[(NI A WEEKLY JOURNAL OF PRACTICAL INFORMATION, ART, SCIENCE, MEChANICS. CHEMISTRY, AND MANUFACTURES. Vol. XXI.---No. 1. [NEW 5ERIE5.] NEW YORK, JULY 3, 1869. $3 per Annum [IN ADVANcE. A One-needle Family Knitter. The exceedingly simple machine, illustrated below, will be examined with interest by all, and especially those ac- customed to the complicated machines heretofore presented. Its prominent features are its fewness of parts and the superi- ority of its work, not without reason thought to be destined to revolutionize all previous methods for producing knitted goods. Most of our subscribers will remember our illustra- tion of the original patent some twenty months since, which attracted considerable attention from its simplicity, and was opied from our pages into several European journals; but the company owning the patents, having been steadily im- grooves of the segment of proving their first machines, and having secured new patent, the machine differs essentially from the original device. As a type of American inge- nuity for American homes, a complete knitting machine, with but 27 pieces employed in its en- tire construction,will be, perhaps, as appropriate an illustration as could grace the first page of our new volume. This simple, cheap, but sub- stantial machine by means of a single eye-pointed needle, in con- nection with a looping hook, and work-supporting comb traversing (automatically, or at the design of the operator) in front of the needle, certainly produces the handsomest work we have ever seen from machinery or hand, in which opinion we are sustained by competent experts, as well as by the medals unanimously awarded it at the Paris Exposi- tion, the last American Institute Fair in this city, and, indeed, wherever it has been in competi- tion. The driving wheel, A, adapted by its crank for hand, or by a band wheel and treadle, as in a sewing machine, for foot power, as desired, drives the friction pul- ley, B, on the shaft, C, and, by it, the grooved cam-disk, D. This latter ingenious device for oper- ating the comb, E, backward and forward before the needle, con- sists of a small double grooved disk engaging in the toothed rack of the comb, and, as seen in the cut, has a section of its periphery movable and pivoted at one end. This arrangement causes the comb to advance one tooth each revolution of the zlisk, according as the section is swung to the right or left by the small dog, F, placed under the movable end of the swinging segmentand which dog is auto- matically operated by its striking against the indexes, 0, as either arrive at the cam-disk, Dthus instantly reversing the direction of the rack. It will at once be seen that this short, movable portion of the periphery of the disk,causes, by its pitch, a comparatively quick advance of the combthe complement of its grooved circumference holding the comb perfectly im- movable the remainder of the revolution while the loop is be- ing formedthus rendering the stitch cevtain, without that liability-of dropped~~ stiches, which has, heretofore, prevented the general adoption of domestic knitting machines. Another great advantage of this invention consists in sup- porting the work from the teeth of a steel comb, E, avoiding the complications and accidents to which knitting machines with from seventy-five to one hundred and twenty-five needles, are necessarily subject, although with these the generality pro- duce but a straight circular tube, susceptible ot no change or variation, save by stopping the machine and inserting or re- moving needles each time it is desired to vary the diameter even a single stitch. The indexes, 0, which are instantly moved any number of stitches desired, beside reversing the action of the comb, point to the number on the comb, give, at a glance, the stitches in width of the work in hand, while the counter, H, which is pushed forward one tooth each time the comb trav- erses across, presents the rows of stitches in length that the work has progressedthus entirely saving the old drudgery of counting each stitch, necessitated in hand work or other knitting machines, and reducing the labor of knitting a stock- ing or other article, to the simple method of changing the in- dexes,whenever the counter, H, has enumerated a certain num- ber of stitches in length. Centered immediately above the disk, ID, is the needle bar, I, which carries the needle and re eeives its reciprocating motion from a crank pin on the disk working through it in a slot, and also the looping hook, J, operated by means of a cam-slot cut in the disk immediately about the crank pin, which slot receives a pin projecting from the looper shank, J.~ The needle bar is easily turned up, as shown by the dotted elevation of the same, for threading, etc., and when so reversed, as it can be, without breaking the yarn, the work in progress cannot be disturbed by the interfe- rence of a child, or others, during the absence of the opera- tor. The tension screw, K, is seen on the side of the needle bar. With the needle disconnected from the work, and the be a raw edge, but finished, as it comes from the machine. Many other advantages over the most expensive knitters,~~ may be enumerated. For instance, it is evident that the work and all the machinery are in full view of the operator, and readily understood by a childthat the knitter can be run by hand or foot, like the sewing machinethat any size yarn or cord can be usedthat, by reason of its small friction gear and the large driver, it is almost noiseless, while an extremely high speed can be reached, which, with the rapidity of widening~ and narrowing, places this machlne in th. front rank of fast knitters, and that the tension governing the cam-disk, ID, in line with the the size of loop iS altered in a second. It also knits the buttonholes t. use an Irishism), in a garment; knits in different colors or sizes of yarn without tying together; knits any fabric from an afghan to a pair of gloves; knits a stock- ing complete with a hand heel (which stockings do not require the toes and heels to be knit in by hand, but will knit them double if desired); and pro- duces work equal to hand-knit in every respect, not liable to return to a uniform tubular shape after the first washing. These machines are now being manufactured by the Hinkley Knitting Machine Company, under the United States patents. The patents obtained in Great Britain, Belgium, France, New Brunswick, etc., are for sale. Parties desiring agencies. ter ritory, machines, or other in formation, will address the New York office of the Hinkley Knit- ting Machine Company, No. 176 Broadway, New York city. DeterminatIons of Free Ox. ygen~ At a meeting of the Manches- ter Literary and Philosophical Society, Mr. Peter Hart described his method of making rapid de- terminations of free oxygen. The apparatus required consists, in addition to an ordinary pneu- matic trough, of two tubes, each ~ inch in diameter and 16 inches long, closed at one end. One of the tubes is graduated into ~Oths of a cubic inch, e,nd the other is coated internally with phosphorus. This is effected by dropping into the tube a few pieces of phosphorus; it is then to be closed by a sound cork, and the phosphorus (melted by immersing the tube in hot water) may be spread in a thin coating over the interior by turning it round as it cools. On cooling, the cork is to be withdrawn, the tube filled with water, and a piece of india-rubber tube tied securely over the mouth. This completes the apparatus. The modus oper- andi is as follows: Both tubes are filled with water, and al- lowed to remain in the trough, a portion of the air to be ex amined is passed into the measuring tube, which is now al- lowed to remain for five minutes in the trough to allow it to attain the same temperature as the water. It is lifted until the water is at the same level within and without, and may then be closed by the finger, and withdrawn from the trough. The volume is easily noted. This done, it is connected by the india-rubber joint with the phosphorus tube; into which tho air is allowed to flow. The whole may now be placed for half an hour in the trough, when the gas may be poured back into the measuring tube, the level once, more taken, and the volume read off in the same way as before. The loss is oxygen. In the cut, a is the measuring tube, b the india-rub- ber junction, and c the phosphorus tube. No claim is mado THE HINKLEY KNITTING MACHINE. remainder of the grooves, preventing lateral motion of the comb, the machine is transformed into a self-spooler by setting the bobbin, L, on the spindle end of the shaft, Cpro- jecting for that purposewhich rapidly winds its yarn from the swifts without interfering with the progress of the work on the comb, entirely obviating the use of a spooling machine and bobbin stand. The above describes all of the various parts. The needle bar, I, receiving its motion from the crank pin in its slotted arm, advances with each revolution of the disk, D, and the nee- dle, passing through the stitch immediately in front, under the tooth of the comb, removes that loop from its tooth, the revolution of the cam-slot brings the looper-hook forward in season to take up a new loop from the eye of the needle, and, on its backward movement, deposits it on the tooth which held its predecessor. Now, the disk-cam, ID, which has held the comb stationary while the new loop has been formed, reaches the gaining or cam part of its circumference, causing the comb to traverse one tooth for the repetition of the stitch forming. It is seen that upon the arrival of that part of the comb on which is stationed either index, that they strike the dog, F, instantly reversing the direction of the comb. The work hangs from the teeth of the comb in front of the ma- chine in the plain view of the operator, and, unlike all other knitting machines, uses no weights to drag down the work, the use of the small wire rod, under the comb teeth, obviating their necessity. It is easily apparent that by the use of a traversing comb of any length, ~raight, curved, or circular, that one needle can perform the work previously requiring as many needles as the comb has teeth, that the widening and narrow- ing is adjusted stitch by stitch, or as many as desirable, in- stantly, by sliding the indexes along the combthat it sets up its own work, not requiring the loops to be cast on by handthat the stitch is the same as that taken by hand from one needle to anotherthat each edge will be a sel- vedge like dloth, no matter how irregular in outline, and that the top of the work, as, for instance, a stocking, will not lb b for strict scientific accuracy in connection with this apparatus; its sole merit consists in its offering an easy and rapid means of approximately determining the free oxygen in an atmos- phere. In the working of sulphuric acid chambers it has been found extremely valuable, and possibly may be found so for other technical inquiries.Mh~hanies i7lagasine. AN exposition of textile fabrics is to be held at Cincin- nati, commencing August 3d and closing on the 7th. It is to be under the auspices of the Woolen Manufacturers Asso- ciation of the Northwest. JULY 3, 1869.. Applied 1~1eehanies In Relation to Natural Power. cause so much might appear to have been done, but still to The last of the course of Cantor Lectures on Applied persevere, and to believe that every fresh invention only Mechanics was delivered by John Anderson, Esq., C. E., cleared the ground for further discovery.London Building Superintendent of Machinery to the War Department, before News. the Society of Arts on Monday evening. In the earlier ages of the world, said Mr. Anderson, when man as yet accomplish- 110w to Select a Saddle Horse. ed his ends by the exercise of his own physical powers, every li. H. Dyer, a well-known English veterinary surgeon fresh insight into the application of natural power must have gives the following directions about saddle horses: appeared a wonderful discovery. Circular motionsthose It has been asserted that an oblique shoulder is indispen- simple contrivances for receiving and distributing power, the sable in a riding horse, and anything approaching to straight- revolving spindle and wheel, were wonderful discoveries, and ness is considered objectionable. These remarks may be well they had exercised a far higher effect on our country than received, but they do not convey all that is necessary to know. many with more sounding titles. It may be asked how or in what manner, speaking mechani- Passing on to consider the mode of reckoning power or cally of course, an oblique shoulder is superior to a straight force, the lecturer said all force was reckoned by units, one one. In order to explain this fully and satisfactorily, the oound moving through a space of one foot being equal to a readers attention must be directed for a moment to a steelyard mit of work; or one pound lifted 100 feet to one hundred a contrivance made of iron, which is capable of testing the enits. The convenience of this mode of measurement could weight of hay, straw, and other commodities. The small not be over estimated. By it the force developed in a railway weight, used as a balancing power, is placed at some given train, the wind or water lifted from a well, could all be incas- point, so as to indicate the value of that which is weighed. ured and reduced to units of work. For practical measure- If placed at the extreme point of the yard it will exert as ment a larger unit was, however, necessary, and this was much influence, although weighing but four ounces, as Sf3 called horse power. A horse would pull 150 pounds through pounds of hay or other matter would at the other end. This 220 feet in a minute, and this amount of work was equal to weight becomes less and less as it approaches the opposite end 88,000 units. A mans power, as reckoned in the government of the steelyard, so that when placed at one end it, as it were, works, was only about one tenth of that of a horse, being weighs nothing, and when placed at the opposite end it will about 15 pounds, or 8,800 units. Natural power could only be found equal to 56 pounds in weight. The same may be be partially taken hold of and applied by man, and the quan- shown by placing a stone (14-lb.) weight upon a walking stick. tity thus taken hold of varied. If the stone weight be held upon the stick, close to the hand, It has been supposed in the early days of applied mechan- which holds it horizontally, of course it is easily held; let it be ics that man could increase power: nothing, however, could carried or moved gradually toward the point of the stick, and have been a greater mistake. As an illustration, the lecturer it will soon occur to the operator that he must throw it down, stated that when Mr. W. Fairbairn introduced the system of as it is impossible for him to hold it many moments in that taking motion from the periphery of the fly wheel of an en- pos~ion. Another example, for the sake of illustration, may glue, men at once said he would lose power, and that it would be mentioned. Take an ordinary kitchen poker, hold it by the be far better to have taken it from the axle. The success of knob (horizontally, of course) for some minutes, and then hold Mr. Fairbairns experiment had, however, been long demon- it in the center, and it will be learned that in the former strated, and nobody would now question the truth of the sys- mode it will be retained scarcely more than five minutes, tem he adopted. while in the latter it may be retained and held an indefinite Mans first efforts in the application of natural power were time. Now we will endeavor to apply these remarks to a lost in antiquity ; they were made in Central or Western Asia horse and his rider. ere yet the Aryan race had been divided and dispersed to peo- A horse with a straight shoulder, supposed to be up to 14 ple remoter regions of the world; and it was deeply interest- or 15 stone with fox hounds, is often placed in difficulties. ing to note that names of implements and things belonging For examplepresuming that the riders weight should be to peace and industry belonged to the main stock of the Aryan placed immediately over the hindermost dorsal bones, and a language, while those relating to war were introduced by the portion of the lumbar bones, that weight will be in such a po- different branches after their division. Many ages must have sition as to admit of all his movements to be carried on with lapsed before man had penetrated far into the secrets of natur- ease to himself and his rider; but if the rider is compelled to al power. It seemed a modern age which was adorned quite sit close to the neck, as he would have to do upon a straight comparatively by the names of Euclid and Archimedes; yet shouldered horse, then his weight would materially interfere it was long after this that we found so simple a contrivance with the motion of the front limbs. There would be a corres- introduced as a machine for raising water. great, however, pending influence upon his movements that we found in the as was the contrast between the condition of applien mechan- position of the weight of the steelyard. Doubtless, 14 stone ics in their days and ours, the contrast might be still greater placed near to the neck will hive as much in~uence as 18 or between that of the present and succeeding ages. 20 stone has when placed in the center of the back, and this All natural power is derived from the sun, the only excep- will be apparent in ordinary motion. How much more then, tion being that of the great tidal wave that rolls round the will it be apparent in leaping? If we take this for granted, world. Heat and force are synonymous terms. The heat re- we may readily believe how difficult it is for an animal to quired to raise one pound of water one degree is equal to 772 carry a fourteen-stone man over a large fence.. Unless his units of work. This fact gave engineers a data by which to hind quarters are proportionably strong, he is likely to fail in measure the achievements of their machines, and its discovery carrying him safely over the jump. Again, if a horse with a had caused them great dissatisfaction, defective or straight shoulder is ridden down a steep hill, the Passing on to consider water power, Mr. Anderson said the entire weight is thrown upon the front limbs and neck, which circulation of water was due to the heat of the sun. It had must, of necessity, impede. their action, in addition to which been calculated that thirteen thousand cubic miles of water the rider is rendered uncomfortable and occasionally subject were evaporated every year and carried back again. Part of to falls. Further, in taking a deep drop, if the animal i~ over- this, man was able to arrest and apply in its downward course, weighted at the shoulders, he generally drops upon his knees, but all the power yielded was derived from the water, and ~r falls altogether in coming to the ground, unless the rider not from any contrivance which man used in connection with has the power of keeping himself well back, which he cannot it; and although the subject of water power had been com- possibly do in the same manner he would if he were sitting in paratively exhausted he could not as yet utilize more than 75 a proper position, with sufficient obliquity of shoulder. It is per cent of the power of the water. This, however, was a generally believed if a horse possesses strong hind quarters it great result as compared with that afforded by the steam en- is a compensation for a defective forehand. This is an error. gine, from which only about 10 per cent was obtained. It A horse has propelling power, so to speak, in the front as well was very important that this should be remembered, for of as in the hindmost limbs. I do not say that a powerful hind late years it had become the custom to disparage water power quarter will not, in some measure, make up for deficiency be- to the advantage of the steam engine. The great discovery fire, but not to the extent imagined by some persons. It may of modern times in connection with water power was a method be accepted as truth that every quarter of an inch nearer to adopted in Switzerland of using, so to speak, the ghost of the the cervical vertebra a rider is obliged to sit is an insuperable watercarrying to a distance of 4, 5, and 6 miles the power objection. The only way to get over this difficulty as regards of the water without taking the water itself. This was the position of the rider is to have recourse to the obsolete effected by a most ingenious contrivance. At the water and crupper. Although it is old-fashioned, it tends to prove that by its power a large pulley was whisked round at the rate of our forefathers had good and sufficient reasons for using it. sixty miles per hour. A small steel wire cord, not thicker Many other illustrations might be adduced to prove the truth than a pencil, was carried from this to wherever the mill was of these observations were it necessary. This reminds me of erected, over valleys, and sometimes miles from the water, a conversation which took place sometime since with an cmi- nnd along it the power passed to the place where it was nent horse painter. He showed me his portfolios of celebrated wanted. horses, and in speaking of a straight-shouldered animal, he A great improvement in connection with this invention had employed the hackneyed phrase, the scapula has not room been the application to the pulley of a gutta-percha groove, to play. I interrogated him as to his meaning, but he could which prevented the steel cord from slipping. Describing afford no explanation. After explaining to him my views the power developed by steam or heated air engines, the pretty much in the same language as I have used here, he lecturer showed that the nature of the power was precisely acknowledged it was novel to him, and, looking at it mechan -the same as that of the water. Both were derived from that ically, it must be correct. great source of power, the sun. With wind and water power it was the present power of the sun, but with coal it was WIFATEYEH may be of service in preventing the ravages 4ifferent. That was developed ong ages ago and carefully committed by the liermestes lardarius on preserved specimens stored up in the bowels of the earth, a rich patrimony of the in entomclogical or other collections of natural history is de- present age. The supply of wind and water power was un- serving of attention. A correspondent who has had consider- bounded, and would last while the sun and moon endured ; able experience of the destructive powers of that beetle, says that of coal was limited, and it was the special province of that camphor and corrosive sublimate are only partial deter- the engineer to husband and preserve it. gents, and that carbolic acid acts perfectly. He advises the Having considered at some length the progress made in the application of the carbolic as follows: Place the crystals employment of natural power by the use of steam and air of carbolic acid throughout the cabinets, and the evaporation engines, the lecturer concluded by asking his hearers not to of the crystals will keep them thoroughly saturated with car- b~ discouraged in their.attempts at furthQr improvement be- I bolic acid gas and kill all living insects therein.~~ FACTS ABOUT GAS FOR THE PEOPLE. irow TO I~AD THE METEE. There is no valid reason why consumers of gas should not be able to read the metbr for themselves, and know exactly the amount of gas that is consumed. The meter is placed in every dwelling, giving equal privilege to the consumer as well as the gas company, to learn by its self-registering in- dex the amount of gas consumed. If this knowledge was gen- eral, it would remove silly prejudice, that great bone of con- tention between those who pay for the gas and those who receive the pay, for it is a faithful arbiter and gives no favor to one more than another. The meters (both wet and dry) in ordinary use will be found to have three indexes, the hand on the first or right hand index moves to the right as the figures read, and each index begins at a cipher (0) at the top and reads, 1 lo 2~to 8 and so to the cipher again, which is 10. When the hand on the right index has moved to 1 it indicates that 100 cubic feet of gas have been used or passed the meter; when it points to 5 it means 500 feet, and after completing the circult at (0) it is 1000 feet. Each of the indexes are ten-fold multipliers of the one preceding. Single figures are used for want of room, but the multiplier is generally placed above the index; thus the right hand is one thousand, the next to the left or middle index is ten thousand, and the last or left hand index is one hundred thousand. Therefore on the first or right hand index, 1 on the dial stands for 100; in the widdle index 1 stands for 1000; and 1 on the left hand index stands for 10,000, and so in this ratio with the succeeding figures respect- ively. To read the meter, begin with the left index and write down the figure last passed by the pointer; then write down the figures last passed on the second index, and proceed in like manner with the third or right hand index. Now add two ciphers (00) and it will give the amount of gas registered in cubic feet. Suppose the first index was 2, the second index 5, and the third index 6, making 256, now add two ciphers and you will have 25,600, being the amount of gas used at that time, At the end of the month (or at any other time) read the meter again and the figures will readsay 26,500 after ad- ding the ciphers; now deduct the first sum from the last and you will have the difference 900, which indicates the number of feet used since the first reading. A few minutes practice at reading meters, generally called taking the meter, will make any one quite familiar with the matter, and will give the gas consumer a wonderful de- gree of satisfaction, and often bring about a much better feel- lug toward the gas company who supply the gas. Among other things it will show you HOW TO DETECT ESCAPING GAS. If your gas bills seem too higb, or you have the evidence of escaping gas by sense of smell, but not positively so; take a reading of the meter when no burners are in use, and after an hour or so repeat the reading, and if gas is escaping it will be shown. To detect the locality of the leak is often a more dif- ficult matter. The first thing is to see that no burners have been left turned on by accident, which is often the case where the cock has no ~top, and is caused by the cock being turned partially round again so as to open the vent. Imperfect stop cocks are for this reason dangerous, and should be at once re- moved. The next thing to do in order to detect a leak is to try the joints of the gas fittings. The sense of smell will frequently be sufficient by bringing the face near the suspected joint; a lighted taper or match held near the joint is a more certain plan. If gas is escaping it will take fire at the leak, or if too little to burn steadily it will momentarily catch and extin- guish in little puffs. Sometimes the gas escapes from the joints or imperfect piping between the ceiling and floor, or behind the walls or casings. If beneath the floor the sense of smell will generally detect the section of the fkor under which the leak is; as it escapes owing to its levity upwards through the crevices of the floor, and penetrates the carpet if there be one. If bracket or side burners are used, and the escaping gas is behind the walls or casings, the crevices in the casings, or the opening where the pipe enters the room, will let the escaping gas enter the room sufficiently at these points to indicate somewhat nearly the location of the leak. In such cases the proper way is never to apply a light to the crevices or casings, but to turn off the gas at the meter and send for a gasfitter, otherwise an explosion may occur in- volving serious consequences. In ordinary leaks of gas fix- tures and pipes, whether at the joints or at the attachment of the burner, the fitting or burner should be unscrewed and white lead or common bar soap rubbed in the threads, and then screwed home again. This can often be done without any aid from a gas fitter.American Gas Light Journal. ~ SIMPLE METHOD OF ASCEnTAINING DEATHDr. Carri~re, of St. Jean du Gard, in reply to the offer of the Marquis dOrches, of a premium of twenty thousand francs, for a prac- tical method of determining death, furnished the following, which he says he has practiced for forty years: Place the hand with the fingers closely pressed one against the other, close to a lighted lamp or candle; if alive, the tissues will be observed to be of a transparent, of a rosy hue, and the capill- ary circulation of life in full play; if, on the contrary, the hand of a dead person be placed in the same relation to light, none of the phenomena are observedwe see but a hand as of marble, without circulation, without life.Jour. de ALd. et Ohirurg. 2 JULY ~, 1869.] 3 SKILL, INVENTION, AND PROPERTY IN PATENTS AND ty and patient industry of the Flowery Land had given up hold property no robbery, bat justly entitled to deference and BOOKS. as hopelessly intractable and worthless. So shall we continue, support from the wise and the good. By HORACE GREELEY. nuder a beneficent policy of encouragement and support, to develop new and larger possibilities of industrial achieve- Rules for Bathing. Capital is the unconsumed and unwasted remainder of the ment, and, in expanding and diversifying our own national 1. Baths should not be taken within at least one hour before fruits or proceeds of industry. He who spends as fast as he industry, benignantly stimulate, and ultimately renovate, eating, nor within two hours after; and not within two hours earns accumulates no capital: the first man who ever pro. that of all mankind, before, and three hours after, is still, better. duce& or fashioned any substancc for use beyond his instant The rights of those who create intellectual property are The reason for this is, that in bathing, the blood is brought need was the first capitalist, less clearly definedperhaps less capable of unerring defin- to the surface in large quantities and circulates freely in the The material wealth which has been amassed by mankind itionthan those of the producers or transformers of material capillaries of the skin, being drawn away from internal organs throughout thousands of years is of incalculable amount and substances; yet they seem to me not less real, beneficent, and and generally diffused through the whole body, and the more value. Apart from that held by individuals, the churches and defensible. Let us suppose that four brothers commence re- freely this external circulation and warmth is kept up, the other public edifices, canals, roads, railways, bridges, litera- sponsible life with equal patrimonies, equal capacity, and like more refreshing aud invigorating the bath becomes, and the ture, paintings, sculpture, etc., though their cost was enor- habits of industry, temperance, and frugality. Twenty years greater the benefit derived from it; whereas, when the mous, are worth far more than that. Immense is ot~r indebt- afterward, one of them, who has devoted his energies to farm- stomach has recently been supplied with food, the blood is edness to the genius, industry, and thrift, of past ages for the ing, has a fine estate, a commodious dwelling, a handsome diverted from the external circulation to the digestive organs wealth they have bequeathed us, and signal our obligation to herd of cattle, a good collection of implements, a library, and to supply the secretions and juices necessary to carry on the transmit these blessings, not merely unimpaired but en- all the material elements of independence and comfort. A digestive process. hauced, to those who will come after us. second has addresed himself to the construction of locomo- From these facts, it will be evident that if food be taken And, however great our obligation to the departed for the tives, and has done as well thereby as his farming brother. into the stomach too soon after a bath the blood is directed to palpable, material wealth they bequeathed us, they have laid A third has given himself up to the study of mechanics and the stomach before a full reaction has taken place, thus in- us under still greater obligation by their magnificent legacy engineering, and has, after many disappointments, perfected terfering with its beneficial effects; while on the other hand, of experience and skill. Having this, we might in time, were a new steam engine, whereby the power required to move a if the bath be taken too soon after a meal, the blood is they all swept away, recreate most of our worldly possessions; train or boat of so many tuns at a given rate per hour is re- diverted from the digestive organs before digestion is com- deprived of it, we could scarcely, and with great difficulty, duced at least twenty-five per cent. The fourth has addicted pleted, and thus a very important function of the body is preserve our bare lives. The teeming millions of China are himself to literature, art, and poetry, and has produced a book interfered with. constantly near the brink of starvation, which many of them which one hundred thousand of our people annually read, In cases of active congestion or inflammation, in fevers, or daily overpass; less, I apprehend, because of the density of deriving pleasure and instruction therefrom which they in severe pain and distress, it may he necessary to make water their population than of the rudeness and inefficiency of their would rather pay him for than forego. I ask why this invent- applications irrespective of this rule. labor-saving devices. On the other hand, so prodigious ha~ or, and this author, have not as fairly earned, and are not as 2. The head and face should be thoroughly bathed at the been the progress of invention in Europe that the steam en- justly entitled to the price that others prefer to give rather commencement of every bath. This will prevent the rushing glues of great Britain alone have been estimated as equiva- than forego the advantage or pleasure derived from their of blood to the head and ward off unpleasant sensations. lent in force, if not in productive capacity, to six hundred mu- products, as are their brethren, tho farmer and the locomotive- 3. A bath should never be taken when the body i~ exhaust- lions of men. Cheap beyond comparison as is the labor of builder, to a like remuneration for the use of their products ~ ed, or too greatly fatigued by exercise, as a person in such a Eastern Asia, the machinery of great Britain competes with it If, as Thiers forcibly says, The indestructib]e foundation of condition would not be likely to secure the proper reaction in its own markets, rivals it, un~ersells its products at the very the right of property is labor, then, surely, the right of prop- and warmth. Moderate exercise before a bath is usually doors of the producers, divests, them of employment, and erty in Elias Howe to that combination of the needle with beneficial, as it accelerates the circulation and sceures a com- dooms them to die of famine. In my early boyhood, Chinese the shuttle which gave practical existence and value to the fortable degree of warmth, which is always desirable before cotton fabrics known as nankins, etc., were extensively worn, sewing machine, of Alfred Tennyson to The Princess, taking a bath. There is no danger from taking a general even by the poor, in New England; but that trade was des- Maud, In Memoriam, and The Lotus Eaters, is as bath while in a perspiration, providing no fatigue accompan- troyed by British and American power-looms nearly half a perfect as any right of property can be. For the craftsman ies it; for the sitz and foot baths, however, it is better that century ago; and now the peasanty of China and India are merely fashions, adapts, or r ecasts materials coexistent with the body be warm, but not perspiring. largely clad in th~ products of those, looms. Cotton grown in the earth, and which may be regarded as in some sense once 4. All general baths should be taken briskly, and the India is extensively shipped to England, there spun and woven, the common property of mankind; while the inventor, the bather himself, if able, should rub vigorously that he may returned in the shape of fabrics to India, and there worn all poet, builds into the void space, makes chaos luminous, and quicken his circulation and respiration, and thus secure the but exclusively by those among whom it was grown, who adds potentially, and, as it were, by original creation, to the warmth and glowing reaction that is so essential after every would gladly have spun and woven it for sixpence sterling enduring wealth of mankind. I cannot perceive how or why bath; this should be observed not only while in the bath but per days work, yet who paid the cost of two journeys around his right of property in his product is not at least as perfect in rubbing dry after it. the Cape of ~?iood Hope, that of the British manufacture, the and pervading as that of the maker of a locomotive, the 5. For drying the body after a general bath, a strong linen interest on its value during its long absence, and the profits grower of grain, or cotton sheet is much better than towels; this should be of several mercantile transfers, and yet were supplied uith it I have considered whht has been urged in favor of a restric- for an adult at least two yards square, so as to envelop the in the market of India at lower cash prices than her own tion of this right of property to the material thing wrought whole body like a cloak, and with it he should be rubbed or looms could afford, uponto the particular locomotive built by the inventor, the rub himself till thoroughly dryby using the sheet for wip- Those countries only which cherish and delight in labor- authors manuscript copy of his poemand it seems to me mg, the body is protected from the air, the escape of heat is saving devices have added aught of moment to the worlds palpably absurd. For what the inventor has labored twenty prevented, and there is much less liability to feel chilly inestimable aggregate thereof. Europe could not now afford years to perfect is not the single, particular locomotive on afterwardtowels will suffice, however, for all local applica- for a billion of dollars to lose the inventions and improve- which he expended his handiwork, but al.l locomotives to be tions. ments in machinery for which she is indebted to America, thereafter builthis efforts were incited and upheld by a de- 6. At the completion of the bath, the bather should im- and the great mass of which, in all human probability, would sire to make alt locomotives henceforth less costly or more ef- mediately dress, and, if able, exercise in the open air, or never have been, had the policy of buying from Europe every ficient. This he has achieved, or nothing; herein he has engage in some active employment. If not able to exercise, article of manufacture, which marked and fitted the era of succeeded, or not at all. Once completed, the machine where- it is well to cover up warm in bed for an hcqtr or so, and sleep, our colonial dependence, been persevered in to this day. on he labored so long may accidentally taI~e fire and burn to if possible. Our oldest manufactures are naturally our cheapest and ashes, yet no one, surely, would thence infer that his labor 7. Very nervous persons or those whose digestion is much best. Europe cannot rival our axes, adzes, and other edge had been in vain. impaired, or circulation is imperfect and feeble, or tempera- tools; nor can she surpass, either in quality, or cheapness, the 1 do not regret that foreign authors are extensively read ture is below the normal standard, should be careful not to spades and shovels extensively made by one Massachusetts here; I do not deny that some of them are eminently deserv- use cold water to any great extent in bathing; it may have a family throughout the last fifty years. Cut nails are an Amer- lug of their American popularity; but I protest against the temporary beneficial effect, but in the end their sufferings will ican idea; and no other nation yet makes them so cheaply or legislation, or lack of legislation, on the part of our rulers, be likely to be increased. half so abundantly. We have begun, after many years try- whereby foreign works are habituallynay, necessarily 8. Feeble invalids, consumptives, persons subject to hemor- lug, to make wron,,ht nails also by machinery, and will natu- proffered cheaper to our people than those of our own authors. rhage of the lungs or the stomach, those who have just passed th rally keep the lead in this department also. 1 have heard This is unjust to both aliketo those whom it deprives of e crisis in fevers or other acute diseases, those suffering ir m profuse that the screw auger, whereby the cost of boring holes in tim- readers, and those whom it gives more than their fa~ propor- fro discharges, such as suppurations, diarrhea, hers was reduced more than half, is a Connecticut invention, tion of readers, but lenies compensation for their work. Wal- cholera, etc., and also females during the menstrual period should avoid the use of cold water, as well as the excessive and never patented, though its value to mechanics defies com- ter Scott barely escaped dying a bankrupt, when one cent per putation. The planing machine, the innumerable reapers and volume from his American readers would have saved him use of it in any form. mowers, the sewing machine, and ever so many kindred tro- from pecuniary embarrassment, smoothed his downhill of 9. Always use a thermometer to determine the temperature baths for mv phies of Yankee genius for invention, have enriched not our life, and perhaps enabled him to live longer and write more of alids. country only but the civilized world. And as the cotton gin and better. I wish we had rendered him naked justice~ 10. An invalid should not bathe in a room with the tem- would surely not have been invented had not the cotton cui- As to the abolition of the Patent system, which has of late perature below 70, and for most persons SO or 850 would ture preceded and required it, so the arts, in the prosecution been influentially advocated, I shall be more easily reconciled be better, provided there is good ventilation.E. P. Miller, of which other American inventions were called into being, to it when I learn that it is to be swiftly followed by a repudi~ lit. D. had to be previously known and practiced among us, or the ation of all rights of property whatere1~or, more strictly, of Substitute for Copper in the t~anielis Battery. world must have waited indefinitely for the triumphs they in- all legal guaranties and defenses of such rights. Whenever Few persons, in experimenting upon voltaic combinations, cited. We are, I rejoice to learn, on the eve of a similar the laws ef my country shall refuse to proteot the inventor, they ever consider economy in their construction, and experiments stride in the production of all forms of wrought or malleable should, in simple consistency, bid the land-owner, the bond- which tend to cheapen their first cost should be made public. iron, through a Pennsylvania invention whereby the expensive holder, the merchant, Take care of yourself, and of all that ~ expensive part of the Daniells battery is the copper process known as puddling is to be superseded or immensely you call your own. Assuredly, no mans right to the wild plate, the cost of which can be reduced two thirds, in the fol- reduced in cost : and a thousand other beneficent applications lands conceded to his ~tncestor by a European monarch who lowing manner: of inventive genius to the cheapening of processes, the in- never saw, and knew not how,even to bound them accurately, Procure sheets of the ordinary sheet tin of commerce, crease of products, are on the point of practical realization. can be better than that of . Eli Whitney was to his cotton gin, brighten and plunge into a very weak copper plating soln- No man can truthfully suggest an article which, having for- or that of Daguerre to photography. When these shall be lion, in connection with a voltaic battery of very low quan- merly been wholly imported, has since, through protection, successfully denied, be sure that no rights of proper been so naturalized. on our soil that. it is now. produced here secure. . ty can be tity. In fifteen to eighteen hours a tenacious film of copper . will have been deposited upon the tin, and the plate can then nearly to the extent of satisfying our own wants, yet which Then, why not make patents and copyright absolute and be bent in shape suitable for a Daniells battery.Telegraph. now costs our people more than it did when we procured it perpetual ? is often asked. I answer, there are no absolute from abroad. And the area whereon such achievements are rights of property. The land you bought of the Government COPAL VARNIS U, s ccording to Professor Blittgers prescrip- possibleis by no means fully occupied. We shall yet make yesterday may be taken from~ you for the bed of some high- lion, should be ma2e by first dissolving one part, by weight, our own crockery and finer kinds of pottery, which we still way or railroad to-morrow, and you have no redress. All of camphc~, I n twelve parts of ether ; when the camphor is mainly import, and shall grow as well as manufacture the rights of property are held subordinate to the dictates of dissol vt-d, foL r parts of the best copal resin, previously re. silks for which we are still mainly indebted te the insects of National well-being ; ilud the Government will batter down duced loan impalpable powder, are added to the ethereal cam- China and the looms of France, we having in California a or burn to ashes your house, if it shall have become (through phor solution, placed in a well-stoppered bottle. As soon as more genial climate for the silk-worm than Europe or Asia can no fault on your part) a harbor or defense of public enemies. the copal ap~ ears to be partly dissolved, and has become boast ; while we are already reeling and spinning, on Amen- and make you no compensation therefor. I only insist that swollen, four parts of strong alcohol, or methylated spirits, can machinery invented for the purpose, vast quantities of intellectual property shall be reco~ui~ed by law as standing and ~ part of oil of turpentine is added, and, after shaking the raw silk imported in an imperfect or damaged condition (an- on a common foundation with e~Aer property and equally ac- mixture, and letting it stand for a few hours longer, a thor- swerino- to the swingle-tow of flax) which all the ingenui- I corded the protection of the State and the r spect of all who oughly good copal varnish is obtained. 4 ___________________________________ [JULY 3, 1869. ROCKWELLS OVERDRAW AND COMPRESSION BIT. of the figure. Each of the straps, when buckled, to be two kept up while standing, if desired, by fastening the lines to Anything that tends to render the horse more docile, or feet and two inches in length. A tight sliding loop, b, con- the whip, dashboard, or a hook in the bu~,gy-top. horses what is still more important, tends to instruct the public in nects the straps. This loop should be stitched between driven with this overdraw and bit will travel more miles in a common sense and humane treatment of that noble animal is the two straps so as to work snugly. A sliding knob is snug- day and last longer than by the use of any other contrivance worthy the consideration of all intelligent men. The inventor ly attached to each strap, above the loop. The compression known. If the horse is a hard puller, the overdraw is attached bit is a joint bit in the usual form, except that it is double to the sliding bars independent of the bit rings, as in Figs. jointed, with the two sliding bars, c and d. The figure rep- B and C. This creates a pressure upon the cheek which soon resents two mpdes of attaching these sliding bars, which are causes him to be more pliable. If he is a side-reiner, attach hereafter explained, the end of the overdraw on the side toward which he turns The bridle is formed of a crown piece and throat latch of his head to the detached sliding bar, leaving the other at- one piece of leather, lined over the head with patent leather. tached to the ring, exactly as shown in Fig. A. By sliding the Two loops are placed on top of the crown piece, three inches front loop on the overdraw, up or down, the effectiveness of apart, e e; the fore piece to be of the usual length; rosettes these appliances, is increased or lessened when operating may be added to suit fancy; throat latch of usual length; upon the sliding bar detached from the check-rein and bit the loops of the overdraw and the knobs are put through the ring. If a horse carries his head lower than his mate, and it is loops on the crown piece, from front to back, the rest of the wished to cause him to raise it, the overdraw is applied to overdraw coming down over the face and being attached the common bridle, in lieu of the usual gag runner; if a trot- to the bit. It is attached in various ways, according to ting horse throws his head down while speeding, use the the end desired to be attained; but for the ordinary overdraw, and check high. If the driverwishes to drive with- purposes of a riding or driving bridle, it is buckled to out a check-rein, and wants the advantage of the compression the ring of the bit. The remainder of the bridle consists of bit, he makes what is called a half-overdraw, by fastening a an ordinary driving line buckled to the ring of the bit, and short overdraw to the head piece, instead of passing it through an ordinary check rein, buckled to the ring of the bit and the loops; then, by sliding the front loop up or down, he the sliding bar jointly (see c), passing through the loop of the can regulate its force. Governing the mouth is the main overdraw, a, as through a gag runner; on the driving line, thing. This attachment will do it by the use of a reasonable two inches farther back than the length of the of the improvement we are about to describe, A. II. Rockwell, check-rein, there is fastened a strap about four ~ ( Harpersville, Broome Co., N. Y., is well known to the public inches in length when doubled (f f) arranged throngh his work on horse training and personal skill in in- the same as the fiat part of a check-rein, capable of stimeting the horse. The Improvement is designed to take being adjusted, which strap is connected with a ring on the end of the check-rein. Fon A SADDLE llousx. This is put on as just de- scribed, with the addition of a martingale when the horse carries his head too high and his nose out too much. The illustration, figure B, exhibits a horse bridled ready for mount- ing, and figure C shows the horse mounted and lines drawn up. These two illustrations have the over- draw buckled to the slid- ing bars, as shown by the letter d, Fig. A. This is proper where the horse pulls too hard or refuses to rein; but ordinarily it should be attached as shownby Figs. D and E. Fon A DRIvING Housx. There is no change from the bridle as applied to a saddle horse (when an open bridle is desired), except in the mode of attaching the the place of the Yankee bridle with its double ring bit, pat- check-rein to the driving line, as the adjustable knobs on the degree of judgment. We have room to explain here only ented by the same inventor December 4, 1866; the double overdraw hold the bit in the mouth and avoid the necessity a small portion of the benefits to be derived from the use of ring bit was patented November 12, 1867, and the further for a cheek piece. these improvements. A careful study of their applications improvements described in this sketch are now pending. The driving line being usually rounded, a strap is made will, by a fair exercise of patience and common sense, prove It is considered by the inventor to be a greater advance on to lap arounddrawn so tightly that it cannot slipat the invaluable to those interested in the improvement and in the Yankee bridle than that was over the ordinary bridle in place where the check-rein is attached to the main driv- struction of the horse. breaking and instructing the horse. ing line, as heretofore described. The overdraw may be at- Patents for additional improvements are now pending The principle of this improvement will be understood by reference to Fig. A. The mode of applying the bridle and bit to the training of horses will be understood by referring to the other engravings and their explanations. Fig. A represents a skeleton bridle, with the improvements Wu learn that a considerable quantity of land near Fond attached. The chief advantage which this bridle has over du Lac, Wisconsin, has been devoted this year to the cultiva- other bridles known is owing to the remarkable results tion of the sugar beet, and that a company is in process of which follow the application of the overdraw and compression formation to engage in the manufacture of beet sugar in tlr~ bit in their various uses. town. The overdraw is formed of two round straps, with a buckle anci billet as represented by a a at the left of the figure, ter- minating in the two loops at the other ends, a a, at the right tacked to a common driving bridle if desired. Lu this case, through this office. Mr. Rockwell is now on a tour of in- the knobs will not be necessary, as the cheek piece answers struction in the New England States, but orders addiessed to the purpose for which they are intended. The advantages him, at Harpersville, N. Y., as above, will receive attention. are manifold. While sitting in a carriage, the driver may, -u by drawing up the lines, have all the benefits of a check in adding style (see Fig. D) without any of its cruelty, as he can, by letting up on the lines while the aninial is traveling, en- tirely relieve him from its pressure. He can also water the horse at a trough (see Fig. E) without removing from his seat. The horses back is not galled, he travels freer, rests 3 better when not in motion, mounts a hill much easier, and is AN enterprising Chinese firm has established a publishi~vg held up descending a hill with more security; his head is house and type foundery at Shanghai. JULY 3, 1869.1 IMPROVED HORSESHOE CLINCHER. In clinching the nails in ordinary horse shoeing four tools are commonly ueed; viz., a pair of nippers to cut the nail to the proper length for a good clinch, a rasp, an iron to hold the nail from being driven back, and a hammer by which the nail i~ bent over and clinched. Most horses will endure the hammer- ing upon the bottom of the foot in insert- ing the nail, but are uneasy and at times fractious from the greater. or less pain suffered when the side of the hoof is struck in clinching. A method which should obviate this trouble particularly in shoeing unquiet horses, mules, and colts, has long been desired by black- smiths and others, who have come to the rational conclu- sion, that any un- necessary pain in- flicted upon the horse is to cause in him fear and mis- trust, and foster any germs of mischief that naturally exist in his disposition. The inventor of the horseshoe clinch- er, of which we this week give an en- graving, is confident that the instrument he has devised ex- actly meets the want, we have al- luded to. It is a combined nippers, rasp and clincher, all of which parts are shown in the engraving, and the use of which will be ob- vious without description, except the jaws, A and B, used for clinching. In use, after the nail has been driven by a ham- mer in the ordinary way, the jaw, A, is placed upon the head of the nail, and the other jaw is brought up to engage with the end of the nail remote from the head, when a few motions of the handle which works the jaw, B, quietly and securely clinches the nail without any pain to the horse or inconve- nience to the smith. This tool will be likely to not only attract the attention of farmers, but those who in traveling across our western plains and other out of the way places, frequently find it necessary to have at hand the means of fasteninga shoe or replacing a lost one. Patented through the Scientific American Patent Agency, June 8, 1869, by Nicholas Repp, whom address for inform- ~tion at Waterloo, Iowa. ADJUSTABLE SPIRIT LEVEL PLUMB AND INCLINOME- TER. This instrument, invented by L. L. Davis, takes the place of the old-fashioned spirit level and plumb, which has been used by all classes of mechanics for many years. The ad- vantage of this level and plumb is in the accuracy and sim- plicity by which it works, having a graduated scale shoxAng the different angles, being conveniently and neatly arranged for getting elevation of any hight, the graduated scale show- lug the exact elevation or number of degrees per foot, simply by turning the center or bubble case with the pointer attach- ed, the bubble glass being well and substantially protected, not liable to breakage or derangement as is the case with the ordinary levels; and in case the bubble glass should become out of true or out of line with the base of the level it can be ~ccurately adjusted again by the screw at either end of the binubble case, which screws, in connection with beveled studs, also act as stops. If the bubble case should accidentally be brok / ~~ en, the bubble case and ring can be read ly remo ced by taking off the graduated dial; first, turn out the three small screws which hold it in place, the ring can then be detached from the bubble case by removing the ecrew which holds the two together, and the bubble case will then be exposed. These levets are of the best material and workmanship, and are thoroughly adjusted and tested in every respect. They have been pronounced to be perfectly accurate, and are offered to the public with the assurance that they mee~ the wants of all classes of mechanics. Address all orders to J. W. Storrs & Co., 252 Broadway, New York city. IMPROVEMENT IN WINDOW SASHE8. Our engraving illustrates a very simple device designed to take the place of weights, cords, and pulleys, for window sashes. The right side of the sash is tongued to fit into a rebate in the frame. On the left hand side a rebate is cut into both the frame and sash in which plays an adjustable tongue, A. This adjustable tongue, also plays on a horizontal pin, B, in- serted in the sash so that it slides up and down with the sash. fhe adjustable tongue is pressed outward by an elliptical spring as shown in the engraving where a portion of the sash is broken away to afford a view of this portion of the de- vice. The lateral thrust of the adjustable tongue caused by the action at the spring generates sufficient friction to hold the sash in any position. The adjustable tongue is slightly concave at the point where it comes in contact with the spring to give the latter free action, and the sash has a recess which keeps the spring in its proper relative position to the other parts. When the sash is to be removed, the pin, B, is withdrawn when the adjustable tongue may be seized and withdrawn by sliding the bottom sash to the top, or the top sash to the bot- tom of the window frame. The sash may then be taken out. The top sash is further provided with a permanent tongue at the top which is shown at the point where a portion of the frame is broken away. This tongue and all the others being properly fitted, answer the purposes of weather stAps. When the sashes are very large and the spring is required to be more than ordinarily strong, an angular thumb- piece, C, is pivoted to the sash, which when depressed takes off a portion of the power of the spling, and thus lessening the friction to any extent required, leaves only the weight o~ the sash to be overcome in raising it. On small windows this attachment is needless. There are several advantages which this method possesses over those hitherto employed for raising and lowering sashes. It is not liable to the annoyances frequently caused by the breaking of cords where weights are used. No additienal strips are us~d to exclude currents 01 cold air; ~nd much less trouble is experienced in removing a sash for cleaning om~ other purposes. The sash cannot drop suddenly, remaining firmly suspended at any hight to which it is elevated. A sash lock, D, of the simple button form shown in the engraving, or nearly any other form applicable to sashes in ,,eneral may be used. Patented May 25, 1868. For further information address Gross, Yingling, & Co., Tiffin, Ohio. Bridging the Connecticut. The Board of Engineers, consisting of General C. B. 8tuart General George B. McClellan, and General Q. A. Gilimore, ap- pointed to select a plan for a brid~,e across the Connecticut River at Middletown, for the Air-line railroad between New York and Boston, and to designate the point at which it shall be built, recently met at the office of the Chief Engineer of the Air Line, No. 64 Broadway. The session was not a public one. The Board occupied the entire day in examining and discussing plans for the proposed bridge, and adjourned with- out taking final action, in order to visit the workshops where 5 structures of the kind are made, and to examine seine of the large iron draws now in use. The bridge is to be of wrought iron, and will be 1,248 feet long, with a draw of two openings of 160 feet each. The whole draw is to be 303 feet long, and is to open and shut in one minute and thirty seconds. The track is to be about 42 feet above ordinary water mark. The bight of the truss is to be 20 feet. The bridge is to have a strength equal to two tuns to t1i~e runukig foot, beside its own weight, and is to be capable of sustaining a train of locomotives passing ever it at the rate of sixty miles an hour. It will be the strongest bridge on the continent. The name of the new railroad of which this bridge is a part, is the New Haven, Middletown, and Willimantic Railroad, which together with the New York and New Haven Railroad, and the Boston, Hartford, and Erie Railroad which it connects, will constitute what is known as the Air-line Railroad, running in a pretty straight line from this city to Boston. By this route a distance of nearly thirty miles will be saved and the time of transit will be shortened by an hour and a quarter. The road will be opened within a year; the bridge is to be completed in eight or nine months. About forty different plans for the proposed bridge have been submitted to the board ol Engineers, and of these eight or nine have been found to be worthy of serious considera- tion. The result of the deliberations of the Board will soon be made public. Strawberry Worms. For nearly two years, we have been acquainted with a little C greenish leaf-roller, shown above,the strawberry leaf-roller (Anchylopera fragaria3, N. Sp.)measuring about one third of an inch, which in certain parts of North Illinois and In- diana, has been ruining the strawberry fields in a most whole- sale manner; and which also occurs in Canada. It crumples and folds the leaves, feeding on their pulpy substance, and causing them to appear dry and seared, and most usually lines the inside of the fold with silk. There are two broods of this leaf-roller during the year, and the worms of the first brood, which appear during the month of June, change to the pupa state within the rolled-up leaf and become minute red- dish brown moths during the fore part of July. After pair- ing in the usual manner, the females deposit their eggs on the plants, from which eggs in due time, hatches a second brood of worms. These last come to their growth toward the end of September, and, changing to pupre, pass the winter in that state. Mr. W. E. Lukens, of Sterling,Whiteside Co., Ill., remarks: Where these insects are thick I would never think of rais- ing strawberries. It is strange I have not noticed any of them work upon this side the river; while on the south side for a mile up and down they are ruining the crops of berries. Re- moving the plants does not take with them the moth or the eggs, so far as has been observed. A gentleman by the name of Kimball, at Prophetstown, had his crop a few years ago entirely destroyed by this insect, though it amounted in all to two or three acres. I hear of a great many men in other places having their crops burnt up with the sun, and have no doubt that it was this leaf roller, and not the sun, that was the real author of the damage As for myself; I have on this account entirely quit the business of growiug strawberries. The only modes of fighting ~lais new and very destructive foe of the strawberrywhich however seems to be confined to northerly regionsare, 1st, to plough up either in the spring or in the fall, such patches as are badly infested by it, by which means the pupae will probably be destroyed; and 2d, not to procure any plants from an infested region, so as to run the risk of introducing the plague upon your own farm The strawberry false worm (Emphy& ~ maculatus, Norton) is a worm quite different in appearance and belonging to the order of four-winged flies (Hymenoptera), and not to that of the scaly-winged moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera), as does the preceding species. It is a soft, dirty-yellow 22- footed worm, that feeds externally on the leaf of the straw- berry, and is illustrated in all its stages in the above ~~ure. The parent flies may be seen hanging to and tlycg around strawberry vines about the beginning of May. They are dull and inactive in the cool of the morning and evening, and at these hours are seldom noticed. They are ef a pitcb.y black color with two rows of large transverse, dull whitish spots upon the abdomen. The female, with the saw-like instru- ment peculiar to the insects of the great In. ~ily (Tewtlcred en~ifh~ [JULY 3, 1869. inidcs), to which she belongs, deposits her eggs, by a most cu- rious and interesting process, in the stems of the plant, cling- ing the while to the hairy snbstance with which these stems are covered. The eggs are white, opaque, and 003 of an inch long, and may be readily perceived upon splitting the stalk, though the outside orifice at which they were introduced is scarcely visible. They soon increase somewhat in bulk, caus- ing a swelling of the stalk, and hatch in two weeksmore or less according to the temperatureand from the middle of May to the beginning of June the worms attract attention by the innumerable small holes which they make in the leaves. The colors of these worms are dirty yellow and gray green, and when not feeding, they rest on the under side of the leaf, curled up in a spiral manner, the tail occupying the center, and fall to the ground at the slightest disturbance. After changing their skin four times they become full grown, when they measure about fi of an inch. At this season they descend into the ground, and form a very weak cocoon of earth, the inside being made smooth by a sort of gum. In this they soon change to pup~e, from which ~re produced a second brood of flies by the end of June and beginning of July. Under the influence of July weather, the whole progress of egg-depositing, etc., is rapidly repeated, and the second brood of worms descend into the earth, dur- ing the fore part of August, and form their cocoons, in which they remain in the caterpiJlar state, through the fall, winter, and early spring months, until the middle of April following, when they become pup~e and flies again as related. This fly has received the name of phytus mcteulatus by Norton, in allusion, doubtless, to the whitish transverse lines on the ab- domen. With the facts here given, it will be no difficult matter for any one interested to make war in his own way. The worms habit of falling to the ground enables us to destroy them with a solution of cresylic acid soap, or any other decoction, without necessarily sprinkling the vines; while, knowing that they are in the earth during the fall and early spring, when there is no fruit, the ground may be stirred and poultry turned in to good advantage.EfltOmOlOfiiSt. Association for the Advancement of Science and Art-- The Bathometer. The regular meeting of the Association for the Advance. ment of Saicuce and Art was held at room No. 18, Cooper In- stitute, New York. Dr. S. I. Prime, the chairman, said that the Association had been in existence now several years, and had a membership of 200 or 800 members. It had done much toward increasing the general knowledge on scientific subjects, and to quicken the pursuit of scientific truth. The lectures of Dr. Lemercier and Agassiz had been delivered under the auspices of the Society. lie earnestly invited all strangers who were present to join the Association. Dr. Prime spoke in terms of eulogy of the successful efforts of American inventors, and introduced Mr. Sidney E. Morse, formerly editor of the New York Observer, and his son, G. Livingston Morse. The latter ex- hibited and explained their bathometer, or apparatus for measuring the greatest depths of the ocean without the use of a line, and, it is claimed, in less than a tenth part of the time re- quired when a line is used. The instrument admits of a com- bination in one sounding of three or more distinct methods of ascertaining and measuring these depths. The discovery of the Messrs. Morse was that of the means of making a buoy which will retain its buoyancy under the enormous pressure of the deep sea. They took a hollow glass sphere between three and four inches in diameter, the glass only a tenth of an inch thick, and the sphere so light that it floated~ in water with half its bulk above the surface, and subjecting this fragile body in the cistern of an hydraulic press to a pressure of seven tuns on the square inch, which is the pressure at the depth of about 30,000 feet in the ocean, they found that the sphere was neither chrushed or permeated by the liquid. A tin or wooden tube, four inches or more in diameter and of any required length, is filled with these glass spheres and ballast. ed so that it will float upright in the water. An elongated sinker also of any required length and weight, is then sus- pended from the bottom of the tube, and so attached there that it becomes detached when the weight touches, or if de- sired, when it is 100 feet, or any required distance from the bottom, leaving the tube with its spheres to ascend to the surface. As this instrument moves with uniform velocity both in its descent and ascent, the time of its disappearence from the surface indicates the depth to which it has descended. But the inventors do not confine themselves to this mode of determining the depth. They inclose in their tube, and send down and bring back with it their proper bathometer, which is simply a bottle of water with a bag of mercury and water suspended from its neck, the water in the bottle being con- nected with the mercury in the bag by a glass tube, of very fine bore, passing from the bottom of the bag through an India-rubber stopper in the neck of the bottle into its interior, When this bottle and bag are placed at the bottom of the sea, the pressure of the external water, communicated through the bag and through the mercury in the bag and glass tube to the water in the bottle, compresses that water, and mercury is forced from the bag into the bottle to supply the void caused by the compression. The amount of the mercury; forced into the bottle is the measure of the compression of the water, and the compression of the water is the measure of the hight of the compressing column, i. e., of the depth of the sea. To facilitate the measuring of the mercury, there is inserted in the bottle opposite the neck, a graduated tube of even bore closed at its outer end, so that on inverting the bottle the mercury falls into this meter-tube, and the hight of themercury indicates the depth to ~Vhich the bottle has descended, All attempts to measure the deep sea with a line and sink- er attached as in ordinary soundings, have proved failures, and scientific men of the highest reputation, who have de- voted much time to the investigation of the problem, have pronounced it impossible ever to send and recover a line with a sinker from the greatest depths of the ocean. Even in mod- erate depths the measurement by a line is very uncertain and unreliable in consequence of the effect of currents, and of the drifting of the boat from which the soundings are made. The bathoineter of the Messrs. Morse, it is asserted, will de- scend to, and return from, the greatest depths with certainty, and with a rapidity which hardly admits of a limit. In a re- cent experiment the instrument rose from the bottom at the rate of twenty feet in a second, or of a mile in less than four minutes and a half. They believe that a sounding in 2,000 fathoms water will ultimately be made easily in less than fif- teen minutes. The time occupied in a sounding of this depth by those employed by the United States Government in sounding between Ireland and Newfoundland, preparatory to lying the Atlantic cable, was ordinarily six or seven hours. American Society of Civii Engineers. This society held its annual meeting on the 16th ult., at its rooms, No.63 William street. Among those present were Mr. John B. Jervis, the oldest engineer in the country; Colonel J. W. Adams, angineer of the Brooklyn Water Works; Mr. E. S. Chesbrough, con- structor of the Chicago Lake and River Tunnels; Mr. Thomas Fuller, architect of the State Capitol; Mr. Thomas Prosser, representative of Krupps Works in Prussia; Mr. John A. Roebling, engineer of the East River Bridge; Mr. R. N. Browne, chief engineer of the Lake Shore Railroad; Mr. S. Whipple, the well-known constructor of iron bridges; Gene- ral G. S. Greene, chief e~igineer of the Croton Department, and Israel Smith, engineer of the New Jersey Railroad. Hon. J. W. McAlpine, President of the Society, called the meeting to order, and said that he was glad to be able to re- port that the Society is increasing both in numbers and re- spectability. He spoke of the importance of an exchange of ideas between members of the profession, and lioped that hereafter more papers would be presented for the considera- tion of the, Society. A fund was being formed for the publi- cation of such papers as might be deemed worthy of preserva- den and dissemination. He then introduced to the Society Mr. JohuB. Jervis, who gave an outline of the course of studies requisite for the engineer, in which the ig~portance of a knowh~dge of mathematics and mechanical philosophy was especially dwelt upon. The careful study of structures erect- ed by eminent engineers and of the special purposes they were intended to serve was inculcated. Mr. Jervis also spoke of the necessity of the engineer making his structure stable, especially when exposed to such deteriorative influences as surf and running water. Whether iron, stone, or wood must be used, would be determined by.the relative cost of these arti- cles and the facility with which they could be obtained. Rail- ways now offered the largest amount of work for engineers; but as the country increased in population, structures of greater and still greater extent and difficulty of construction would be required. There appeared to be no stopping place for the engineer. He referred to the present defective condi- tion of our railways, which he attributed to engineers being employed simply to lay out the line of the road, and to the details being supplied by mechanics. A great deal had been said about steel rails. There are, however, other and more important improvements to be considered. How is it that the great New York Central, that makes sufficient profit to pay dividends of eighty per cent, does not raise its road bed above the flood? It was disgraceful that this road should be com- pelled to stop its traffic occasionally because its road bed was under water. Mr. Thomas C. Clark then read a paper on The Strength of Iron Bridges and the Minimum Weight they should be re- quired to support, and suggested that a committee should be appointed to investigate and report on the matter. Mr. Martin Cor read an interesting paper on The Con- struction of Bridge Foundations. Mr. J. M. Clarke followed in a paper on laying out railway turnouts by the simple inspection of tables prepared for the purpose. Mr. Arthur Beckwith read a paper on the composition of ancient cements. The meeting soon afterward adjourned. Death of a well-known inventor. We regret to notice the death of Joseph Dixon, of Jersey City, one of the most ingenious men of our time. Mr. Dixon was born in Marblehead, Mass., January 19, 1799. He made a machine to cut files before he attained his majority, learned the printers trade, afterward that of wood engraving, then lithography, and afterward studied medicine, and in that con- nection became interested in chemistry, becoming finally one of the most accomplished and comprehensive chemists in the country. lie was a thorough optician, and had no equal in his knowledge of photography. He took up the experiments of Daguerre in 1839, and was probably the first person to take a portrait by the camera. He showed Prof. Morse how to take portraits by means of a reflector, so that the subjects should not appear reversed. Morse tried to get the plan pat- ented in Europe. Mr. Dixon built the first locomotive, with wooden wheels, but with the ens e double crank now used. He originated the process of photo-lithography; and published it years before it was believed to be useful. By hie prohess of transferring, the old hank notes were easily emiriteffeited, and it was to guard against the abuse of his du~si p~o~c~s that he brought out the system of prisitin~ in coioi~s dri thd bill~ and had the method patented, but never received any benefit from the patent, all the banks having used it without pay. He perfected the system of making collodion for the photo- graphers, and assisted Mr. Harrison in getting a true system for grinding the lenses for camera tubes. He is said to have originated the well-known Babbitt anti- friction metal, and to have been the father of the steel melt- ing business in this country, but these claims rest upon a doubtful basis. It is certain, however, that he originated a vast number of machines and processes ; but he was widely known among manufacturers as an extensive manufacturer of plumbago crucibles. 1-us establishment at Jersey City is the largest of its kind in the world, and its productions received a medal at the Paris Exposition in 1867. He was singularly self-reliant, and was untiring in all that he undertook to do. For many years past he was intently engaged in the con- struction of a musical instrument that he called the orches~ trion, which he was permitted to see perfected. Mr. Dixon had a very retentive memory, and during his leisure hours had stored his mind with a vast amount of prac- tical knowledge which he knew how to impart in an attrac- tive manner. We recognise Mr. Dixon as a steady friend of the ScrnN- TtFtC AMERrOAN from its commencement, and an occasional contributor to its columns. ~te~j~imdern~e. The Editors ere no re& eoastbte los- the O.osaions e pressed by their Coo ressoedeats. Botanical Gardens Needed. MEssRs. EDIToRs :That museums are successful institu- tions no one will deny. All the capitals of Europe possess public establishments of this kind, containing collections of natural history, of fine arts, and of antiquities, which are of great value and interest to the scientific student, the artist, and the architect. In this country the existino collections belong to private societies or to individuals, with the exception of some few attached to colleges or State establishments. The most con- siderable of these dwindle, however, into insignificance when compared in richness of contents to the splendid museums of London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, and other cities of the old world. The Central Park Commissioners of this city, have lately determined to erect a museum at the Park complementary to the nucleus of a menagerie which exists there already. I approve of the plan, although I doubt if the amount of money to be expended will enable them to make many acqui- sitions of really intrinsic value, beyond the purebase of a class of objects (such as attracted the curiosity of the gapin~, multi. tude at Barnmus), which will really teach them nothing. Now, Messrs. Editors, I take the liberty of making a sug- gestion: Would it not be better that the money to be expend- ed for a museum in this city, which may be the laughing stock of foreigners, should be employed in the construction of a model botanical garden, with accessory green and hot houses, and an aquarium large enough for the cultivation of the ,,,iant water lilly, the Victorice Regina? Scarcely a city in Europe of five thousand inhabitants, is without a botanical garden which is the pride of its inhabi- tants. In such a garden the young physician learns to know the living plants which produce the roots, barks, seeds, and flowers which he prescribes in various shapes to his patients the druggist studies how to recognize the genuine from the counterfeit among the vegetable substances in which he deals; the horticulturist and the gardener are taught how to graft, how to bud, and how to produce variation and hybridation among the choicer varieties of plants; the agriculturist chooses for himself among many varieties of produce, such as are really the most prolific, without having to depend upon buncombe advertisements. .The student also here finds recreation of the healthiest sort in the study of botany, which is one of the most attract- ive branches of natural science, and the ladies can stroll and loiter with delight amid parterres of highly-scented plants, and may teach their children not to handle or to trifle with such vegetable species as are labeled dangerous, acrid, poisonous, stinging, fcetid, etc. A botanical garden is the grand rendezvous of innocence and taste, and it is more agreeable to gaze on beds of pretty flow- ers nodding their heads to every passing breeze, than to watch the evolutions of lascivious apes, to see boa constrictors devouring their innocent living prey, to learn how to eat frosu hungry lions, tigers, or hyenas, or to breathe the efiluvia always attendant on captive animals. The suggestion I here make is not simply destined for New York, but ought to be acted on in every city throughout the land. America ought to rank foremost as regards her horti- cultural, pomological, and agricultural productions. Competition and rivalry between cities at the public shows would soon bring about the desired result, and lead to a taste for pursuits conducive to health of mind and of body. With a good scientific gardener as a manager, such an es- tablishment would soon be not only seif-supporthig. but ought to realize a large income by sales, which would allow of fur- ther extensions and of new acquisitions. Seeds and plants of all kinds can be obtained from botanical gardens in Europe for kindred establishments at a nominal cost, and exchanges are always freely and liberally made by them. Should you think, Messrs. Editors, the sub?ect of sufficient interest for further elucidation, I should be very happy to fur- nish the ScIENTIFIc AMERIcAN with a sketch of the best plan of laying out and organizing a botanical garden, as has been done in some of the European cities. BoTANIcUs. New York city. [We concur with o ir corre~ponde t in the importance of es 6 enti~i~ JULY 3, 1869j tablishing at the Central Park a first-class botanical garden, and we have no doubt that in the progress of time such will be the result, but we cannot concur in the suggestion that a zoo- logical gai~den should not also be estab]ished. All the chief European cities have both, and we expect that New York will some day be favored with something like the Jctrdin des Plantes, of Paris, which not only combines horticulture and zoology, but has also valuable museums of botany, geology, and anatomy, and a school where the natural sciences are taught with a high degree of perfection. With regard to a plan for a garden our correspondent had better see the Cen- tral Park Commissioners. Information Wanted. MEssRs. EDITORs :An immense number of intelligent persons in our country are now directing their attention to the production of valuable inventions; some for fame, but, it is reasonably to be supposed, the large majority for profit. Now what is wanted to know, especially by the latter class, is, What is needed? Inventors often waste much valuable t~me at churns and washing machines, who might produce a much- needed, valuable improvement. Will you, Messrs. Editors, say what is called for urgently, and will your many readers, professional men, mechanics, or any other man, do the same through the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN? E. G. B. Washington, D. C. [This subject opens up a very broad field of inquiry, and affects almost every branch of our growing industries. We cannot specify any one article that is especially needed, but it is safe to say that more economical machines and processes are wanted in almost every department of manufacturing. The high price of labor at the present time renders it nec- essary that this labor should be supplemented by improved machines and processes to enable our manufacturers to produce articles more cheaply than is possible at the present time. The field for improvement is usually more general than specific, but with a view to meet the inquiry of our correspondent, we invite suggestions from others. Our columns are always open to make known the wants of manufacturers in the direc- tion indicated.EDs. The Poppy in Texas. MEssRs. EDITORS :The frequent mention of the poppy in the recent numbers-of your paper, and of the possibility of its successful cultivation in America, reminds me of the acres of this flower that I have seen growing wild in Texas. In por- tions of Texas, at this season of the year, you will see whole acres covered with the white poppy in bloom, standing as thick as you ever saw wheat growing in a wheat field. About West Liberty, Columbus, and other towns, it grows spontaneously on every uncultivated spot. I was informed that very good opium had been made from this wild white poppy in Texas. If any one wishes to cultivate the poppy for opium, or the Patmce Christi for castor oil, Western Texas is the country for him to go to find the proper soil and to buy land cheap. JAMEs BYARS. Covington, Tenn. CORNISH PUMPING ENGINES. BY 11. P. B. BTEKINBTNE, ENGINEER. The American character for independent thinking and act- ing is illustrated in the variety of pumping engines used in the water works throughout the country; their being no particular form or style that may be said to have precedence or that may be considered as the best, so far as any peculiar form of apparatna would indicate. In England the Cornish engine is the one almost univer- sally adopted where any considerable amount of water is to be raised, either for supplying towns or draining mines. In this country there are but five cities where they are used exclusively; namely, Erie and Easton, Pa.; Louisville, Ky.; Cleveland, 0.; and Jersey City, N. J.; there are also a few used in draining mines. We have several large pumping engines in use, which may be considered as modifications of the Cornish engine. The Philadelphia Water Works have four Cornish engines (two overhead beam and two Bull engines) in use, and a side- lever Cornish engine is now in course of construction. The city hue also in operation six engines of other form, and has contra~ ted for two more (not Cornish). Chicago has just completed two large pumping engines of another form. St. Louis is having four new engines constructed, for the low lift two Bull Cornish, but for the high lift, where the most ~vork is to be done, two engines of different construc- tion. Beffalo, N. Y., has two Bull Cornish engines, but the last engine placed in the works was of a different form, and it is now proposed to materially alter the Cornish engine. From the above it is evident that in this country the Corn- ish engine is not a favorite; many of those constructed being failures. The Union Canal Company have one in use in con- nection with several high-pressure fly-wheel engines, in pumping water to supply the Sun~mit level of their canal, which has been found to work so unsatisfactorily that it is never used when the work can possibly be done with the other engines. At the zinc mines, near Bethlehem, Pa., there is one Corn- ish and several other engines used in draining the mines, and this company, whose engineer has had a large and successful experience in constructing Cornish engines, is now having a powerful engine built, which is not of this class. This is in direct opposition to the usage of England; there- fore, either English engineers adhere to the Cornish engine from prejudiceit being old, and they know of no better Works are in good condition ; the average monthly duty has while we have progressed and found other and improved frequently been over 550,000 foot-pounds. The average cost forms, or the construction and management of Cornish en- of raising one million gallons one foot high, for the past five gines is not generally understood by the mechanics and engi- years, is at Schuylkill Works, 1521 cents; Delaware Works, neers of this country. 2480 cents; Twenty-fourth Ward Works, 972 cents; El er- The exhaustive works of Wickstead and Pole fully describe mantown Works, 2150 cents. the construction and operation of these engines, and demon- This includes salaries of engineers and firemen, coal, oil, strate theoretically, and by the actual working of engines in tallow, gas or oil for lighting, packing, small stores, re- operation, that there is no other form which gives as high pairs, etc. duty; that is, raises as much water with a given amount of By making a calculation from this basis of the cost of mis- coal. ing an average of five million gallons per day, one hundred The records of the running of a large number of these and fifty feet high, the relative value of the different forms of engines in Great Britain, extending through a long period of pumping engines will be made more apparent, thus: Schuyl. time, show that they work with surprising economy. Those kill Works, $41,63737 per annum; Delaware Works, $67,- running in this country, which are properly constructed and 89000 per annum; Twenty-fourth Ward Works, $26,608-SO olaced where their management is understood, give very per annum ; Germantown Works, $58,856-25 per annum. favorable results. If all the water raised at the Schuylkill Works was pumped Some of the patented pumps have duties claimed for them by the Cornish engine, it would show economy even greater greater than the Cornish engine accomplishes, but as this than the Twenty-fourth VVard Works, and were it not for claim is made by those pecuniarly interested in their success, the large amount of repairs required by the Cornish engines and as it cannot be sustained, either by a theoretical examin- at the Twenty-fourth Ward Works, they would ~xhibit mere ation of the patented peculiarities or by the actual working comparative economy than they do. of the machines, we may be excused from entering into a From the above it is evident that the Cornish engine is the discussion of their merits, most economical. An experience of nearly seven years as Engineers acquainted with pumping machinery generally chief engineer of the Philadelphia Water Works, and an ex- accord to the Cornish engine superiority of duty, and theory tensive connection with other water works, has satisfied the and practice both demonstrate that no other form of engine writer that where any cons~derahle amount of watei is to be can be worked so economically. - raised the Cornish engine is not only the most economical in The question then occurs, Why are they not more gener- all items of running expenses, but also the most reliable, and ally recommended and used in this country, and why do those that no other form of engine should be recommended. who are experienced often adopt other forms when new en- Fossil Gnms or Copals. gines are required ? It is impossible to give the reasons which have led to the Professor W. H. Gunning contributes to the Phiiadelphia difference in practice between American and English engi- Coachmakers Journed an article on the above subject. He neers. In some instances (which we believe are but few) the says: Amber and copal are so entirely of the past that royalties which patentees of pumps receive have undoubtedly Nature, it would seem, has forgotten how to make them. influenced those having the selection of engines. Ignorance They come down to us from out of the by-gone ages, although and want of experience is probably another cause,, as is no place has been found for them on the page of the geolo- also the difficulty in finding machinists skilled in designing gist. Commerce has made them known to the world; and and constructing Cornish engines. Another reason may science has at last interpreted their origin. arise from the impatience which is characteristic of Amen- Every one has seen gum bleeding from a cherry-tree. gum is a hy cans, who are sometimes unwilling to wait until a substantial This dro-carbon, inodorous and soluble in water. pumping engine can be built and set upconsidering time as Imagine the gum, hard as the wood that bleeds it, soluble the most important element, and frequently neglectincr effi- only in alcohol, and that only when oxidized, and you have ciency and durability., ~ amber or copal. In some olden time, trees long extinctthe Pinus suceiniferwere standing on the shores of the Baltic. The first cost may also be used as an objection to these en- Another species, with a more formidable namethe Ekeocarpus gines. We have so much to do in developing the immense re- sources of the country and comparatively so little capital to copatiferwas growing over the desert of Africa and in South tlat this America. If now we approach the Baltic, and dig down to do it with and labor is so high and dear, difficulty the old tree-bearing soil, we find clumps of amber gum bled meets engineers at every undertaking. The above may be from the succinifer. Specimens are found now and then on some of the reasons why Cornish engines are not more gen- erally used. our continent, at Cape Sable and Gay Head. Gum from the In the water works of Philadelphia, there is a number of copat~fer is called copal. Copal does not differ essentially from different forms of pumping engines in use, which may be con- amber. It is more abundant and more accessible. The begin- sidered as fair specimens, the following comparisons of the ning was far back in the golden age of Africa, befbre the average work for the past five years may form a basis of the wind and the sand had made a desolation of her great plain. How impenetrable the gloom and mystery which veil this relati*e merits of the different forms of engines. These ac- land of the sun! Here is a desert, parched and blasted, the counts have been kept uniformly and represent the fotal same to-day as when the caravans tracked it, with the stars amount of coal and other supplies purchased as well as all for chart and compass, in the days of the Pha.raohs. Men amounts paid, for labor, repairs, etc. Philadelphia receives its supply of water from six different have thought of it as a primal blight, a brand of some great pumping stations, The curse on the new-created world. And yet that plain, so deso- late now, was covered once with a majestic forest. The trees 1st, FAIRmIOUNT. pumps at this station are driven by have perished, and their sap alone remains to tell that they water power. 2d, SduuvLuinL WORKs have four pumping engines. One were. Under a burning sun these trees were bleeding gum insects came to sip it, lit, mired; the nectar flowed aroun overhead beam Coraish engine; one bell-crank condensing en- them and entombed them; the trees perished, but time has gine with fly wheel, steam cylinder vertical, pump double act- wrought their blood into gems, and here are the insects to-day lag, nearly horizontal. One overhead beam condensing en- embalmed in their crystal tombs forever. A hundred thousand gino with fly-weeel, steam cylinder vertical, double-acting deaths could not dislurb even the dust upon their wings. pump (vertical) placed directly under steam cylinder connect- Our fathers used to puzzle over these insects in amber. ed to piston through lower cylinder head. An engine similar The amber itself was a mystery, and then the insecthow did to this has been -removed and a side lever Cornish engine is it ever get there. We no longer wonder how the insect got being erected to take its place. 3d, DELAWARE WORKS have two pumping engines one there, but how long it has been there. Negroes find the co- overhead beam condensing engino with fly wheel, steam cyl- pal down even eighty feet in the desert sand. We infer that mnder vertical, pump double-acting, horizontal, connected to in places the soil from which the copal tree grew was buried piston, (which is connected through lower cylinder head) by under eighty feet of sand and clay. We have no data by which we can fix the time demanded for such a change, but bell crank and connecting rods, and one high pressure engine, we know enough to assure us that it must be reckoned in steam cylinder horizontal, connected to horizontal pump thousands of years. The revolutions of nature, from forest to (double-acting) by vertical beam. desert, are never achieved in a day. 4th, TWENTY-FOURTH WARD WORKS have two Cornish In Bull engines. New works are being constructed for the dis- general the greatness of a change is a measure of the time. In general, we say. Where man comes in as a disturb- trict now supplied by these engines, where pumping engines lug force, desolation or abundance follows quickly in hie path. of a different kind are to be used. The plains of Babylonia, so fertile in the days of the great 5th, GERMANTOWN WoRKs.These have two high pressure Babylon, the borders of Lake Galilee, so beautiful when the engines, steam cylinder and double-acting pumps, horizontal. Saviour was wont to seek them, are now desolate. connected through fly wheel shaft by cranks placed at dead - The crimes of men have dried up realms to deserts. points. Nature has done the same, but she is never a swift architect 6th, ROXBOROUGH WORKS.These are just completed and of ruin. To have wrought the extinction of a race of trees contain a large overhead beam Cornish engine! from There is quite a variety of forms of boilers in use at the Africa, and buried the soil which bore them under eighty different works, in one of them four kinds; they may all be feet of sand, must have required many ages. The fly or moth, considered as of fair average efficiency. which looks as if it had just lit in its crystal coffin, may have The works are generally in good repair, except the Twenty- been there a hundred thousand years. We are very sure it fourth Ward Works, there being no reservoir for this district- was there, just as you see it to-day, long before there was any and the engines are driven much beyond their safe-work- man upon the earth. A race of trees perish~1 from the earth, and left no wood ing speed, and, as a consequence, are rarely if ever in good condition. or bark to tell that they lived, no seed or scion to perpetuate their The average duty for the past five years in foot -pounds kind, but their sap,- their spirita mere aroma which is pounds of water raised one foot high with a pound of exhaled from their woundsthis remains, a thing of beauty, (that while everything that was earthly has crumbled to dust. anthracite coal), is Schuylkill Works, 396,961 foot-pounds ; ~ - Delaware Works, 210,570 foot-pounds; Twenty-fourth Ward GOOD WHOLESOME BREADProfessor Stohmann advises to Works, 470,092 foot-pounds; Germantown Works, 214,728 mix to ~- parts of rye meal, ~ part of bean, or pea meal, and 2 foot-pounds. per cent, by weight, of the mixture, of ordinary common salt. At the Schuylkill Works more than one half of the work is It appears that bread thus made is of excellent quality, taking done by the Comnish engine. When the Twenty-fourth Ward its constituents into consideration, and easily digestible LJuLY 3, 1869. by tlie moving of the flags. The orders were communicated and repeated with a rapidity which was actually astonishing. The building of the field telegraph, which was done by the first class, was also a great feature of the drill. Lines were run from Fort Putnam down in the direction of Cozzens West Hotel and back to the post, and messages were sent over the wires wIthout the slightest hindrance, although on the plains the lines were laid at the rate of three miles an hour. The batteries that were used in the drill differ very much from the ordinary batteries common to most telegraph companies, machine by which it is rendered self-sustaining, beside having the advantages over contrivances of this nature heretofore made of being free from extra friction while hoisting, and still under control of the check line when lowering. This is accomplished in the following manner reference being made to the drawings, Figs. 1 and 2. A, represents a suitable frame of wood to which the other parts of the machine are fastened. B represents fixed bear- ings in which are pivoted the levers, C, carrying the hoisting drum, 1), and pinion shaft, E ; these levers being so placed in the fixed bearings, B, that a portion of the load sustained by the drum, D, shall act upon the brake, I. F is the large gear attached to the drum. G is a pinion meshing into F. H is the rope wheel on the pe- riphery ef which is the brake flange as usual. I is an iron brake shoe bolted to the frame, A, which is extended for the purpose. This shoe is provided with a good friction surface, by being faced with rawhide or leather. J Is an L-shaped lever pivoted at K, to the suspending lever, C, and ~rrying at its longer end a rope j~dley, L. M is the endless rope passing from the wheel, H, at an Migle over the pulley, L; N is the eheck line leading from the lever, J, over a small pulley at 0; P is the fulcrum to the lever, J; Q is the draft rope. In operation a load being sus- pended from Q, the act of hoisting by the rope, M, will cause a lat- eral motion of the same toward the lever, J, which, bearing upon the fulcrum, 0, will raise the wheel, H, from contact with the brake surface on I, allowing the load to be lifted until the pull ceases, when it is instantly held in place. To lower, the check line is pulled so as to free the brake flange wholly, or in part as de- sired. This machine is now tested in practice and found to answer the ends sought. It is a valuable im- provement, since it furnishes a more safe and convenient arran,,e- ment in the laborious process of hoisting, permits the~use of a plat- form when required, loading or unloading at any floor, and for power hoists, provides at once for the slipping off, stretching one of their principal advantages over the ordinary kind be- or breaking of belt. in,, the impunity with which they can be thrown into and car- For State rights to manufacture (except N. E.), or for ned in the wagons. Everybody who knows anything about further particulars, address F. P. Canfield, 71 Sudbury street, telegraphing is aware that ordinary batteries, after being Boston, Mass. tossed about over a rough road for a short time, refuse to work; but all the rough usage which the batteries received during the drill that day, appeared in nowise to impair their ef- ficiency. They consist simply of a peculiar apparatus to be attached to the wires, and contain sulphate of copper in crys- tals, a piece of zinc, and a sponge. When they are used, the copper, zinc, and sponge are wetted, and, it is said, after once bein,, put in readiness for action, that they will work steadily for at least a month. During the drill, hard-rubber was used about the poles as insulators, instead of glass. Beet-root Sugar in California. The Mining and Scientific Press says, the question of pro- ducing beet-root sugar in this State is gradually increasing in interest, and we are pleased to note that an important experi- ment has been made by Mr Justus Beplar, of San Mateo coun- ty, to ascertain definitely the capacities of the soil and climate of California for this valuable product. Mr. Beplar has pro- duced a sample of sugar pronounced to be equal to the best brands of imported cane sugar. It is well granulated, pure, and presents a thoroughly marketable appearance. This ex- periment is considered one of much importance and signifi- eance. Some idea of the value to which this interest may at- tain on this coast may be inferred from the fact that the sales of sugar by our local refineries for the quarter ending March 31, amounted to an aggregate value of $748,598; or within a fraction of three millions a year. It is now pretty well settled that the Sacramento beet-root sugar factory will go into oper- ation during the current year, and the company will be pre- pared to purchase all the beets which may be produced in the present season. There can be little doubt that within a few years beet-root sugar will form an important item in the al- ready long list of California productions. Signal Drill--Field Telegraphs. At the ~recent examination of the West Point graduating class, one of the most interesting features of the occasion was, what is called a signal and telegraph drillsignaling by means of flags, and building a field telegraph. Although very few persons, but those immediately concerned in the drill, were able to comprehend nAch about the thing, it at- tracted considerable attention, and was looked upon with a great deal of interest by the officers of the post. The signal- ing was probably the most attractive feature of the whole affair. A certain number of the second class were detailed with the flags, which were of the ordinary size, nailed to poles about four leet long. Several of the signalers went up to the hights of Fort Putnam, and across the river, and signaled to others on the parade ground, with the flags, and for several minutes orders were communicated from point to point, and conversations held by the aid of the simple movements made Laboratory Pump. Mr. J. Emerson Reynolds writes to the editor of the Ohem- ical News a description of a simple form of a Bunsens valuable filter pump, which has been fitted up in his laboratory by Mr. Stephen Yeates, of Dublin. The accompanying diagram shows the essential parts of the pump. A is a tube of tin, about eight inches long, and of nearly one inch internal diameter; within three inches of one end, the tube, B, is sol- dered. The diameter of this tube should be about three eighths of an inch. The end of the wide tube most distant from B is now contracted so as to form a portion of a cone, and D then soldered in. A small tube, C, is now selected, one extremity of which en- ters, but must not at all close, the cone formed by the junc- tion of A and D; and at this point its orifice is contracted so as not not to exceed one eighth of an inch in diameter. It is then soldered, as shown, into the upper end of A. The whole arrangement is fitted to a board by the straps, S S. The tube, C, is connected with the vessel to be exhausted of air. B is the delivery pipe for water, obtained from a cis tern or from the street main; the supply should admit of reg ulation by means of a stop-cock placed in the course of B. In order to obtain the maximum exhaustion with the pump, the length of D should be about thirty-three feet, but a fall of twenty feet I find to be more than sufficient for ordinary wa- ter. As this form of Bunsens pump can be constructed by any intelligent plumber for a few shillings, no chemist need be deterred, either on account of expense or trouble, from fit- ting his laboratory with the new apparatus. I have had the pump in operation in my laboratory for about two months, and gladly bear testimony to the great practical value of Professor Bunsens admirable arrange- ment. The First Iron Founders in St. Louis. The proximity of St. Louis to the vast ore-yielding fields of Missouri so closely identifies it with the iron interest as to make anything connected with the subject of special importance to the city; and it is not a matter at all surprising that the citizens watch with the deep est interest any enterprise looking to the development of the great wealth garnered up by nature in those lix- mense storehouses of iron ore, the Iron Mountain and Pilot Knob. With this idea we propose, says the St. Louis Republican, to give some few notes on the history of iron founding in St. Louis. The history of founding iron in St. Louis dates back far as as 1824, though it was then done in a rude way. In the year 1817 a man named Louis Newell landed in St. Louis, then, as many know, a small village com- pared with its present proportions. Newell commenc~ the business of blacksmithing, giving special attentioft to the making of edge tools. His fame soon spread abroad as a great ax-maker. At this time St. Louis was an important center of the fur trade of the West; Fiy.2 the demand for wolf traps, beaver traps, and squaw axes was very considerable, and Newell soon made a specialty of the manufacture of these implements, the production of a good quality of which brought him at once wealth and a wider fame. About that time, too, the old French cart began to be superseded by the Yankee wagon, all the cast-iron hub boxes for which had to be brought from Pittsburgh, as in. deed all other iron castings. Then it was that the idea of founding first entered the brain of the first St. Louis founder. Newell saw that if he could make the hub boxes he could make a wagon out and-out, thus saving a heavy expense in their manufacture and adding greater facility to their production; a desideratum much to be desired by the farmers and settlers around St. Louis. S. Newell went to racking his brain for a plan to overcome thQ inconvenience of having to import wagon boxes. He was not a practical iron founder; but his genius and indomitable courage made up for the want. Having com- pleted a pattern, he went to work with a common blacksmiths forge to make wagon boxes; he melted his iron and molded them with the most perfect success. This was the first melt- ing of iron west of the Mississippi river. For four years Newell proceeded with this slow process to turn out boxes for the wagons he made. In 1828, Mr. Samuel Gatythen a mere boyleft his home in Kentucky, and pitched his tent in St. Louis. In connec- tion with two other men, named Richards and Martin, he rented a piece of ground from Colonel Martin Thomas, and put up a small foundery on what is now the corner of Second and Cherry streets, and the trio went to work. Young Gaty had all the capital ($250), and acted as molder and financier; Richards was furnace man and Martin pattern maker. Un- der this arrangement matters progressed satisfactorily, and they made money. Colonel Thomas, looking upon Richards as the man of the concern, and seeing the profit in the busi- ness, made overtures to buy out Gatys interest; and the lat- ter looking a little deeper into matters than the Colonel could see, sold out to him. The sequel proved the sagacity of Gaty, for the two men, Richards and Martin, without business management, and being given to dissipation, soon let the concern run down. Colonel Thomas then declared he had bought out the wrong man. Gaty went back to Louisville. ETHER Spray is used successfully in Lyons, France, to ren- der painless the operation of uprooting haIr, when necessary, in cases of cutaneous disease. 8 Improvement in Hoisting Apparatus. This invention is an improvement on the common hoisting C AKFIELDS~ IMPROVED PATENT ELEVATOR. JULY 3, 1869.] c~ ~UNJN & COIY1PA1~YS Editors and Proprietors~ PUBLISHED WEEKLY AT ~ 37 PARK ROW (PARK BUILDING), NEW YORK~ 0. P. MUNY. S. H. WALES, A. E BEACH ~ The American News Company, Agents.121 Bassan street,New York. ~ The New York News Company, 8 Sprnce street. ~ Messrs. Sampson, Low, Son & Marston, Booksellers, Crown Building, 188 Fleet street, London, are the Agents to receive European subscriptions. Orders sent to them will be promptly attended to. ~ A. Asher & Co., 20 Unter den Linden, Berlin, are Agents for the Ger- roan States. Tnbner & Co., 10 Paternoster Row, London, are also Agents to receive subscriptions. VOL. XXI., iNo. 1... [NEW SERIES.].... Twenty-fourth Year. NEW YORK, SATURDAY, JULY 3, 1869. Contents: (Illostrated articles are marked with an asterisk.) *A One-needle Family Knitter Detcrmination of Free Oxygen.... Applied Mechanics in Relation to lNatural Power How to Select a Saddle Horse Facts about Gas for the People.... Skill, Invention, and Property in Patents and Books Rules for Bathing Substitute for Copper in the Dan- tells Battery *Roc~vells Overdraw and Com- pression Bit *1n~roved Horseshoe Clincher.... *Adjustable Spirit Level Plumb and Inclinometer *Im p rovement in Window Sashes. Bri ciging the Connecticnt *Stra~vberry Worms Association for the Advancement of Science and Artthe Batho- meter... - American Society ivil Engi: neers Death of a well-known Inventor.. Botanical Gardens Needed Information Wanted The Poppy in Texas Cornish Pumpiu~ En,4nes Fossil Gums or & pals *Improvement in Hoisting Appar 1 1 2 2 2 II 3 3 4 5 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 7 7 7 atus 8 Beet Root Sugar in California 8 Signal Drill-field Telegraphs S *Laboratory Pump S The First Iron Founders in St. Louis 8 Property in Patents and Copy- rights 9 Cheap Iron Fences 9 Architectural Enineering 9 Death of a Distinguished Editor... 9 The Claims of Genius S Testin~ Steam Engines 10 Improved Photographic Paper.... 10 Misadventure in ExperimentProf. Silliman 10 Practical Application of Sensitive Flames 10 A New Decorative Material 10 The Present Status of Medical Science 11 New Publications 11 Inventions Patented in England by Americans 11 Answers to Correspondents 12 Recent American and Foreign Pa tents 12 Apl~teations for the Extensionof 15 List of Patents 10 PROPERTY IN PATENTS AND COPYRIGHTS. Horace Greeley, the veteran editor of the Tribune, is pub- lishing in that journal a series of interesting articles upon Political Economy, Which are designed to set forth the value of protection to American industry. The third article of the series is devoted to the discussion of Capital, Skill, Invention, and Intellectual Property, some extracts from Which we re- print in this number of the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN. Mr. Greeley discusses, with his usual clearness and force, the in- fluence of labor-saving machinery upon the civilization and progress of the World, and shows the immense value and benefits which have resulted from inventions, contributing, at the same time, his protest against the efforts of those who would seek to abolish, or disparage, the system of protecting the property right of inventors and authors to their discove- ries and works. The discussion of this subject by Mr. Greeley is timely, especially when viewed in connection with the re- cent effort in the British Commons, to secure the abolishment of the Patent System of Great Britain. In reference to the rights of authors, we have never had but one opinion. We have, as we think, very justly arraigned the Canadian Government for its persistent refusal to allow patents to American inventors, and we consider it no less un- just, on the part of our Government, to deny to foreign au- thors the right to copyright their books, and we trust that this illiberal policy, wliich serves only to enrich a few large publishers at the expense of the brain-workers of Europe will soon give way to a sense of justice too long withheld. CHEAP IRON FENCES. Among the numberless uses to which iron is put, the man- ufacture of railings and fences for courtyards has attained very large proportions. Such fences are rapidly superseding all others for inclosing public parks and courtyards of first- class buildings in large cities. There remains, however, a want for an iron fence of a much cheaper character, suitable for farms. The rate at which we are cutting and exporting timber in this country and the con- sequent increase in the price of lumber, render the supply of fencing material, very expensive to farmers in many parts of the country. Where fencing timber is scarce and farms are stony, farmers manage to kill two birds with one stone, by removing the stones which cumber their lands, and building with them a wall about their fields; but there are many large tracts of fertile land, without either stone or timber. Such is the char- acter of our western prairie land. The time is coming when these lands must be cut up into small farms, and the cultiva- tion of grain must be replaced in great measure by stock raising. When this time arrives, fences will be needed. It is safe to say that even now a large market would be found for a cheap and efficient iron fence, which could be built for about the same cost that a board fence now entails, while its durability would be greater, and its need for repair less. Upon lands where neither stone nor timber can be obtained hedges have been tried, but there are many objections to them. It is a matter of difficulty to get them started into vigorous growth; they require more attention and labor when grown, to prevent spreading and unsightilness, than will keep either a stone or board fence in good repair; they are likely to be winter-killed, and they exhaust and occupy a consider- able proportion of lands An attempt was made a few years since to meet the want by wire fences, but unless the wires were woven into mutual- DEATH OF A DISTINGUISHED EDITOR ly supporting meshes, making the fence too expensive, they Henry J. Raymond, the editor of the New York Times, died could not relied upon to restrain anything but the larger cat- of the farm; and even these soon learned that the wires suddenly at his residence, in this city, on the morning of June tle 18th in his 50th year. Mr. Raymond began life a poor boy, could be easily broken. Wire fence for farms has for the most part gone the way of plank-roads to return no more, un and, by his indefatigable purpose to achieve success, he se- less some inventor shall make the phcenix rise from its ashes in a form much better adapted for real service than it existed before its demise. Another class of inventions which have had better although not complete success is that of portable wooden fences. Some of these were really meritorious, as they required a much less quantity of lumber than the old style of fence, while the labor consumed in their construction was scarcely more. They were, however, though lighter and more graceful, not so strong as the fences they were designed to supersede, and thus they failed to fully meet the requirements of the case. Now it seems to us, that it would require no great amount of genius to adapt the principle of corrugation of sheet met- als, in combination with the angle iron now regularly manu- factured and sold, to the production of a fence so light that it should be sufficiently cheap for farm use, and yet so strong and durable as to outlast any timber fence of equal cost. Fences of this kind, painted with coal tar, would resist oxid- ation for a long time, and there is no doubt that they could be made sufficiently rigid and inelastic to restrain sheep, pigs, etc., which the old wire fence was incompetent to do. ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING. The sister arts of engineering and architecture are com- monly considered as being distinct, and in one sense they are distinct; but there is a class of building which, while it gives scope to all skill in design which the finished architect pos- sesses, also involves considerable knowledge of civil and me- chanical engineering. We allude to the designing of buildings, and works for manufacturing purposes. In many kinds of manufacturing, long established and systematized, there exists a regu- lar method of building so far as interior arrangement concerned, never modified except in unimportant de- tails. The exteriors of such buildings vary greatly in the de- gree of beauty and appropriateness of their designs; but a large number are totally destitute of either, being simply stiff and ungraceful masses of masonry, which if not without form, are certainly destitute of comeliness. Others would be good designs were it not for their inappropriateness. But it is not of exterior designs that we were about to speak. There is a field in which the highest success can only be reached by uniting the special requisites of skill in mechani- cal and civil engineering with the skill of the architect. In many industrial establishments strict adherence to one type of building is neither requisite nor desirable. Circumstances con- nected with the location,the materials available for the erection of buildings, the character of the site, and other particulars not necessary to be enumerated, must, in some cases, and may, in any case, render more or less change necessary. As an illustration of this fact, we have in mind a case, where a large industrial building, requiring very heavy walls to support the machinery, was erected on the side of a clay hill. The work was about two thirds completed when it was found that the building and its foundations were gradually but surely sliding down hill. Of course, nothing was left but to tear down, and either begin over again upon a better foun- dation, or change the site of the building. Here was a grave error committed by an architect, of no mean reputation, sim- ply by net taking into proper account the effect likely to be produced upon the clay basis by such a great weight as was necessary. Our readers will doubtless recall some instances of terrible disasters arising from want of proper strength in manufactur- ing buildings, of which the fall of the Pemberton Mill, at Lawrence, Mass., was a most notable and lamentable example. We have, in our observations of different industrial works, often wondered that more such disasters did not befall, rather than so few. It is common to meet with errors in building arising from obvious ignorance of the practical working of machines, and their effects upon buildings in which they are placed, together with a total disregard of the effect likely to be produced by rhythmic movements and their attendant vi- brations. We have seen power printing presses placed in po- sitions, on top fioors,where the ultimate destruction of a build- ing, by their effects, would only be a work of time; and drop presses placed upon foundations so weak that they could not, by any possibility, be expected, by an expert, to remain in situ more than a week at the outside. We believe that there is now, and has been for some time, a requirement for a special profession of architectural engi- neering. Because a man can build handsome churches,design a splen- did front for a bank building, or erect an elegant villa, it does not follow that he is competent to build or superintend the building of a grist mill, or even a saw mill. To properly design and complete works of the latter char- acter requires a knowledge of the machinery to be used, the nature of the work they are designed to perform, the points of the structure likely to be subjected to strain, and knowledge of the resources whereby such points may be ade- quately strengthened. We are aware that there there are some architects who have devoted themselves to this speciality, and have acquired skill in it, but they are too few to meet the requirements of the public, and, consequently, much of the work, which only such experts can properly perform, goes into the han ds of men who, however skillful in other departments, are cert ainly incompe- tent to win enviable fame in this. cured a libe~4 education at the University of Vermont, grad- nating withlionor in 1840. - Upon quitting college he at once came to this city, and began the study of law, and maintained himself by teaching. Mr. Raymond early evinced a strong tendency to journalism, and attracted the attention of Horace Greeley, who invited him to a position on the Tribune, then in its infancy. Of the value of Mr. Raymonds services, Mr. Greeley thus speaks in his recently published work entitled the Recollections of a Busy Life : I had not much for him to do till the Tribune was started; then I had enough; and I never found another person, barely of age and just from his studies, who evinced so signal and such versatile ability in journalism as he did. Abler and stronger men I may have met; a cleverer, readier, more gen- erally efficient journalist, I never saw. He remained with me nearly eight years, if my memory serves me, and is the oily assistant with whom I ever felt required to remonstrate for doing more work than any human brain and frame could be expected to endure. His salary was, of course, gradually in- creased from time to time; but his services were more valu- able in proportion to their cost than those of any one else who ever aided me on the Tribune. Mr. Raymond became well known as a public man, having held several prominent positions, but his abilities ws~e best known as a journalist. In company with Mr. George Jones as publisher, he started the New York T