sure. It consists in forming one or two convex stops on the plate of the hook, directly beneath the tongue, which is turned up a little, at its end, to allow the eye to slide over the stops easily; these stops retain the hook in the eye, and prevent their being accidently disengaged.

The patentee claims, Firstly.-The mode of manufacturing ties for pattens and clogs, by applying metal plates thereto, as herein described.

Secondly. The mode, above described, of manufacturing hooks for fastening dresses.-[Inrolled in the Inrolment Office, October, 1841.]

To JAMES JOHNSTON, of Willow Park, Greenock, Esq., for improvements in obtaining motive power.—[Sealed 8th February, 1841.]

THESE improvements consist in working reciprocating engines, of any construction, by means of the explosive and condensive properties which oxygen and hydrogen gases possess, when exploded together.

The method of employing these gases, for working the engine, is as follows:-Into the cylinder, below the piston, (which is at its lowest position,) a quantity of the abovementioned gases is admitted and exploded; this explosion forces the piston to the top of the cylinder. As soon as the gases have ceased expanding, they unite, and forming water, produce a vacuum below the piston, a very small quantity of water remaining at the bottom of the cylinder. The piston is now forced down to the bottom of the cylinder, by the admission and explosion of the gases above it, and a vacuum is produced in the manner above mentioned. Thus, by the alternate admission and explosion of the gases, above and below the piston, the engine is worked. The gases are admitted into the cylinder, in the proportions of one part oxygen to two of hydrogen.

The patentee claims the working of an engine, by the

joint action of the explosive and condensive properties, which certain proportions of oxygen and hydrogen gases possess, when exploded together.[Inrolled in the Inrolment Office, August, 1841.]

TO KENT KINGDON, of Exeter, in the county of Devon, cabinet-maker, for his invention of certain improvements in impressing and embossing patterns on silk, cotton, and other woven or felted fabrics. [Sealed 21st April, 1842.]

THESE improvements in embossing consist, firstly, in producing, by means of flock, an embossed or raised pattern, on any unprepared woven surface of woollen, cotton, linen, or silk; secondly, in the use of a solution of India-rubber, by which means, the embossed or raised part, produced by the flock, is rendered more perfect and durable; and thirdly, in the employment of a solution of India-rubber, spread over the surfaces of linen, woollen, silk, or cotton, which solution, by preventing all absorption, admits of a gold size being spread on the surface, thereby enabling the cloth to be bronzed or gilt. The cloth, so prepared, is then passed under or between an engraved cylinder or cylinders, and the surface is thereby embossed, in the usual way.

The method of producing an embossed cloth, is as follows: A piece of cloth, say woollen damask, quite plain, is printed or impressed with a solution of India-rubber, by means of a wooden or other block, the pattern required. When this is dry, flocking varnish, made in the usual manner, is printed with the same or a similar block, over the India-rubber; the flock is then dusted on the varnish, and when dry, the flock, by adhering to the varnish, forms the required pattern.

If the ground is intended to be gilt or bronzed, a solution of India-rubber is spread over a cloth, say a thin calico; when dry, it is coated with a gold size, made in the usual way, which may be either gilt or bronzed. The embossing can then be produced, by passing the gilt or bronzed cloth

between engraved cylinders, and if it is wished to form a pattern in flock, proceed in the way before described.

The patentee claims, firstly, the use of flock, for the purpose of embossing or forming raised patterns, on unprepared surfaces of woollen, linen, silk, cotton, &c.; and secondly, the application of India-rubber to surfaces of linen, woollen, silk, cotton, &c., which, by preventing all absorption, enables either the gold size or the flocking varnish to be applied, so that the surfaces, to which the gold size is applied, can be bronzed or gilt, and embossed by cylinders, in the usual way, and afterwards either flocked or not; or when the flocking varnish is used, the embossed pattern is produced, by means of flock alone.-[Inrolled in the Petty Bag Office, October, 1842.] Specification drawn by Messrs. Newton and Son.

Original Communication,

BY

GEORGE LOWE, ESQ., C.E., F.R.S., &c.

To the Editor of the London Journal of Arts, &c. DEAR SIR,

I am quite sure your sense of justice and love of fair play, will cause you to give insertion to the following remarks on Dr. Ure's, Report on the Bude Light, which, so far as I can trace back, made its first appearance in print, in the pages of your May number, at a time when I was on the continent; I therefore did not become acquainted with its existence until months afterwards, when the periodical press were retailing it, in whole or in part, to their readers. I confess I was not a little astonished at reading the statement, contained in the third paragraph, as to the "formidable obstacles" encountered by Mr. Gurney, in the use of naphthalized coal gas, in connection with his Bude light patent for illuminating the House of Commons :-The Doctor says, (but I doubt not the words were put into his mouth, or rather his brief,') "Mr. Gurney then tried to illuminate the House with "naphthalized coal gas, in Argand burners, similarly supplied "with oxygen; and though this produced a light of sufficient intensity, he encountered a formidable obstacle to its continuance, "from the deposition of liquid naphtha in the tubes of distribu"tion." Now this 'coup de grace,' at my patent,* is either true or it is false, or partly the one and partly the other; the object

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*For Report of this Invention, see Vol. XII., p. 137, of our present Series.

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for which it was thrust so prominently forward in the Doctor's report, is too self-evident, that of magnifying the herculean labours of Mr. Gurney, in the eyes of the public, but more especially in the eyes and votes of the "Select Committee, ap"pointed to enquire into the remuneration due to Mr. Goldsworthy Gurney, for his services in lighting the House of Commons. With the evidence given before that Committee, which, for the future, has placed photometry amongst the exact sciences,' we will not now meddle; my present object being simply to justify my patent from aspersions, rather than to shew up how ungratefully its services have been treated. This I will endeavour to do in the fewest words possible, making reference to the printed evidence, and to a bundle of letters, now before me, from Mr. Gurney, and the agents of the Bude Light Company; the object of nearly all which communications is the negociating for the use of my patent, and that too by a "Special License!!" which special license being refused, from that day, and henceforward, it has pleased Mr. Gurney and the Bude Light Company, to speak of the invention and its formidable obstacles' as in the present instance.

Let us take the facts in chronological order :-Certes,-the first edition of the Bude Light had run its race, when it was twice voted out of the House, in February, 1840; prior to which, 'coming events casting their shadows before,' I received a letter, dated January 14th, 1840, from Mr. Carter, a friend of Mr. Gurney, begging me to favour Mr. Gurney with a call, in No. 11 Committee Room, to help him out of his 'oxi-oil' difficulties, by the substitution of my naphthalized coal gas. Numerous were

the visits now, of Mr. Gurney to my residence, to see this gas in practical operation, and additional expenses were incurred by me in fixing up experimental gas-meters, to demonstrate the relative quantities of carburetted hydrogen and of oxygen, to produce a given quantity of light, as compared with the un-naphthalized gas of commerce.

Let me now put in evidence Mr. Gurney's letter, of the 7th of February, 1840; it is short, pithy, and supplies the origin of the Bude Light Company, we must have this entire, if you please :"4, Argyle Street, "February, 1840.

"MY DEAR SIR,

"The naphthalized coal gas produces a most brilliant light, with oxygen. Money is to be made-something must be done— can I see you?

"Yours truly,

"GOLDSWORTHY GURNEY.

"P. S.-I tried the experiment last evening, and have to-day ordered the street gas to be laid on, for the clock of the Horse Guards."

Turn we now to the celebrated evidence (lucus a non lucendo) of Mr. Gurney, given before the Committee, on May 2nd, 1842. Mark the disingenuousness of all his replies to the questions, 'ready cut and dried,' from No. 27 to 38; (when, by the aid of my invention and assistance, he regained possession of the confidence of the House, during the Easter recess). See how he cloaks his friend's invention under the disguise of 'oil-vapour,' especially No. 35.-"I consulted Mr. Faraday, and he wrote a letter, stating that the mode of substituting the flame of coal gas, treated in the way I proposed, was a preferable mode of producing the Bude light, and that it was attended with no danger."

This ungenerous system of keeping his friend's invention in the back ground, if not of its actual appropriation, went through the whole period of the session, as it does through the whole of his 'evidence;' and it is but too apparent with what success it operated on the minds of the Committee, when we read a paragraph, from their printed report, like the following:-" Occasionally, in this session, difficulties had occurred in procuring the necessary supplies of oxygen. In consequence of these difficulties, Mr. Gurney resolved to apply the knowledge which he had derived from experiments, commenced in 1822, and repeated in 1839," &c.

To keep up this disguise, slang terms were invented for the naphthalizing process. At the grand illumination of Lansdowne House, on April 4th, 1840, on the occasion of the Queen's visit, it was called "the charcoal box," whilst at the House of Commons it was styled "the oil box," and when a better supply of it was wanted, the order given was to "turn on more oil!!" The report given to the daily press was, the oil being now vapourized instead of burnt by wick !!"

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Can we now be surprised at the tone of Mr. Gurney's first day's evidence, in which not a single allusion is made to a naphthalizing process? or to that of his second examination, the chief purport of which seems to be the giving a farewell kick to it, as a reward for past services?

As the best proof that Sir John Scott Lilly, the real holder of the Bude patent, does not look upon my invention with such a jaundiced eye, I might refer to the printed prospectus sent forth in October, 1841, above twelve months after the period of the "formidable obstacle." It says:- "There can be little doubt, therefore, that with such advantages, the Bude Light, which is protected by the patents of Gurney, Lowe, &c., will be immediately adopted by all classes of society."

Who would suspect that the House was illuminated by the naphthalizing process, from the Easter recess until its adjournment in August? and it would have so continued but for Mr. Gurney's inability to obtain a special license. True it is that towards the end of the session, six months from the time of its introduction, he met with some difficulties from the deposition of