TO WILLIAM HEREPATH, of the city of Bristol, in the county of Somerset, philosophical chemist, and JAMES FITCHEW COX, of the same place, tanner, for their invention of a certain improvement or certain improvements in tanning.-[Sealed 16th November, 1837.]

THESE improvements in tanning, consist in the alternate absorption and expression of the tanning liquor from hides or skins, by which the said hides are supposed to become tanned, in a much shorter time than when the ordinary method is employed.

The hides or skins are first properly prepared, by unhairing, fleshing, trimming, &c. ; they are then connected or attached to each other by ligatures of strong twine, or in any other convenient manner,-care being taken that the skins are connected together, butt to butt, and shoulder to shoulder, in the manner shewn in fig. 1, Plate III., in order that they should make an even and regular band; or if the skins are connected together, side by side, the butt end of one skin should be laid against the shoulder end of the next. A sufficient number of skins having been thus connected or attached together, they are submitted to the action of the tanning liquid, in the following manner :

One end of the band of skins is passed between the two rollers a, and b, of the tanning apparatus, figs. 2 and 3,— fig. 2, being a section, and fig. 3, a front view of the apparatus. The end having been passed between the rollers, it is to be attached to the other end of the band of skins, and thus form an endless band. Rotary motion is then communicated to the apparatus from a steam-engine, by means of the drum c, which is mounted on the axle of the roller b; a small pinion d, is also mounted on the same axle, and takes into a toothed wheel e, on the axis of the lower roller

a. Upon actuating the apparatus, the skins (which have been previously arranged in the tan pit) are passed between the two rollers, the upper one of which is weighted. The exhausted or partially exhausted tanning liquor, thereby becomes expressed; and when the skin passes onward from the rollers, it again enters the pit, and absorbs a quantity of fresh tannin.

The patentees do not claim, as new, the apparatus shewn, nor do they confine themselves exactly to the manner above described, of carrying out their invention, as they sometimes have the skins connected in one long band, instead of an endless band; and when the whole of the skins have been operated upon, the apparatus is reversed, and they are all passed back again; they however prefer them to be connected as an endless band; and sometimes they employ only one roller, over which the skins are passed, leaving the weight of the skins alone to express the exhausted tanning liquor; but what they claim, as their invention, is "tanning hides or skins, by connecting or attaching them together, as hereinbefore directed, and submitting them to a quick and repeated alternation of absorption and expression,-absorption of fresh tanning liquor and expression of the liquor when exhausted of its tannin, or partially so,— by means of a continuous application of one, two, or more rollers, placed, adjusted, moved, regulated, and fed or supplied, in the manner hereinbefore directed and described; or placed, adjusted, moved, regulated, and fed or supplied, in any other manner, by which the like effects may be produced; and the frequently repeated absorption by the hides and skins of fresh tanning liquor, and expression from them of exhausted liquor, (which is the essence of our invention,) can be accomplished.”—[Inrolled in the Inrolment Office, May, 1838.]

To JOHN POTTER, of Ancoats, near Manchester, in the county of Lancaster, spinner, and WILLIAM HORSfall, of Manchester, card-maker, for an improvement or improvements in cards, for carding various fibrous substances; part of which improvements may be used as a substitute for leather.-[Sealed 20th April, 1839.]

THESE improvements consist in the manufacture of a new material or substance for receiving the wire teeth of cards, which have hitherto, for the most part, been set in leather.

A woven fabric, of a peculiar construction, is manufactured, the warp of which is composed of a material pos sessed of the greatest possible strength, and the least elasticity, such as yarn made of flax, hemp, or cotton; which yarn is composed of two or three strands, doubled and twisted together, and the weft is composed of sheep's wool.

The cloth, after it is woven, is cleaned or scoured, so as to free it from any oil or other impurities, and milled; by which latter process, the fabric is brought to the requisite thickness, by being milled up in width, or in the direction of the thread or yarn of wool.

For most kinds of cards, cloth milled up to such a thickness, that one yard in length by twenty-seven inches in width shall weigh from 14 to 16 ounces avoirdupoise, is the most suitable.

If the cards to be manufactured, are intended for fillet cards, the cloth is next to be torn up lengthwise of the piece, into strips of a suitable width; but if sheet cards are intended, the cloth is to be cut crosswise, or in the direction of the weft, making the usual allowance, as when using leather, for the space on each side for the purpose of affixing the wire cards to the cylinder of the carding engine. A sufficient number of these short pieces of cloth are to be

VOL. XVIII.

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sewn together at the ends, so as to form a fillet or belt, by which the subsequent operations will be facilitated.

The cloth is now coated with India-rubber, by means of the machine shewn in Plate III. a, b, are two leaves of similar form, which move on pivots at c, c; d, is one of two levers set fast on the pivot c, of the leaf a; and each lever is furnished with a weight e, by which the leaves a, and b, are pressed together with any required force.

There are two triangular plates, not shewn in the drawing, placed one at either edge of the leaves; and to the back of these plates is rivetted a thin strip of metal, which proceeds downwards between the two leaves a, b, in each of which there are two slots, through which proceed two slips of metal 7, (only one is seen in the drawing,) which are connected together at their extremities, by means of two worm springs. These two springs, acting on the strips of metal, by the intervention of the slips 7, bring the two triangular plates of metal towards each other, with any required force.

m, represents a strip of cloth, rolled in a coil on a short cylinder of wood, supported between two bearings;-the whole of the strip of cloth may be drawn off at pleasure. From hence the strip proceeds over the rollers f, and g, and then passing down between the two leaves a, b, and the triangular plates, it receives a charge of the India-rubber varnish or cement at h, with which the space, formed by the leaves and triangular plates, is to be kept supplied. It now passes under the roller i, and on to a short cylinder of wood k, with two discs of metal, placed at either end on its axis, which are required to keep the strip of cloth in its proper place, whilst it is wound into a coil. One of the discs is made fast on the axis, and has a short pin projecting from the face of it, by which the cylinder of wood is carried round; the other disc is moveable, and is set fast

the axis by means of a screw, so that when the coil is

complete, by removing the disc, the coil may be taken off, and, if required, replaced in its former position at m, and again drawn through the India-rubber varnish.

The cloth is passed several times through the varnish, and finished by a coating of ochre and glue size; and after being submitted to pressure, will be ready for the cardmaking machine.

The patentees likewise form another kind of fabric, by cementing woollen cloth, saturated with the India-rubber varnish, to the back of strong cloth, composed of hemp, flax, or cotton.

The patentees claim, first,—The mode of producing a cloth or fabric, by combining sheep's wool and caoutchouc together with a third material, which may be either flax, hemp, or cotton, or a mixture of the same, the fabric being fulled or milled to a proper thickness before applying the India-rubber; such fabric being peculiarly adapted to the making of wire cards, and also a substitute for leather for other purposes.

Secondly,-The application and combination of the woollen cloth, milled or fulled to a proper thickness, and afterwards saturated with caoutchouc, and cemented to the back of strong cloth, composed of flax, hemp, or cotton, as a substitute for leather in the making of wire cards. They do not claim coating fabrics in general with India-rubber, but only the peculiar fabric above described.-[Inrolled in the Inrolment Office, October, 1839.]

To SAMUEL GUPPY, of Bristol, merchant, for improvements in a certain process, and apparatus used in the manufacture of soap.—[Sealed 1st August, 1839.]

THIS invention consists in improvements on a patent, which was granted in one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight,