it in some degree to coal, and rendering it subservient to various public and profitable purposes. "And I moreover claim as my discovery or invention, that the coke, the residuum of said fuel, may, by being. ground either in water or oil, be employed as a pigment, and used as a substitute either for ivory black or blackening, and for several other purposes; and that the ashes obtained from said fuel may, by the simple process of boiling in pure water, and by being freed from all impurities, and by being in like manner ground in water or oil, be employed as a pigment, and used as a substitute either for Roman ochre or English umber. "The conversion, then, of peat-moss, peat-turf, or bog, into a fuel equal to coal for some, and superior to it for several purposes, by the particular method of operating, which I have described, and the extraction of the two several pigments I have specified, are the inventions and discoveries which I specially claim, and which constitute the foundation principles and elements of the patent which I have obtained, conferring upon me the exclusive right, privilege, and benefit of the same, and under and in virtue of which I claim protection accordingly, in principle and in practice, whatever may be the modes, devices, or means which others may contrive or resort to in order to effectuate the same purposes, and obtain the same or similar results."-[Inrolled in the Inrolment Office, August, To RICHARD BURCH, of Heywood, in the county of Lancaster, mechanist, for his invention of certain improvements in locomotive steam-engines, to be used either upon rail or other roads, which improvements are alsó applicable to marine and stationary steam-engines.— [Sealed 16th February, 1837.] THESE improvements in locomotive steam-engines, to be used either upon rail or other roads, which improvements are also applicable to marine and stationary engines, consist, firstly, in the peculiar construction of the engine, or in a novel arrangement of its common essential parts, whereby I am enabled to apply a separate cylinder and piston, or direct driving power to each running wheel of the carriage, and communicating the same to the crank pin in the wheel or to the crank on the end of its shaft, without the aid of a connecting. rod, and, consequently, coupling the wheels and effectually causing each wheel to revolve at every stroke of the piston, and proceed along the rails or road at each revolution, instead of unnecessarily slipping upon the rails without progression, as ordinary locomotive engines are liable to do. To effect this, two cylinders are applied upon, each side of the framing or carriage of the engine, in a line between the wheel axles or crank centres, and as the cranks revolve, the cylinders oscillate between them, thereby yielding to their motion, and, by a second im provement which I have applied, this vibration of the cylinder opens and closes the steam ports or valves.cqu The second improvement in the construction of loco motive and other steam-engines, consist in the appli cation of a peculiarly-formed face or disc valve, which is constructed upon the principle of an ordinary venti lator, and which I prefer should be divided into four, eight, sixteen, or such other number of equal parts as will divide by four without remainder. One half of these equal parts to be solid faces, and the other half to be openings or steam ports alternately, as will be more fully described hereafter. A horizontal shaft placed across the carriage supports the parts which form these valves, and also carries the four cylinders and forms the centres of oscillation for each pair, and as the cylinders vibrate upon their common centres, the valves or steam boxes being fixed or stationary upon the shaft, it will be evident that the opening and closing of the steam ports is thus effected. The third feature of novelty in the construction of locomotive or other steam-engines, is the introduction of a plate or disc of metal between the two faces above described, constituting the valve. And this plate being formed with corresponding openings or apertures to those in the valve, by being worked either backwards or forwards by a lever, will instantly reverse the stroke of the engine, and cause a retrograde motion to be performed, that is, by its intervention converting those openings in the valve which were outlets for the steam into inlets, and vice versa. >The fourth improvement is the parallel guides, or the means by which the centres of the cranks upon one side of the engine carriage are always kept square or at right angles to those upon the other side; and this arrangement also totally prevents any lateral strain upon the piston rods. This is effected by the attachment of a slide or parallel groove fixed on to the outer end or cap of each cylinder, and, consequently, allowed to vibrate with it, and in which groove or slide the brasses of the crank pins run or work. VOL. XI. 2 z |