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"My claim is, 1st, for reducing the length of the draw required to roll up this species of roller-blind, shade, curtain, map, &c. to a convenient band's pull; that is, by one easy move of the hand, to cause the roller to revolve sufficiently to wind up any length of curtain &c. required for the above purposes.

"2nd. For the pendent balance-pulley, and the manner of applying it, as above described.

"3d. For the relative proportions of the barrel and axis, as above described."

All that is said about relative proportions is that one part is made small, and another greater. Rather an indefinite thing to claim.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CLOTH, Freeman Wolcot, Stow, Massachusetts. This, so called, improvement in the manufacture of cloth, is, it appears, an improvement in the napping-apparatus, by substituting combs of brass for the teazles usually employed in that process. These combs are made of strips of elastic sheet brass; the teeth in them are to be about an inch in length, a fifteenth of an inch wide at their bases, and tapering regularly to a point. To these plates a considerable curvature is to be given by swaying; that is, by placing the plate thus cut over a concave mould so fashioned as to give the teeth and plate a proper curvature, and then placing a corresponding convex iron over them, and giving it a blow with a hammer. The metallic napper will then be complete, and will be a plate with a row of curved tapering elastic teeth, resembling the teeth of the teazle, and standing out from the uncut part of the plate at such an angle that the uncut part may be attached to slats of wood passing across [along] the face of a cylinder at suitable distances."

"The invention for which, and for the use of which, the said Wolcot claims his patent, is for making from thin brass a plate, with curved, tapering, and elastic teeth suitable for napping cloth."

MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING CORKS, Jonathan Cutler, and Laac Keyes, Putnam, Vermont.-This cork-cutting machine has a mandril which revolves like that of an ordinary lathe. The cutters consist of four or any other convenient number of pieces of steel formed at their ends like an ordinary gouge. They are capable of expanding and contracting, as otherwise they would cut the cork into a cylinder instead of making it conical. Each of the cutters is hinged, by a handle at its opposite end, to the revolving shaft, and there is a collar so contrived as to cause the cutters to approach each other as the cork is cut. In front of the mandril there is a horizontal wheel, called a feed.

wheel, around the periphery of which there are notches to receive the blocks of corkwood which are ready for the machine. A cam causes this wheel to carry each block, in' succession, up to the cutters, into the hollow between which it is finally received, and passes out at a proper opening behind the

cutters.

"What we claim as our own invention is the expansive, or cutting cylinder, as con nected with the other machinery. Every other part of the machine may be constructed differently, and answer the same purposes."

This machine is skilfully contrived, and described with sufficient clearness; the claim, also, we think weil expressed and sufficiently guarded; still we have doubts of the eventual success of the plan, from the intrinsic difficulties which present themselves in the cutting of cork by machinery. There have been several patented contrivances for the same purposes, but we believe that none of them has stood the test of continued use. Those who are acquainted with the operation of cutting corks by hand know that a thin and sharp knife is employed for the purpose, and that the edge of this knife is preserved by passing it over a piece of wood between every two or three cuts, the workmen doing this dexterously with one hand whilst the other is employed in taking up a fresh block; Iwithout this fine edge the cutting cannot be effected, and we think that in a machine it can scarcely be preserved. Besides this, from the varying thickness of the cork-wood, it is no easy matter to have the blocks all of one size. In cutting by hand this is of no consequence, while in cutting by machinery it is all-important.

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IMPROVEMENT IN THE CONSTRUCTION! OF STOVES FOR BURNING ANTHRACITE, ' AND OTHER FUEL, Jordan L. Molt, New York. For the purpose of description," says the patentee," I will suppose a vertical, The cylindrical stove to be constructed. body, or furnace part, of this stove, is to be of cast-iron, and consists of any required number of separate rings, of such internal diameter as may be required for the furnace. These rings are to be placed, or super-imposed, upon each other to the required height;" rims, or ledges, and corresponding grooves, or hollows, being cast upon their touching sides to keep them in their places. Holes are also to be cast in them, or ears formed on them, to receive rods, by which they may be confined together. The lower part of the stove, forming the ash-pit, and its appen dages, and also that part which is above the fire, may be constructed in any of the usual forms, or of any of the ordinary materials; the improvement made by me consisting entirely in the construction of that part which

is formed of rings, or rims, in the way described.

"I intend usually to form these rings so that, when put together, the interior of the furnace shall, by their junction, have a uniform, continuous surface, either cylindrical, conical, or otherwise, whilst the outside shall be fluted, ribbed, or grooved, so as to expose a large surface to the action of the external air, as this mode of forming them will, by its extended radiation, tend to prevent their being over-heated.

"When used for gas-retorts, their outsides will form one continuous surface, as best calculated to receive the action of the fire by which they are to be heated. When used in tubes for the conveyance, distribution, or management, of heat, they must, of course, be so formed as to adapt them to the particular purpose to which they are to be applied.

"What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is the forming the exterior, or shell, of furnaces, or fire-places, for stoves of various kinds, the bodies of gas-retorts, and other apparatus which are to be exposed to great alterations of temperature, by the combination of separate rings, rims, or frames of metal, usually of cast-iron, by which means any difference of expansion in the respective parts may take place without the danger of breaking, whilst any portion which is defective may be easily removed, and its place supplied."

LIST OF ENGLISH PATENTS, GRANTED BETWEEN THE 28TH OF APRIL AND 24TH OF MAY, 1836.

John Burns Smith, of Talford, Lancaster, cottonspinner, for certain improvements in the machinery for roving, spinning, and twisting cotton and other fibrous substances. Sealed April 30; six months to specify.

John Whiting, of Rodney-building, New Kentroad, doctor of medicine, for an improvement or improvements in preparing certain farinaceous food. May 2; six months.

John Macneill, of Parliament-street, civil-engineer, for improvements in making or mending turnpike or common roads. May 3; six months.

Henry Sharpe, of Broad-street-buildings, London, merchant, for improvements in sawing wood and other materials; being a communication from a foreigner residing abroad. May 3; six months.

William Sneath, of Ison Green, Nottingham, lace-maker, for certain improvements in machinery, by aid of which improvements thread-work ornaments of certain kinds can be formed in net or lace, made by certain machinery commonly called bobbin-net machinery. May 3; six months.

William Augustus Howell, of Ramsgate, Kent, smith an ironmonger, for certain improvements in the construction of springs for doors. May 3; six months.

Thomas Henry Russell, of Took's-cour', London, tube-maker, for improvements in making or manufacturing welded iron tubes. May 3; six months.

Edmund Pontifex, of Shoe-lane, London, copper

smith, for an improvement in the process of mak ing and retining sugar; being a communication from a foreigner residing abroad, May 5; six months,

Joseph Banister, of Colchester, Essex, watchmaker, for improvements in watches and other time keepers. May 7; six months.

John Elvey, of Canterbury, Millwright, for cers tain improvements in steam-engines. May 7; six mouths.

Matthew Hawthornthwaite, of Kendal, West moreland, weaver, for a new mode of producing certain patterns in certain woven goods. May 7; six months.

Thomas Taylor, of Banbury, Oxford, saddler and harness-maker, for certain improvements in saddies for riding. May 7; six months.

Luke Hebert, of No. 20, Paternoster-row, London, for improvements in horse-collars; being a coinmunication from a foreigner residing abroad. My 9; six months.

John Hague, of Cable-street, Wellclose-square, engineer, for an invention for raising water by the application and arrangement of a well-known power from mines, excavations, holds of ships or vessels, and other place where water may be deposited or accumulated, whether from accidental or natural causes, and also applying such power to a d in giving notion to certain machinery, May 9; two

months,

Richard Waddington and John Hardman, of Bradford, iron founders, for an improved method of making and constructing wheels for railway carriages. May 10; six months.

Richard Birkin, of Basford, Nottingham, lace manufacturer, for certain improvements in ma chinery for making lace, commonly called orna mented bobbin net lace. May 11; six months.

Richard Wilson, of Blyth Sheds, Northumberland, builder, for improvements in making or mas nufacturing fire-places, slabs, columns, monuments, and corrices, such as have heretofore been made of marble. May 12; six months.

Thomas Grahame, of Nantes, France, but now of Suffolk street, Pall-Ma 1, gentleman, for im provements in passing boats and other bodies from one level to another. May 13; six months,

Ashdowne, of Tunbridge, Kent, gentleman, for improvements in apparatus to be added to wheels to facilitate the draft of carriages on turnpike and common roads. May 13; six months.

Wheatley Kirk, of Commercial street, Leeds, music-seller and manufacturer of piano-fortes, for certain improvements in piano-fortes, May 14; six months.

Joseph Whitworth, of Manchester, engineer, for certain improvements in machinery for spinning and doubling cotton, wool, and other fibrous substances. May 17; six months.

David Fisher, of Wolverhampton, mechanic, for an improvement in steam-engines. May 17; six months.

Henry Walker Wood, of No. 29, Austin-friars, London, merchant, for certain improvements in certain locomotive apparatus. May 17; six months.

James Brown, of Esk Mills, Pennycuick, North Britain, paper maker, for a certain improvement or certain improvements in machinery or apparatus for making paper. May 18; six months.

Thomas Beck, of Little Stoneham, Suffolk, gentleman, for new or improved apparatus or mechanism for obtaining power and motion, to be used as a

mechanical agent generally, which he intends to denominate Rotæ Vive. May 18; six month.

Pierre Barthelemy Gainibert Debac, of Brixton,-Surrey, civi-engineer, for improvements in railways. May 18; six months.

Henry Elkington, of Birmingham, Warwick, gentleman, for an improved rotary steam engine. May 23; six months.

William Watson, of Leeds, dyer, for an improve ment in dyeing hats by the application of certain chemical matters never before applied to that pur pose. May 24; six months.

LIST OF SCOTCH PATENTS GRANTED BETWEEN THE 21ST OF APRIL AND 21ST OF MAY, 1836.

Frederick Edward Harvey, of the Horseley Ironworks, Tipton, Stafford, nechanical draftsman, and Jeremiah Brown, of Tipton, roll-turner, for certain improvements in the process and machinery for manufacturing metallic tube, and alo in the process or machinery for forging and roll ng metal for other purposes. Sealed April 22, 1836.1

William Maugham, of Newport-street, Lambeth, alchymist, for an invention of certain improvements in the production of chloride of lime and certain other chemical substances. April 25.

Thomas Ridgway Bridson, of Great Bolton, Lancaster, bleacher, for a certain improvement or improvements to facilitate an expedite the bleaching of cotton, linens, and other vegetable fibres. April 25.

Joseph Lidel, of Arundel-street, Panton-square, Middlesex, professor of music, in consequence of a communication made to him by a foreigner residing abroad, for certain improvements in piano-fortes. April 28.

Andrew Smith, of Princess-street, St. Martin'sin-the-Fields, engineer, for certain improvements in engines for exerting power for driving machinery and for raising and lowering heavy bodies. April 28.

James Burns Smith, of Salford, Lancaster, cotton-spinner, and James Smith, of Halifax, dyer, for a ce tain metho! or methods of tentering, stretching, or keeping out cloth to its width, made either of cotton, silk, wool, or of any other fibrous. substances, by nachinery. April 28.

Robert Copland, of Brunswick-crescent, Camberwell, Esquire, for improvements upon patents already obtained by him for combinations of apparatus for gaining power. May 6.

William Preston, of Sunnyside, Lancaster, operative calico printer, for certain improvements in printing of calico and other fabrics. May 10. * *

Henry Sharpe, of Broad-street-buildings, London, merchant, in consequence of a communication by a foreig er residing abroad, for improvements in sawing wood and other materials. May 10.. James Cropper, of Nottinghani, iace-manufacfurer, and Thomas Brown Milnes, of Lenton Works, No tingham. bleacher, in consequence of a communication by a foreigner residing abroad, for certin improvements in machinery or apparatus for embroidering or ornamenting bobbin-net or lace, or cloths, stuff, or other fabrics made from silk, cotton, wool, flax, or he p. May 10.

Jacob Perkins, of Fleet-street, London, engineer, for improvements in the apparatus and means for produeing ic and in cooling fluids. May 13.

William Gossage, of Stoke Prior, Worcester, alchymist, and Edward White Benson, of Wich

boll, alchymist, for an improvement or improve. inents in the process of making or manufacturing ceruse or white lead. May 20.

NOTES AND NOTICES.

Geology. In consequence of the representations addressed to Government in July last, that the officers employed on the trigonometrical survey of Great Britain would have constant opportunities afforded them of collecting specimens illustrative of the app ication of geology-r, in other words, of the mineral we lth of the country-to the useful purposes of life, it has been determined to form a museum for the reception of such specimens from time to time, and to place them under the Department of Woods and Works.

Paddington Steam Omnibus.-Mr. Hancock's carriages still continue to run between Paddingtos, Islington, and the Bank. The results of the week's traffic have been somewhat similar to our former statements.

Improved Method of Casting Brass Burrs.-The usual method of accomplishing this object is to place the screw in a mould of the required form, and to cast the brass about it, by which means a very perfect burr may be produced, but there is frequently great difficulty in removing it from the screw. To avoid this, it is proposed to cast a lead burr in the usual way (which may be easily taken off), and to use it as a box for the formation of a sand core. After the box is filled, it is subjected for some hours to the heat of the drying-store, and when its contents are found to be perfectly free from moistare, the whole is plunged into the melted lead, which robs the core of its casing, and renders the sand copy fit for use instead of the original screw by this means the difficulty above alluded to is entirely obviated.-Third Report of the Cornwall Polytechnic Society.

Communications received from Mr. Baddeley→→ Clovis Mr. Hodson-Mr. Hi 1-Mr. Skene-M. F de Pourquet-A Country Teacher- H.-P. P. C. R. -Mr. Dickson-Mr. R. Simpson.

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FORD'S FIRE-ESCAPE.

Sir, The uninformed and unthinking portion of mankind are continually railing against science, and accusing it of indifference to the claims of humanity; especially whenever any recent calamity is rife in the public mind.

The fact is, the life-boat-the safetylamp, and a thousand similar inventions might be cited, to prove that this charge is utterly groundless and most unjust; but, passing by these, and numberless other instances, in which humanity has been protected and preserved by the benignant hand of science, it will be suffi cient for my present purpose to name one subject alone, upon which minds of every calibre have for years past been actively employed. The question of escape from fire is certainly one that has engaged more attention, and occupied a greater diversity of talent than almost any other, and necessarily with varied success.

Many inventions, indeed, have been produced, very well calculated to effect the object in view, had not public apathy and indifference to the matter prevented their introduction. Nor is this the whole extent of the mischief; not only have new inventions-calculated greatly to facilitate escape from fire-been disregarded, but the very same feeling has led to the most culpable and fatal neglect of "all the appliances and means to boot" (such as they are), in many places already provided.

A somewhat better state of things, however, now appears to dawn upon us. In the south-western district of St. Pancras, a local fire-association has been formed, whose exertions have been attended with unprecedented success; an efficient fireengine has been provided, and several fire-escapes stationed in the most convenient situations, to afford every needful protection to that respectable and populous district. The noble example thus set, has been, and is now being followed by several of the principal metropolitan parishes, who appear to have taken up the subject with a degree of zeal and judgment, worthy of the cause in which it is engaged.

On the 22nd of March last, a Society was also formed for the protection of life from fire, the objects of which are:To organise and train an effective body of men, who shall be so disposed, in

different parts of the metropolis, as to be promptly on the spot in all cases of fire, and whose sole object shall be the preservation of human life-To examine into, and ascertain the merits of, the different inventions which may be presented to the Society's notice, as calcu. lated to facilitate escape from fire To adopt for the Society's use, such escapes as shall be capable of being externally applied in the most ready and efficacious manner, and which shall be kept at convenient stations under the charge of the Society's men-To recommend to public notice such escapes as shall appear to be the best to be provided by individuals, and kept in dwelling-houses for use in the absence of external aid, and also to diffuse information in every way relative to the best methods of insuring the safety of persons in danger-Finally, to bestow rewards, at the discretion of the Society, on such persons as shall at any time distinguish themselves by their endeavours to save human life in case of fire.

When the St. Pancras Fire-association advertised for fire-escapes, upwards of fifty different contrivances were submitted for their inspection; the examination of which occupied a committee, appointed for the purpose, three days; at the conclusion of which, they decided upon adopting the improved portable fire. ladders of Mr. Merryweather, and also the spar-fire-escape of Mr. Ford. This invention of Mr. Ford's, which had been previously adopted with much success in Liverpool, is decidedly the best fireescape hitherto before the public; for although some of the parts, separately, have been before employed for the purpose, the whole in combination possesses advantages never before attained in so simple a machine. I would just observe, en passant, that any Society for protecting life from fire, could not do better than collect, with the utmost diligence, models or illustrated descriptions of every kind of fire-escape that has hitherto been proposed, that would-be-inventors with which this branch of humane science at least is completely overrun-might at once satisfy themselves of what has been done in this way by others in the course of the last half century.

I have much pleasure in laying before your readers the following description of Mr. Ford's ingenious invention, that they