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to Arthur Dunn, entitled "certain improvements in the manufacture of soap."

The present patentee introduces into the boiler, mentioned in Dunn's patent, to every 24 lbs. of tallow 10 pints of caustic soda leys, of a specific gravity of 1.12, and heats the same to 300° Far.; he then adds to them, by means of a force-pump or injecting apparatus, at intervals, about 30 pints of strong caustic soda leys, of a specific gravity of 1.20, to every 24 lbs. of tallow, and keeps it for two hours at a temperature of from 300° to 310o Far., when the saponifying process will be complete, which may be ascer tained by drawing off small quantities from the boiler, by means of cocks placed at different heights. The stronger caustic soda leys are contained in a pan or vessel, which communicates, by means of suitable pipes, with the forcepump, by which they are injected into the boiler.

The patentee does not claim anything contained in the patent granted to the said Arthur Dunn; but he claims

First, The introduction of leys, in separate portions, at different times, into the close or covered steam-tight vessel or boiler, used by the said Arthur Dunn, in his patent process, during the process of saponification; such leys being of greater strength or specific gravity than the leys first put into the said boiler, with the fatty or oily matters.

Secondly,-The application of a force-pump or other injecting apparatus, with proper pipes, cocks, and valves, communicating with a reservoir of stronger leys, applied to a boiler for the purpose of introducing such stronger leys into the ingredients contained in the said boiler.-[Inrolled in the Inrolment Office, February, 1840.]

Scientific Adjudication.

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS.

Before Lord Chief Justice Tindal and a Special Jury,
Thursday, February 11th, 1841.

WALTON V POTTER AND HORSFALL.

This was an an action for an infringement of a patent granted to the plaintiff, March, 1834, " for certain improvements in cards for carding wool, cotton, silk, and other fibrous substances;" the council for the plaintiff were Sir F. POLLOCK, Mr. Serjeant BoмPAS, and Mr. ADDISON; for the defendants, Sir W. FOLLETT, Mr. Serjeant CHANNELL, and Mr. COWLING.

The cause came forward at the last Middlesex Sittings, but was, by general consent, deferred. The evidence then given, they agreed should be taken from the Judge's notes. The trial lasted two days, and did not terminate until eight o'clock in the evening.

The pleas entered on the record were, firstly,—the invention of Mr. Walton differed materially from that for which the defendants had obtained a patent, in April, 1839; secondly, that the plaintiff was not the true and first inventor; thirdly,—the said alleged invention was not new, as regards the public use thereof at the time of granting the letters patent; fourthly,-it was not a new manufacture; fifthly,-it was of no public benefit or advantage; sixthly,—the alleged invention was not properly described in the specification; and lastly,--at the time of committing the several supposed grievances, a license was granted to them by the plaintiff.

The usual manner of making cards, previous to this invention, had been to pierce holes into sheets of thick leather, at equal distances, and in these holes to insert the dents or teeth, which are small pieces of iron wire, bent like a hook, and ground to an even height.

The manner in which the plaintiff's cards are made,* is by

* SeeVol XVII., page 363, of the present Series of the London Journal of Arts.

cutting slices of block India-rubber, and fixing the teeth in these slices, giving an elasticity to the teeth, which is considered very desirable,—and at the same time making the card more durable. Linen cloth is affixed to the back of the Indian-rubber by cement, so as to keep the dents or teeth in their proper places, otherwise they might tear out and spoil the card; but when fastened to rollers, the cloth is removed.

Much evidence was taken, and some of it of a very contradictory nature. On the part of the plaintiff there was the evidence of Mr. Brande, Mr. Daniell, Mr. Edward Cooper, and Mr. Carpmael, all of whom gave, as their opinion, that the patent of the defendants is not in any material circumstance different from the plaintiff's; on the contrary, Mr. Farey, Dr. Ure, and Mr. J. T. Cooper, stated, as their opinion, the inventions to be very dissimilar; the chemists, on both sides, stating the reasons which had led them to different conclusions.

The defendants' plan for manufacturing the backs of cards, (for the specification see our present number,) is by providing a cloth, the warp of which must possess the greatest strength, with the least possible elasticity, such as yarn or thread made of hemp, flax, or cotton, which yarn should be made of three strands, doubled and twisted together. When a woollen weft is shot into the warp, the cloth is taken out of the loom, cleaned, milled to the requisite thickness, and immersed several times into a solution of India-rubber varnish; when dry, a mixture of red ochre and weak size is rubbed over the surfaces of the material, and it is then ready for the teeth or dents to be inserted.

The quantity of India-rubber in the two manufactures, was stated to be very different, compared to the cloth;-in the plaintiff's card, the India-rubber is as three to one, and in the defendants' as one to three. The main ground taken by the defendants' counsel was, that the application of India-rubber, to the making of card backs, was not new, but had been used by Mr. Hancock, under a patent right, granted to him in 1825, called a substitute for leather. Many witnesses were called to prove the consumption of this substance for the backs of cards; among others, a Mr.

Hemingway stated that he had made a great quantity, and they had been highly approved of; this took place about eight or ten years since; others had made them also, but they were not brought into general use, as appears by the evidence of the foreman and another, in the employ of Mr. Walton, who were ignorant of the use of India-rubber as a substitute for leather, previous to the plaintiff's patent.

With respect to the invention being improperly described in the specification, the only point of doubt was, whether the patentee intended the wires or teeth to pass through the Indiarubber only, or through the cloth also. The difference between the two ways being so great, that in the former the dents or teeth would pull out whilst being used, but in the latter would be fit for the purposes of a good working card.

The Lord Chief Justice, in a very elaborate summing up, directed the Jury to find a verdict for the plaintiff upon the last issue, no evidence having been brought to prove the license alleged to have been granted to the defendants; but left the rest to their consideration. The Jury having one dissentient, retired at eight o'clock, and returned into Court at half-past nine, finding a verdict for the plaintiff on all the issues, with nominal damages.

Scientific Notices.

REPORT OF TRANSACTIONS OF THE INSTITUTION
OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.

(Continued from page 398, Vol. XVII.)
May 26, 1840.

The PRESIDENT in the Chair.

"On a new Mode of Covering Roofs with Planking."
By William Cubitt, Assoc. Inst. C. E.

The roof itself is framed in the usual manner with principals and purlins, but without rafters. The boards, intended for the

covering, are cut, by means of a circular saw, from planks 7 inches wide by 24 inches thick, in such manner that each plank makes two boards, the one tapering from its centre towards the edges, the other from its edges towards the centre. The hollow boards are laid side by side, at intervals of 4 inches, and nailed to the purlins by their centres only, so as to admit of shrinking; the intervening spaces are then covered by the other boards, overlapping 1 inch on each edge, and nailed in like manner. The covering thus formed presents a series of alternate elevations and depressions, longitudinally from the ridge to the gutter, and consequently the rain falls off very rapidly, and a roof so constructed is easily kept water-tight. The author conceives this to be the most economical mode of using timber for covering, and he has adopted it extensively. The communication was accompanied by a model of the roof, and specimens of the boards as they are left by the saw.

A letter was read from Ardaseer Cursetjee, of Bombay, inviting a discussion on the relative advantages of long and short connecting rods for marine engines. He was induced to make inquiry on this subject from some observations in a conìmunication to the Institution, relative to the engines of the steam tug the "Alice" (Minutes of Proceedings, page 54). In that paper, their superiority is in part attributed to the increased length of the connecting rods. This is the point upon which he requests information, as he conceives, that the power of the piston upon the crank is the same, whatever may be the medium through which it is transmitted, and the effect to be the same throughout a complete revolution, whether the connecting rod be long or short, except that from the increased angle of a very short connecting rod, some additional friction is thrown upon the joints.

On the general construction of the engine of the "Alice," he remarks, that engines of similar form are now used for pumping at the Thames Tunnel, under Mr. Brunel's direction; and that a pair of engines of this kind were built by Messrs. Seaward, 13

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