cleansing the chimneys, and I do construct and make all the said apparatus, instruments, and things so intended to be used, of various forms, and in various relative operations, as are hereafter more particularly set forth; that is to say:

First, I fix on the top of the chimney, or stack of chimneys, a frame, consisting of rods of iron, or other fit metal or materials, united at top either by cross bars or otherwise, or meeting in a point; which said frame is intended to form a support for one or more pullies or rollers, for the purpose of leading or conducting a metallic chain or rope from the bottom of the chimney to the top, and thence downwards, to support and work the sweeping apparatus; should any apprehension be entertained, that the point of the above bars should attract lightning, the usual conductors may easily be attached to it.

Secondly. One of the sweeping apparatus consists of a block, body, or main-piece of wood, or other proper material, in the form of a square prism, or of such other form, and of such length, as may be found convenient with regard to the chimneys intended to be swept, and a pipe or tube is to be passed through the middle of the said block, body or main-piece, and fixed therein, usually in the direction of the greatest dimension or length of the same. One extremity of the chain before described is fixed to the upper part of the said block, body or mainpiece, and serves to raise or lower the sweeping apparatus or sweeper when introduced into the chimney, and the other part of the aforesaid chain, after passing over the pulley or rollers at the top of the chimney, is returned and conveyed down to the bottom, through the said tube, which defends and prevents it from touching or injuring the other parts of the said sweeping apparatus. It must, therefore, be understood, that the position of the said

block,

block, body or main-piece when in the chimney must usually be such that the said tube will be in an upright position. To the sides of the said block, body or main-piece are affixed certain levers or bars, each moving severally on its own joint in planes of direction, or from the central tube aforesaid; but, nevertheless, so loosely as to the said joint that the said lever shall be also capable of moving to the right and to the left of the said several planes of motion. The joint in each of the said levers is usually at some point nearer the upper than the lower extremity thereof, and the said lower extremities are fitted up or armed with brushes or brooms of hair wire, or other fit material, or scrapers of wood or metal, for the purpose of sweeping and cleansing the chimney, when the sweeping apparatus shall be drawn up and down by means of the chain. From each of the said levers I pass a cord or rope over a pulley duly placed in the block, body or main-piece aforefaid, wherein the same is fastened to a weight lodged within a cell to the said block, body or main-piece, and the said weights serve by their reaction to urge the lower extremities of the levers outwards against the sides of the chimney with a due pressure, and the levers on each side are provided with strings and a weight as aforesaid.

Or otherwise, I produce the same outward pressure by means of springs of the kind called curb-springs, or of any other of the well-known forms proper to answer that purpose.

And farther, I cause other ropes or cords to pass from the lower branches of the said levers through a ring or eye, and over a friction roller or rollers, near the extremity of the middle tube before described, in such a manner that all the said ropes shall unite in one, and pass downwards, so as to give the workman or operator the power of drawing the lower branches together when any

occasion

occasion may render the same necessary. The tube or pipe must be long enough above the top of the levers to pass up the pot at the top of the chimney, and must be armed or fitted with a proper brush to sweep and cleanse the upper part of the chimney above the space where the sweeper is allowed to ascend, and the ascent of the said sweeper must be limited, by means of a stop of any fit figure, to apply against the framing at top, when its sweeper is at its intended limit.

Thirdly, Instead of the sweeper herein-before described, I sometimes construct and use another middle or intermediate apparatus, consisting of a structure of the form of an egg, or nearly so, made of wood and leather, or other flexible material, and covered with brushes of hair or wire, or scrapers, as may be requisite. I call this my elastic sweeper, and I construct the same of three, four, or more pieces of wood connected together longitudi. nally, or otherwise, in the direction intended to coincide with that of the flue of the chimney. And as it is my intention that the said pieces of wood should possess a power of elastic expansion or relative motion outwards, and also yield inwards when compressed by the narrowness of the flue, or by any other force, I connect and join the same by means of leather or cloth, in the manner of bellows, or by cords, or jointed rods, or otherwise, so as to admit of the said expansion or relative motion; and I give and produce the requisite elasticity by springs duly placed within; and the said springs may be strait or helical, or of any other figure, provided only that the same be so made and placed as to cause the said pieces of wood duly to recede from each other, whenever the absence of external pressure, or the state of the leather, or flexible connecting material, shall permit the said effect. The elastic sweeper here described being drawn up VOL. IV.-SECOND SERIES.

A a

and

and down the flue of any chimney, will sweep and cleanse the same, and will, in some cases, be preferable to the sweeper first described.

Fourthly, The apparatus at the bottom of the chimney consists of a frame of wood, or other material, so made as entirely to cover the front or opening of the chimney into the room, and to defend the hearth, the grate, and the apartment, from the soot. The use and application of this frame affords sufficient instruction to a workman to construct the same. Upon the frame within the chimney I place two or more rollers, for the purpose of working the chain, by means of handles attached to the axis, which pass through the wooden frame into the apartment ; · so that, with one roller to raise, and another to draw down the sweeper, the whole operation becomes perfectly manageable and easy. And I usually form an opening in the frame, closed by a flap or door, through which the working can be occasionally examined, and the cords, chains, or strings, for regulating the levers, may be accessible, and every other necessary attention paid to the process.

Fifthly, I do likewise carry my said artificial method into effect, in other cases, by an apparatus conisting of rods of iron fixed at the top of the chimney as before, but terminating in one common place of junction, from which a spindle or vertical bar descends into the chimney, and serves as the support for a frame, either square, or nearly answering to the figure of the chimney, within which it is thus supported on a level, without touching the walls, and serves to support, sustain, or bear out a chain near the walls or inner surface of the chimney; and the said chain carries a brush, or proper implement or instruments for sweeping and cleansing the chimney when drawn up and down therein. Another frame, nearly similar, is to be placed at the bottom of the chimney,

and