13. For a Tide and Current Wheel; F. H. Southworth, City of St. Louis, Missouri, January 23.

"My tide or current wheel consists of a drum, or cylinder, revolving on an axis, which is generally placed vertically; said drum, or cylinder, being surrounded by buckets hinged thereto, so that they may open to receive the action of the water on one side thereof, whilst the buckets on the other side close, so as to pass round in the direction against that of the tide, or current, with little or no resistance. My principal improvement in the said wheel consists in the connecting together of the pairs of buckets which are diametrically opposite to each other, by means of rods jointed to said buckets, so that the opening or closing of one of them shall aid in effecting the reverse action in that with which it is connected. " The claim is to the so connecting the buckets; and we have no doubt that the action of such a wheel will be much improved thereby; but in all cases where hinged buckets are to be opened and closed by the current of water, a large portion of the power is lost by the opening not taking place until the buckets have each passed to a considerable distance beyond the point at which it is generally supposed the force of the water will be communicated to them.

14. For an improvement in the Construction of Chimneys; George H. Crossley, New Haven, Huron county, Ohio, January 28. "The nature of this invention consists in constructing the jambs of the fire-place with two flues in each, said flues opening into a common funnel communicating with the main flue of the chimney, so that the apertures for admitting the air from the fire-places and rooms into the jambs, shall open into separate flues, instead of opening into a common flue; by means of which arrangement a draught will be created through the openings that will aid the draught of the chimney, while in the other case there being but one flue with only two apertures in it for admitting the air, the draught through one of these would have a tendency to obstruct the draught through the other." The foregoing is not a very clear announcement of the nature of the arrangement; nor can we make it clear without devoting more time and space to it than we are disposed to spare, as after a careful examination of the matter, we are not of opinion that the so-called improvement for curing smokey chimneys is likely to be productive of much benefit.

15. For a Grubbing Machine; Young W. Short, Oglethorp county, Georgia, January 28.

This grubbing instrument consists of a piece of wood, or handle, about six feet long, and having another piece of wood about a foot long hinged to one end of it, in such manner as that when closed the handle and short piece will stand at about right-angles with each other. The parts which come together are faced with iron, or steel, grooved or furrowed like the jaws of pincers. The stuff to be grubbed is to be seized between these metallic plates, and the handle then consti

tutes a lever, and the outer end of the short piece a fulcrum by which the grubbing is to be effected. The claim is to "the combination of the two pieces constructed and operating in the manner and for the purpose herein specified."

16. For an improvement in Grist Mills; Elisha W. Welsh, Paris, Fauquier county, Virginia, January 20.

This improvement is in the manner of "keeping the bushes constantly against the spindles as they wear, and always lubricated ;" and the claim is to "the self-adjusting mode of keeping the bush tight against the spindle by means of the wedges acting against the wedgeshaped sections of the bush, either by their own weight, or the addition of weights, as described." The arrangement which is the subject of this patent is so similar to others previously in use as not to merit a distinct description. We should say that there is not any substantial novelty in it, and we believe that any intelligent jury would confirm this opinion.

17. For a Plough; Mahlon Smith, Tinicum, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, January 28.

The claims are to "the mode of securing the reversible cutter and share, by means of the vertical plate and its horizontal flanch, as set forth. To the mode of constructing and arranging the reversible rhomboidal cutter, so as to present four instead of two cutting edges, as described, and to the constructing the movable land-bar with a share, or wing attached, so that both may be advanced together." The numerous variations which are made the subjects of patents in ploughs, if described, would often present minute differences which do not appear to render the instrument either better or worse; and, at all events, an analysis of them would in most cases be equally difficult and profitless. Long continued use is the only test in most cases; and this is one which we cannot apply. In the case before us, we do not find any thing which calls for, or even admits of, special description.

18. For Removing Obstructions from Rail Road Tracks; William and James Thorn, Plainfield, Essex county, New Jersey, January 29.

Two circular brushes are placed in front of the wheels of a locomotive, so that their bristles shall come into contact with the tops of the rails. The shafts upon which these brushes are placed stand horizontally, but making an angle, say of 45° with the rails, and they are driven by the contact of conical, or bevilled wheels, with the flanch of the front driving wheels. The patentees say, "We do not claim to be the inventors of revolving brushes for cleaning rail roads, but what we do claim to have invented is the before described mode of arranging the revolving brushes by placing them obliquely across the track; and in combination therewith the method of communicat

ing the power to the brushes by means of the flanch on the front driving wheel acting on the conical wheel placed upon the axle of each of the revolving brushes, all as described."

19. For a Brick Machine; Julius Willard, city of Baltimore, January 29.

The clay, placed within a box, is to be tempered by the revolution within the box of paddles placed upon a horizontal shaft. From this box the tempered clay is to be forced into a long sliding trough, the depth and width of a brick, and it is thus in part moulded, which moulding is completed by cutting the long strip of clay into proper lengths for a brick by means of wires stretched upon a frame, and so arranged as to answer that purpose. The claim is to "the manner of forming the clay into long strips by means of the moulding trough, constructed as described, and the combination of the same with the carriage and tempering apparatus."

20. For an improvement in the Shuttle; James Baldwin, Nashua, Hillsbrough county, New Hampshire, January 31.

"The patentee says that his invention consists in furnishing the shuttle with such a spindle, spring, and catch, as will admit of the four conditions, or particulars, following, to wit: 1st. That the spring and catch be made of one piece, thereby avoiding the expense of separate catches and springs, and of fastening them separately to the body of the shuttle, as in all other shuttles now in use. 2nd. That the catch be fastened to the body of the shuttle by a screw, instead of playing upon a pin. 3rd. That by turning down the spindle with the bobbin upon it, into the mouth of the shuttle, it will be secured, and that it will be released by turning it up. 4th. That the head of the spindle be so formed, and the arrangements be such, that the spring shall press against that part of the head of the spindle which is back of the pin on which the spindle plays, instead of that part which is foward of said pin. The means and advantages of these arrangements are specially set forth and the following claim made.

"What I claim is the above described mode of furnishing the shuttle with a spring and catch in one piece, and so applying the spring to the spindle as that the rounded end of the head of the spindle shall come in contact with the spring, and by turning the spindle the catch is moved so as to release or receive the bobbin without any other operation."

Description of a Self-Acting Brake, for Rail Road Cars, for which letters patent of the United States were granted to GEORGE S. GRIGGS, of Roxbury, in the county of Norfolk, Massachusetts, December 31st, 1839.

We have been furnished by the patentee with the accompanying engravings of this apparatus, but as the view given of it, and the let

ters of reference, do not correspond with those of the specification and drawings in the patent office, we give the following references to the engravings, and also the concluding part of the specification.

Fig. 1, is an elevation of an eight wheel car, with the band and pulley brake, attached. Fig. 2, an underside, or bottom, view of the brake.

a represents a shaft suspended to the body of the car by the boxes b, b.

c, a cog wheel which revolves on the shaft a, when not connected by the clutch d.

e, a frame suspended on the shaft a, supporting the pinion of the pulley g.

h, a belt passing over the pulley g, and the axle of the car i.

k, a tempering screw connected with the frame e, and with the body of the car, to keep the belt sufficiently tight just to allow the car wheels to turn, or to make them slide when the brakes are applied.

1, 1, chains attached to the shaft a, and to the levers m, m, which wind round the shaft a, when the wheel c, is connected by the clutch on the shaft a.

m, m, levers connected to the brakes n, n, n, n, by the rods 0, 0, on one end of which are the tempering screws p, p, to adjust the brakes to the wheels, so that they shall cause them all to slide at the same time.

u, a forked lever supported by the frame of the car, to move the clutch d, by means of the rod r, which is connected with the upright lever s, the top of which is in the form of a T, to which is affixed lines leading to the engine, by which the wheel c, may be clutched to the shaft a, (the axle of the car acting on the pulley g, connected to the pinion f, by the belt h,) and cause the chains 1, 1, to wind on the shaft a, and thus to draw on the levers m, m, which being connected with the brakes n, n, n, n, cause them to stop the revolution of all the wheels.

"The advantages of this apparatus are, that the expense of brakemen may be saved, and the cars may be checked as soon as the engineer, or any other person forward sees danger; and the apparatus is much more effectual for this purpose than brakemen, and the danger arising from brakemen jumping off, as they sometimes do, is avoided, and the train is stopped much more suddenly than by the brakemen, without any shock, or strain; and in case of some cars of the train breaking loose, as they sometimes do, the lines may be so adjusted as that the lines for stopping the loose cars will, by the very circumstance of their breaking loose, be drawn until they are parted, and the loose cars thus stopped, instead of drifting along the railway, as they sometimes have done, to the great jeopardy of passengers.

"When the motion of the train is to be merely checked, but the train not stopped, the brakes of one or two cars, or more, that is to say as many as may be sufficient for the purpose, may be made to bear upon the wheels, the stopping of which, and their sliding on the rails, may be sufficient to check the speed as much as may be desired.

"I claim as my invention, and the subject of a patent, the causing of the revolution of the wheels to operate the brakes of railroad cars, in the manner, and by the mechanical contrivance substantially the same, and varying therefrom only in form; for the construction, as will be evident to every mechanic conversant with the subject, may be varied in its form very much without any invention, or the introduction of any new principle."

It appears from a number of testimonials of those who have used the foregoing brake, that it has fulfilled the intention of the patentee, VOL. I, 3RD SERIES.-No. 3.-MARCH, 1841.

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