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iron, in the ratio of one ball to five hundred weight of metal. If preferred, instead of the rosin, other resinous substances, and the varieties of turpentine, asphaltum, tar, and pitch, may be substituted; and a few pounds of charcoal may be added to the composition. The composition B, is a mixture of common salt, rosin, and charcoal, or other carbonaceous matter, which is made into balls, and thrown upon the fused iron, after it has been acted upon by the balls A, in the proportion of one pound of the composition B, to each hundred weight of metal. Certain other fluxes, such as borax, nitre, or fixed alkalis, may be substituted for the salt.

The second part of this invention consists in subjecting the iron, while in a fluid state, and while in the act of solidifying, to a current of electricity, which is caused to traverse the whole mass.

In casting a bar, or similar mass, the electric current is caused to traverse from end to end, by conductors so arranged, that when the metal runs into the mould it may complete the electric circuit, or by means of a wire, or wires, passed from one end of the mould to the other. If the castings are horizontal, a piece of wrought-iron, or other conducting material, is placed at each end of the mould, which is made of sand, or other non-conducting substance: these conductors are then connected by wires with a galvanic apparatus, or voltaic pile, or electro-magnetic, or other battery, so that, when the melted iron is run into the mould, it will complete the electric circuit; and the patentee prefers to continue the electric current for some time after the iron has solidified. When the castings are vertical, a similar arrangement is made for the passage of the electric current through the metal, by placing a conductor at the top and bottom of the mould in such a manner that the electric circuit will be completed the moment the mould is filled with the liquid iron.

To apply electricity to iron in a smelting furnace, or cupola, a wrought-iron rod is introduced through, or at the side of, the tap-hole, until it comes in contact with the melting metal, and another wrought iron rod is introduced at the upper and posterior part of the hearth, or through one of the tuyere holes, until it reaches the metal; the outer ends of these rods being then connected with a battery, the electric current will be caused to pass through the iron; care being taken not to continue it so long as to entirely decarburate the iron, and bring it to a malleable state. When the electricity is to be applied to the iron in a puddling, or balling, furnace, two iron rods are also used; one of which is inserted into the fused metal, and the other end is connected with a battery; the other rod is attached to an insulating handle of porcelain, pottery, or other non-conducting substance, and a wire from the battery is connected to it, close to the handle. By means of the handle, the extremity of the rod is caused to traverse the iron in its melted state, or during its transition to the solid state, and the electric current will, therefore, pass through the metal in every possible direction.

Claim. "What I claim as my invention is the improvement in the manufacture of iron, steel, copper, and other metals, by the use and application of electricity as herein described."

12. For an improvement in the mode of Dressing Mill Stones; John Black, Helena, Phillips county, Arkansas, August 10.

Claim. "What I claim is the dressing of the outer edge of the bed stone flat and smooth to an extent and in the manner set forth, and the dressing of that part of the runner that corresponds thereto with lands, usually eight in number, and having their direction the reverse of those on the other part of the face, as described, and for the purpose set forth."

That portion of the bed stone dressed smooth is about one-third of the diameter of the face extending from the periphery inwards, and is reduced about a quarter of an inch below the face of the lands on the other portions of the face. There is a radial groove passing through the smooth part of the face, into which the flour is conducted by the eight lands on the corresponding part of the runner. The patentee says, "By this mode of dressing the stones their friction is much diminished, and they may be made to run with greater velocity than when the lands on both stones extend to the circumference, whilst the quantity of grain which is ground need not be diminished."

13. For an improvement in Railroad Car Wheels; Ebenezer A. Lester, Boston, Massachusetts, August 10.

The object of this improvement is to make a wheel cast in a single piece with a chilled rim, and without the necessity of a divided hub, as when cast with spokes. This has heretofore been attempted by uniting the hub and chilled rim, or tread, with a dished disk, or two such disks; and the present improvement is for giving to the disk a double wave, or a convexity and concavity on each face.

Claim.-"What I claim as my invention, is the casting of such a wheel with a single continuous plate, or disk, uniting the chilled rim to an undivided hub; said plate being so formed as that a plane bisecting the wheel in its axis shall present a waved line, or one having a convexity on each face of the wheel, in the manner described, and for the purpose set forth."

14. For improvements in the Shingle Machine; Israel G. Johnson, Augusta, Kennebec county, Maine, August 12.

We are under the necessity of omitting the claims of this patent on account of their entire dependence on the drawings, to which reference is made, and as the two improvements claimed are only modifications of machines for sawing shingles which are well known, and in general use, and they could not be understood without drawings of the whole machine, we do not deem it sufficiently important to give the drawings. The first improvement is for an arrangement of gauges for limiting and regulating the length of movements of the carriage; and the second is for so connecting the racks that set the bolt of wood for cutting the shingles with the butt from alternate sides, with the dogs. that hold the bolt in such manner that the same thickness of butt can be given for all lengths of shingles, the sliding dogs being connected

with the racks by means of a pin on the dogs which slides in a slot at the end of the racks.

15. For an improvement in the process of Silvering Looking-Glasses; Thomas Drayton, Brighton, England, August 12, to run fourteen years from the 25th of November, 1843, the date of the English patent.

[See Specification of English Patent, vol. viii, 3d series, Journal of the Franklin Institute, page 193.]

Claim. "Having thus described the nature of the invention, and the means pursued in performing the same, I do not confine myself to the precise details herein explained, provided the peculiar character of the invention be retained; but claim to deposite silver on glass from an oxide of that metal in solution by the new process substantially as herein described, wherein I make use of suitable deoxidizing matters in such manner as to cause the silver to adhere to glass without any previous preparation of metallic coating."

16. For an improvement in Water-Wheels; David Putney, Red Bank, Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, August 12.

The wheel is on a vertical shaft, and consists of spiral buckets. attached to, or projecting from, a conical hub. This wheel is placed within a "revolving scroll" which communicates directly with the floom to conduct the water to the wheel. The revolving scroll contains two channels which gradually approach the wheel until at their extremity they nearly touch the outer edges of the buckets, so as to enable the water from the floom to strike several buckets at once. The floom is double, entering from opposite sides, one division of the "scroll" communicating with each of them, and the scroll is made to revolve for the purpose of regulating the quantity of water to be admitted to the wheel. The water is discharged at the bottom of the wheel after acting by gravity on the spiral buckets.

Claim. "What I claim as my invention, and which I desire to secure by letters patent, is the combination of the revolving scroll and trunk, (flooms) and also in combination there with the wheel arranged and constructed as described."

17. For an improvement in the Tongueing and Grooving apparatus of Planing Machines; Charles W. Brown, Boston, Massachusetts, August 14.

In the planing machines in general use the rotating cutters for tongueing and grooving boards, are so arranged as to be adaptable to boards of various widths, but this setting must be changed for every width; but the improvement is as stated by the patentee, "for the tongueing and grooving of boards of various widths, and superseding the necessity of an adjustment of one of the cutting tools for each board that is to be operated upon; it is peculiarly adapted to the tongueing and grooving of boards of a tapering, or irregular, shape,

and this constitutes the great merit of the invention, as the only requisite preparation of the board, before its introduction to the machine, is the making of one edge straight."

Claim. "What I claim as my invention, is making either the tongueing, or grooving, tool self-adjusting, by arranging the box, or bearing, of the shaft of either of the said tools, so as to slide laterally on a rail, and connecting said box, or bearing, to a sliding guide bar, which bar is governed, or regulated, in its movements by the edge of the board, and kept up against said edge by means of a weight operating upon it, (so as to press it laterally,) through the medium of a rack and pinion, as set forth, the mechanical arrangement and operation being substantially as specified."

There is another claim to a subordinate arrangement of parts which we are under the necessity of omitting, as it refers to, and is wholly dependent upon, the drawing.

18. For an improvement in the Smut Machine for Cleaning Grain; John Pagin, Michigan City, Indiana, August 14.

The patentee says, "The nature of my invention consists in combining and arranging the fans and beaters of a smut machine, the concave of which is pierced with holes, so that there shall be an equalized current of air upward between the concave and beaters, and an outward current through the cylinder, or runner, and concave."

The runner is vertical, and has a fan at the lower end with two sets of vanes, the first at an angle of about 45 degrees with the shaft, and extending out to about half the diameter of the runner, and the second extending from the outer extremity of the first set, and in lines tangential, or nearly so, to the diameter of the first, and a little curved, -the first set produce the upward, and the second the outward current. The runner has vertical apertures in its periphery parallel with, and between each set of beaters.

Claim. "I wish it to be understood that I do not claim as my invention the taking air in at the centre below, and blowing it out through the cylinder and concave, as that has before been done, nor do I claim making an upward blast for the same reason; but what I do claim as my invention is the combination of fans substantially as set forth, so as to cause an upward and an outward blast in the manner described."

19. For an improvement in the Curry Comb; Thomas Wilkinson, Cambridge, Washington county, New York, August 16.

The patentee says, "The nature of my invention consists in the addition of a serrated semi-circular plate to the corner formed by the intersection of the top, and the right hand margin; and also a blade three-fourths of an inch in width on the back, extending from the aforesaid corner, on a line with the top, to its intersection with the left hand margin, designed as a scraper to remove any uncleanness; both to be made of the same metal of which the body is composed."

Claim. "What I claim is combining with the common curry comb the serrated semi-circular plate, and the scraper, in the manner described."

20. For an improvement in Fire Engines; Gardner Barton, Jr., Waterford, Saratoga county, New York, August 16.

This engine has two single acting cylinder pumps as usual, but instead of being permanent they are each connected at their lower end with a branch of the main pipe, by a cylindrical joint at right angles with the axis of the cylinder, the joint consisting of an arbor attached to the cylinder, and fitting in a corresponding cavity in the pipe, the two being provided with openings, or cavities, constituting the water-ways which are opened and closed by the vibrations of the cylinder. The upper ends of the piston rods are provided with a pin that slides in a groove made in a guide rod attached to, and vibrating with, the cylinders-the piston rods being also connected with the brake of the engine, by slides that can be moved along the arms of the brake, and secured at any point desired to regulate the capacity of the engine, for the farther these slides are removed from the axis of the brake, the greater will be the play of the piston, requiring, of course, an equivalent increase of power for working the engine.

Claim. "What I claim is the combination and arrangement of the cylinders with the guides attached, and their agreement with the slides, by means of which the capacity of the engine may be enlarged, or diminished, at pleasure. I do not claim the invention of vibrating cylinders, but I do claim the invention of the application of the vibrating cylinders to the purposes of pumps for fire engines, in the manner herein before described. I also clain the opening in the upper ends of the guides on which the connecting pins act; and I claim the opening through the arbor, and the corresponding openings, (in the pipes) serving for water passages."

21. For an improved mode of Keeping Sweet Potatoes; Aaron H. Vestal, Cambridge City, Wayne county, Indiana, August 16.

The patentee says, "The nature of my invention and discovery consists in so regulating the temperature of the air in the room in which the potatoes are to be kept, as to prevent them from becoming chilled, or frozen, or from becoming too warm either by reason of the artificial heat produced in the room, or from becoming heated by too large quantities being packed together, so as not to admit a free access of air, either of which would prove destructive to the potatoe."

The potatoes are to be put into a box three or more feet square, and of any height desired, made of wood, three sides of which are boarded up in a reversed manner from that usually employed in boarding the sides of a framed house, the boards being kept apart by wedges; this admits a free circulation of air without permitting the escape of the sand in which the potatoes are packed. The front of this box is left open, the two sides being connected at top and bottom, for the reception of strips of boards to be slipped in, as the potatoes

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