ticulars referred to cannot well be described without the aid of the drawing.

41. For a Slide Valve for Steam Engines; Alexander M'Causland, Jr. City of Philadelphia, February 10.

This valve is constructed with a view to easy action, and facility of reversing the motion; the description refers throughout to the drawing; the claim is to "the opening through the valve, thus admitting the steam to act equally, and at once, upon the lid, or upper plate of the steam chest; and also the manner described of packing the top of the valve with metallic packing."

42. For a Crane for moving heavy bodies; Elias Marsh, Oswego, Oswego county, New York, February 10.

In this crane the power is applied to a horizontal lever attached to a vertical shaft, in the manner of the common horse mill. At the upper end of this shaft there is a drum, round which the hoisting rope is to coil. The other end of the rope extends to the outer extremity of the arm of a common crane, and leads over pulleys in the ordinary way, to a block. Over the shaft of the crane there are two guide pulleys for the hoisting rope, keeping it in its place as the crane is turned in any direction. The drum at the upper end of the first named shaft, turns upon an iron gudgeon, and rests upon a coupling box, so that when the load has been raised, and the crane is turned to the point where it is to be dumped, by pulling on a lever the drum is disengaged from the coupling box, and the load descends. The claims are to "the arrangement by which the arm is left free to traverse whilst the force is operating, or by which the force applied is made to act and react in the direction of the arm, without the intervention of check ropes, windlasses, &c., attached to the boom, as in ordinary use." So far as this applies to the allowing the crane to turn freely whilst the hoisting rope is kept in its place by the guide pulleys, there is no novelty in the thing, and it seems to us as though this was mainly alluded to.

43. For an improvement in Piano Fortes; John Pethick, City of New York, February 12.

The improvements claimed relate to the action of the instrument, and consist in "making the breast, and lip, or notch of the hammer butt, or knuckle, about double the thickness of those heretofore made; to wit, of the same breadth as the hinge butt, or a trifle less, to admit of its moving freely without chaffing each other;" to accomplish this, the shape of the hinge butt is altered, in a way described and shown in the drawings, and allowing "more than the usual width of the cloth, or other soft and suitable substance, for the centre pin to work on. In preserving the full breadth of the Jack flyer, or connecting lever, instead of passing it down to a breadth corresponding with that of the hammer teeth, as heretofore practised." These improvements are upon the French, or grand action, invented by Papp, of Paris.

44. For Constructing Boats to be used under water; Edward P. Fitzpatrick, Mount Morris, Livingston county, New York, February 12. These boats are to be constructed with a triangular cross section, one angle forming the lower point, or keel; the stem and stern are to be sloped

36. For a Machine for Cutting Straw; Joseph Evered, an alien, who has resided two years in the United States, February 10.

The description of this machine refers to the drawing throughout, and ends with a claim to "the finger wheels; the rising and falling of the rollers; the compression produced by the lever and weight; the concavity of the knives edges; the plan of the face of the wheel through which the straw is drawn; the centre screw on the worm and spindle, and its rise." The general form of the machine is such as has been in use for more than half a century, the straw being contained in a trough, furnished with fluted feeding rollers, and the cutting effected by curved knives on the arms of a fly wheel, revolving at one end of the box; these curved knives, it will be seen, are claimed as new; if the inventor could go back as far as we can in the recollection of the use of curved knives, in a manner precisely the same with their employment in this machine, he would not place himself among the novelties of the day. There are other things claimed, which are in the same predicament, and where so many individual things are particularized, it is not easy to avoid such an error, as few persons are fully informed of what has previously been done in those cases where machines have been long employed, as in cutting straw.

37. For a Thrashing Machine; Thomas Beede, Sandwich, Stafford county, New Hampshire, February 10.

This is a cylinder and concave machine, with some peculiarities about it upon which to found a claim, but not substantially different from numerous others of the same general construction.

38. For a Cooking Stove; John J. Giraud, Baltimore, Maryland, February 5.

The main improvement spoken of in the specification of this stove, is a boz door, which is to answer the purpose of the ordinary Dutch oven, but what are the peculiarities of its construction we cannot discover, as it is mentioned in the specification in the most general way. There is a drawing, with letters on the respective parts, but we find no references to them, and most of the things represented have no novelty whatever. The claim is to "the door oven at the front of the fire place, as well as the general combination and structure of the entire instrument." The door oven, which is specially claimed, is to be dispensed with when the stove is used for warming only.

39. For an improved Molasses Gate; Charles W. Perkham, New Haven, Connecticut, February 10.

This gate is constructed like those in general use, but a spring is used to press the gate, or sliding plate, against the orifice of the instrument, and the employment of the spring, exclusively, is the subject of the claim.

40. For an improvement in the Flyer for twisting roping, and yarn of cotton, hemp, or flax; Willard T. Eddy, Ithaca, Tompkins county, New York, February 10.

The claim made is to "the combination, arrangement, and adaptation of the several parts of the spindle and flyer for twisting roping; but particu larly the mode of hanging the spindles on a joint, and securing it by a spring; also the spring bearing against the end of the spool." The par

ticulars referred to cannot well be described without the aid of the drawing.

41. For a Slide Valve for Steam Engines; Alexander M'Causland, Jr. City of Philadelphia, February 10.

This valve is constructed with a view to easy action, and facility of reversing the motion; the description refers throughout to the drawing; the claim is to "the opening through the valve, thus admitting the steam to act equally, and at once, upon the lid, or upper plate of the steam chest; and also the manner described of packing the top of the valve with metallic packing."

42. For a Crane for moving heavy bodies; Elias Marsh, Oswego, Oswego county, New York, February 10.

In this crane the power is applied to a horizontal lever attached to a vertical shaft, in the manner of the common horse mill. At the upper end of this shaft there is a drum, round which the hoisting rope is to coil. The other end of the rope extends to the outer extremity of the arm of a common crane, and leads over pulleys in the ordinary way, to a block. Over the shaft of the crane there are two guide pulleys for the hoisting rope, keeping it in its place as the crane is turned in any direction. The drum at the upper end of the first named shaft, turns upon an iron gudgeon, and rests upon a coupling box, so that when the load has been raised, and the crane is turned to the point where it is to be dumped, by pulling on a lever the drum is disengaged from the coupling box, and the load descends. The claims are to "the arrangement by which the arm is left free to traverse whilst the force is operating, or by which the force applied is made to act and react in the direction of the arm, without the intervention of check ropes, windlasses, &c., attached to the boom, as in ordinary use." So far as this applies to the allowing the crane to turn freely whilst the hoisting rope is kept in its place by the guide pulleys, there is no novelty in the thing, and it seems to us as though this was mainly alluded to.

43. For an improvement in Piano Fortes; John Pethick, City of New York, February 12.

The improvements claimed relate to the action of the instrument, and consist in making the breast, and lip, or notch of the hammer butt, or knuckle, about double the thickness of those heretofore made; to wit, of the same breadth as the hinge butt, or a trifle less, to admit of its moving freely without chaffing each other;" to accomplish this, the shape of the hinge butt is altered, in a way described and shown in the drawings, and allowing "more than the usual width of the cloth, or other soft and suitable substance, for the centre pin to work on. In preserving the full breadth of the Jack flyer, or connecting lever, instead of passing it down to a breadth corresponding with that of the hammer teeth, as heretofore practised." These improvements are upon the French, or grand action, invented by Papp, of Paris.

44. For Constructing Boats to be used under water; Edward P. Fitzpatrick, Mount Morris, Livingston county, New York, February 12. These boats are to be constructed with a triangular cross section, one angle forming the lower point, or keel; the stem and stern are to be sloped

from the lower angle to the upper side, but they are to be, otherwise, perfectly straight. These boats are to be connected together, and to be entirely submersed; of course they must be air-tight. Pillars from them are to support a platform above the water, upon which the load is to be placed. Upon the lower side of this platform there are to be semi-cylin drical hollow trunks. "The intention of these semi-cylinders is to preserve the equilibrium of the platform, or receiving vessel, when in motion, and when the hollow triangular boats are sufficiently sunk." The propelling is to be effected by means of a paddle wheel, or of a spiral screw, placed between the boats. The claim is to "the form and construction, as being better suited to the purpose intended, of preventing the agitation of the surface in so great a degree as has been the case heretofore."

Those who have been in the habit of using Nicholson's Hydrometer, will not need to be told of the difficulty, we might say impossibility, of regulating the load of such a boat; but independently of this the whole plan is open to numerous valid objections, and proceeds upon the false assumption that the water may be agitated just below the surface, whilst it remains compara. tively tranquil there.

45. For a Churn; John E. Thomas, Winchester, Preble county, Ohio, February 12.

The body of the churn is to be a box, or case, through which two shafts are to run, furnished with slats, or dashers, passing between each other; on the outer end of each shaft there is to be a pinion, which is to be turned by a cog wheel; numerous examples of this churn exist in the patent office, and probably elsewhere.

46. For a Horse Power; Joseph Austin, Franklin county, Vermont, February 12.

No claim is made by the patentee to the construction of this horse power and although such an omission is sometimes to be regretted, it, in the present instance, will not be productive of the slightest loss or inconvenience, a claim having been made thereto more than forty-one years ago, and a drawing and description of it having been given in the second volume of the Repertory of Arts, published in 1795. The plan is to obtain power by placing the animal near the top of a large, revolving drum.

47. For a Machine for Cleaning and Dressing Feathers; Daniel K. Hall, City of New York, February 12.

Feather dressing machines are now the order of the day, and have become so numerous as to prevent our looking after any thing new, in a new patent, excepting merely a change of form, whilst the principle of action is identical. We find no cause, in the example before us, to alter these views. The feathers are to be put into a cylindrical screen which may be formed of wire, with solid ends. A shaft furnished with pins to agitate the feathers passes through, and may be made to revolve in, this screen. When charg ed with feathers it is to run upon ways into a chamber, or oven, in which it is to be enclosed by a door, admitting the shaft to pass through it. The heated air from a stove, and the vapour of water from a vessel placed upon it, aided by the agitation of the feathers, effect the purpose intended. There is not any claim made.

48. For Securing the Drop Doors of Rail Road Cars; John K. Smith, Port Clinton, Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, February 12.

This is not an affair which will interest many of our readers, nor one which could be intelligibly placed before them without the drawings; the claim being "to the various pieces which compose the fastening, and their general arrangement."

49. For a Steam Feather Dresser; Samuel Keplinger, City of Baltimore, February 12.

The feathers are to be put into a cylinder, similar to that described at No. 87, provided with a shaft and agitators, also similar. A second cylinder is to surround the first, at a distance of two or three inches from it; and into this steam is to be admitted from a boiler. The claim is made to "the combination, arrangement, and adaptation of the several parts of the before described machine." A standing claim which fits equally on to every contrivance, be the same old or new; but to this is added "particularly the mode of heating the feathers by steam, in the manner described."

50. For a Washing Machine; Luther Davison, Norwich, New London county, Connecticut, February 12.

A cylinder, the ends of which may be of wood, and the barrel part of zinc, is to revolve horizontally; round bars of wood are to reach from head to head, on its inside, standing at a small distance from its periphery, and allowing a space between each of them. A partition is also to extend across the middle of the cylinder, formed of similar bars, and dividing it into two equal parts. A door on the side of the cylinder allows the clothes to be put into either division of it.

"What I claim, is the arrangement of the bars in said cylinder, the partition of the cylinder, and the principle of washing the clothes in two separate parts of the same." A principle, the discovery of which will scarcely confer immortality.

51. For Apparatus for Drying Cotton after it has been picked, &c.; John Philbrick, Wilkinson county, Mississippi, February 12. (See Specification.)

52. For a Blowpipe for Furnaces; John Barker, City of Baltimore, February 12.

The patent for this blowpipe, is about to be re-issued under an amended specification, which we shall give at length.

53. For a Sliding Coal Grate; John C. Howard, Howard's Valley, Windham county, Connecticut, February 13.

A cast-iron grate, upon which a fire may be made, is to run in and out upon ways, on the sides of a fire place. The description of the thing is very imperfect, but a claim is made to "the manner of constructing this grate and its appendages, so as to be passed in and out of the chimney back, fire frame, or stove." Sliding, or "rail way grates," are no novelties, there, however, may be some unperceived advantages in the plan intended to be described.

VOL. XVIII-No. 3.-SEPTEMBER, 1836.

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