press, and the backs or folds of the leaves cut away by means of the ordinary cutting knife. These cut edges are then rendered slightly rough by scraping, or by any rough tool, as a fine grooved plane; and when that has been done, two coats of a thick solution of caoutchouc is put upon the back of the leaves, which cements their edges securely together.

Upon this may be placed a thin sheet of caoutchouc, or a strip of silk, linen, cotton, or other suitable material, coated with a solution of caoutchouc, and pressed close by the hand; and when dry, the edges of the leaves will be found to adhere much more securely than when sown in the old way, and will open with a degree of elasticity never before effected by any other means.

Instead of cutting away the whole of the backs of the leaves of the book, broad grooves only may be cut slight depths in the back in several places, and strips of thin caoutchouc, or silk, linen, cotton, or other suitable material, coated with caoutchouc, may be placed in those grooves, and made fast by the thick solution, moistened by spirits of turpentine, which will hold the leaves securely.

A coating of caoutchouc, either in solution or in a sheet, may be added to the back of a book after it has been sown, instead of paste or glue, which will very much improve its security, and afford elasticity in opening.

When the leaves have been thus secured at their back parts, the books may be bound in boards in the ordinary way, and be otherwise covered and decorated in the usual manner.

The Patentee says, in conclusion, that he does not claim exclusively the use of Indian rubber for binding books, but he claims its application in the way above described for securing the leaves.-[Inrolled in the Inrolment Office, June, 1837.]

To ALEXANDER RITCHIE, of Leeds, in the county of York, merchant, for a certain improvement in dressing and finishing woollen cloths and other woven fabrics, being a communication from a foreigner residing abroad, -[Sealed 13th June, 1836.]

THESE improvements, in dressing and finishing woollen cloths and other woven fabrics, consist in the employment of a hollow perforated steam cylinder or cylinders, or other vessel or vessels of approximate figures, by means of which a multitude of small jets of steam may be introduced into tightly rolled or closely compacted thicknesses of woollen cloths, for the purpose of producing upon such cloths effects equivalent to the operation technically called "roll boiling." As there are obviously many modes or constructions of machinery by which these hollow perforated vessels may be made to emit jets of steam into closely compacted or tightly rolled thicknesses of cloth, I shall consider it sufficient to show one practical method of applying them to that purpose, in connexion with a gig-mill or brushing machine.

In Plate II., fig. 5, is a front elevation of a gig-mill, with two hollow perforated steam cylinders connected therewith, and the other necessary appendages by which they are adapted to perform the steaming operation. Fig. 6, is an end elevation of the same. Cast iron end standards a, a, a, a, braced together by longitudinal bars or rods, support the machinery. The gig barrel b, b, covered in the ordinary way, with teasels, or cards, or brushes, is mounted upon an axle, and made to revolve by a band (from the steam-engine or other first mover) passed round the pulley c.

The hollow steam cylinders d, d, placed one above the gig barrel, the other below it, turn with their hollow

gudgeons in plummer boxes, mounted on the end standards. They are, in preference, made of sheet copper of suitable thicknesses, and have each a multitude of small holes perforated through, from the periphery to the interior, for the discharge of the steam. To the extremity of the hollow gudgeon of each hollow cylinder, a pipe e, e, is attached, with suitable steam-tight joints and packing, for the conveyance of steam from a boiler placed at any convenient distance; and, to the corresponding gudgeons at the reverse ends of these hollow cylinders, similar pipes f, f, are in like manner connected, for the conveyance of cold water into those cylinders when required to cool the cloth under operation. Of course, it will be understood that the steam and water pipes must have stop cocks to let on or shut off the steam and the water, as may be necessary in the course of the operation.

The machinery by which the steam cylinders are occasionally made to revolve, being nearly the same as that usually applied to the wooden winding rollers of an ordinary gig-mill, it is not necessary to describe it particularly, but merely to say that a pinion g, on the end of the axle of the gig barrel, taking into the toothed wheel h, causes, by its rotation, the whole train of wheels h, i, k, and I, to revolve. The wheel k, slides loosely upon the gudgeon of the lower hollow cylinder, and the wheel 7, upon that of the upper hollow cylinder; one of which wheels, as occasion may require, is to be locked by means of a clutch m, to the gudgeon, for the purpose of giving rotary motion to its cylinder, in order to wind or roll on the cloth; whilst the other cylinder being released by the withdrawal of the clutch, turns freely, and allows the roll of cloth to be unwound and drawn off. For the purpose of giving such tension

to the cloth as shall cause it to be wound tightly upon the taking up or lapping cylinder, a friction break n, n, with a weighted lever o, o, is applied to the periphery of a pulley p, p, fixed upon the gudgeon of each of the hollow cylinders, which friction break, when brought into operation upon the pulley of the delivering cylinder, will necessarily produce such retardation of the unwinding roll of cloth, as will cause the taking up roller to draw the cloth with considerable tension, and wind or lap it on tightly. This effect is also further aided by a pressing roller q, q, acting against the sur face of the cloth rolled upon the periphery of the hollow cylinder; the pivots of which roller turn in levers r, r, hanging upon fulcrum pins fixed in the end standards or framework; and weights s, s, s, s, are suspended from the longer arms of these levers for the purpose of increasing the effect of the pressing roller against the cloth winding upon the cylinder.

Having now given a general description of a machine in which these hollow perforated steam vessels may be advantageously employed for the dressing of cloth, I proceed to explain the process or manner of conducting the operation in connexion with the machine above exhibited.

Before the woollen cloth intended to be submitted to the process is wound upon the cylinders, about twenty yards, more or less, at discretion, of cotton or linen cloth should be wound tight around the cylinders, in order to prevent the cloth intended to be operated upon from being too much heated by coming into immediate contact with the cylinders, and to cause the steam, after passing through the holes in the cylinders, to spread, so as to operate uniformly upon the cloth rolled thereon. The process to be performed upon the cloth may, in

general, be applied with the best advantage, immediately after the pile or nap has been raised by the gigmill, and before the process of shearing; but it may be performed with nearly the same effect after the pile of the cloth has been partially cropped or shorn, and particularly where the threads of the cloth are very fine. One end of the piece of woollen cloth to be operated upon, is to be attached to one end of the piece of cotton or linen cloth, wound on one of the hollow perforated cylinders, and the other end of the piece of woollen cloth attached to the end of the other piece of cotton or linen cloth wound on the other perforated cylinder.

Before the steam is thrown into the cylinders, the woollen cloth to be operated upon, together with all the cotton or linen cloth attached to it, should be wound very tightly around the cylinder into which the steam is to be introduced, the cloth being wet and the pile raised.

Now, let steam be admitted into the cylinder upon which the cloth is wound, in order that it may pass from the cavity inside of the cylinder through the perforated holes into the cloth; and whilst the cloth is thus wound tight upon the cylinder, continue the operation of the steam for the space of from ten to twenty minutes, more or less, according to the pressure of the steam, which may be from twelve to forty pounds on the inch, more or less, at discretion. After this has been done, let the cloth be wound off from this cylinder on to the other cylinder; and while it is winding, let it be wetted again with water in the way that cloth is usually wetted when upon the gig-mill.

The cloth, in thus passing from one cylinder to the other, is to be operated upon by the teasels of the gig barrel preparatory to winding it tightly, with the cotton or linen cloth attached to it, upon the other cylinder,