formation of the bobbin. By attaching a small tube to the loose leg a, the fixed tube may be dispensed with from the point of the swivel-joint.—[Inrolled in the Petty Bag Office, May, 1844.]

Specification drawn by Messrs. Newton and Son.

To GEORGE HOLMES, of Stroudwater, in the county of Gloucester, engineer, for certain improvements in furnaces or fireplaces.—[Sealed 9th November, 1843.]

THIS invention consists in a novel or improved mode of admitting air to the flues of furnaces or fireplaces, for the purpose of promoting the combustion of smoke; and in the means of regulating the supply of air in proportion to the quantity of smoke that is evolved from the fuel. The means employed by the patentee to effect this object is shewn in Plate II., and consists in placing an air-chamber or passage in the ashpit, beneath the grate-bars, and furnishing it with doors or valves, which are capable of being opened at pleasure. The mode preferred is, connecting the valves of the air-passage in any convenient manner to the fire-door, so that when the latter is opened, for the purpose of charging the fire with fresh fuel, the doors or valves of the air-chamber, in the ashpit, are also opened, and a large volume of air thereby admitted to the flue of the furnace; and an apparatus is connected with the doors or valves of the air-chamber for the purpose of preventing them from closing immediately that the fire-door is shut. By means of this apparatus a large quantity of air is admitted to the flue, through or behind the bridge, just at the time that the fresh fuel is thrown on, and a great quantity of smoke is evolved therefrom; but, as the quantity of smoke diminishes, the supply of air is diminished by the gradual closing of the valves or doors, until the said doors are closed entirely.

Fig. 1, represents a longitudinal vertical section of a boiler and furnace, with the improvements applied thereto; and fig. 2, is a horizontal section of the same, taken in the line 1, 2, of the previous figure. a, is the furnace; b, b,

the flue; c, is the ash-pit; and d, the air-chamber, which supplies the flues with air by means of an aperture e, made in the bridge. The air-chamber is closed in front by means of doors or valves f, f, which are hinged to the sides of the chamber, and are opened and closed by the arms or rods g, g, which are jointed to the sliding-frame h, h. This frame h, carries a long rod or arm i, the outer end of which is jointed to a double arm or lever j, mounted on the lower end of the vertical shaft k. The opposite end of the double arm or lever j, is jointed to a rod n, the other end of which bears or acts against a strong helical spring o, placed in a box set in the brickwork. On the upper end of the vertical shaft k, an arm 1, is mounted, and the outer end thereof is furnished with a segmental slot (see fig. 2), in which a pin or stud, at the end of the connecting rod m, works, and thereby connects the arm l, to the fire-door.

On the fire-door being opened, the arm 7, is forced back; this movement causes the vertical shaft k, to turn round, and draw the long rod i, forward, and thereby open the doors or valves f, f, of the air-chamber, to admit the air into the flue; when the fire-door is closed again, the pin or stud which connects the rod m, of the fire-door, to the arm or lever l, slides along the segmental slot, formed at the end of the lever, and, by means of an apparatus hereafter described, allows these parts to come back slowly into their original position, and thereby gradually and slowly close the doors or valves of the air-chamber.

The apparatus for gradually closing the doors or valves of the air-chamber, after the fire-door has been opened, and the fuel supplied to the fire, is shewn detached, and on an enlarged scale, at figs. 3, and 4. Fig. 3, is a plan view of the apparatus, with the case in section, and fig. 4, is a view with the side casing removed, to shew the interior. The working parts of the apparatus are enclosed in a box or casing p, p, which is set in the brickwork; k, k, is the vertical shaft before mentioned, which carries at its lower end the double arm or vibrating lever j, j, one end of which is connected to the long rod i, fig. 2, and the other end to the rod n, figs. 2, and 4, which acts against the spring o, as

before described. The respective parts in all the figures are shewn in the position they would occupy when the fire-door is shut, and the doors or valves of the air-chamber are also closed; but when the fire-door and air-chamber valves are open, the several parts would assume the position represented by dots in figs. 2, and 4. It will be seen in fig. 4, that a lever q, is connected to the arm n, by a joint, and is made to vibrate backwards and forwards on a moveable pin or axle 2, at the outer end of an elbow lever v, as the said arm n, is pushed inwards by the lever j. The lower end of the lever q, carries a sector-rack, which is occasionally put in gear with the small pinion r; on the same shaft as the pinion r, an escapement-wheel s, is mounted, the proper and regular rotation of which is regulated by the escapementstops t, t, on the vertical shaft t*. When the fire-door is closed, the sector-rack at the lower end of the lever q, is out of gear with the pinion; but when the door is opened, it forces back the rod or arm n, as already stated, and a stud or stop u, on the under side of the arm n, is brought into contact with the upper end of the lever v, which is mounted on a fixed centre at 1, and carries at its outer end 2, the vibrating lever q, before mentioned. By the stud or stop u, coming into contact with the upper end of the lever v, the lower end 2, is forced down, and the lever q, (which has, by means of the forward motion of the arm n, been brought into the position shewn by dots,) is depressed, so as to bring the teeth of the rack into gear with those of the pinion r; then the spring o, which has been collapsed by the advance of the rod n, will begin to exert its force, and drive the said rod back again, and with it the lever q, and through the intervention of the sector-rack, will cause the pinion r, and escapement-wheels, to revolve. The escapement-stops t, t, are mounted on the upper and lower ends of the vertical shaft t*, and immediately below the lower stop, and on the same shaft, a horizontal sector-rack w, is mounted. This rack gears into a pinion a, on the axle of which is fixed a small toothed wheel y, which drives a pinion z, mounted on the axle of the fly-wheel A. From the foregoing description it will be understood, that the spring o, acts upon and drives

all this gearing, and that the speed thereof is regulated by the escapement, which retards its motion, and prevents the force of the spring from expending itself too suddenly; and by this means the valves or doors of the air-chamber are gradually closed, as before mentioned.

The patentee observes, that many alterations may be made in the arrangement and construction of the various parts of the apparatus, without departing from the principle of the invention; for instance, instead of the spring o, a weight may be raised by the action of opening the doors or valves of the air-chamber or passage, and allowed to fall slowly, and thus permit the said doors or valves to return gradually to their closed position.

The patentee claims the application to furnaces or fireplaces, of an air-chamber or passage provided with doors or valves; such doors or valves being so arranged as to be capable of being opened at pleasure, either in connection with the fire-door or otherwise, and of returning slowly to their closed position by a retarded action of springs or weights.— [Inrolled in the Petty Bag Office, May, 1844.] Specification drawn by Messrs. Newton and Son.

To WILLIAM BROCKEDON, of Devonshire-street, Queensquare, in the county of Middlesex, gent., for improvements in the manufacture of pills and medicated lozenges, and in preparing or treating black-lead. [Sealed 8th December, 1843.]

In the ordinary mode of making pills and medicated lozenges, the materials are mixed with a liquid containing gum or other adhesive matter, and formed into a stiff paste, which is divided into suitably-shaped portions, and allowed to dry; but it has been found, in some cases, that the gum or other adhesive matter interferes with and prevents the anticipated effect of the other materials. In order to obviate this result, the patentee takes the proper materials, in the state of powder, and solidifies them by pressure between

dies; thereby dispensing with the gum or other adhesive

matter.

In Plate I., fig. 1, is a transverse section of the dies used for making pills. The lower die is composed of two parts a, b, and has a recess in it, in which the upper die c, works; the materials to be formed into pills are placed in the recess in the lower die, and the upper die is forced down upon them by means of a fly-press, or other suitable mode of applying pressure; the upper die and the part a, of the lower die are then raised, and the pill removed. For making lozenges, similar dies are employed, being suitably modified to produce the required shapes.

The successive quantities of materials operated on by the dies should be, as nearly as possible, of the same weight; and, to prevent the trouble of weighing, the patentee has invented a measuring instrument, which, on being pressed down into the prepared powder, will take up at each time a regulated quantity thereof. Figs. 2, and 3, exhibit partial sections of the instrument in two different positions. d, is a handle, fixed in the tube e, by a set-screw f; in this tube another tube g, closed at its lower end, slides freely, being connected by a screw, passed through a slot in the tube e, to another tube h, on the outside of the tube e; the extent of the movement of the tubes g, h, and the consequent amount of powder taken up by the tube e, depends upon the length of the slot, and the position of the handle in the tube e. When using this instrument, the tube h, is held in the hand; then, by depressing the handle d, the lower end of the tube e, is caused to protrude to the extent shewn in fig. 2, and is filled by pressing it into the powder; its contents are now discharged into the lower die, fig. 1, by raising the handle into the position shewn in fig. 3.

The second part of this invention consists in subjecting black-lead powder to pressure between dies, in order to form it into a solid mass or block.

Fig. 4, is a vertical section of the apparatus used for solidifying black-lead powder; and fig. 5, is a plan view of the lower die. The face of the lower die is partly cut away or recessed, leaving the parts i, j, projecting, and in the re