The carriage stock of railway Companies is generally of so superior a kind, both as to design and construction, that accidents arising from their failure are very rare. The wheels and axle-boxes are the most severely tested parts of the vehicle, but if originally of a proper construction, give very little trouble in their maintenance and repair. Experience seems to give the superiority to the wooden wheels, of which there are many kinds in use. A spring sometimes breaks, and a tyre occasionally fails, in which case the wheel is in danger of flying to pieces, but the instances are so unfrequent, that they are not sources of much anxiety to a railway manager. Defective workmanship, where either the carriage, or the principal parts of it, are supplied by contract, has specially to be guarded against; where these are sound and the carriage is daily examined, it may be relied on for a very long period. During the last four years, only six wheels have failed, in the very large stock of the London and North Western Company. The heating of axles, however, is a source of frequent annoyance and alarm to passengers. Since the bearings were increased in size, and more care has been exercised to make the cover fit close, and to preserve the grease free from dust, when not in use, this cause of trouble has diminished, and the recent introduction of the patent axle-box, which, under proper management, will run many hundreds of miles without being fed, bids fair to obviate the evil to a considerable extent, if not to prevent it altogether; still, on a hot summer's day, in a district with sandy ballast, it is, and will always be, very difficult to keep the axles of a fast train cool. The couplings of carriages are seldom broken, even by sudden jerks..

There is, perhaps, no more alarming occurrence than a fire in a passenger train. Still, however, there has not been an instance in this country of any loss of life from this cause, nor have the cases been numerous; but there have been several narrow escapes, and the accident is one to which a train may be at any instant subject from the escape of heated coke. Spontaneous combustion has also in more than one instance nearly produced a serious conflagration. This has arisen from the incautious introduction of lucifer matches, or similar combustibles, among the luggage of the passengers. The occurrence of fire, and the feeling of nsecurity which attaches to the passenger, from a feeling of inability to stop the train, if desired, from any other cause, is continually reproducing a multitude of schemes for communicating between the passenger and the guard, and the guard and the driver. These have assumed a multiplicity of forms, yet the principle is generally identical, viz: a connexion by wire, or rope, between the engine and the guard's van. Simple and inexpensive as this contrivance is, it fails in practice, and after being adopted more than once, has again been laid aside. The whole of the trains of a northern Company were some time back fitted with the means, by a flexible jointed tube, of communicating with the driver, but it has not been considered a successful attempt to overcome the difficulty. The same may be said of the numerous contrivances for arresting the passage of a train, by the instantaneous application of a number of powerful brakes, (some of the inventions applying the brake to the road itself;) of the proposals to work signals by means of the engine striking certain levers as it passes; and hundreds of similar suggestions. Among the

inventions transmitted to the author, and for most of which compensation was claimed, one proposed to arrange a set of signals, which were to be successively struck down by the chimney of the engine; and another, in order to stop a train in the shortest space, gravely proposed that a large anchor attached to a stout cable, should be thrown out of the stern! Perhaps the most feasible and favorite plan for giving confidence to passengers, has been to continue the foot-boards of carriages, so as to form a continuous narrow platform, with a brass rod attached to the panel of the carriages; by this means a passenger might escape and pass safely along to the guard's van, or to the engine. The plan was suggested to and recommended by the Railway Commissioners. A committee, of the most experienced railway officers, was appointed by the clearing-house to consider it; they have done so, and their report, founded on returns and reasonings, which appear unanswerable, is the unanimous condemnation of the measure. We are thus apparently as far off as ever from gratifying the public demand for instant communication between the passenger and the guard, and it is possible that no better plan will be discovered, than that now in use on the London and North Western line. It is as follows:-The guard's van at the rear of the train, projects more than a foot beyond the carriage on either side. In this projection a glass window is fitted, the guard's covered seat being opposite to it. He is thus enabled to see the entire length of the train, and can scarcely fail to observe a hand, or a handkerchief, if waved from a window. This contrivance is evidently unavailing at night, unless a spare light were by some means placed at the disposal of the passenger. At present, however, it only to some extent meets an evil, for which no more practical and complete cure has yet been provided. The almost universal practice of leaving the doors at one side unlocked, is a source of not unfrequent accident; yet so distasteful in public opinion is a locked door, that only one Company has ventured to adopt it as a rule. The reckless conduct of many habitual travelers may yet possibly force it as a regulation on others, especially if juries continue to inflict severe punishment on Companies, even when the fault is primarily with the passenger himself. If, however, there is no part of the railway machinery from which so little danger may be apprehended as the passenger carriage, the same cannot be claimed on the part of the merchandise wagon. Whether the absence of direct danger to human life, or an injudicious economy, has been the cause, the fact is, that in no portion of the system has so little improvement been exhibited, and in which, at the present moment, there is so great a necessity for a complete modification. In this respect England is far behind the Continent. The axles of wagon stock have, in many instances, been of the most faulty model and material. The accidents to the trains, from the fracture of these parts, have been very numerous, while the destruction of property has been sufficient to have paid for a very superior vehicle. In one recent instance, several hundred axles, of a peculiar form, were removed from a leading railway, after a short experience of their working. Axles are now made much stronger than formerly; 3 inches used to be the ordinary diameter, 4 inches is now considered a minimum, and although more attention has been bestowed on the form and taper of the axle itself, still very much remains

to be done in this matter. The fact of the crystallization of the iron by the repeated vibrations, and the peculiar causes of incipient fractures, are still debatable points with engineers and wagon builders. It is desirable that by a thorough examination of the subject, these disputed questions should be disposed of. The wrought iron wheels of merchandise wagons. do not on the whole give much trouble. The most defective part of the wagon is, however, the mode of coupling. This is of the rudest kind, and it is matter of surprise that a vigorous and combined effort has not been made by the railway interest to improve it. Very few merchandise wagons have spring buffers, and even those that have them, are simply linked together by a loose chain. Every one must have noticed the bumping sound produced in the starting and stopping of a merchandise train. Even where the driver is very careful, the succession of heavy blows in a long train is sufficient to injure the stock, and to break any delicate articles that may be conveyed in the trucks; but when it becomes necessary to arrest a train suddenly, the shocks are very destructive to the framework. This evil, great as it is, is aggravated by the circumstance of a variety of wagons being run in the same train; a light and short wagon is probably found between two long and heavy ones, and the irregularity of loading, according to the staple trade of a particular district, still further increases the risk. From the through system of traffic, the wagons of half a dozen Companies may frequently be found in one train, and as these are not built to any particular height or breadth, the ends do not strike evenly, and on receiving a check, a tendency to mount (especially if the wagon is unevenly loaded, which must always be the case with some description of goods) is apparent. Covered vans, low timber trucks, and box-wagons, are all run together, in trains of from 30 to 60 vehicles, and at speeds varying from 15 miles to 20 miles an hour. It is, in fact, a wonder that a traffic so conducted is not subject to continual accident, and the circumstance of the comparative freedom from casualty is rather an evidence of the extreme safety of transit over parallel iron bars, than any defence of a system which is no credit to the mechanical skill of the country. Until every wagon is coupled up to spring buffers, in the same manner as a passenger carriage, and until either by general concert, or by compulsory regulation, the standard central height, and central breadth between the buffers, are matter of regulation, the risk of accident and the certainty of damage must continue. The author succeeded, some years ago, in obtaining, through the medium of the railway board, a general concurrence on the subject of the buffers of passenger carriages, but no measures have yet been effectual as regards merchandise vehicles.

Fires in merchandise trains are of frequent occurrence, and from the susceptibility of the tarpaulin covering to ignite, and the presence of straw in the loading, considerable danger must always exist. This fact and the damage which fine goods receive from wet, have caused the introduction of covered wagons. The use of these wagons is now greatly increasing, and for all goods capable of being closely packed, they bid fair to entirely supersede the open truck and tarpaulin. The first cost is greater, but the repairs of the sheets, in three or four years, will fully compensate for the difference.

(To be Continued.)

AMERICAN PATENTS.

List of American Patents which issued from Dec. 14th to Jan. 4th, 1852, (inclusive,) with Exemplifications by CHARLES M. KELLER, late Chief Examiner of Patents in the U. S. Patent Office.

DECEMBER 14TH.

24. For an Improvement in Lining for Iron Safes, &c.; Wm. P. Blake, City of New York.

"My invention consists in applying the protoxide of zinc, in its finely divided amorphous condition, as a filling or "packing" around or within the walls of iron safes, refrigerators, steam pipes, steam chambers, locomotive boilers, hot-air flues, and chambers."

Claim. "What I claim as my invention is, the application of amorphous zinc oxide as a lining for safes and refrigerators, and as a covering for steam pipes, steam chambers, locomotive boilers, hot-air flues and chambers, in such manner as to prevent the transmission or conduction of caloric into or from such chambers or flues."

25. For an Improvement in Trip Hammers; Jas. C. Forrest and Geo. Baker, Schenectady, New York.

Claim. "What we claim as our invention is, the employment of the peculiar shaped movable tappets of different sizes-the said tappets being arranged loosely on the driving shaft, and moved back and forth-or one substituted for the other by means of the lever, in combination with the hammer, having a rectangular, notched or peculiarly formed slot cut in it, the whole being constructed, arranged, and operated in the manner and for the purpose herein described.

"We likewise claim so arranging the lever that when the large or small "tappets" are moved from one position to the other, or the small tappet made to occupy the place of the large one, the controlling spring will also be operated upon and made to assume a proper position to suit the size of the "tappet"-the arrangement for effecting this object consisting of a hook-shaped shifter and movable collar, which are constructed, arranged, and operated in the manner substantially as herein set forth."

26. For an Improvement in Field Rollers for cutting Stalks and Weeds; Joseph H. Gest, of Batavia, Ohio.

"The nature of my invention consists in the employment or use of a series of knives, either of straight or spiral form-said knives being placed upon a suitable roller, and the roller placed within a proper frame, and attaching to the front part of the frame pins, which will be hereafter described-the pins being for the purpose of bringing the stalks within the range of the knives; forks attached to the tongue also effect the same purpose."

Claim. "Having described the nature and operation of my invention, what I claim as new is, the employment or use of the knife-roller-said knives being either of straight or spiral form, in combination with the pins and fork; the knives, as the machine moves along, cutting the stalks from the roots, and also the stalks into pieces while lying upon the ground, and the pins and prongs of the fork drawing the stalks within range of the knives, as herein specified."

27. For an Improvement in the Manufacture of Ball Castors; Robert Hinton, Roxbury, Massachusetts.

Claim. "I claim the improvement in making the case of the ball castor, viz: of a combination of two halves or parts, the curved lip and the ring, as constructed and applied together, and to the leg or socket ferrule thereof, substantially in manner and for the purpose as above set forth."

28. For an Improvement in Stone Picks; John U. Houston, Conway, Massachusetts. "The nature of my invention consists in providing the inner side of the hammer of the pick with a guard, which guard will intercept the chips of stone, and protect the hand." Claim. "What I claim as my invention is, the addition of a guard to the inner side of the hammer of mill-stone picks, which guard will intercept the chips of stone, and protect the hand and person of the picker, using for that purpose the metallic guard above

described, or any other substantially the same, and which will accomplish the same result. I do not claim as my invention, the mode of constructing the pick as described, in other respects than as pertains to the guard."

29. For an Improvement in Buckets for Endless Chain Pumps; Clark Polley, Mays Landing, New Jersey.

Claim.—“What I claim as my invention is, the globular elastic and adjustable bucket for chain pumps, constructed substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth."

30. For an Improvement in Apparatus for Treatment of Fractures, Zimri Hussey, Chilicothe, Ohio.

"This invention consists in certain improvements in and certain appendages to be applied to the apparatus known as the double inclined plane, for the purpose of making a more perfect instrument, which I term the Perfect Adjuster.

"It also consists in the attachment of a seat-piece, with certain braces and other appendages, to a pair of double inclined planes or perfect adjusters, for the purpose of rendering additional aid in the adjustment or reduction of the most difficult cases of fracture or luxation of the lower limbs, where both or only one are injured."

Claim. "Having described my invention, what I claim are, 1st, The hip-brace of semi-circular, or nearly semi-circular form, and the strap passing over it and around the limb, the said strap and brace operating as and for the purpose substantially as set forth. 2d, The knee fork attached either to the upper part or lower part of the double inclined plane, for the purpose of attaching a band, which clasps the limb, to effect extension or counter-extension at the knee, as herein explained. 3d, The application of the adjustable braces to the crests of the ilium, substantially as and for the purpose described, the said braces being attached to a seat-piece or its equivalent. 4th, The seat in combination with an adjustable back-piece attached to two double inclined planes, substantially as herein described, for the purpose of moving the cripple without changing the adjustment of the splints, for the purpose set forth."

31. For an Improvement in Seed Planters; Henry Nycum, Uniontown, Pa.

Claim. "What I claim as my improvements are, 1st, The construction of the compound grain slide as described, by which the amount of grain required to be sown, is graduated at pleasure, as herein fully set forth. 2d, The mitre bar, constructed so as described, to raise the apparatus for lifting the drill teeth and throwing the slides out of gear completely out of the way of the operator, thus allowing him to get at the drill teeth, for the purpose of clearing them of obstructions, with a facility altogether unknown in machines constructed with a horizontal bar in the rear."

32. For an Improvement in Scythe Snaths; Abram Charles and Charles N. Clow, Port Byron, New York.

"The nature of our invention consists, first, in constructing the snath of metal in the tubular form, for the purpose of securing great durability, and facility of shaping it as desired, while it retains the required lightness and strength; and secondly, in the manner of adjusting the nebs on the snath, as hereinafter fully set forth."

Claim. "What we claim as our invention as a new manufacture is, a scythe or cradle snath, composed of a wrought metal tube, which possesses the advantages of great durability and facility of being bent into any desired form, without increasing its ordinary weight, or impairing its usual strength and firmness.

"We also claim the longitudinal rib, or its equivalent, on the snath, in combination with a series of notches in the ring of the neb, for the purpose of adjusting the nebs securely upon the snath, substantially as herein set forth."

33. For an Improvement in Straw Cutters; Joel Dawson, Barnesville, Ohio.

Claim. "What I claim as my invention is, in combination with the rake and spring, the pressure piece and the roller, constructed and arranged in the manner and for the purpose as hereinbefore set forth."

34. For Improvements in Machinery for Forging Metals, &c.; Wm. Field, Providence, Rhode Island; ante-dated June 14, 1852.

"My invention and improvement consists in forging a piece of properly heated metal into shape, by subjecting it to the action of a pair of traversing rollers, which run against