TO ANDREW KURTZ, of Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster, manufacturing chemist, for certain improvements in the manufacture of artificial fuel.-[Sealed 27th January, 1842.]

THESE improvements, in the manufacture of artificial fuel, consist, principally, in equalizing the strength or combustible quality of the various species of coal, by bringing the several varieties to one uniform standard, and thereby imparting, by artificial means, the same powers of combustion, in evaporative processes, to the inferior sorts of coal, which are possessed by the best known quality, in its crude or natural state.

This is effected by mixing with inferior coals, such proportionate quantities of coke made from coals, resin, and napthaline, with pitch made from gas-tar, or other bituminous substance, as will equalize or counterbalance the combustible strength or evaporative power of such inferior coal, with that of the best coal known or found in England and Wales.

The proportionate quantities of superior combustible matters to be added to the inferior coals, in order to bring them up to the same standard of evaporative power as the best English or Welsh coal, must of course depend upon the inferiority of the coal to be improved. As the British Government standard, for contracts for artificial fuel, is, that one pound of fuel shall evaporate eight pounds of water, this is taken as a standard; and the under-mentioned experiments will shew the manner and proportions in which the addition of the combustible matters must be made to inferior coal.

The evaporative power of coals will be found nearly as follows:-One pound of anthracite coal will evaporate eight pounds of water; one pound of best Welsh coals, seven pounds to eight pounds; one pound of Liverpool coals, called Smith's coals, seven pounds; one pound of ordinary Liverpool coals, four to six pounds. Newcastle coals are similar in effect to Liverpool coals; thus it will be per

ceived, that where the best Welsh coal wants one part of superior combustible matter, ordinary or inferior coals will require four or more parts; the proportions must, therefore, be varied according to the ascertained quality of the coal, when in a natural state.

Secondly. These improvements consist in the application and use of certain machinery or apparatus, for the purpose of preparing and mixing the component parts of such artificial fuel, and forming or moulding the same into portable and convenient shapes or bricks, for use, as follows:

The natural coal is first to be ground small, between an ordinary pair of horizontal grinding-stones, or in a grinding-mill, and is afterwards to be submitted to a drying-kiln or apparatus, for the purpose of expelling all moisture from the coal. This drying apparatus is to be constructed with three chambers or compartments, say twelve feet long by nine feet wide, and by six feet deep altogether. The flooring of these chambers should be of plate-iron, and somewhat dished or sunk in the middle, and also provided with a small aperture or opening, with a sliding door or cover to each. Between each compartment, and around these chambers, there are flues, heated by the flame and air proceeding from the furnace or fire-place, situate at one end of the apparatus, and each flue is to be provided with a damper, to regulate the heat, as required.

The upper chamber or compartment is open at top, and may be called the reservoir, and in this the ground coal is to be placed, after being taken from the grinding apparatus and heated or dried, so that the principal part of the moisture is evaporated; the sliding door is then to be removed from the opening in the bottom of this reservoir, and the coal raked or pushed down into the middle or drying chamber. In this chamber the pulverized coal is also to be further dried and heated, to about three hundred degrees Fahreneit, so that no moisture whatever remains; the sliding-door is next to be removed from the aperture in the bottom of this chamber also, and the coal passed into the bottom or mixing chamber. Whilst the pulverized and dried coal is lying in

the lower chamber, pitch or other auxiliary combustible matter is to be supplied, through a trough or other convenient means, and in such proportions dependent upon the quality of the coal under operation; and after being sufficiently mixed together, by raking or otherwise, it may be carried away, in boxes or baskets, to the next process.

The composition or artificial fuel now being in a plastic state, is to be put into a machine, very similar, in form and in the mode of its operation, to an ordinary clay or pugmill, as used by brick-makers. The chamber or vat of this apparatus is six feet in diameter at top, eight or nine feet deep, and tapering downwards; it is made of cast-iron, and surrounded with a jacket or casing, to act as a steamchamber, in order to keep the composition in a continuous heated state, and thus capable of being more efficiently worked. For this purpose, a steam-pipe is supplied to the lower part of the casing of the pug-mill, conveying the waste steam from the steam-engine employed to work the whole system of apparatus, and the steam is passed off at the upper part of the vessel, the condensed water escaping below.

The interior of this pug-mill is somewhat peculiar in its construction, and consists of a central upright shaft, which is driven by a steam-engine or other moving power, connected to gearing below. Upon this shaft, of about six inches in diameter at the lower end, and tapering upwards, to about four inches, are placed several (say six) pairs of arms or agitators, about nine inches wide, and reaching to within an inch of the inside of the mill, at the top, and about six inches at the bottom, each alternate pair being set or fixed at right angles with the adjoining pair, and each arm placed at an angle of about twenty degrees from the plane of the horizon; so that when the shaft revolves, these arms or agitators will act as one continuous screw, and keep forcing or conducting the composition in the mill towards the bottom, simultaneously with the mixing process. A separate or independent arm is also fixed at the lower end of the shaft, touching the bottom of the pugmill. This arm is formed helically, and its outer end forces

the composition or fuel, in a continuous stream or course, out of an aperture or mouth-piece, formed at the bottom of the mill. This aperture or trough may be shaped in any way, being open at the top, and having the sides and bottom square, so as to form the plastic composition, as it is being forced from the mill.

Masses of this compound are now to be taken from the opening, at the bottom of the pug-mill, and, whilst in a heated state, to be thrown or cast into square boxes or frames, the depth of an ordinary brick; when the plastic material will flatten, as it cools, and spread itself evenly, until it is confined by the sides of the frame; these frames may be large enough to contain a sufficient quantity to form one hundred bricks or cakes of fuel. When the composition is sufficiently cooled, but not allowed to harden, it may be cut into forms or bricks, by means of a cylinder, having a series of rotary cutters placed thereon, at given distances apart, and projecting from the cylinder, so as to pass through the entire depth of the cake of fuel in the frames.

The frames must be well moistened, with a strong solution of lime, and the cutters and cylinders must also be well supplied with a similar solution, from a saturated brush above, so that all sides of the bricks or cakes of fuel shall be coated over with lime; and this will prevent their adhering to each other, when packed closely together for use.

The patentee claims, the manufacture of artificial fuel, firstly, by bringing all natural coals to one uniform standard of combustible power or effect, by artificial means; that is, by adding such proportions of coke, resin, and napthaline, with pitch, to inferior coals, as will equalize or counterbalance the combustible strength of the best coals known or found in England and Wales; and secondly, the application and employment of the machinery or apparatus, herein described, for the purpose of preparing, mixing, and pressing or shaping, such artificial fuel into convenient portions, shapes, or bricks, for use.-[Inrolled in the Rolls Chapel Office, July, 1842.]

Specification drawn by Messrs. Newton and Son.

TO WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery-lane, in the county of Middlesex, mechanical draftsman, for an invention communicated to him by HENRY FREDERICK SCHMOLL, of Paris, of improvements in obtaining a concentrated extract of hops, which the inventor denominates "humuline."-Sealed 15th February, 1841.]

THIS invention of improvements in obtaining a concentrated extract of hops, consists in submitting the plant called the hop, humulus supulus, to a certain process, by means of which, the extract or essence of the plant is obtained in a better and more perfect manner, than when boiled up with wort in the manufacture of beer, as is at present the case. By means of the process hereafter described, two separate and distinct products are obtained, one being the essential oil of the resin or spirituous tincture; the other, the "extract," which is a gummy or aqueous decoction of the plant. These products are obtained in the following manner:—

The hops are dried in a stove or oven, heated to about 86o of Fahrenheit's thermometer, and when brittle or friable, they must be rubbed or passed through a sieve, the meshes of which are not more than the tenth of an inch wide. The coarse powder is then placed in a closed cylinder, called, by the inventor, the displacing cylinder. As much alcohol is then poured into the cylinder, as the powder will absorb, and a further quantity supplied until a layer of about an inch and a half deep covers the powder. The contents of the cylinder are then submitted to a considerable pressure, and allowed to remain in this state, for about twentyfour hours, after which time, the alcoholic tincture may be drawn off into a tub or other vessel.

The alcohol is washed out of the contents of the cylinder, by adding water thereto, until the liquor, which runs out of the cock, becomes clear and colorless. This same water is again added to the contents of the cylinder, and the hops are macerated in it, for the space of forty-eight hours. After this maceration, the liquor is drawn off, and the hops