resolution of thanks was then voted to Mr. Eddison for the expense and trouble he had put himself to, and the exertions he had made in originating and organizing the meeting; the whole meeting, at the instance of the Chairman, standing up and expressing unanimously their concurrence with the resolution. Written communications were then read from Mr. Samuel Hall, Mr. Charles Hood (with a copy of his paper on the combustion of coal), Mr. Josiah Parkes and several other parties. The room contained many beautiful models, drawings, &c. of the inventions exhibited; and the whole affair went off with much spirit. NOTES AND NOTICES. Gonon's Improved Telegraph.-M. Gonon's telegraph is an improvement upon that now employed in France, and which, through all the mutations and revolutions of the French people, has been in constant use in that country for 48 years. M. Gonon, after reaching the height of Mr. Chappe's system, was led to believe that further means could be employed, and that he could correspond, word for word, without using more signals than words, which ample experiments, since had, have proved beyond the possibility of doubt. In view of these experiments, he is led to assert that, with 30 observations between Washington and New York, he could transmit from the latter to the former city the words "The British fleet, three ships of the line and five frigates, appeared off the Hook at 32 minutes past 10," in five or six minutes.-Baltimore American. Electrical Clocks.-In front of the Royal Polytechnic Institution there is a clock of large size, going by the action of voltaic electricity, the dial plate of which is illuminated at night for the convenience of the public. We believe this is the first street clock of the kind ever established, and its erection may be therefore looked upon as something both good and new in the world of science. For the purpose of keeping correct time simultaneously in a multitude of such clocks, the inventor proposes to fix a "regulator" in a central position, which is there to receive from a galvanic battery a continuous stream of electricity to be dispersed by itself, through the agency of an electro-magnet, to any number of time-pieces with which it might be placed in electrical communication, all of which would consequently keep time with one another, and with the controlling regulator. The Polytechnic clock has been going ever since Christmas-eve; and Mr. Bain, the inventor of the electrical clocks, avers that it will never require attention as long as the "regulator" is kept in motion, and the galvanic battery is supplied with its necessary elements. Magnetic Disturbances.—Similar disturbances to those observed and recorded by the Astronomer Royal, at Greenwich on the 25th of September, and noticed in our last number, are stated by a correspondent of the "Times" (J. F. W. H.) to have been also observed, at the same time, at the Magnetical Observatories at Toronto, in Canada, at Longwood, in St. Helena, at the Cape of Good Hope, and at Trevandrum at the observatory established by his Highness the Rajah of Travancore. At all these stations, differing so widely in geographical position as to embrace nearly a hemisphere of the globe, the disturbance was of such extraordinary amount as to cause the immediate institution of extra observations. The disturbances continued during the 24th and 25th of September, and their phases, allowing for the difference of longitude, were simultaneous at all the stations. Returns have not yet been received from other stations, but are early expected from many, such as from Simlar in the Himalaya, from Van Diemen's-land, and from the Antarctic expedition under the command of Captain Ross, &c. The writer adds, "Independent of the great changes in the direction of the needle, the total intensity of the magnetic power of the earth appears to have undergone, at all these stations, and at the same instant of time, fluctuations which may well be regarded as astonishing. The whole magnetic system of our planet seems to have been during those two days, so to speak, in a state of convulsion. Philosophy will of course be busy in speculating on the origin of phenomena so surprising, but we must not forget a tribute of praise to the zeal and diligence of the officers charged with the direction of these observations, and who have followed them up so efficiently, nor to the liberality of the British nation in working out on so magnificent a scale the recommendations of scientific men, in this, by far the greatest combined scientific operation the world has yet seen undertaken." For "J. F. W. H." we fancy there can hardly be any mistake in reading "Sir J. F. W. Herschell." Water Shoes.-A Lieutenant Hookenberg, of Denmark, has invented an apparatus, by means of which persons may traverse the water. It is described, (not very clearly,) as "resembling two very narrow boats, pointed at both ends, and united by a square piece of wood, about 30 inches long." The following account of a recent exhibition of it, before the Royal Family of Denmark, is given in the United Service Journal. "The arm of the sea which runs into the Thier Garter was the spot selected for the evolutions. The water-runners went through a variety of movements, among which were their loading and discharging their muskets while upon the water, running along on its surface at full speed," &c. The shoes, it is added, are so easy, that any person of moderate dexterity and quickness may be taught to manage them. Bude Light.-On Monday evening last a Bude light was tried for the first time, as streeti Blumination, at the extended crossing in Pall-mall at the end of Waterloo-place, Regent-street, and facing the Duke of York's Column. It very powerfully illumined the whole of the extensive space constituting the end of Regent-street and the opening at Pall-mall, and in front of the Athenæum Club-house, making the gas lamps along the pavements look as diminished as do the oil lamps at the end of Gower-street and in other parts of St. Pancras, where contrasted with gas-lamps.-Times. Intending Patentees may be supplied gratis with Instructions, containing every particular necessary for their safe guidance, by application (post-paid) 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, MESSRS. G. H. PALMER AND Charles PERKINS'S IMPROVED PISTONS AND VALVES FOR RETAINing or discharging liqUIDS, GASES AND STEAM. The present improvements are brought before the public by the patentees, with an expectation that they have succeeded in making one of the most important articles of use, in the simplest form and of the most durable construction. Every one is aware in how many ways the pump is conducive to human operations, as well as the many casualties to which it is subjected by the manner in which, and the materials of which, it has hitherto been made. The action of a pump is derived from one or more valves opening upwards in the lower or fixed bucket (commonly called the clack), and from one or more valves also opening upwards in the upper or moveable bucket. These valves are either made of leather, or their motion (when not so made) is insured by hinges, or connexions usually made of the same material. The upper, or moveable bucket, moreover, in order to produce a vacuum beneath it in its ascent, is packed or fitted to the sides of the working barrel of the pump, either with leather or hemp-materials which are liable to be affected by differences of temperature in different climates, subject to the attacks of incrustation, to the operation of many wasting influences, and above all, to a rapid deterioration either from use or disuse. The moment these perishable adjuncts to the operation of a pump are out of order, the machine itself becomes useless. Impressed with these facts, and having themselves suffered from their costly disappointments, the patentees, after many fruitless endeavours, hit upon the expedient of producing the desired action in a pump barrel by the substitution of two simple elliptical metallic discs for the complex and perishable packed and valved buckets previously in use; when (the natural consequence of every simple contrivance for a specific purpose,) they found all the evils of the old mode removed, and many advantages derived which were not before considered as obtainable. To explain this invention more precisely: The pump barrel is fitted with two metallic discs, the lower one a fixture, the upper one connected to, and moving with the pump rod. These discs or pistons, are made elliptical, by being cut diagonally out of a solid cylinder of the same diameter as the pump barrel. They lie inclined in the barrel, and although in that position, they fit the circle of the barrel with the greatest accuracy, yet, by fixing the lower disc upon a spindle, and attaching the upper disc or piston to the rod at points which divide the whole area of the discs into two unequal areas, as soon as the machine is set in motion, and the upper piston is drawn upwards by the rod, it leaves a vacuum below it in the working barrel, when the fluid below from its tendency to rise into the vacuum, presses equally over the whole surface of the under side of the lower valve; in consequence, however, of the eccentric suspension of the lower valve, there is a greater amount of pressure over the larger area of the two into which the surface is divided, and this extra pressure causes the valve to vibrate on the spindle, and in so doing, forms a passage for the fluid. When this up stroke is completed, and the upper disc (which we will call the piston) is pressed by the rod to effect its descent, the lower disc (which we will call the clack) is then closed by the amount of extra pressure of the water on the upper side of its larger area, and the same principle which opens the clack, acting on the under side of the piston, it is disengaged from contact with the barrel, excepting at two infinitely small points (the imaginary termination of its minor axis,) presenting a very small surface in its descent through the fluid which had already passed the clacks. As soon as this down stroke is completed, and the up stroke commenced, the piston returns to its oblique position, lifting and discharging the fluid. A power of raising water is thus acquired by a new mode, but still resulting from the simple and unerring law of its own pressure. The improvement sought for was thus obtained; a pump was made entirely of metal-to a certain extent, therefore, of imperishable materials-and not liable to the derangement arising from those casual circumstances already alluded to. As models fail to be convincing, two 10 inch pumps were made by Mr. Charles Robinson, of Pimlico, similar in every respect, with this exception, that one was MESSRS. PALMER AND PERKINS'S IMPROVED PISTONS AND VALves. fitted with a packed bucket, and butterfly valves, the other with the patent elliptical discs; and Mr. Robinson has been kind enough to allow these two pumps to remain at his works for the practical satisfaction of such as may not be convinced by this description. This size of pump, viz. 10in. diameter, was chosen because the friction of a 10 in. pump was considered to absorb nearly the whole power of a man. So that the old and new modes would in such case stand fairly contrasted. The result turned out to be so, for the packed pump was very difficult to move, whilst that with the patent discs was worked with the greatest ease; so much so, as to make it evident to a common observer, that a man could do three times as much work with the patent as with the common pump. This fact naturally induced the patentees to investigate the relative friction of the two pumps. The column of water was 5 feet in each; the diameter 10 inches, so that the weight of water was 170 lbs. nearly. The levers of the pumps were 6 to 1, and it required 49 lbs. at the extremity of the lever of the packed pump to make the upward stroke 49 x 6 294. But this was not all; for it required 28lbs. over a pully to return the bucket, 28 × 6=168 lbs. Here therefore was exerted a force of 462 lbs., to raise a weight of water not exceeding 170lbs., leaving 292 lbs. as the value of the friction; whereas, it only required 33 lbs. at the end of the lever =33 x 6 = 198 lbs. to raise the water with the patent pump; and as the piston returned of its own accord, deducting the weight of water, the friction was only 28 lbs. The patentees expected to find some known data, or acknowledged rules, for determining the friction in pumps generally; but they were disappointed, while nothing could be more conflicting than the opinions of practical men on this subject, some fixing it at 4th or, when in fact there is no law to determine the friction à priori, depending, as it entirely does, upon the packing of the bucket, and the ease or difficulty with which the valves open and shut. Their experiments have led them to the conclusion, that in any and every packed and valved bucket which delivers faithfully the quantity of water due to its diameter and length of stroke, the power necessary to overcome . 51 the friction exceeds that which is requisite to raise the water. A pump 10 in. diameter, with an 8 in. stroke, should deliver 2 gallons of water per stroke. Amongst the old dicta there is one of Desaguillier's, recorded in almost every treatise on the pump, to the effect, that with the best made pump one man, making a full day's work, ought to raise a hogshead of water, 10ft. high, per minute. Now, suppose this hogshead to contain 54 gallons of 10lbs. each 540lbs. raised 10 ft. high, = 5400 lbs. of = water only, exclusive of the friction of the bucket and valves, raised one foot high in one minute; but if the friction is to be 292 parts out of 462, this duty is impossible. There is no longer any doubt that the friction in packed pumps is a serious quantity, increasing as the circumference and depth of the moveable bucket are increased, and absorbing power, both in the downward or return stroke, as well as in the upward discharging or effective stroke, while the metallic disc piston can be made sufficiently strong for any unlimited diameter of pump, by ribs, or other contrivances, without materially increasing the thickness at the periphery and consequently, the rubbing surfaces. Moreover, the friction will only exist in the upward or discharging stroke, and will never exceed what is due to the weight of the column of water tending to keep the piston against the sides of the barrel, instead of the undefined amount arising from the uncertain packing of the bucket in order to prevent the water slipping, both during the upward and downward stroke. We have already shown what was the comparative friction of the two pumps at Mr. Robinson's, with a 5 ft. lift of water; and by way of illustrating the preceding observations, an experiment was made with another pump, intended to be 10 in. diameter, but bored rather larger, fitted with a cover and a branch to receive an ascending pipe; the pump-rod, of course, working through a gland and stuffingbox. Pipes of the same diameter were added to the branch, until the height from the level of the water in the well to the point of discharge was 15ft. 4in. The weight of such a column of water is 550lbs. The lever in this case was also 6 to 1, and 98lbs hung on the end accomplished the discharging stroke; hence 98 × 6 = 588-550 weight of water 38lbs. for friction, or about th part of the whole, being 10lbs. more than with the 5ft. column, without allowing for the friction of the rod working through the stuffing-box, and also for the trifling addition to the pump's diameter; thus showing that friction does increase with the height of the column. But in a pump on this principle, the increase is confined to a cause which cannot be removed. The same opportunity was taken advantage of to approximate to what might be considered the maximum duty of a man whilst working with a pump of this construction. Two men made 41 strokes in one minute, lifting 2:24 gallons, or 22.4 lbs. of water 15ft. 4in. high at each stroke, which is equivalent to 14, 107 lbs. raised one foot high in one minute by two men; and half that quantity, viz., 7059-5lbs raised the same height by one man. The leading recommendations of these pumps consist in their simplicity-their durability, from being made of materials not of a perishable nature, and, unlike those of other pumps, improvable by use -and their great increase of power, in consequence of the abated friction in the upward stroke. So great is this last advantage, that on this account alone pumps of a larger diameter may be substituted for those now in use, and worked by the same power; nay, as the friction in the downward stroke is reduced to a minimum, a continued exhibition of the same power would, by the alternating effect of a crank, work two pumps of the same larger diameter. Take, for instance, ships in general, and a ship of 120 guns in particular, the pumping provision for which consists of 4 chain pumps, 7 in. diameter, and 4 hand pumps 6 in. diameter, employing, when at work, from 120 to 140 men: the united areas of these 8 pumps is 267 in.; while four 10 inch pumps upon the patent principle, with a united area of 314 in., could be easily worked by about 16 men, and the same extraordinary proportion would exist in every ship, whether in the navy or in the commercial marine. Nor would this increase of power be the only advantage. One frightful evil in all ships' pumps is, their liability to be choked, by rubbish getting into them. In the case of the ship Erin go bragh, from Quebec to Liverpool, as noticed in the morning papers of the 16th and 17th December, 1841-"The extremity of this vessel was so great that she sank immediately after the packet ship Roscius had been the happy means of saving the captain, crew, and one passenger. She was laden with flour and grain, the latter having choked the pumps." This, unfortunately, is not a solitary instance of loss at sea, arising from the inadequacy and incapacity of the pumping provision, particularly instanced in the liability of the pumps to choke. Now it is a prominent feature of the patent pumps that they cannot choke. There are no valves to be so affected; while at every stroke, both the piston and clack clear themselves, and allow any extraneous matter that has got into the barrel to be discharged. In these collective points of view, these pumps will recommend themselves in all mining and pumping operations where durability and increase of power are desired, and in all manufactories, particularly in those where liquids of a high temperature are to be raised, and sugar works in the colonies where the cleanness of the pump, and its freedom from destruction and choking are considerations. To navigators, contractors, quarrymen, &c., having much water to get rid of but no great height to deliver it, these pumps would be an enormous saving, since hand pumps, with a short lift, could be made of a large diameter. One man, for instance, might work a 15 in. pump, the lift not being more than 3 or 4 feet. 67, Mark Lane, December 17, 1841. Description of the Engravings. Fig. 1. Is a plan of the piston, a section of which is shown by Figs. 3 and 4. AB the major, CD the minor diameter. R is the joint, (by which the pump-rod P is secured) the centre of which is in the true line of the major diameter AB, but neither in the centre of the pump or piston; being removed therefrom more or less as the diameter of the pump, the altitude of the column of water lifted, and other circumstances, may require. The whole area of the piston is therefore divided into two unequal areas. Fig. 2. Is a plan of the lower valves, which is fixed in the barrel by means of the axle O, the eccentricity of which is regulated upon the same principle as |