THE LONDON FIRE BRIGADE AND THE SUPPLY OF WATER AT FIRES. 55 delivered by an engine may be increased from 10 to nearly 25 per cent. BEYOND THE CUBICAL CONTENTS OF THE BARRELS (!!!). An engine with two 6-inch barrels, and 8-inch strokes, by calculation and measurement gives rather more than pints as the contents of each barrel; but with such an engine I have frequently delivered 8 pints per stroke, being an increase of 25 per cent. beyond the calculated quantity."-Mech. Mag. No. 1130, p. 230. This "fact"-great fact-of Mr. Baddeley's is not only no fact at all; but, as the scientific reader will instantly perceive, could not, in the nature of things, be a fact. The exploit which Mr. Baddeley avers he has "frequently" performed is simply an impossible exploit. He never did (this I make bold to affirm without any reserve) what he says he did. He might just as well have told us that he had many a time and oft made a pint pot hold a quart, or gone himself into the pot. The one thing would have been just as credible and as practicable as the other. The fact which he adduces in proof that Mr. Braidwood is " quainted" with the quantity of water deliverable by an engine, is but a proof of his own most lamentable ignorance on the subject, and his exceeding presumption (ignorance's usual companion) as a commentator on the labours of others. unac Mr. Braidwood (in his simplicity, forsooth!) maintains that a considerable deduction must be made from the calculated quantities of water deliverable by an engine for the loss from the friction of the leathern hose; and this loss, he says, appears, from experiments he has made, to be equal to "24 per cent. for every 40 linear feet of hose through which the water passes." Mr. Baddeley, while he tacitly assents to the truth of the general proposition, affects to treat it as a sort of practical absurdity, because, if followed out to its utmost limits, it would lead to a "total loss." This, however, is but another proof of the little he knows of the principles of hydraulic science. The hose may be of such length, and the friction consequently so great, that there would be a total loss or absorption of the forcing power employed. Startling as this may seem to Mr. Baddeley, it is nevertheless indisputably true. Mr. Braidwood's experiments may or may not serve to determine what the ratio of absorption is; but they are not, at least, to be discredited on any ground so silly as that taken by Mr. Baddeley. To my own thinking, however, they are entitled to the very greatest reliance; and perhaps there will not be many disposed to differ from me on this head, when I mention that, besides those detailed in the paper read before the Institution of Civil Engineers, there have been a great many more since made, which give precisely similar results. Of these later experiments I have been favoured with an authentic statement, with a copy of which I beg for the present to conclude. Table of Experiments made to ascertain the Friction of Leathern Hose. ANOTHER GIGANTIC RELIC OF THE WORLD BEFORE THE FLOOD. We quote the following remarkable statement from the Mobile, United States Advertiser: Our readers will doubtless remember the sensation produced in 1840, by the discovery of the bones of the great Missourium, of Missouri. We have now to announce that the same discoverer, Dr. Albert C. Koch, has brought to light fossil remains of a monster in the animal creation, that put in the shade the celebrated "Inguadon of England, of colossal size, and the still more gigantic Missourium. The last discovery may be set down to the state of Alabama, and to the country adjoining Mobile, namely, Washington, being found imbedded in a yellow lime rock formation, near the Washington Court House. Dr. K. is a German by his birth and education; but has already acquired considerable reputation in this country for his geological researches and his ardent devotion to this cause of the natural sciences generally. He gives to this last most remarkable fossil wonder (which he describes as "the greatest wonder of this age of wonders") the name of Zeulodon Sillimanii," in compliment to professor Silliman, of Yale College. The description of this monster is in substance as follows: "I have succeeded in bringing to light the very nearly complete skeleton of a most colossal and terrible reptile, that may justly be termed the king of the kings of reptiles. Its length is one hundred and forty feet-the solid portions of the vertebra are from 14 to 18 inches in length, and from 8 to 12 inches in diameter, each averaging 75 pounds in weight. Its greatly elongated jaws are armed with not less than forty incisor, or cutting teeth, four canine teeth or fangs, and eight molars, or grinders. These teeth all fit into each other when the jaws are closed, and it is clear that the animal was of the carnivorous nature. The eyes were evidently large, and were prominently situated on the forehead, giving the animal the power of keeping a constant and vigorous watch for its prey. The body had members attached resembling paddles or fins, which, in proportion to the size of the animal, were small and were doubtless intended to propel the body of this enormous creature through the waters of these large rivers and seas which it inhabited or frequented. Each of these paddles or fins is composed of twenty one bones which form in union, seven freely articulating joints. The ribs are of a very peculiar shape and exceedingly numerous. They are three times the thickness at the lower than they are at the superior extremity." Dr. K. is at present in this city, and has the skeleton of this truly wonderful animal in his charge. The several parts are not yet joined together, but we understand he is willing to arrange and prepare them for exhibition, if there were any probability that he would be remunerated at this season of the year for his trouble and expense. Under the circumstances we presume he will take this rare curiosity, which of right belongs to Alabama, to some other place for its first exhibition. Alabama is becoming famous for its fossil remains of prodigious large reptiles, whose species became extinct long before Man was created on the earth. There is in the State Geological rooms at Albany, the spine of an animal some 80 feet in length, the vertebræ of which are but little different in size and weight to those named above. This came from Alabama, and is the property of Prof, Emmons. ABSTRACTS OF SPECIFICATIONS OF ENGLISH PATENTS RECENTLY ENROLLED. WILLIAM BRUNTON, JUN., OF POOL, NEAR TRURO, CORNWALL, ENGINEER, for improvements in dressing ores. Patent dated Nov. 2, 1844; Specification enrolled May 2, 1845. These improvements consist in submitting the ores to the action of a stream of water, by distributing them on an inclined table, moveable upwards against the stream, whereby the waste is washed off at the bottom of the inclined plane, while the clean ore settles upon the moving table, and with it is carried upwards beyond the influence of the stream, and ultimately deposited in a separate vessel. The moveable inclined table, which constitutes the principal feature of the invention, is constructed of a long sheet of painted cloth of suitable width, and united at the ends, by which it becomes an endless band; along each edge and on the outer side is sewed a strip of thick woollen cloth enclosing a soft hempen rope, which forms a ledge to prevent the ore from being washed over the edge of the table. The sheet of cloth is supported transversely by slight pieces of timber extending the width, and fixed at short distances by copper nails driven through the margin of the cloth into the pieces of timber. The inclined plane, or moveable table, thus prepared, is supported on a roller or cylinder called the head roller, about an inch longer than the width of the cloth, having bars fixed on its periphery in the direction of its length, and at such equal distances as will act as detents against the transverse timbers. This roller is supported by its gudgeons between two strong headstocks built into a wall or other sufficient means of support. There is besides what has just been described, a frame of timber about 18 inches longer than the inclined table, consisting of two side pieces fixed together by several cross bars of timber a little longer than the width of the cloth; on which cross these bars are fixed, four longitudinal planks or bearers for the moveable table to slide on when at work. At the lower end of the frame is fixed another cylindrical roller, called the foot roller, of the same length, and parallel to the head roller already described, and having its upper surface in the same plane with the upper side of the longitudinal bearers. The upper end of the frame is supported by the head stocks which carry the gudgeons of the head roller, and the lower end is supported by screwed rods, by which the inclination of the table can be varied at pleasure. Upon the frame and rollers thus arranged, the endless cloth is applied, and made to pass from the head roller along the longitudinal bearers to the foot roller, where it passes over a third roller fastened on the under side of the frame, between which and the head roller, the endless cloth hangs in the form of a catenarian curve, which dips abut 2 inches into a cistern full of water, where it deposits the ore as it is made to revolve. The chief feature of novelty in this invention, and that which constitutes the claim of the patentee, is the dressing of ores upon an inclined plane, continuously or occasionally moving up against the stream, and by the same motion depositing the dressed ores in a separate vessel placed for the purpose of receiving it. JAMES POWER, OF THREADNEEDLESTREET, LONDON, MERCHANT, for improvements in the manufacture of candles and soap, and in treating a certain vegetable matter for such manufacture, and other uses. Patent dated September 12, 1844; Specification enrolled, March 12, 1845. The "certain vegetable matter" referred to in the title of this patent is "olive oil;" and the "improvements" claimed consist in the application of the "stearic and margaric acid of olive oil" to the manufacture of candles, and in the mode of treating the oil to obtain such acids. The patentee's processes are as follows:To every 100 lbs. of olive oil, he adds 14 lbs. of slaked and sifted quick lime, previously mixed with water to the consistence of cream. Steam is then admitted into this mixture through perforated pipes, till it is made to boil (stirring it occasionally), and it is maintained at the boiling heat for from 12 to 20 hours, after which it is covered up, and left to settle. The compounds of oil and lime are then taken out and dried, and afterwards crushed and sifted to bring them into the state of a fine powder. The lime that has been used in the first process is now saturated with as much sulphuric, nitric, or hydrochloric acid as is sufficient for the purpose, after being diluted with seven or eight times its weight of water, and brought to a boiling heat by steam pipes. To the dilute acid just mentioned, the powdered compound of lime is added with the fat acids, and the heat continued till the fat acids are set free, and float on the surface of the water, and the lime is precipitated in the state of sulphate of lime. The steam is then turned off, and the whole left at rest for some time. The supernatant fat acids are then drawn off, and washed well in the progress of cooling. The crushed fat acids are next transferred to a number of porcelain, glass, or stoneware vessels, set in a steam bath; and when they are melted, for every 112 lbs. 4 ounces of nitric acid, of specific gravity 13, are added, along with some small pieces of zink, and water to dilute the acid to about 3° or 4° of Beaume, which is from 1.02 to 1.027 specific gravity. The heat is continued for about two hours with occasional stirring; the vessels are then removed from the steam, their contents well washed with abundance of water, and set to cool in wooden vessels; the acid fat now assumes the appearance of tallow when perfectly cold. This cold acid fat is next placed in suitable bags, which being inter-stratified with wicker plates and plates of iron, are put into a screw or hydraulic press, and exposed to a gradually increased pressure, till the oleic acid has been expelled in a liquid state. The pressed cakes are next to be melted in a boiler, heated by steam or otherwise, and 20 per cent. of alcohol, about 48° overproof, is to be well incorporated with the melted fat by agitation, when the mixture is to be drawn off into a vat, and left to cool and crystallize for fifteen or twenty hours. The solid fat acids thus obtained are subjected to pressure, and the cakes thus formed will consist of a mixture of margaric and stearic acids. The thin oily-looking liquid that runs off along with the spirits by means of the pressure, being received in proper vessels, is afterwards subjected to distillation, in order to recover the spirits for future use. The cakes, when taken from the press, are melted in shallow leaden vessels with water, and the contents kept boiling by means of steam, while the surface of the fat acids is freely exposed to the action of the sun and air during from fifteen to twenty hours. The concrete fat acids thus obtained are bleached by subjecting each 112 lbs. to the action of 2 lbs. of sulphuric acid, diluted with 8 lbs. of water, mixed with 4 oz. of peroxide of manganese. These substances being mixed in a vat, are steamed by a perforated pipe connected with a boiler. JOHN BOWER BROWN, OF SHEFFIELD, MERCHANT, for improvements in combining cast-steel with iron, and in the construction of carriage springs. Patent dated, October 10, 1844; Specification enrolled, April 10, 1845. 1. In "combining cast steel with iron," as, for example, in making the tyre for railway wheels, the block of iron is heated to nearly the point of fusion, and placed in a cast-iron mould, of sufficient depth to receive the iron and the steel with which it is to be combined. As soon as the iron is put into the mould, the steel, which is ready melted, is poured into it, when the iron and steel combine into one mass, which is then drawn out into a bar, and afterwards passed between ground rollers, for the purpose of obtaining the section of tyre required. 2. As regards carriage springs," the patentee's improvements are confined to such as are made up of a series of plates, which move or slide on each other. In these plates he forms channels or grooves, to contain grease or other lubricating matter, which will gradually work out from the recesses or grooves by the sliding action which takes place among the plates. The grooves or recesses are formed longitudinally when rolling the plates, instead of forming the plates plain on their surfaces; by which means, when the series of plates are put together to make up a spring, there will be grooves, or other shaped recesses, into which is placed the grease, or other lubricating material, for keeping the plates constantly lubricated while in action upon each other. Another part of this branch of the invention consists in forming the springs of two series of plates of different widths, instead of having them all of one width as heretofore. In carrying out this part of the invention, suppose the spring to be made is to be a strong spring for railway purposes, and that it is to consist of plates three inches wide; then, instead of having all the plates of this width, there is another series of two inches wide; and in making up a spring one of the narrow plates is introduced between each two of the wide ones, by which means the quantity of rubbing surface is lessened, and a very beneficial result obtained. The patentee claims, first, his peculiar mode of combining cast-steel with iron, when manufacturing railway tyres; secondly, the constructing carriage springs of plates with grooves or recesses in them; and also the combining plates of different widths. ALEXANDER PARKES, OF BIRMINGHAM, for improvements in the manufacture of certain alloys or combinations of metals, and in depositing certain metals. Patent dated October 20, 1844; Specification enrolled, April 29, 1845. The patentee specifies five new alloys, composed of zink, tin, copper, &c., in various proportions, the distinguishing characteristics of which are, that they are of a white or pale colour and possessed of considerable malleability. First Alloy.-33 lbs. of foreign zink,, 64 lbs. of tin, 14 lb. of iron, and 24lb. of copper; or 50 lbs. of zink, 48 lbs. of tin, 1 lb. iron, and 3 lbs. copper; or any other intermediate proportion of the zink and copper. The iron and copper are first melted together in a crucible, and while in a fused state, the tin is added in such quantities at a time, that the iron and copper shall not become solid; the zink is then added, and the SPECIFICATIONS OF RECENT ENGLISH PATENTS. whole well combined by stirring. The flux which is recommended for this sort of alloy, is composed of one part of lime, one part of Cumberland ore, and three parts of sal ammoniac (by weight). The alloy thus produced may be cast in sand or ingots for rolling as required. Second Alloy.-66 lbs. of foreign zink; 324 lbs. of tin, and 34 lbs of antimony; or of 79 lbs of foreign zink, 19 lbs. of tin, and 2 lbs. of antimony, or any other intermediate proportions of the zink, tin and antimony. As these metals melt at a low heat, they are melted in any convenient vessel of iron or clay, making use of the ordinary black flux, and when well combined, the alloy is cast into an ingot, or mould, as may be required. When the metal thus obtained is required for sheets, it is rolled cold, but when required for sheathing ships or vessels, from 8 to 16 ounces of metal arsenic is added for every 100 lbs. of the alloy. Third Alloy.-45 lbs. of nickel and iron in equal quantities, 45 lbs. of copper, and 10 lbs. of foreign zink; or 30 lbs. of nickel and iron in equal proportions, 46 lbs. of copper, and 264 lbs., or any intermediate proportions of the copper and zink. Fourth Alloy.-Copper 60 lbs., nickel 20 lbs., silver 20 lbs.; or copper 60 lbs., nickel 10 lbs., silver 10 lbs., and zink 20 lbs. The copper and nickel are first melted together, and when these are melted the other metals are added either together or separately. The alloy thus produced, may be poured into ingots for rolling, or it may be cast into sand for any required purpose. Fifth Alloy.-Nickel 25 lbs., iron 25 lbs., and copper 50 lbs. Or nickel 15 lbs., iron 25 lbs., and copper 60 lbs. The iron and nickel are melted together first, with either of the beforementioned fluxes; the copper is then added. This alloy is stated to be an excellent conductor of heat. The same patent includes a method of depositing metals by employing a salt or salts of the metal intended to be deposited, (rendered liquid by heat,) together, or in connection with electric currents. The salts, are used in a state of fusion; those best adapted for the purpose; being the iodides, chlorides and phosphates. For example, to deposit silver from iodide of silver: 6lbs. of the chloride are fused in a suitable vessel and a plate of silver suspended therein, which is connected with the negative pole of an electrical apparatus; while the article to be silvered is also plunged in the liquefied salt and connected with the positive pole. To encrease the quantity of fused metal, without encreasing the expense in the same ratio (where a large bath is desirable,) iodide of potassium is added to the iodide of silver in the proportion of from 3 to 10 lbs. of the 59 former to 6 lbs. of the latter. The like in the case of gold, only that a much larger proportion of the iodide of potassium is used. GEORGE FERGUSON WILSON, OF BELMONT, VAUXHALL; GEORGE GWYNNE, OF PRINCES-STREET, CAVENDISH-SQUARE; AND JAMES PILLANS WILSON, OF BELMONT, for improvements in treating fatty and oily matters, and in the manufacture of candles. Patent dated, October 31, 1844; Specification enrolled, April 30, 1845. The first of these improvements consists in effecting the acidification of fatty and oily matters by raising them to a high degree of temperature, and applying the acidifying agents directly to them, while they are in that state. Into the boiler containing the tallow, or other fatty or oily matter, a current of steam is passed, which has previously been raised to the temperature of 600° or 700° Fahr., by being conveyed through a fire in iron pipes, and the contents thereby raised to about 350° Fahr.-the steam and offensive vapour being carried off by a pipe from the cover of the vessel. The fatty or oily matter thus heated is run off into another vessel made of brick, lined with lead, and having a wooden cover lined with lead. Directly underneath this vessel, and extending across, is a leaden pipe, of about an inch in diameter, with a small perforation on each side at every inches of its length. Through this pipe is introduced a mixture of 1000 lbs. of sulphuric acid, and an equal weight of water (the specific gravity of the acid being 1.8), which falls in jets into the heated fat, and causes ebullition, whereby the acid and fat are completely incorporated before the action of the acid is discernible by any material change of colour in the fat. As the ebullition ceases, the fat gradually blackens, and the matter is allowed to remain for about six hours after the ebullition has entirely ceased. The fumes and vapour produced by the above operation are carried off by a large pipe, which rises from the top of the vessel, and after descending, rises again into a high chimney shaft, which carries the fumes and vapours into the atmosphere. In the descending portion of this pipe, a small jet of water is kept playing for the purpose of condensing such parts of the vapour as are condensible; and from the lowest point of the bend the water escapes by a pipe into a drain made for the purpose. At the end of six hours, the product is pumped into another close vessel, and washed by boiling up with half its bulk of water; the steam which is rendered offensive by this process, being treated in the same way as the vapours from the former vessel. The water is then drawn off, and the washing repeated; but in this case the water is mixed with 100 lbs. of sulphuric acid. The |