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Not, however, being blessed with that morbid thin-skinnedness, so characteristic of Mr. W.'s countrymen, as to feel very extremely alarmed at the first flash of his double-tubed pop-gun communication,*** I was induced to lay by my reply

* * *

to be used at a more convenient season, "for reasons," as he has it, in his own “recantation" at page 111 of your last Magazine but one, which will appear hereafter."

Although you declined to publish my last letter in reply to Mr. Dirck's attack on me last year, respecting this same "smokenuisance controversy, I still confidently expect that your sense of justice and propriety will induce you to insert unmutilated the enclosed copy of my report on the failure of Mr. Williams's patent furnace at the works of Messrs. Hamnett and Co., of Manchester, and which report was first printed by me in July last, and since published in the Mining Journal and elsewhere.*

After perusing this report, I trust your readers will be able to appreciate in a proper manner Mr. Williams's repeated assertion that I made that report before I had seen "a single furnace erected by him," or by his "directions." Why, this very furnace was erected by his advertised agents Dircks and Co., Mr. Williams himself being present when it was tried, and a witness to its failure. An alteration was afterwards made by Mr. Williams's direction, and then it failed again by the giving way of the boiler: as it is demonstrable it always must do, whenever the engine is fully loaded, or a considerable supply of steam is wanted from the boiler, so as to require tolerably hard firing.

The above facts have been verified to the satisfaction of every one who has chosen to inquire of the proprietors of the boiler in question; and the same consequences have ensued, many of them fatal to human life, and must inevitably ensue again, wherever

*

The truth of the report referred to is denied by Mr. Williams, and Mr. Armstrong afterwards admits that it is the subject of an action pending against him for libel We do not, under these circumstances, consider that we should be acting either with justice," or "propriety," were we to comply with his request. When proved to be no libel, we shall be very ready to give it a place in our pages; but if it be one, it has had more than sufficient publicity already. We may here add, in explanation of the asterisks in the first paragraph of this letter, that they denote parts which we have left out, because we cannot allow our pages to be made, on any pretext, the medium of wanton insult to any one, far less to a scientific inquirer of so original, so philosophical, so practically useful, and withal so sincere and candid a stamp as Mr. Williams.-ED. M. M.

Mr. Williams's principle of letting in cold air at or beyond the bridge of the furnace has been carried out under the same circumstances.

Another of several of the patent furnaces examined by me was on the premises of those same agents, Dircks and Co., engineers, &c., Vulcan-street, Liverpool, which the public were repeatedly invited to inspect by public advertisement, and which I described and condemned in the Liverpool Mercury twelve months ago, as well as in your Magazine for March 6th of last year.

It is certainly true that Mr. W. threw the legal responsibility for the damage done to the boiler, in the first case above mentioned, on his agents. But, if Mr. Williams really thinks it necessary to endeavour to get rid of these facts on the ground of his not being responsible for his agents, then, indeed, his case is more hopeless than even I had supposed.

The desperate case in which Mr. Williams finds himself is still, however, more clearly evinced by this last strange exhibition of himself in your pages. In page 88 of the Mechanics' Magazine, he gravely states that I wrote to his agent a letter of "recantation," which he professes to quote from, beginning as follows:-"I find that the opinions expressed in my report before named were formed on erroneous data," &c. &c. Now, for a reckless audacious assertion, such as I have before had occasion to give to its author its only proper name, this deliberately written one beats all that I believe was ever before recorded in the annals of mendacity, and really deserves a patent for its originality; for I not only never wrote a single line or a word of what he charges me with, nor authorised any one to do so for me, nor have I ever expressed a single syllable, either verbally or otherwise, to the effect stated by him; but I have never even had the least communication with either himself, his agents, or his solicitors, in any way, or on any subject whatever, since the letter, from which the extract referred to in the above-quoted passage appears to have been taken, was written; that letter being written by himself, or his agents, and sent to me by his solicitors, annexed to one from them

• Mr. Armstrong is aware that Mr. Williams recalled the statement in question of his own accord, the moment he saw it in print-for this is what he previously alludes to, as Mr. Williams's "recantation at page 111;" and to speak of an acknowledged mistake in such terms as these is not right. We must, in justice to Mr. Williams, add, that he wrote to us to make the necessary correction in the statement, even before it appeared in print; but, in consequence of the Number in which it was published happening to be printed off a day earlier in the week than usual, his letter came to hand a day too late for the purpose.-ED. M. M.

SPECIFICATIONS OF RECENT ENGLISH PATENTS.

selves, dated the 10th of December last, in-
forming me that they were instructed to
commence legal proceedings against me for
the recovery of damages for injury sustained
by the circulation of my report before named,
unless that annexed letter of recantation was
signed before the expiration of the next day.
Accordingly, in a very few days afterwards,
I was served with what is called a "copy of
a writ," desiring me to appear at a certain
place in Westminster, in an inconveniently
short space of time. This proceeding, I
confess, really did alarm me a little at the
moment, rather more than any thing Mr.
Williams is able to write in your Magazine.
I showed the document to several of my
friends, who were all as much astonished at
it as myself, knowing well that I had said
nothing but what every one who knew me
believed to be true; but they all advised me
to put it into the hands of a respectable so-
licitor, which I accordingly did, together
with my
Copy of Report," and his so-
licitor's letter above mentioned, where I
suppose they will all be dealt with according
to law. What Mr. Williams's next move
will be, I know not; but I think he is in a
fair way to prove himself almost as clever at
his own proper business, "law," as he is at
smoke-burning.

66

I am, Sir, yours, &c.,

Victoria Arches, Manchester.
February 19, 1842.

R. ARMSTRONG.

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The steam-engine constructed according to these improvements, has its piston-rod working through a stuffing-box, having the character of a universal joint. This stuffingbox is a spherical box, working in a ball upon the top of a box which slides to and fro by dovetailed joints in the steam cylinder cover. The piston-rod is jointed to the piston and attached directly to the crank of the driving shaft; the universal jointed stuffingbox and the sliding-box, conforming to its movement and vibrating backward and forward to the extent of its deviation from the perpendicular. The air-pump is placed immediately beneath the cylinder, and worked by its bucket-rod, being attached to the under-side of the steam-piston, passing through a stuffing-box in the base of the steam-cylinder.

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The valves are worked by the sliding-box before mentioned in the following manner :a stud or pin projects from the front side of the box and works in the lower limb of a T-shaped lever, centred in the middle of the horizontal portion. At each extremity of the upper arms is fixed a pin, from one of which a connecting-rod passes down to the valve-rod. As the box slides backward and forward upon the cylinder, a rocking or oscillating motion is given to the lever, and the raising or depressing of the valve-rod effected. In order to reverse the motion of the engine, the valve-rod is merely shifted from the one arm to the other, which brings about the desired end.

Another arrangement for reversing the motion of steam-engines, without altering the valves or gearing, consists in placing an intermediate slide or port-piece between the D valve and the cylinder-ports, by shifting of which, the induction and eduction passages become reversed.

For working the cold and hot water pumps, the following arrangement is adopted. On the opposite end of the main shaft to that at which the crank is situated, the first motion wheel is keyed, and on the outer face of this wheel, a pin is placed eccentrically to its axis; from this a connecting-rod passes down to a triangular-shaped block of metal, working between two upright guides; to this block, the piston of the cold water pump, and the plunger of the hot water pump, are attached,-the object of the weight being to counterbalance the piston, air-pump, bucket, &c.

In lieu of the ordinary governor, the patentee employs the following apparatus :A pulley is driven by means of a belt on the driving-shaft, and upon the periphery of this pulley rests a smaller pulley, attached to a bell-crank lever in connexion with the throttle-valve of the engine. At the regulated speed of working, the two pulleys merely revolve in contact; but should that speed be exceeded, the small pulley is drawn forward by the increased velocity of the larger one, and the throttle-valve being acted upon, partially shuts off the steam.

The claim is, 1. To the method and arrangement for working the valves of steamengines, by taking the motion directly from the moveable stuffing-box of the piston-rod, and conveying it to the valve-rod, and for the arrangement for reversing the motion of the engine; 2. To the method of reversing the motion of steam-engines, without altering the valves or gear; 3. To the method and arrangement for working the hot and cold water pumps, and for counterbalancing the weight of piston, air-pump bucket, &c.;

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The axletree has two shoulders of increased diameters near its inner extremity, between which a divided nut of iron, steel, brass, or other suitable metal, is placed. On the outside of this nut a male threaded screw is cut, and a corresponding female-threaded screw is cut in the end of the axletree box to receive it.

On putting this divided nut between the two projections on the axletree, and then screwing it into the axletree box, they become firmly and securely united together, and the wheel cannot come off until the nut is unscrewed. In order to prevent the screw working loose, it is screwed up the reverse way to the wheel's progressive motion. A small cap or chamber is screwed into the front of the axletree box, to contain a supply of oil for lubricating the axle; there is also a recess cut about the middle of the axle, and another in the box or bush around the inner shoulder, while an accurately-turned groove in the hinder shoulder is filled with sponge, or other suitable packing, to prevent the escape of the oil.

The claim is to the divided nut and the screwed part of the axletree box, as applied to axletrees and axletree boxes.

GEORGE HICKES, OF MANCHESTER, AGENT, for an improved machine for cleaning or freeing wool, and other fibrous materials, of burs and other extraneous substances. Enrolment Office, February 21,

1842.

This machine consists of four equidistant horizontal shafts, running parallel to each other on a frame of wood or iron. In front of each shaft is a set of drawing-rollers, which deliver the wool to the beaters. Under each set of beaters is an open grate, so curved as to form part of the circle described by the extremities of the beaters as they revolve. A narrow plate is placed in a vertical position, immediately below the delivering-roller of each set, and on it the wool is beaten, as it is delivered; the burs falling through the grate as they are struck out from the wool. Each set of drawing-rollers is provided with a feeding-cloth, and when the machine is put into operation, the upper sides of the feeding-cloths move in the direction of the draw. ing-rollers; the beaters on the first two shafts revolve at one speed, while those on the last two shafts revolve rather faster.

The drawing-rollers likewise correspond in their respective speeds. Supposing wool to be opened and spread on the feeding. cloth in front, it is received by the first set of drawing-rollers, when it is slightly drawn, and delivered to the action of the first beater, which partly frees it from burs and other extraneous substances, delivering the wool over the grate, on to the second feeding-cloth; from this cloth it proceeds forwards to the succeeding rollers, when it is drawn, beaten, and finally delivered in a finished state into a hopper, or other suitable receptacle.

The space between each blade of the beater is filled up by sheet-iron, wire gauze, or other suitable material, to prevent the wool from adhering to the beaters, which must be sufficiently far apart to prevent the staple of the wool reaching from one to the other during the operation.

The under roller of each set is provided with a doctor, having an alternating end motion given it; and the doctor is held against the second of the set by a weight hung on a tail-piece, so that it has a constant tendency to press the doctor against the under part of the roller, and free it from any dirt or extraneous matter which might cause the wool to lap, and impede the action of the machine. The doctor, with the apparatus which supports it, is traversed backwards and forwards by a crank, or eccentric, at the end of the driving rollers.

In another arrangement for delivering the wool from one beater to another, the feedingcloth is put in an inclined position, the end near the drawing-rollers being the highest. Immediately over the cloth is placed a moving grate, the end of which is triangular. The wool is received against the upright side of this grate when delivered from the beater behind; the burs pass through the upright side, and fall on a tray inside the grate, while the wool is drawn down by the motion of the moving grate, and is carried forward between it and the feeding-cloth beneath, to the succeeding drawing-rollers.

The claim is, 1. To the general construction and arrangement of an improved machine, as regards the beaters being used in combination with a curved rack and drawing-roller; 2. To the particular construction of the beaters, and the application of a doctor, used in combination with a curved rack and drawing-rollers; 3. To the plate on which the wool is dressed, or subjected to the action of the beaters; 4. To the whole moving grate, with its rollers and tray on which the wool is thrown on leaving the beaters, as described and applied as above.

NOTES AND NOTICES.

NOTES AND NOTICES.

Inefficacy of Electro-Magnetism as a Moving Power.-Mr. J. P. Joule, in a paper on this subject, lately read at the Manchester Royal Victoria Gallery, stated the following to be the greatest result he had been able to obtain, with a powerful apparatus. Each pound of zinc produced a mechanical force which raised 334,400 lbs. to the height of one foot, when the revolving magnets moved eight feet per second. The duty of the best Cornish steam-engine is 1,500,000 lbs., or nearly five times the extreme duty he was able to obtain by the consumption of one pound of zinc. This was so very unfavourable a result, that he almost despaired of electro-magnetism being applicable to mechanical purposes in the place of steam. He did not see how any arrangement of the apparatus could make the duty of a pound of zinc much superior to the duty of a pound of coal; and, even if it could be attained the expense of zinc was so great, compared with the price of coal, as to prevent such apparatus being ever used for any but peculiar purposes. Professor Phillips also stated, in the course of a discussion which followed the reading of Mr. Joule's paper, that he had tried every plan, American and German, locomotive and stationary, and never yet found one apparatus that could not be stopped with the finger. The most perfect plan he had seen was one where there were two horse-shoe magnets; the two poles were always in contact, and the centre of motion was the line adjoining the two poles. Though it had a lifting power of 200, he found it difficult to get a sufficient length of stroke; he was obliged to get it by a lever of the third kind, which reduced the power so much, that he could not get the lever to work. He tried it with a weight of 3 lbs., and it worked very well when the wheels were lifted up, but it would not move itself, it would not start. The distinction was overlooked between pulling and supporting. A magBet would support an enormous weight in contact, but, at a distance of a quarter of an inch, it would not, perhaps, pull 2 lbs. A magnet that would support 2 cwt. would, perhaps, pull only a quarter of a pound a quarter of an inch.

Captain Ericsson's Propeller. -The Kingston (Canada) Chronicle mentions a very successful application of this propeller to a steam-vessel called the "Vandalia," which plies between Kingston and Oswego. The vessel is described as of 140 tons burthen, 90 feet long, and 20 feet 2 inches wide; drawing, when light, 2 feet 6 inches, and when loaded, about 6 feet. The boiler is on the locomotive plan, with about 100 pipes running through it. The engine consists of two cylinders of about 12 inches diameter, and the motion is communicated directly to the crank or the shaft of the propellers, which are 4 feet 6 inches in diameter, and placed one on each side of the rudder, working towards each other, in the manner of sculling. The engine makes from 60 to 75 strokes a minute, and is worked generally with steam at about 55 lbs. pressure. The speed realized, under favourable circumstances, is from 9 to 10 miles per hour. "She has been to Hamilton," the account adds, "and up the Welland Canal, with cargoes; no perceptible motion occurs on the banks of the canal, more than occurs by vessels when towed up in the usual manner. She has encountered two or three heavy gales, and behaved exceedingly well; she steers admirably."

The Society of Arts and Patent Inventions.-In pursuance of a Report from a Select Committee of this Society, appointed to consider the best means of extending its usefulness, (1. e. of redeeming it from the state of comparative uselessness into which it has of late fallen,) notices of patent inventions, heretofore excluded from the class of subjects which the Society honoured with its attention, are to be received and read at the weekly meetings. reading of each paper," it is stated, "will be followed by a discussion, for the purpose of eliciting from the experience of those who are practically engaged in

"The

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the arts and manufactures such information as may give the subject a sufficient degree of completeness to make it serve as a guide for the public as to the real value of the invention." We anticipate but little good from this scheme; none whatever for the public, and not much for the Society. The "notices" will be puffs, and the "discussions" upon them either fulsome testimonials bespoke for the occasion, or unmannerly brawls between rival pretenders and their partisans

Gifts to Mechanics' Institutions.-The publicspirited and philanthropic Mr. Joseph Strutt has presented to the Derby Mechanics' Institution, of which he is President, 22 excellent paintings, by eminent ancient and modern masters, including a fine piece by Poussin, and some of the best productions of West and Fuseli, accompanied by a letter, in which he expresses a hope, (in which we cordially join,) that "they may prove to others a stimulus to increase the collection, and thereby encourage those among the students who are improving themselves in the arts of drawing and painting." The Aberdeen Herald records a similar instance of munificent liberality on the part of a Scotch nobleman. "Lord Panmure has formally made over to the new Mechanics' Institution, Brechin, the handsome apartments which he erected for its use, together with the fine collection of paintings which decorate the hall. His Lordship at the same time handed to the President and Vice-President a check for 1,000l., to be vested in trustees for behoof of the institution. Thus, by the enlightened liberality of this nobleman, the youth of Brechin have been provided with elegant schools, and the mechanics with a splendid hall, and the means of obtaining instruction in useful knowledge and rational amusement in all time coming."

Coal in India.-Colonel Sykes, at a late meeting of the Asiatic Society, mentioned, as an instance of the long prevailing ignorance, in this country, of the resources of India, that though a few years ago coal was supposed to be utterly unknown throughout that vast region, there are no less than fiftyseven localities in which it has been now ascertained to exist.

The Artesian Well at Grenelle.-A new tube is now making for the well of Grenelle in iron, of such a thickness that it will bear the pressure of 50 to 60 atmospheres. Experiments have been tried on two tubes placed one within the other, as the tubes were in the bore of the well, to ascertain what degrees of pressure would be necessary to force them in; but though the hydraulic ram was employed, it required a pressure of from 12 to 15 atmospheres to produce any effect on the tubes. The water still flows as copiously as ever, moderately warm, and alternately limpid and black as the sewers of Paris. -Galignani's Messenger.

Swiss Watch Manufacture.-There is no branch of Swiss industry so prosperous as its watch manufacture. Four years ago 70,000 watches were annually made. At least 100,000 are now produced. A great deal of the work is done in the mountains, and nearly all the rough work is done there by women, the finer work by men. The wages are very low, considering the nature of the work; but the fact is, that there is no scarcity of that skill and sobriety, and steadiness of hand and eye, essential to this class of work. It is in-door work, too, and suits them during the long continuance of weather too inclement in the mountains to permit of open air occupation. It is surprising how few are the tools, and how delicate the use of them by the artisan peasantry, who carry on this manufacture in Switzerland. Carouges and Geneva are the great marts of the trade, and thence work is given out to the surrounding villagers, and they must work hard to earn two francs a day; the majority do not average more than 30 sols. (15d.)-The superiority of the watch manufacture is a signal evidence of the skill and merit of the people. The perfection

to which the art is brought is universally acknowledged, and both for elegance, accuracy, and finish, the Swiss watches year by year, take a higher rank in European estimation. It is an achievement of mind and morals. Neither an ignorant nor an immoral people could excel in this difficult and delicate handicraft. Correspondent of the Athenæum.

Mechanical Nomenclature.-The Industrial Society of Mulhausen have addressed to the French Minister of Commerce, a memoir on the importance of adopting an unit of measure for the force of machines, considered not only in the power exerted, but in the time required. The Society observe, that the usual estimation of horse-power is not uniform, and propose that the unit for France should be the force required to raise one kilogramme to the height of a metre in a second. To this unit they propose that the name of dyne, from the Greek root, signifying, "moving force," should be applied, and then that it should be compounded with Greek and Latin words, in the same way as the metre, the gramme, &c.

Thus the kilodyne would signify a thousand times this unit, and the millidyne would signify the thousandth part of the same unit.

Cure for Damp Rooms.-A correspondent of the Bengal Hurkaru asks, "How the floors of lowerroomed houses may be cured of humidity?" By a barrel or two of tar laid on and covered with fine sand, and then beaten as floors are wont to be. The remedy is cheap and infallible. A suite of rooms, to our knowledge, which were so damp that the mats rotted in a month, were thus laid with tar, and there has not been the slightest symptom of dampness for the last six years. A set of mats now lasts two and three years, and the white ants have disappeared.

Naval Architecture.-We have seen a model of a vessel, of a curious and novel construction, to which we would direct the attention of nautical readers. The object is-swift sailing with facility of manoeuvring, in order to accomplish which, the keel is made very deep at a point in the centre, and slopes upwards towards the bow and stern in the form of an obtuse angle The inventor supposes that a vessel with a keel so constructed, would sail very close to the wind, while it would obey the helm much more quickly than an ordinary vessel, as it would turn in the water as it were upon a pivot. There is also a peculiarity in the rigging, the masts, three in number, radiating from the centre, the mainmast being upright-the foremast sloping forward, and the mizen having a similar rake backward. This arrangement is to suit the form of the sails, which are, with the exception of some of those on the mainmast, triangular, with a view to have the principal pressure on the canvass as low as possible for the sake of safety, and also to facilitate tacking. It is impossible to explain the plan thoroughly without diagrams, and we question whether even nautical men could venture a decided opinion on its merits without an experiment on a large scale. Meanwhile we think the invention worthy the attention of the Northern Yacht Club, or some gentlemen interested in naval architecture. The constructor of the model is Mr. Dempster, Kinghorne.-Scotch Paper.

Copper Sheathing.-A paper, by Mr. Wilkinson, was read at the Institution of Civil Engineers, Feb. 22. A member remarked, that his attention had been drawn to protection afforded to timber by coal tar when properly prepared and applied; the experiment had been tried carefully on board an India ship-some portions being coated with vegetable tar, and others with coal tar; the latter had preserved the timber from the worm during a long voyage, while in many places the former had failed.

He attributed the superior qualities of the coal tar to its containing a quantity of sulpho-cyanic or sul pho-prussic acid, which inevitably destroyed animal or vegetable life. A member had observed, at New York, that piles prepared by kyanizing had been destroyed in the same situations, where timber which had been saturated with coal oil, had resisted the attacks of the Teredo. The statement of the last speaker was confirmed by a member, who stated, that in the Mediterranean, where the ravages of the worm were most extensive, the vessels being rarely coppered, were entirely protected by prepared coal tar. The coal tar must, however, be deprived of the ammonia, as that substance produced imme diate decay in timber: ammonia might be advantageously used for manure in peaty soil, as it de stroyed the vegetable fibre with great rapidity, and produced rich soil.

Earthquake in Cornwall.-A severe shock of an earthquake was experienced on Thursday morning, the 17th ult. at about half-past eight, throughout the great mining districts of Cornwall, extending from the sea shore to the south of Helstone to almost the opposite coast, north of Redruth. The shock was distinctly felt at Flushing, Falmouth, Penryn, Gwennap and Redruth, but did not reach so far eastward as Truro. The miners at work in the lower levels at Trewavas, which are under the sea, in the parish of Breage, hurried to the surface, supposing that an irruption of the sea had taken place into the mine, as they heard a confused noise which accompanied the shock. This phenomenon is exceedingly rare in Cornwall.

Electro-Lace.-At the London Electrical Society, (Feb. 15,) the Secretary read a description of "eleetro-lace," a novel, but pretty application of the eleetrotype. The basis is net, prepared according to the usual plans. A few hours' action so covers it with copper, that it seems converted into that metal. Specimens were exhibited, which were much admired. It opens a new and wide field for the extension of this art to the production of those delicate and chaste ornaments, and fancy articles, now constructed of perforated cards, &c. The lace is readily plated; nor is the application confined to this article alone, but may be extended to all the various gauzes and delicate fabrics with which the market abounds.

The Little Western is certainly a favourable example of the skill of Bristol mechanicians, but that there is any thing either in the structure of the hull or machinery pre-eminently excellent, we utterly deny. In the production of the vessel there appears to have been too great a straining after novelty, and there are evidences of a disposition to select arrangements, not so much by the consideration of what is excellent, as of what is unusual. The following are some of the proportions of the vessel and engines she is 721 tons; measures between perpendiculars, 200 ft.; over all, 216 ft.; keel, 195 ̊ft; breadth of beam, 27 ft., and, including paddle-boxes, 47 ft.; length of saloon, 44 ft., by 24 ft. wide; ladies' cabin, 20 ft. long.-The Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal.

Intending Patentees may be supplied gratis with Instructions, by application (postpaid) to Messrs. J. C. Robertson and Co., 166, Fleet-street, by whom is kept the only COMPLETE REGISTRY OF PATENTS EXTANT, (from 1617 to the present time.) Patents, both British and Foreign, solicited. Specifications prepared or revised, and all other Patent business transacted.

LONDON: Edited, Printed, and Published by J. C. Robertson, at the Mechanics' Magazine Office,
No. 166, Fleet-street.-Sold by W. and A. Galignani, Rue Vivienne, Paris;
Machin and Co., Dublin; and W. C. Campbell and Co., Hamburgh.

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