Report of the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India. Vol. 5. From the Viceroy and Governor-General of India.

Report of the Board of Commissioners of the State Survey of New York. 1877.

Report of the New York State Survey for 1878.

From J. T. Gardner, Director. Reports P2, Q2, Q3 of Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania.. From the Board.

Specifications and Drawings of British Patents. Vols. 2 to 21. January to May, 1879. And Disclaimers, etc. And Disclaimers, etc. No. 2378 of 1868; No. 1823 of 1869; No. 1491 of 1870; Nos. 2044 and 3217 of 1875; No. 3875 of 1876; Nos. 1110, 2909, 4169 and 4783 of 1877; No. 1715 of 1878, and No. 763 of 1879.

From the Commissioners of Patents.

Reports of Commissioner of Education for 1875 and 1876. Washington, 1876 and 1877. And

Record of Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Civil War, 1861 to 1865. In 2 vols. Trenton, 1876.

From W. S. Cooley, Philadelphia.

Mr. W. Barnet Le Van exhibited drawings of some express locomotives, and read a short paper describing them. His paper alsodescribed the tender built to pick up water from a trough while the train is in motion.*

Mr. Le Van's prophecy, at the last meeting, that in a few years trains would be run between New York and Philadelphia in sixty minutes, having been criticised, he read a short addition to his paper on the subject of imperfect railroads, showing that one-half of the average resistance to traction on level railways is due to imperfections in the condition of the road bed, and also that if all the railroads were level only one-half of the present engine power would be required, with a corresponding reduction of working expenses. He had no doubt that road beds would be so perfected as to permit the high rates of speed he had prophecied, and he quoted from eminent engineers to show that they looked upon a perfect railroad as a possibility of the future. The advances already made give promise that we will go still further in the same direction.

Mr. Hector Orr inquired whether the increased speed of railway trains led to an increased loss of life by accident.

* See page 21.

Mr. Le Van said that he had not studied the statistics of the subject, and therefore could not answer the question specifically, but his impression was that there would be no increased danger, the greater speed going along with improvements in road beds, etc. He believed that there was less loss of life now on the Pennsylvania Railroad than before the fast trains were introduced.

The question was further discussed by Messrs. Cooper and Nystrom. Mr. Theodore T. Woodruff, inventor of the parlor sleeping car, described, with the aid of illustrations, his steam motor for cultivation of the soil—an immense machine, estimated to weigh, with water and fuel, 51,500 pounds, and, as arranged for plowing, estimated to run 132 feet per minute. In the drawings the machine was represented with 15 plows, each designed to turn 14 inches wide, so that the machine would prepare ground for a width of 17 feet 6 inches at the rate mentioned above. Among the peculiarities of the machine is the :system of truss bracing, to secure rigidity, and the use of track drums, with sun and planet motion of cog wheels on a rack, whereby it is designed to have the machine lay down and take up the track on which it runs. The track drums are broad-faced and carry tracks on which the machine rests. They are set in motion by an annular rack, in which the driving wheels gear. The motor is guided as well as driven by steam, and the plows are adjustable (within limits) to any desired depth. The motor may also be adapted for ditching, grinding, threshing, sawing, etc.

The President inquired whether the machine described had ever been built.

Mr. Woodruff replied that it had not, but he had made all the calculations as to friction, etc., over dirt roads and fresh earth.

Mr. Cartwright inquired how much land the machine was calculated 'to plow, and Mr. Woodruff replied three and a fraction acres in one hour.

The Secretary then presented his report on inventions and novelties which had been sent to the Institute for exhibition.

Among these was the Rhyston mangle, a machine designed to iron clothes without heat. The clothes to be smoothed are wrapped on a roller in a linen cloth, and are then rocked to and fro, under pressure, on a concave table. The Rhyston machine for doing this work is compactly built, comparatively small and very easily operated.

Mangles of various kinds are largely used in Europe, but in this coun

try have not as yet been introduced to any great extent, except in hotels and large laundries. They undertake to do by pressure alone what is done with the sad iron by heat and pressure, and are used for everything except starched and ruffled garments. Where much ironing has to be done, mangles prove economical, as they save a great expenditure for fuel. They are also economical of time, a large roll of articles to be ironed being pressed at once and in a few minutes.

Jewett's patent water filter, which combines a removable and cleansable filter, with a charcoal filter and a porcelain-lined reservoir for filtered water and ice. By the combination of the two filters the grosser impurities are kept from accumulating in the filtering bed.

Wooden pulleys, with taper sleeve fastenings, from the Taper Sleeve Pulley Works, Erie, Pa., were then described. The web of the pulley is constructed of segmental pieces, in each of which the grain is in a radial line from centre to circumference. The rim is constructed by building up a series of rings on either side of the web, and the completed pulleys are afterwards turned true and finished with shellac to protect them from the weather. The taper sleeve coupling and pulley fastenings are constructed on the same principle. Two ring-nuts, to be screwed upon a shell having a taper bore, smallest in the centre, and two split sleeves, comprise the parts. The ends of the shafts to be united are slightly dovetailed, and, being put in position in the shell, the split sleeves are driven into position by the screw nuts, and serve as wedges to keep the shafting united in the shell. The taper sleeve pulley fastening is identical in principle. The absence of set screws or similar devices for uniting shafting does away with dangerous projections to catch belts or clothing, and leaves the shaft uninjured by the cutting of key ways, etc.

I. P. Wendell's lubricating journal box for cars was shown in model. These boxes are now being tried experimentally on cars of" the Union and Tenth and Eleventh Street Passenger Railway Com-panies. The motion of the car on its springs is utilized to pump up from the journal box the oil used to lubricate the axles, the oil being used over and over again until the box needs replenishing. The amount of oil to be pumped in successive jets is regulated by enlarging or diminishing the orifice through which it is thrown upon the axle.. The apparatus is quite simple, and adds very little to the cost of the boxes.

Weston's differential pulley blocks, both direct and geared, were

shown. By their use a man can lift from 2000 to 5000 pounds, and they have the advantage over the ordinary pulley block that when you let go the chain the load still remains suspended, and it can be lowered only by pulling on the opposite side of the slack chain. In hoisting, the chain is taken up on the larger and paid off from the smaller of the wheels, the effect on the load being due to the difference in their diameters. In geared pulleys an extra wheel is added.

Several different styles of Brown's staple binder, for inserting wire staples in business and law papers, etc., were exhibited, and Partridge's patent pencil pointer.

Robinson's combination brace, wrench and hand vise was shown; also the Enterprise Manufacturing Company's fruit press, and a new style of carriage wrench, through the kindness of Truman & Shaw.

Alfred Wilkinson's metallic piston rod packing is made wholly of metal, and consists of cylindrical socket cases having annular anterior recesses, on which the periphery of the preceding one is made to fit so as to form separate and independent compartments. In the compartments are fitted Babbit metal rings, divided in only one place and arranged to break joints. These Babbit rings are encircled by a brass ring, cut in one place only and also arranged to break joints. The rings are held in contact with the piston rod by means of band springs. The whole is readily placed in the ordinary stuffing box and held there by the usual gland, the latter being used without alteration. It is claimed that the packing is entirely free from steam pressure, works with little or no friction on the rod, and secures an absolutely steamtight joint.

Haines' patent self-locking hook was shown and described. The two arms are connected by a collar having on one of its sides ratchet teeth, which are engaged by similar teeth on the which is capable of turning, the weight of the it securely locked.

shank of the hook, traces, etc., holding

Mr. W. W. Warner, representing the International Chemical Company, of New York, exhibited samples of dress goods treated with neptunite, or "fibre mail," to make them waterproof, while at the same time permitting the circulation of air through them. The goods shown were silks, satins and velvets, some of them of delicate shades. They were unchanged in appearance by the application of neptunite, which is a new product of rubber, but perfectly resisted the action of water, as Mr. Warner showed by sprinkling water upon them.

In answer to queries from members of the Institute Mr. Warner said that the preparation did not add materially to the weight of the article treated; that it did not appear to wear off; that it was not affected by the heat of the sun or exposure to the weather, and that after it had been subjected to a high temperature there was no known solvent for neptunite. It is originally treated with naphtha, as a solvent, but after being applied naphtha fails to have any effect on it. Goods treated with it can be washed with soap without injuring them or removing the waterproof covering from the fibres. It is suitable for underwear as well as for dress goods, as it is pervious to air. The question of cost has not been determined, but Mr. Warner estimated that at the outside it would not add more than twenty to twenty-five per cent. to the retail cost of silks, satins, etc., that is to say, a silk now selling for $4 a yard, retail, might cost, say $5 a yard after having been made waterproof with this preparation.

As to the manner of treating the goods, the neptunite could be applied at any stage of the process of manufacture or after the goods had been finished. The company preferred to treat silk in the yarn before being manufactured, as the neptunite gives it greater body. He believed that goods thus made waterproof were also less combustible than ordinary goods, and also that the neptunite protected them from moths, etc.

Mr. Warner was asked whether the process was a patented or a secret He replied that it was a little of both; it was patented and the process kept as secret as any patented process can be.

one.

In reply to the question as to who invented neptunite he said it was Mr. D. M. Lamb, of New York, but that gentleman had become a lion since his invention.

The Secretary said that he thought neptunite would prove very valuable in making waterproof the cloth bindings of books, which are liable to irremediable injury by water. Mr. Warner said that it would undoubtedly protect them.

The consideration of the resolutions offered by Prof. Frazer at the April meeting for the appointment of a committee of chemists to examine and report upon a disputed question of analysis was, in the absence of that gentleman, postponed until the next meeting in September.

There being no further business, the Institute adjourned.

ISAAC NORRIS, M.D., Secretary.