any where, subsequently brought into operation. I have just parted from the last pair of boots which I had made on this principle-not because they were actually worn out, but in consequence of their having become out of fashion.

The proprietor, or patentee, of this truly useful invention, as near as I can recollect, was a gentleman of some eminence in the legal profession, of the name of "Arabin," or 66 Espinasse," whose demise, if it deprived not the public of the benefit of clergy, certainly occasioned a lamentable vacancy in the cure of soles!

My object in addressing you, Mr. Editor, is to excite the attention of those whom it may concern to the practicable revival of a contrivance so admirably calculated to maintain a respectable footing in society, and to carry us above the dirty ways of the world.

I am, sincerely, Sir,

Your most obedient servant,
HENRY BRETT.

Old Furnival's Hotel, March 25, 1836.

PORCELAIN SCALE-PLATE,

Mr. Juggins (of James-street, Covent Garden) is a dealer in butter and cheese. He states that in weighing the former it is the practice to wet the metal dish at present in use, in order to prevent the butter from adhering to it: the true weight of the butter is, therefore, less than the apparent by all the water that is put on the dish; a circumstance that, in weighing out butter by the ounce to small customers, amounts to a very sensible proportion of the whole weight.

It is also necessary, especially in hot weather, to scour the scale-dish two or three times a day, both for the appear. ance of cleanliness and to prevent the scale from giving a taint to the butter placed on it. But this frequent scouring makes the scale-dish too light, and, in order to adjust the scales, there is a constant temptation to employ contrivances which subject them to be broken when examined by the Annoyance Jury.

For the last five years Mr. Juggins has employed a plate of glazed porcelain instead of metal, by which he obtains the advantage of constant cleanliness, without the necessity of wetting the surface of the plate before using it: there is no sensible loss of weight, for this plate never requires to be scoured, but only to be.

washed or wiped; the butter receives no taint, and the evident cleanliness cou ciliates the good will of customers. The cost of one of these plates, on account of its size and thickness, is seven shillings and sixpence; but Mr. J. has not hitherto had any broken, so that with common care they will seldom require to be renewed.-Trans. Soc. of Arts.

VEGETABLE OILS,

(From Report of the Commissioners of Excise Inquiry.)

Customs' Duties on the Raw Materials. Although the instructions contained in our commission do not lead us to the examination of the Customs' duties on the raw materials

employed in the manufacture of soap, we

trust that we shall not be considered as ex. ceeding the proper line of our duty by calling attention to the remarks of the deputation, as well as of Mr. Fincham and Mr. Taylor, as also of Mr. Tennant of Glasgow, upon the great disadvantages to which the manufacturer is exposed from the heavy duties on importation, to which the vegetable oils are still liable. These oils would enter largely into the composition of soap, if their price were not so much increased by these duties, which amount on some descriptions to a virtual prohibition of their use. The French,

at Marseilles, employ olive oil exclusively in their soap; and in that town alone a quantity is made very nearly equalling the consump tion of Great Britain. According to Mr. Tennant, the soap made from olive oil is better than that which is made from palm oil; and if the present duty of 41. 4s. pel ton on the former could be materially reduced, there seems to be every probability that after the abolition of the present re strictions on the manufacture, such improve ments would be introduced as would enable us to rival, and probably to surpass, the French in the North American market. Our manufactures are now placed in so disadvan tageous a situation as compared with the French and other makers, that it is very difficult for them to contend with them in the foreign markets; and even if the restrictions imposed by the Excise on the process of ma nufacture were removed, they would still suffer considerably from the duties on the materials which they employ, and on which no drawback is allowed; and it must be re membered that the difficulties under which the trade labour on this account have been materially increased by the discontinuance of the allowance of the tenths, to which we have already alluded.

The representations which were made to us on this head appeared to be so much de

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serving of attention, that we were induced to request the attendance of Mr. Craw furd (the late resident at Singapore, and the author of a valuable, work on the Indian Archi(pelago), for the purpose of obtaining such information as he could furnish with respect to the supply of those vegetable oils which might be obtained from the East Indies. Mr. Crawfurd appears to have directed his attention, during a long residence in India, very closely to the productions of that country, with a view of extending its commerce with Great Britain, and it will be seen from his evidence, that a very large field may be opened for a mutual trade, especially with reference to the articles more particularly wanted for the manufacture of soap. states, that there are no less than fifteen plants in ordinary cultivation, in the continent and islands of India, from which an abundant supply of oil is obtained for the purposes of food and light; and he adds, that from the general facility with which this cultivation may be extended, he sees no limits to the quantity which may be furnished for the demands of this country. He particularly points out the advantage which may be derived from the cultivation of the Palma Christi, or castor-oil plant, which grows in any soil, however barren, and yields a most abudant crop of oil.

*

He

The present rate of duty on castor-oil, sesamum, cocoa-nut, palm-oil, poppy-oil, mustard, and pig-nut oil, and the amount received for the last five years, will be found in the appendix. The ad valorem duty on pig-nuts, sesamum, and poppy-seed, and on the oil made from them, is so high (viz. 20 and 50 per cent.), as to amount to a virtual prohibition of their extensive employment in any branch of manufacture. The duty on castor-oil" from any British possession, but not the produce thereof," is also so high as to prevent its use in manufactures. We are aware of the reductions which have been lately made in the duties on some of the vegetable oils; but it has been almost im. possible for the manufacturers to avail themselves of these reductions, on account of the Excise regulations. When these are removed, we anticipate the best effects from these reductions.

Our other trades and manufactures, the materials of which are subject to import duties, are not so much injured by them as to deprive us of the means of carrying on a profitable competition in foreign markets. But our inferiority in the manufacture of soap, in so far as it arises from the duties on oils, gives the foreign manufacturer the power of excluding us from large portions of the globe, and this certainly is a state of things from which so important a manufacture ought

to be relieved. We feel it to be our duty not to lose this opportunity of again representing the strong impression which has so often been made upon us by the consequences of the impolicy of taxing the raw materials of industry, because we are fully satisfied that our commercial and manufacturing prosperity, great as it is, would be still more increased if the principle of exempting all raw materials from taxation were strictly adhered to. Whatever the loss of revenue might be which would take place in conse quence of repealing these duties, it would soon be made good by the additional means of payment which would follow from increased national wealth.

Showeth, That your petitioners beg to express their gratification at the appointment of a Committee of your Honourable House to inquire into the condition, management, and affairs of the British Museum, hailing it as a promise of the future extension of the usefulness of that national institution.

That your petitioners have reason to believe that the British Museum is, at present, possessed of many duplicate printed books, coins, prints, objects of natural history, and other curiosities; and that such duplicates are likely to continue, from time to time, to accrue therein; and, that the said Museum is also possessed of a large remaining stock of its own publications, printed at the public. expense, which remaining stock is, at present, useless to the public.

*We beg to add our earnest recommendation of the subject of this petition to the attention of our readers.

son That it appears from the statement of the Principal Librarian of the British Museum, in the evidence (No. 565, 6, 7) taken before the Committee during the Past Session of Parliament, that the "bestowing duplicate books or duplicate ob jects of curiosity upon district institutions ibraries, would make the duplicate

more useful to the community, and might be done, consistently with the Act of 47 Geo. Ill."

buYour petitioners, therefore, humbly pray your Honourable House that they may be allowed to partake, with other institutions, in the disposition of any duplicate books, prints, coins, objects of natural history, and other curiosities, which have already accumulated, or may, from time to time, accumulate in the British Museum, should your Honourable House judge it expedient so to dispose of these objects.

And your petitioners will ever pray, &c. -dug ba

THE SUPPLY OF ELECTRIC CURRENTS TO PLANTS, &c.

Sir, The very interesting papers on this subject by Mr. T. Pine, in your Journal, bave particularly engaged my notice, as they happen to coincide, in some degree, with certain speculations in which I have myself indulged at different times. Circumvolving the atmosphere of air, there are good grounds for asserting the existence of a denser fluid orb, generally apparent, and called the sky; but, unfortunately, too hastily deemed in modern days merely an extension of the diaphonous medium we breathe. Imagine, then, this pellucid container of the aerial firmament and nucleus, earth, obedient to the known laws of nature, swiftly whirling its tremendous bulk around that rarer separator from the inner sphere, maintaining the elasticity of the air by the constriction thereof (so that we are in no danger of finding it left, like a comet's tail, to trail in orbicular length in the wake of its planet's path, and dim the passing moon), and we shall at once grant that a vast electrical machine is continually charging the enveloped atmosphere; or, as Messrs. Pine and Sturgeon remark," allow that the earth actually receives such an influence from the sun, and is thus perpetually whirled round with its immense conducting apparatus for the purpose of imparting a vegetating principle to the

system of plants, at the same time that light and warmth are conveyed." I would only briefly observe, in support of this theory, that the single tide (diurnal) of the air, and the antipodean tides of ocean, would be results consequent from the presence of such liquid boundary for, say at the conjunction of the sun and moon (the difficult problem of Newton to La Place), that the surrounder recedes from the average proximity (45 miles, less or more), at the opposite part of this outer sphere, the straitened depth of air and the answering swell of the lower waters would be found to prove the cosmogony of Moses, and the inferential surmise of the" Principia's" desideratum.

I am, Sir, yours respectfully, WM. F. GODOLPHIN WALDRON. 97, White Lion-street, Pentonville,

PRESERVATION OF COPPER SHEATHING.

די

Sir, The following method of preserving copper under ships' bottoms, for a considerably longer time than usual, is, I believe, but little known:

Tar from wood or tar from coal contains a quantity of acid, which is a particular enemy to metals; this is shown in chemistry, in the course of manufacturing white lead, red lead, verdigris, and other colours, which are made by evaporation of acid, or its combination, with mineral substances. If this acid, which exists in the wood of the ship's bottom, in the tar wherewith the bottom is payed, and in the tar in which the paper or felt is soaked, can be got rid of, it is evident that the copper sheathing would last much longer. Some years ago, the copper covering of a house in the Royal dock-yard at Carl scrona, Sweden, being stripped off in the course of making some repairs, a quantity of lime-paste was found laid under a few of the plates, which were in an excellent state of preservation, and apparently likely to have lasted double the time of the others. Professor Berzelius, of Stockholm, the eminent chemist, when asked the cause of this, explained that nothing neutralises or kills the acid from wood so effectually as lime. Now, I am of opinion, that if paper or felt were soaked in a mixture of boiled oil, and as much slacked lime as the oil conveniently could contain, it would make a ship's copper bottom last for double the usual time. If oil be considered a too expensive article,

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the lime may be mixed with tar; but this would not be so effectual, for although the lime would kill the acid in tar, it would not entirely prevent the acid passing from the wood through the paper or felt. It would perhaps be worth while for some shipowner to try the experiment, and sheath one side of a ship's bottom in the common way, and the other in the manner I recommend; the result would be ascertained in seven years, or perhaps in a shorter time. The lime would not injure either the wood or the copper.

I remain, your very obedient,
J. F. OLANDER.

43, Fore-street, Limehouse, London,

April 4, 1836.

RISE AND PROGRESS OF HOROLOGY.

Mr. E.-Henderson, to whom our pages have been indebted for some valuable contributions on clock-work and planetary machinery, has lately published a short

Historical Treatise on Horology," which we have great pleasure in recommending as deserving the notice of all who, from business or taste, are interested in this most scientific and curious of all the branches of mechanics. The author states, that "should it meet the approbation of the public in general and the trade in particular, it is intended that the subject of horology shall be entered upon in theory and practice, in all its branches, illustrated with numerous engravings." Of its meeting with "approbation" we make no doubt; we only wish we could be as sure, that the approbation would be such in degree, as to encourage our worthy correspondent to pursue his labours. One important thing we must take leave to tell him is wanting to ensure success not certainly talent, nor research, nor information-but simply the clerical skill requisite to present the results of all these in a readable (not to say attractive) shape to the public. What would Mr. Henderson, or any other horological amateur, say of a chronometer the hands of which were seldom by any chance in the right-the second-hand at one time doing the office of the minutehand-the minute-hand at another returning the favour-and the hour-hand (as it were) provoked by the excessive eccentricity of its young friends, coming.

every now and then to a dead stop, when it should keep moving? Would he not at once throw it aside-were even the excellence of the interior mechanism such as human skill never before surpassed? Even so it is with a very ill-pointed book. A book, like a watch, is but made to be read; and if, from ill pointing, it cannot be read with ordinary facility, it will be as certainly thrown aside as the other. After all, perhaps, our brethren of the type are in the present case more to blame than the author of the treatise; they might have volunteered some useful assistance, and we think should have done Be this as it may, the blemish is one which, if not remedied in the proposed continuation of the work, will, we apprehend, be fatal to its prospects of success. We subjoin an extract that will serve to show at once the substantial worth of the treatise and its accidental defects; and lest our printers should think of doing for Mr. Henderson what his own have deemed superfluous, we beg that they will give the extract as they find it, verbatim et literatim:→→→

so.

"According to Dr. Derham, the oldest English made clock extant is the one placed in the principal turret of the Palace Royal, Hampton Court, near London, it was constructed in the year 1540 by a maker of the initials of N. O. The editor of the article "Clock-work" in Dr. Rees' Ency. very pros perly observes, that when we consider that this clock contains mechanism for represent+ ing the motions of some of the heavenly bodies, and that the celebrated Copernicus was living at the time of its date, and had not yet published his work "On the Revolutions of the Celestial Orbs," when we reflect also that more than a century elapsed after this time before the invention of the pendulum was applied as the regulator of clocks, these considerations appear sufficiently inter esting for a minute examination of the wheelwork of this ancient clock, particularly of that part of it which constitutes its celestial mechanism. Dr. Derham, in his Artificial Clock Maker, third edit. Lond. 1714, states, that the Hampton Court clock shows the time of the day, and the motions of the Sun and Moon, through all the degrees of the zodiac, together with the matters depending thereon, as the day of the month, the Sun and Moon's place in the ecliptic, the Moon's southing, &c. &c. To show how completely (for that age) the wheel-work was arranged, will be best known from the following short detailed extract from the same little work:

In the centre of all, both the dial-plate and