones each forty-three degrees wide. As the planets vary in their inclination of their axis to the planes of their orbits, it follows that their zones and seasons differ from those of the earth.

W.H.C., of Texas.–The teeth of a circular wood saw to be driven by foot-power, should be not larger than those of the ordinary hand crosscut. The fly-wheel ought to have a rim weighing from eighty to one hundred pounds, and it should be, for a 12-inch saw, not less than a foot in diameter. It should be placed on the saw arbor. The belt should not run on the fly-wheel, but on a special pulley, and the treadle and crank motion should be so adjusted that the foot will move through an arc of from 10 to 12 inches.

A.H.B., of Pa.–We advise you to use a battery in coating the small gray castings, of which you write, with copper. It will be all the more satisfactory in the end. The best polishing material to put in with them in the tumbler we think would be leather cuttings and sweepings. They will not need returning to the tumbler after being coppered. We recommend you to get “Byrne’s Practical Metalworkers Assistant,” published by Henry Carey Baird, Philadelphia.

J.H.G., of Tenn.–Don’t put oil in your boiler to prevent incrustation. It will not probably do any good, and it will cause much foaming, while besides that it is a waste of heat, it is injurious to engines.

S.S.R., of Tenn.–No ammoniacal engines are, so far as we are aware, running in this country.

C.E.C., of Ohio.–The varnish for patterns is common shellac varnish. It is sometimes made black by lampblack.

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RECENT AMERICAN AND FOREIGN PATENTS.

_Under this heading we shall publish weekly notes of some of the more prominent home and foreign patents_.

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MOP.–Philip Cook, Jr., Sioux City, Iowa.–This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in mops, whereby they are so arranged that they may be wrung or freed from water when in use by moving the slides connected with the handle and head of the mop.

VENTILATING HORSE COVER.–Charles P. Eager, Boston., Mass.–This invention relates to a new horse cover, which is so arranged that it will be entirely waterproof, and nevertheless permit a free escape of air from the body of the animal.

CAR COUPLING.–S.O. Campbell, Tipton, Mo.–This invention relates to a new car coupling, which is so arranged that it will be self-coupling and retain the coupling pin ready to lock as long as the link is not inserted.

GAS STOVE.–Wm. J. Hays, New York city.–This invention has for its object to construct a gas stove, with an extender radiating surface, and with proper air channels, so that with a comparatively small amount of heat, the air in an ordinary-sized room can be properly warmed.

SCRIBE HOOK FOR WEATHER BOARDING.–John Nester, Portland, Oregon.–This invention relates to a new scribe hook for weather-boards, which will be generally useful and adaptable to the purposes for which it is intended and to provide an adjustable spur and marker.

RAILROAD SMOKE CONVEYER.–Lemuel Powell, Milford, Conn.–The object of this invention is to prevent the smoke and ashes, issuing from the smoke stack of a locomotive, from entering the cars of the train and from thereby preventing the proper ventilation of the cars.

DRILL FOR BORING POLYGONAL HOLES.–J.C. Broadley, Franklin, N.J.–This invention relates to a new implement for boring polygonal, oval, star-shaped, or holes of other suitable form, in metal, wood, or other material. The invention consists chiefly in arranging the pattern, which regulates the shape of the hole to be bored, on the upper part of the drill shank, and in having the bit shanks, which are pivoted to the lower part of the drill shank, held by means of springs against the inner edges of the inverted cup-shaped pattern.

ROOFING.–H.G. Noble, Selma, Ala.–This invention relates to improvements in roofing, and consists in covering roofs with sheet metal, laid on the rafters and nailed down at the edges, so as to be considerably concaved between them, the joints on the rafters being covered by inverted caps or troughs. The concave form of the sheet is designed to prevent the sheet metal from cracking, to which it is subject by expansion and contraction when laid on flat.

WASHING MACHINE.–John J. Kimball Naperville, Ill.–This invention relates to improvements in washing machines, and consists in an improved arrangement of operating mechanism for revolving a vertically suspended shaft with a crank at the top, and carrying within the tub a corrugated or roughened rubber, for action on the clothes. The invention also comprises an improved arrangement of the rubber, whereby it is made capable of sliding up or down on the shaft, according to the amount of clothes to be acted on.

BOLT CUTTER.–O.E. Butler and S.P. Dunham Marshalltown, Iowa.–This invention relates to improvements in hand instruments for cutting bolts, and consists in the combination with the handles of an instrument, such as patented to the inventors, January 19, 1869, as an improved instrument for sharpening horseshoes, of a cutting pin of peculiar construction, whereby the said tool is adapted, when this cutter is applied in substitution of the cutter and jaw, is used for sharpening horseshoes, to cut off the ends of bolts with great facility.

SHAFT TUG LUGS FOR HARNESS.–T.J. Magruder, Marion, Ohio.–This invention relates to improvements in the construction and application of shaft tug lugs for harness, and consists in forming the said lugs with broad and long plates, properly curved to suit the curve of the pad, and connecting the latter to the under sides of the skirts and to the pads in a way to stiffen the skirt and to hold the stud securely from breaking loose, the said lugs being made solid with a screw nut at the end to confine the bearing straps, or hollow, with female screw threads near the base, and bolts screwing into the said female threads to secure the bearing straps and to admit of readily applying or removing the straps so that the harness may be adapted for use either as single or double harness.

HARNESS BUCKLE.–J.W. Burch, Fayette, Miss.–The object of this invention is to provide buckles for harness and other uses, with tongues constructed in the form of leather punches, whereby they may be used at any time required for punching holes.

HUMMING-WHEEL TOY.–A.F. Able, New Orleans, La.–This invention relates to improvements in humming wheel toys, having for its object to provide an improved holding apparatus for supporting and maintaining the proper tension on the cords, and designed to support the cords of two or more wheels at the same time.

COMBINED CLOTHES IRONING TABLE AND CLOTHES DRYER.–William P. Adams, Brooklyn, N.Y.–This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in an article for the laundry, and consists in an adjustable ironing table, and in combination therewith a clothes dryer.

SEED AND GRAIN STRIPPER.–J.F. King and H.A. Rice, Louisiana, Mo.–The object of this invention is to provide a seed and grain stripper, with light and strong fingers, capable of adjustment as to hight, and arranged in a way to vary the spaces between the teeth at the point of stripping the heads for straw of different sizes.

CLOTHES WRINGER.–M.M. Follett, Lake City, Minn.–This invention relates to a new apparatus for applying pressure to the rollers of a wringer with an object of obtaining equal and adjustable power without any danger to the rubber of the rollers or to the articles to be dried.

AUGER HANDLE.–James Swan, Seymour, Conn.–The object of this invention is to provide a cheap, simple, and durable handle for augurs for boring in wood, one which shall require no fitting except to make the augur enter the socket, and which shall be of such size and shape that the shanks of ordinary augurs shall enter without any fitting at all.

CANDLESTICK.–H. Zahn, San Francisco, Cal.–This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in candlesticks, and consists in the use of a thumb screw in combination with the candlestick tube, whereby the candle is kept steady, and in a perpendicular position in the stick, and firmly held without the use of springs or other attachment.

WASHING MACHINE.–J.S. Merchant, Hopedale, Ohio.–This invention relates to new and useful improvements in machines for washing clothes.

PACKING CASES FOR OIL CANS.–John McLeod Murphy, New York city.–This invention consists of an arrangement especially adapted for use with cans provided with an improved cut off nozzle, which is the subject of an application for a patent, made by the same inventor and bearing even date herewith, which said improvement comprises the application to the ordinary vertical nozzles of a lateral spout connected to the side, and arranged to open an escape passage for the contents when the said spout is turned with the right position, which position is that best adapted for pouring from the can into another vessel, and in which the said spout projects through a slot in the side of the packing case in closing it, the said case being provided with an opening and a door for closing the same adapted for it.

WASHING MACHINE.–Edward Heim, Pittsburgh, Pa.–This invention relates to a new machine for washing clothes, and consists in the introduction of several improvements whereby the machine is adapted to thoroughly clean coarse as well as fine articles without injury to the same, and in a comparatively short time.

PADLOCK–John S. Rankin, Ann Arbor, Mich.–The object of this invention is to provide a simple, cheap, and efficient construction and arrangement of the locking and operating parts of padlocks. The invention consists in an improved and simple compound tumbler bolt and relative arrangement thereof with the bow and bow spring.

GRAIN DRILL.–Jacob F. Gibson, Chestnut Level, Pa.–This invention relates to a seed tube pivoted in its drag bars, in such manner that it may yield to an immovable obstruction.

PROPELLING MACHINERY OF COTTON GINS.–Wm. L. May, Linwood, Ala.–This invention has for its object to effect such arrangement of machinery as will enable a cotton gin to be run at a materially reduced expense.

SNOW PLOW.–Thomas L. Shaw, Omaha, Nebraska.–This invention relates to a snow plow, for a locomotive engine, which takes up a load of snow, is then borne back out of the cut by the engine, and dumps its load when arrived at a clear space.

BEEHIVE.–W.T. Kirkpatrick, Tamarva, Ill.–This invention relates to improvements in beehives, and consists in the combination with beehives in a peculiar way, of a moth box, and moth passage thereto, calculated to entice the moths away from the bee passage and prevent them from entering thereat.

SEEDING MACHINE.–M.F. Lowth and T.J. Howe, Owatonna, Minn.–This invention relates to that class of seeders which employ a revolving cylinder, having pockets in its periphery, and placed at the bottom of the hopper which contains the seed, the function of the pockets being to receive seed, when right side up, and drop it when inverted.

UPRIGHT PIANO.–Geo. C. Manner, New York city.–This invention consists in placing the strings of an upright piano in an inclined position in the frame instead of a perpendicular one, as heretofore, for the purpose of enabling the hammer handle to be pivoted so near the strings that when the hammer head is driven up against them, it shall necessarily fall back again by its own weight.

CARPET CLEANER.–Alexander Stevenson, New York city.–This invention relates to new and useful improvements in carpet cleaning devices, having for its object to provide a simple and efficient apparatus consisting of a yielding bed, brushing rollers, moving rollers, and a beating apparatus, whereby the carpet, being bound upon a roller, or rollers, may be moved along, from time to time, over the said yielding bed and brushing rollers, and be beaten and brushed.

COTTON CULTIVATOR.–I.W. Burch, Fayette, Miss.–This invention comprises a pair of plows suspended from the frame of a truck so as to work on both sides of the row, for “barring off” or scraping the weeds and earth away from the row, also, a pair of rotary cutters having oblique blades for throwing away from the plants, and designed, also, to work on both sides of the rows, and closer to the plants than the plows, both sets of devices having vertical vibration.

WATER WHEEL–Geo. W. Cressman and Burt Pfleger, Barren Hill, Pa., and Nice Keely Roxborough, Pa.–This invention relates to improvements in turbine wheels designed to produce an arrangement of the gates within the bucket rim (the water being secured from below, and the wheel being made hollow, for the reception of the water, and to provide space for the said gate), in a manner calculated to relieve the wheel of pressure from the water, either in an upward or downward direction.

ATTACHING FLY AND MOSQUITO BARS TO WINDOWS, DOORS, ETC.–James Hebron, Buffalo, N.Y.–This invention relates to improvements in attaching fly and mosquito bars to window sashes or frames, doors, or other light frames to be used in combination with window frames or doors, and consists in attaching one edge of the cloth to a round or other shaped bar or rod of wood or metal, by binding thereon and sewing, passing the thread spirally around the bar or rod, and then securing the rod to the sill or frame, either on the surface thereof, or in a groove formed therein, then stretching the cloth across the window and securing it by clamping another rod down upon it by staples, either in a groove or not, and, in some cases, securing the ends in a similar way. It is also proposed to stretch the cloth over or under these rods.

ADJUSTABLE STOVEPIPE THIMBLE.–H.N. Bill, Willimantic, Conn.–This invention relates to improvements in thimbles for the passage of stovepipes through the walls into flues, and consists in providing a vertically-sliding thimble plate in a metallic frame, having a long opening, and adapted for insertion in an opening through the wall, so as to support the thin plate at or about the line of the face of the flue wall, so that the plate may be drawn up or down to vary the hight of the thimble for pipes of different vertical lengths. The invention, also, comprises an improved mode of attaching the thimbles to this plate by means of radial studs at the rim, separated from the main part of the rim and bent inward so as to pass through slots in the thimble plate around the hole, to engage behind the edge of the plate by turning the thimbles on their axes a short distance after being passed through the slots, while the main part of the rims of the said thimbles bear against the front face of the thimble plate and cover the slots when so turned.

COMBINED HAY RAKE AND TEDDER.–John C. Mills, Palmyra, N.Y.–This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in combining two important agricultural machines in one (or combining a tedder with a hay rake), and it consists in the construction of the tedder and the arrangement of the same in combination with the rake. Patented Dec. 7, 1869.

POST-HOLE AUGER.–Geo. Seeger and Chas H. Shaffer, Clark’s Hill, Ind.–This invention relates to a post hole boring apparatus, mounted upon a wheelbarrow, and the invention consists in providing the barrow with legs that may be either turned up out of the way or adjusted at any required angle so as to keep the barrow level when on uneven ground.

SELF-DROPPER FOR REAPERS.–T.F. Lippencott, Conemaugh, Pa.–This invention has for its object to furnish an improved self-dropper for reapers, which shall be so constructed as to operate automatically, to fall and deposit the grain and to rise to receive another supply, making the gavels all of about the same size.

PLOWING MACHINE.–Albert Bondeli, Philadelphia, Mo.–This invention has for its object to furnish an improved machine for preparing the ground to receive seed, and which shall be so constructed and arranged as to prepare the ground more thoroughly and put it in better condition to receive seed, and which shall be so constructed and arranged as to prepare the ground more thoroughly and put it in better condition to receive the seed than when the ordinary plows are used.

EXPANDING TRIPLE SHOVEL PLOWS.–Edward Wiard, Louisville, Ky.–This invention has for its object to furnish an improved triple shovel plow, which shall be so constructed and arranged that the shovels may be conveniently expanded and contracted, or set at any desired pitch, and, at the same time, in such a way as to be securely held in any desired position.

SEWING MACHINE.–L.W. Lathrop, Nyack, N.Y.–This invention relates to improvements in sewing machines, and consists in certain improvements in mechanism for forming the loop, and for conveying the binding thread through the same, in a manner to prevent the contact of the binding thread spool, or its carrier, with the thread of the needle, and thereby to avoid wearing the same, and to produce more easily operating parts; also, a secure, permanent, and reliable arrangement of apparatus, and calculated also to be more certain to form the stitch.

POETABLE DERRICK.–J.R. Hammond, Sedalia, Mo.–This invention has for its object to furnish an improved derrick, simple in construction, effective in operation, and easily moved from place to place, designed especially for use in connection with the improved rake, thrasher, loader, and stacker, patented by the same inventor Nov. 30, 1869, but equally applicable for other uses.

WAGON SEAT FASTENER.–Charles Collins, Vernon Centre, N.Y.–This invention relates to improvements in means for holding detachable wagon or sleigh seats to the boxes, and consists in the application to the seat risers of hooks with spring stops, adapted for engaging staples in the boxes below the said hooks, and for being held in such engagement by the spring stops, until disengaged by the operator for removing the seats.

VELOCIPEDE.–William Volk, Buffalo, N.Y.–This invention relates to a new three-wheeled velocipede, which is so arranged that the driving wheels, although mounted on separate axles, will make equal numbers of revolutions, as long as the machine is to be kept in a straight direction, while they can be disconnected when the device is to be turned in a circle.

COFFIN HANDLES.–Clark Strong, Winsted, Conn.–This invention relates to new and useful improvements in coffin handles, and consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of parts.

LOOM.–Lyman Stone, Nelson, N.H.–This invention relates to improvements in power looms, and has for its principal object to provide an arrangement and construction of the same, calculated to furnish looms of equal or greater efficiency than those now in use, but occupying very much less space, so as to economize materially in room, where large numbers are used on a floor, as is the case in factories; not only in respect of the space occupied by the loom itself, but also in respect of the space required for the passages or aisles between the rows of looms. The invention also comprises improved let-off and take-up mechanisms, also, an improvement in cloth beams; also, an improved picker motion, inducing a novel adjusting arrangement for the picker operating cams, also, an improved construction of treadle cams, whereby an equal capacity of throw is obtained with less size and friction, and with less power, and whereby they are guarded to prevent accidents to the attendant while cleaning when the loom is in operation.

PAPER FILE.–C.W. West, Shiloh, N.J.–This invention relates to a new paper file, which is a compound of two bars that can be tied together so that the paper will be securely clasped between them; the strings for tying them being arranged in a peculiar manner to draw them firmly together.

ROLLING BLOTTER.–C.A. Gale, Demopolis, Ala.–This invention has for its object to provide an improved rolling blotter, which shall be so constructed and arranged that the blotting pads maybe conveniently removed when required, and replaced with new ones.

DUMP WAGON.–Daniel Willson, Ishpeming, Mich.–This invention has for its object to furnish a simple, strong, and convenient dump wagon, which shall be so constructed and arranged that it maybe dumped when required, by backing the team.

SEWING MACHINE SOAP HOLDER.–Mary Dewey, New Albany, Ind.–This invention relates to a new device for soaping the cloth that is fed under the needle of a sewing machine, and consists in the attachment of a tubular soap holder to the presser foot of a sewing machine.

MONKEY WRENCH.–Samuel Zarley, Niantic, Ill.–This invention has for its object to furnish an improved monkey wrench, which shall be simple in construction, strong, durable, and easily and quickly adjusted to the nut to be unscrewed.

ANIMAL TRAP.–Adam Brown, Bridgeport, Oregon.–This invention relates to improvements in traps for rats, squirrels, and other animals, and consists in the application through an opening in the side of a box, of a detachable chute extending some distance into the box, forming a passage thereinto the walls of which are armed with spring points arranged in the usual way to permit ingress and prevent egress; the floor of the passage is elevated to form a chamber below for inclosing the bait, so that it cannot all be readily devoured. The invention also comprises in connection with the above, the application to the side walls of the box, which is open at the top, of projecting sheets of metal to prevent the animals from climbing out; also the application to the top of tilting shelves for discharging any animals that may climb up the outside of the box, and on to the same.

SHINGLE PACKER.–Robert Taylor, West Pensaukie, Wis.–This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for pressing and holding the bunches of shingles for binding them, and consists of the arrangement on a suitable bench, having end walls for gaging the piling of the shingles at the thick ends, of a pair of vertically sliding bars, a transverse passing bar, and a set of gear wheels, shaft, and hand lever, the said wheels gearing with the vertically sliding bars which are toothed for the purpose in such a way that the hand lever may be used to force the transverse bar, which is connected to the upper end of the sliding bar down upon the bundle of shingles across the center, pressing and holding the bundle till fastened.

REGISTERING APPARATUS FOR VEHICLES.–Thomas Ollis, Netherfield road, South Liverpool, England.–This invention consists in the application of apparatus similar to that used for stamping or indorsing purposes for registering or indicating the number of passengers that have traveled by an omnibus or other vehicle.

STEAM AND CALORIC ENGINES.–Alexander Hendry, Victoria, British Columbia.–This invention consists in an improved arrangement of jacketed cylinders, and jacketed furnace, constituting a water space, for generating steam by the radiating heat of the furnace, and arranged to envelope the cylinders with water to prevent injury by the gases and heat; also an improved arrangement of chambered pistons, for keeping the same filled with water to counteract the action of the heat upon the same, also, certain improvements in chambered valves, and valve operating devices, the said chambered valves and rods being supplied with water, also to prevent injury by the heat and the gases, and the invention also comprises an arrangement of the furnace calculated to separate and distribute the gases and effect the most perfect combustion.

COTTON BASKETS.–R.S. Myers, Washington, N.C.–This invention relates to improvements in baskets for carrying cotton, especially when ginned and consists in providing the cotton baskets of the ordinary form and construction with large holes through the center of the bottom, whereby in emptying the said baskets the operator may insert his hand and push the cotton out by one effort in a mass, whereas, by the present arrangement it must be pulled out from the mouth, which takes much more time, as in this way it only comes out in small quantities.

NOTE CASE.–Alphonzo Button, Dunkirk, N.Y.–This invention relates to improvements in note or paper cases or files for inclosing notes, papers, bills, etc., in a simple, cheap, and convenient portable package for the use of bankers and other business men. It consists of a cylindrical case of leather or other light suitable material having an opening from end to end covered by a flap, a central revolving spool, and a web of flexible substance connected to and wound on the spool so as to be drawn out through the opening and wound up again, on which web any suitable arrangement of narrow flaps folding over from the edges and connected by elastic bands, in a way to secure papers, notes, etc., in different and separate sections, may be arranged as now arranged in pocket books.

PUMP.–A.C. Judson, Grand Rapids, Ohio.–This invention consists in the arrangement of two dish shaped metal disks with a diaphragm of leather between them, and another leather diaphragm above, adapted for the better support of the water in lifting; it also consists of an arrangement for operating the pump rod without lateral vibration, so that it may be packed tightly in the tube to prevent foul matter and vermin from getting in.

PANELING, MOLDING, AND CARVING MACHINE.–A.S. Gear, New Haven, Conn.–This machine performs all of the work of the well known Variety Molding Machine, and in addition molds and carves any desired pattern of panel work, and simultaneously dovetails both mortise and tenon. The wood to be carved is fastened firmly to the bed of the machine by movable clamps adjustable to suit any required size of wood, and the cutters are fastened to a spindle moved by a universal joint in any direction upon the bed of the machine. The cutter is guided by hand, the guide resting against the pattern. The carving can be gaged to any required depth, and made to conform to any required pattern. A fan blows away chips as fast as they are produced, leaving the work constantly in view of the operator. The same tool which cuts the mortise also cuts the tenon, the two pieces of work to be dovetailed being clamped together to the end of the table. Every kind of finish hitherto made upon the edges of lumber, and which has heretofore been mitered and glued upon the face to create a finish, is planed, beaded, and molded upon the piece itself by this machine.

WASHING BOILERS.–John P. Sherwood, Fort Edward, N.Y.–This invention has for its object to improve the construction of that class of washing boilers in which the clothes are washed by the water as it boils being projected down upon the clothes to percolate through them, and thus remove the dirt. And it consists in the construction and combination of the various parts.

TOY VELOCIPEDE.–H.C. Alexander, New York city.–This invention has for its object to furnish an improved toy velocipede.

BRICK MACHINE.–Thomas Smurfit, Davisville, Mich.–This invention has for its object to furnish an improved brick machine, which shall be strong, durable, simple in construction, and effective in operation, making the bricks rapidly and well.

TRUNKS, ETC.–Thomas B. Peddie, Newark, N.J.–This invention has for its object to improve the construction of trunks, valises, portmanteaus, pellesiers, traveling bags, etc., so as to adapt them to receive and carry a portfolio in such a way that while carrying it safely, it may be conveniently removed when required for use.

SEED PLANTER.–David C. Woods, Waxahatchie, Texas.–This invention has for its object the construction of a seed planter, which will deposit the seeds in the requisite quantities and the proper distances apart, and which will cover and mark the hills, so that a plowman will not be at a loss where to start at the commencement of a new row, and after having passed around tree stumps or other obstructions, as he can always see the marks on the preceding rows.

WASHING MACHINE.–Joseph Balsley, Bedford, Ind.–This invention has for its object to improve the construction of the machine known as the “Egyptian Washing Machine,” so as to make it more convenient in use and more effective in operation.

DENTAL IMPRESSION CUP FOR LOWER JAW.–Robert V. Jenks, Paterson, N.J.–This invention has for its object to furnish an improved impression cup for use in taking a cast of the lower jaw, to form a model of said jaw to fit the plate upon, which shall be so constructed as to enable the dentist to take a more perfect cast than is possible with impression cups constructed in the ordinary manner.

SHOW CARD SUSPENSION RING.–H.S. Griffiths, New York city.–This invention has for its object to furnish an improved suspension ring for suspending show cards, which shall be simple in construction and easily attached to the cards, and which shall, at the same time, be so formed as to take a firm hold upon the card, and not be liable to tear out.

REFRIGERATOR.–Samuel Ayres, Danville, Ky.–This invention relates to improvements in refrigerators, and consists in certain improvements in the construction and arrangement for excluding the external atmosphere, distributing the cold by means of the ice, and also the water resulting therefrom; for economizing space, and for providing convenient access to all the different parts.

CINDER AND DUST ARRESTER FOR CAR WINDOWS.–Edwin Norton, Brooklyn, N.Y.–This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for preventing the cinders and dust from being blown into the cars, when in motion, through the open windows, and consists in the application to the cars at the sides of the windows, on the exterior, by hinging thereto or by other equivalent connection, small guard plates of wood or other substance to project outwardly in a right or other suitable or preferred angle, at the side of the window, to arrest the cinder and dust moving rearward alongside of the car, and conduct it below the windows, the said guard plates being arranged so that those on the side of the windows in the direction of the movement of the train may be adjusted to the operating position while the others are folded back against the side of the car.

HOSE COUPLING.–William J. Osbourne, New York city.–This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in couplings for hose pipe, whereby the parts of a hose are united in a more perfect manner than by the ordinary hose coupling.

SAW GUIDE.–John Trunick, Muscatine, Iowa.–This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in means for guiding circular saws and keeping them to the true saw line.

SQUARE, GAGE, AND LEVEL.–Josiah Potts, Milwaukee, Wis.–This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in a tool for mechanics’ use and consists in combining with a try square, a spirit level and a surface gage.

EXTENSION MUFF BLOCK.–C.F. Butterworth, Troy, N.Y.–This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in blocks for forming and stretching muffs in the process of manufacturing that article.

HAY AND GRAIN ELEVATOR.–John Dennis, Oswego, N.Y.–This invention has for its object to furnish an improved device, to be used in connection with the improved hay and grain elevator, patented by the same inventor, September 21, 1869, and numbered 95,006, for the purpose of moving the whole load of hay or grain when elevated to any desired part of the barn before unloading it.

MILLER TRAP FOR BEEHIVES.–T.L. Gray, Thomasville, Tenn.–This invention relates to a device for catching millers, or other insects, in their attempts to gain entrance into beehives.

VALVE GEAR.–Thomas E. Evans, William R. Thomas, and Joshua Hunt, Catasauqua, Pa.–This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in the mode of operating valves of steam engines, more especially designed for pumping engines, but applicable to other purposes or to valves of steam and water engines generally.

WATER WHEEL.–Henry W. McAuley, De Soto, Wis.–This invention consists in certain improvements in the form and arrangements of the buckets and in chutes for delivering the water thereto.

SELF-LOADING HAY WAGON.–James Capen, Charlton, Mass.–This invention relates to improvements in hay loaders, and consists in the application to the rear end of a hay wagon of an endless elevator case and rake, the latter having spring teeth, and arranged for adjustment by means of a hand lever at the front and suitable connecting devices; and the elevator is connected with one or both of the hind wheels of the wagon by machine chains or belts for operation.

ELEVATOR.–Francis Stein and Henry Haering, New York city.–This invention consists in the application to a pair of vertical ports or ways with toothed racks, of a carriage or platform having a shaft provided with a gear wheel at or near each end, and gearing into the toothed rack; also, having in suitable cases sliding on the posts a set of hoisting gears, gearing with the toothed racks and operated by hand cranks, and provided with ratchet wheels, holding pawls, and friction apparatus, arranged in a peculiar way for elevating the platform, holding it in any desired position or governing its descent.

FOLDING AND EXTENSION TABLE.–C. Mayer, Sullivan, Ill.–This invention relates to improvements in tables, and consists in arranging the side rails of the top of the frame, which are enlarged at the center and hinged to the posts for folding against the cross rails, when the top, which is detachably connected, is removed, for economy of space and convenience, in packing for transportation or storage; also in arranging the legs for folding up against the under edge of the cross rails; also in an improved arrangement of the side rails for extension.

MANUFACTURE OF SCOOPS.–S. Geo. Knapp, Woodhaven, N.Y.–This invention relates to an improved mode of manufacturing sheet-metal flour, grain, and other scoops, and consists in forming the bowls in one piece of metal, without seams or joints, by stamping up sheets of metal into the form of a trough, with a flange around the top, and cutting the same transversely in the center, with blanks for the bowls of two scoops, to be finished by trimming or shaping the cut ends, turning down the flange at the top, for stiffening either over wire or not and attaching the handle; the object being to produce scoops with bowls formed in one piece, and shaped at the base or in the part where the handles are connected, and to smoothly effect an economy of labor by stamping two blanks at one blow of the drop press, and also to control the metal under the action of the drop better in shaping the deep curved part of the base so as to upset and stiffen the blanks thereat.

BORING MACHINE.–E.C. Barton, Bloomsburg, Pa.–This invention relates to improvements in wood-boring machines, whereby it is designed to provide a simple and efficient arrangement of frame operating devices and feeding table for boring light articles to be presented to the machine by hand.

HASP LOCK.–E.R. Culver, New London, Conn.–This invention relates to improvements in that class of locks where the locking devices are incased within a hasp, and a hook is used in connection with the hasp for locking, or independently for fastening the door without locking.

WATER WHEELS.–W.J. Thompson, Springfield, Mo.–This invention relates to improvements in that class of horizontally running wheels, which receive the water from above or below on curved buckets taking the water at one side and discharging it at the other, and it consists of an improved arrangement of vertically oscillating gates, which, when open, form chutes for the water; it also consists of an improved means for working the gates.

PIPE COUPLING.–J.D. Ware, Savannah, Ga.–This invention relates to improvements in pipe couplings, and consists in forming a dovetailed groove across the end of one part, with an annular recess in the bottom around the bore for a packing ring, and fitting on the other part a dovetailed projection for engaging in the groove, and in arranging on one of the parts an eccentric ring to work against the head of the projection and force it tightly into the groove.

FIRE GRATES.–G.W. Everhart, Louisville, Ky.–This invention relates to improvements in that class of fire grates used for heating rooms, and consists in so arranging them as to provide a clear air space between the basket and the walls of the fire-place, both at the back and ends, for the admission of air more directly at these parts, for the better combustion of the coal and the gases arising therefrom; it also consists in providing a recess in the hearth or bottom of the fire-place under the grate, for the reception of ash pans of greater capacity than can be contained on the top of the hearth, whereby a much larger quantity of cinders and ashes may be received and retained, so that less frequent removals of the same will be required.

APPARATUS FOR SEWING SADDLERY AND OTHER LEATHER, OR STRONG MATERIALS.–Auguste Jacques Hurtu and Victor Joseph Hautin, Paris France.–This invention relates to apparatus more especially applicable for sewing leather, saddlery, harness, and other similar work with waxed thread, and consists first, in the improved apparatus of this invention, two needles are employed, the one sewing as an awl, and the other carrying the thread; the two needles have at the same time a vertical movement and also an adjustable horizontal movement. The needles are operated alternately, so that the needle may pass the thread through the hole made just previously by the awl, before the leather has been moved forward. By this means the sewing may be carried on with great regularity, and the material be turned in any direction in order to execute small designs. Secondly, the invention relates to improvements in the arrangement of the shuttle, whereby it is caused to pass through the loops formed by the waxed thread without touching it.

PACKING AND ATOMIZING CAN.–F.L. Palmer, Sr., New York city.–This invention relates to improvements in cans for packing insect powder and other like finely powdered substances which, in use, require to be delivered in atomic jets for penetrating crevices where insects secrete themselves, and it consists in providing such cans with stoppers having nozzles, through which stoppers or nozzles the passages are temporarily closed in a way to be readily opened for use; also, in providing the cans with nozzles at or near the bottom temporarily plugged in which tubes may be connected so that the powder may, when required for use, be readily blown out in atomic jets, whereby the said cans are made to subserve the uses of packing cans and discharging atomizing cans, with but trifling additional expense, whereas, at the present time, users of such powders are compelled to buy expensive atomizing cans, to which the powder must be transferred from the packing cans, before it can be properly used, or in the absence of such cans the powder is scattered in an ineffectual and wasteful way in or about the resorts of the insects.

REMEDY TOR RHEUMATISM.–H.H. Munroe, Louisville, Ky.–This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in a remedy for rheumatism.

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NEW BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS.

ELOCUTION AND ORATORY. Giving a Thorough Treatise on the Art of Speaking and Reading. With numerous Selections of Didactic, Humorous, and Dramatic Styles.

The author of this valuable treatise is Prof. Charles A. Wiley, of Fort Plain, N.Y. The instructions are valuable and the selections admirable; and we can very cordially recommend it to all who would improve either in speaking or reading. Such a book is worthy a place in every family.

SPECIMENS OF FANCY TURNING EXECUTED ON THE HAND OR FOOT LATHE. With Geometric, Oval, and Eccentric Chucks, and Elliptical Cutting Frame. By an Amateur. Illustrated by Thirty exquisite Photographs. Philadelphia: Henry Carey Baird, Industrial Publisher, 406 Walnut Street.

The beauty of these photographs is indescribable; they must be seen to be appreciated. The designs from which they were taken were executed by a gentleman well known to us, and who is undoubtedly one of the most expert turners on this continent. The price of the work by mail, free of postage, is $3.00.

THE NATIONAL WAGES TABLES, Showing at a glance the Amount of Wages, from Half an Hour to Sixty Hours at $1 to $37 per Week, also from One Quarter of a Day to Four Weeks, at $1 to $37 per Week. By Nelson Row, Publisher, No 149 Fulton street, New York.

This little work, which our readers will find advertised in another column, must prove an almost indispensable help in the counting rooms of establishments employing large numbers of workmen at varying rates of wages. It is one of the best things of the kind we have ever seen, and we give it earnest commendation.

DIRECTIONS FOR COOKING. By Miss Leslie. Price, by mail, $1.50.

Henry Carey Baird, of Philadelphia, has just published a new edition of Miss Leslie’s “Old Standard and Renowned Cookery,” being the sixtieth edition of a book which has stood the test of time and practice, and is a valuable aid in every household.

BENNY.

S.R. Wells, of this city, has published in pretty form “Benny,” a Christmas ballad, by Annie Chambers Ketchum, a poem which has already appeared in the _Phrenological Journal_.

The prospectus of EVERY SATURDAY, for 1870, by Fields, Osgood & Co. of Boston, promises to give us that excellent journal in a new and enlarged form, with the additional attraction of illustrations, engraved from designs by leading European artists. This publication will therefore hereafter present weekly, not only the cream of European literature, but the cream of European art. The high character of the publishers of this journal is an ample guarantee that this promise will be fulfilled in the most satisfactory manner.

LIPPINCOTT’S MAGAZINE, for January, also presents a varied and select bill of fare, containing among other things, Part XIII. of Robert Dale Owen’s novel “Beyond the Breakers,” “The Fairy and the Ghost,” a Christmas tale, with six amusing illustrations; a curious and interesting article on “Literary Lunatics,” by Wirt Sikes, “Our Capital,” by William R. Hooper, and very much more excellent matter in the way of stories poems, and essays.

The “Mobile Weekly Register,” the oldest Democratic paper in the South, is said to have reached a larger circulation than was ever attained by any journal South of Mason and Dixon’s line. It is full of interesting varied matter, having an able agricultural department, presided over by the veteran editor and successful agriculturist, Hon. C.C. Langdon. Its general literature, poetry, stories, etc., make it highly acceptable to the ladies. The year will open with a new continued story, of deep interest, by one of the most distinguished writers of the day. The price was recently reduced to $3.00 per year, which, for so large a paper (12 pages), is extremely cheap.

We have received the January number of “Demorest’s Mirror of Fashions,” a work that interests the ladies. Also “Demorest’s Young America,” a fine magazine for boys and girls. Both these serials are well published by Mr. and Madame Demorest of this city.

* * * * *

U.S. Patent Office

How to Obtain Letters Patent for New Inventions.

Information about Caveats, Extensions, Interferences Designs, Trade Marks; also, Foreign Patents.

For a period of nearly twenty-five years, MUNN & CO. have occupied the position of leading Solicitors of American and European Patents, and during this extended experience of nearly a quarter of a century, they have examined not less than fifty thousand alleged new inventions, and have prosecuted upward of thirty thousand applications for patents, and, in addition to this, they have made, at the Patent Office, over twenty thousand preliminary examinations into the novelty of inventions, with a careful report on the same.

The important advantages of MUNN & CO.’S Agency are, that their practice has been ten-fold greater than that of any other Agency in existence, with the additional advantage of having the assistance of the best professional skill in every department, and a Branch Office at Washington, which watches and supervises, when necessary, cases as they pass through official examination.

CONSULTATIONS AND OPINIONS FREE.

Those who have made inventions and desire a consultation are cordially invited to advise with MUNN & CO. who will be happy to see them in person at the office, or to advise them by letter. In all cases, they may expect an HONEST OPINION. For such consultations, opinion, and advice, NO CHARGE is made. A pen-and-ink sketch and a description of the invention should be sent.

TO APPLY FOR A PATENT,

a model must be furnished, not over a foot in any dimension. Send model to MUNN & CO., 37 Park Row, New York, by express, charges paid, also, a description of the improvement, and remit $16 to cover first Government fee, and revenue and postage stamps.

The model should be neatly made, of any suitable materials, strongly fastened, without glue, and neatly painted. The name of the inventor should be engraved or painted upon it. When the invention consists of an improvement upon some other machine, a full working model of the whole machine will not be necessary. But the model must be sufficiently perfect to show with clearness the nature and operation of the improvement.

PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION

is made into the patentability of an invention by personal search at the Patent Office, among the models of the patents pertaining to the class to which the improvement relates. For this special search, and a report in writing, a fee of $5 is charged. This search is made by a corps of examiner of long experience.

Inventors who employ us are not required to incur the cost of a preliminary examination. But it is advised in doubtful cases.

COST OF APPLICATIONS.

When the model is received, and first Government fee paid, the drawings and specification are carefully prepared and forwarded to the applicant for his signature and oath, at which time the agency fee is called for. This fee is generally not over $25. The cases are exceptionally complex if a higher fee than $25 is called for, and, upon the return of the papers, they are filed at the Patent Office to await Official examination. If the case should be rejected for any cause, or objections made to a claim, the reasons are inquired into and communicated to the applicant, with sketches and explanations of the references; and should it appear that the reasons given are insufficient, the claims are prosecuted immediately, and the rejection set aside, and usually WITHOUT EXTRA CHARGE TO THE APPLICANT.

MUNN & CO. are determined to place within the reach of those who confide to them their business, the best facilities and the highest professional skill and experience.

The only cases of this character, in which MUNN & CO. expect an extra fee, are those wherein appeals are taken from the decision of the Examiner after a second rejection; and MUNN & CO. wish to state very distinctly, that they have but few cases which can not be settled without the necessity of an appeal; and before an appeal is taken, in any case, the applicant is fully advised of all facts and charges, and no proceedings are had without his sanction; so that all inventors who employ MUNN & CO. know in advance what their applications and patents are to cost.

MUNN & CO. make no charge for prosecuting the rejected claims of their own clients before the Examiners and when their patents are granted, the invention is noticed editorially in the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN.

REJECTED CASES.

MUNN & CO. give very special attention to the examination and prosecution of rejected cases filed by inventors and other attorneys. In such cases a fee of $5 is required for special examination and report, and in case of probable success by further prosecution, and the papers are found tolerably well prepared, MUNN & Co. will take up the case and endeavor to get it through for a reasonable fee, to be agreed upon in advance of prosecution.

CAVEATS

Are desirable if an inventor is not fully prepared to apply for a Patent. A Caveat affords protection, for one year, against the issue of a patent to another for the same invention. Caveat papers should be carefully prepared. The Government fee on filing a Caveat is $10, and MUNN & Co.’s charges for preparing the necessary papers are usually from $10 to $12.

REISSUES.

A patent when discovered to be defective, may be reissued by the surrender of the original patent, and the filing of amended papers. This proceeding should be taken with great care.

DESIGNS, TRADE MARKS, AND COMPOSITIONS

can be patented for a term of years, also, new medicines or medical compounds, and useful mixtures of all kinds. When the invention consists of a medicine or compound, or a new article of manufacture, or a new composition, samples of the article must be furnished, neatly put up. Also, send a full statement of the ingredients, proportions, mode of preparation, uses, and merits.

PATENTS CAN BE EXTENDED.

All patents issued prior to 1861, and now in force, may be extended for a period of seven years upon the presentation of proper testimony. The extended term of a patent is frequently of much greater value than the first term; but an application for an extension, to be successful, must be carefully prepared. MUNN & Co. have had a large experience in obtaining extensions, and are prepared to give reliable advice.

INTERFERENCES

Between pending applications before the Commissioners are managed and testimony taken; also, Assignments, Agreements, and Licenses prepared. In fact, there is no branch of the Patent Business which MUNN & Co. are not fully prepared to undertake and manage with fidelity and dispatch.

FOREIGN PATENTS.

American inventors should bear in mind that five Patents–American, English, French, Belgian, and Prussian–will secure an inventor exclusive monopoly to his discovery among ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY MILLIONS of the most intelligent people in the world. The facilities of business and steam communication are such, that patents can be obtained abroad by our citizens almost as easily as at home. MUNN & Co. have prepared and taken a larger number of European Patents than any other American Agency. They have Agents of great experience in London, Paris, Berlin, and other Capitals.

A Pamphlet, containing a synopsis of the Foreign Patent Laws, sent free. Address

MUNN & CO., 37 Park Row, New York.

* * * * *

Official List of Patents.

Issued by the United States Patent Office

FOR THE WEEK ENDING DEC. 14, 1869.

_Reported Officially for the Scientific American_

SCHEDULE OF PATENT OFFICE FEES:

On each caveat $10 On filing each application for a Patent (seventeen years) $15 On issuing each original Patent $20 On appeal to Commissioner of Patents $20 On application for Reissue $30 On application for Extension of Patent $50 On granting the Extension $50 On filing a Disclaimer $10 On an application for Design (three and a half years) $10 On an application for Design (seven years) $15 On an application for Design (fourteen years) $30

In addition to which there are some small revenue-stamp taxes. Residents of Canada and Nova Scotia pay $500 on application.

_For copy of Claim of any Patent issued within 30 years_ $1

_A sketch from the model or drawing, relating to such portion of a machine as the Claim covers, from_ $1 _upward, but usually at the price above-named_.

_The full Specification of any patent issued since Nov. 20,1866, at which time the Patent Office commenced printing them_ $1.25

_Official Copies of Drawings of any patent issued since 1836, we can supply at a reasonable cost, the price depending upon the amount of labor involved and the number of views.

Full information, as to price of drawings, in each case, may be had by addressing_

MUNN & CO.,

Patent Solicitors, No. 37 Park Row, New York.

* * * * *

97,751.–FLUTING MACHINE.–Henry B. Adams, New York city.

97,752.–ELASTIC WASHER FOR CARRIAGES, ETC.–George W. Billings, Chicago, Ill. Antedated December 4, 1869.

97,753.–ADJUSTABLE WAGON BOTTOM AND CHUTE.–Abraham Bitner, Jr., Lancaster, Pa.