fers, as to render it applicable to most of the purposes for which drawing on the stone is now had recourse to, offered a premium with this object, which was successfully claimed by Mr. Netherclift. The society do not suppose that Mr. Netherclift's process is incapable of improvement; but, from the specimens produced before them, and from the unanimous testimony of several very competent judges, they believe that the process which they now make known will be found to produce work of a very superior quality to the lithographic transfers which have hitherto come under the notice of the public.

Take the proportions as follow:-A quarter of a pound of tapioca and arrow-root; boil them separately into a paste, and then unite them, and pour sufficient hot water to make the whole a thin paste, which must be strained through a muslin rag: add to the above a quarter of a pound of flake white, well ground in water previously, and stir it in with the paste. The paper, either thick or thin, should be rather porous, or what is called half-sized paper. First, with a flat camel's-hair brush lay a coat of common size on the paper, and let it dry in; then lay on the paste in the most careful and even manner thrice following, but dried between each time of laying on. Thus the whole surface will be properly covered: if there should be any part omitted, the work on it will be imperfect. As soon as the paper is dry, it should be either well cold pressed, or sent to the glazing-mill and flatted between iron rollers which clears the surface, and the glazed part should be on the back side of the paper, which is done by rolling two sheets together face to face. The work on the paper is, if fine, executed with a steel pen, as the specimen herewith sent, the dark parts with a common crow-quill.

The ink is composed of equal quantities of yellow soap and shelllac, boiled and burnt together, with lamp-black sufficient to make it black, which forms a cake, to be rubbed up as Indian ink with warin or cold water. I prefer to use no tallow or bees'-wax, and am prepared to shew that the art of lithography, as connected with inkwork, is not founded on the opposite qualities of acid and grease; for the above ink requires no acid to neutralize the alkali of the soap, the grease of which is fixed by the extreme quantity of shell-lac. Thus the acid is avoided, and the lines are not so liable to be injured. In extreme cases, however, where a mass of shade is condensed, a little acid may be used with effect. Nitric acid, diluted with water, is the proper requisite.

The act of transferring is easy-Let the stone be moderately warmed; damp the back of the paper on which the work has been executed till it lies perfectly flat; take care no wet touches the work; lay the paper carefully on the warm stone, and on it lay flat soft paper, which will absorb the wet on the back of the transfer paper. Pass it through the press three or four times with increased pressure, after which this paper will peel of, leaving the composition as VOL. IV.-No. 81. 1ST APRIL, 1830.

N N

well as the drawing on the stone. Wash off the former, and rub the drawing over with a strong coat of gum-arabic water. Lay it till cold, and print.

AMERICAN PATENTS GRANTED IN JUNE AND AUGUST, 1829.

For a Mode of ascertaining the Weight of Goods, or other Loading, in Boats, or other Water Craft. THOMAS COHOON, Troy, New York, June 18.

TUBES are to be fixed on the gunwale of the boat, or in any other convenient part. These tubes are to stand vertically, are to be open at both ends, and their lower ends dip into the water. Floats, with graduated stems, are used to ascertain the height of the water in these tubes these stems having been once graduated, by actually loading the boat by tons or half tons, will ever after indicate the weight of the loading. The floats may be made of any buoyant material, as of cork, hollow balls of metal, &c., and when the load is unequally distributed, the measurement may be taken in different parts of the vessel.*-Journal of the Franklin Institute.

For a Mode of manufacturing or forming Hat Bodies of Wool by Machinery. LEVI VAN HOSEN, Norwalk, Fairfield County, Connecticut, June 19.

THE general principle upon which this machine acts is similar to that of several others which have been patented. The wool is taken from the doffer of a common carding machine, and wound upon cylinders with rounded ends, or upon cones, so as to form the bodies. The particular claim in this machine is to the mode of vibrating the sheet of wool, as it winds upon the former, so as to cross the fibres, and cause them to felt well, and of forming from one to six bodies at the same time, according to the width of the carding machine.— Ibid.

For an Improvement in Canal Passage Boats. JACOB BROMWELL, Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, June 23.

A MOVEABLE roof, forming an awning, is to be constructed above the ordinary roof of a canal boat: this roof is to be capable of sliding down, so as to coincide with the fixed roof when the boat passes under bridges. To effect this, the standards or stancheons, which support the moveable roof, pass into hollow columns or boxes. Weights, passing over pulleys, serve as a counterpoise to the moveable roof, and suffice to sustain it when not pressed down; or the same effect, it is stated, may be produced by springs. There are

* This obvious mode of ascertaining the weight of cargoes has been practised in England.-ED.

two pieces of tough hard wood, hinged to the front edge of the moveable roof, and at the other end to the bows, or some forward part of the boat; these are to form inclined planes, which, when passing under bridges, are to press the moveable roof down.

The object of the invention is the accommodation of the passengers, who, under the protection of this roof, may view the country through which they pass without annoyance from the sun or rain. They must look out, however, in passing bridges, or the roof may prove a "dead fall." It may be well to recollect the poor Frenchman, who, when the captain of a canal boat cried "look out," as they approached a bridge, nearly suffered decapitation by literally obeying the order.-Ibid.

For a Mode of cutting out Boots and Shoes by means of a Scale or graduated Pattern. SAMUEL MARSHALL, Philadelphia, June 23.

THE pattern used by Mr. Marshall is usually made of copper, and bears a strong resemblance to that for which a patent was obtained by Mr. Thomas Howe, of Massachusetts, on the 18th of April, as noticed in our last number. It appears highly probable that both these gentlemen have adopted analogous modes of procedure independently of each other.-Ibid.

For a Cooking Stove for burning Lehigh and other hard Coal. CORNELIUS SCHERMERHORN, New York, June 23.

JUDGING from the drawing and description we should think this stove well adapted to its purpose. At all events, it is distinctive in its character, the structure of the stove, and the management of the fire, differing essentially from every other which we have seen.

The body of the stove is a rectangular iron box, closing in front with folding doors. This box contains a sliding grate or furnace. In the drawing accompanying the specification, the grate is represented in the form of the ordinary Lehigh coal grate, with open bars in front. The box, in which the grate is contained, is in length and height just sufficient to receive it, but in depth, from front to back, about three times that of the grate. A bar or rod projects forward, by means of which the grate, which slides upon ledges, may be drawn forward, or pushed towards the back of the containing box. The top of the box, in front, is perforated to receive boilers, &c.; under which the grate may be drawn, whilst at the same time roasting may be effected in front of it. The back half of the box is surmounted by an arched oven, formed of double plates, to allow a passage to the escape pipe. There are sliding dampers, and other appendages, which appear to be ingeniously contrived and likely to operate well, but which we shall not attempt to describe.

The claims are to "the sliding furnace acting directly on the boilers, and all parts of the oven; and likewise the ventilators preventing a too intense heat upon the bottom of the oven plate; also the portable slide or damper, and the construction of the double

flue.

For an improved Churn.

ABNER MURRAY, Athens, Bradford

County, New York, June 27.

THIS churn is to stand vertically; its dasher consists of one flat board, revolving on gudgeons, and reaching each way to within two or three inches of the sides of the churn. Stationary slats are fixed within the churn, extending from the bottom to the top; they are fastened by one edge to the staves, and are sufficiently wide to reach within half an inch of the dasher; of these slats there may be two or more. The upper gudgeon of the dasher passes through the top of the churn, and bas on it a bevelled wheel, which is turned by a second bevelled wheel, fixed upon a horizontal axis, and moved by a crank.

The claim is to the " placing from two to five slats or breaks perpendicularly, at equal distances apart, inside of the churn, to set between the joints of the staves, standing edgewise, towards the centre of the churn."-Ibid.

For an Improvement in manufacturing and ornamenting of Combs. EBENEZER MUSTIN, Philadelphia, June 27.

THIS improvement in the manufacturing and ornamenting of combs, consists in drawing any device or ornament upon the tops of. combs with gold size, and the laying on of gold, silver, or other leaf, or bronze. This process is the same that is practised upon chairs, and an infinite variety of ornamented articles; the invention or discovery, therefore, consists in doing that upon combs which has in itself no novelty whatever. The whole specification might have been comprised in the words, "I claim a patent for ornamenting combs by gilding." Query, is this " a new and useful improvement on any art, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, not known or used before the application?"—Ibid.

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For an Improvement in the Mode of stiffening Hats, JONATHAN D, WILSON, New York, August 6.

THE rim of a hat, and the top of the crown, are to be stiffened in the usual way, whilst the part between is to be left without stiffening of any kind. A piece of buckram, or other stiff substance, is made to fit within the hat, the lower edge tucking under the sweat leather, and the other extending up to the crown. When this is removed, the hat may be flattened down, and put into a trunk, and, when replaced, the hat will resume its usual appearance.

The inside stiffener constitutes the claim.Ibid.

For preserving Apples and other Fruit, Beets, and sweet Potatoes, and other Roots. AMOS HART, Wharton, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, August 10.

THE mode proposed is to pack the fruit or roots, in dry pulverized charcoal, contained in well-seasoned wooden vessels.

The use of charcoal in preserving animal matter, and in destroying the putrescent odour and taste of the most filthy water, is well known, and we have no doubt that the same article will tend to preserve vegetables from decay. We apprehend, however, that the soiling effect of fine charcoal dust will prevent its extensive use, excepting, it may be, in packing fruits, &c., for exportation.

For an Improvement in the Business of Ferrying and Draying. LUNENBERG C. ABERNATHY, Boone County, Kentucky, Aug. 18.

A PADDLE-WHEEL, like that of a steam-boat, is to be placed on one side of a river, and is to be driven by the current. The shaft of this wheel carries two cog-wheels, which may alternately be made to engage in a wallower, and turn it in opposite directions. On the same shaft with the wallower there are two drums, to each of which one end of a rope is to be fastened, and around each a portion of it is to be coiled: this rope is also to extend double across the river, and pass round a pulley on its bank. To the middle of this rope the ferry-boat is to be attached, when it may be sent over, and returned by a man who attends the wheel, and engages and disengages the wallower.

The same apparatus is to be attached to a dray, or other carriage, to draw goods from or to a warehouse near the banks of the river. The whole plan, we suppose, being considered as new, no particular claim is made.-Ibid.

For a Machine for packing Cotton. OBADIAH STITH, Laurenceville, Brunswick County, Virginia, August 25.

EACH Cheek of this press consists of two bars of iron standing upright. They are framed into a bed-piece, and stand at the distance of a few inches apart, to allow a piece, called a driver, to extend out between them. These iron bars are perforated with round holes, to receive pins which serve as fulcra, upon which the levers work which are to force the driver and follower down upon the cotton. The cheeks are placed apart at a distance equal to the length of the bale to be packed. The levers, of which there are two, are each twenty feet long; they have a mortise in the middle, to allow them to pass up and down on the iron cheeks at each end of the press. The levers are to be drawn down at each end alternately, the pins placed in the holes of the bars being shifted as they descend. The sides of the press are boxed up to receive the cotton, which is put in at the top. When the levers are at the upper end of the cheeks, the driver falls on one side, and offers no obstruction to the introduction of the cotton. An iron strap or stirrup, from each end of the driver, connects it with the levers, descending into the centre of the mortises, where it is secured by strong pins, upon which it works as a joint.

We shall probably recur again to this press, as it is certainly more simple than many of those which are used for the same purpose, and we think that it will be found convenient in practice: should this