3d. Chronological index for the same period, and supplements. 4th. Reference index for the same period, pointing out the office in which each enrolled specification of a patent may be consulted, the books in which specifications, law proceedings, and other subjects connected with inventions, have been noticed, etc. 5th. A separate alphabetical and subject-matter index for patents, for fire-arms, projectiles, etc.. The whole of this invaluable and truly beautiful work, has been published under the direction of Bennett Woodcroft Esq., the Superintendent of Specifications, and it is so perfect that it would not be possible to point out in what respect it could be improved, or rendered more convenient of use. Under his directions, also, the copy now in the Astor Library was arranged for binding, which he had the kindness to attend to, that we might be sure of having everything right, and in the best condition for convenient use. The volumes are all bound uniformly in red Turkey morocco, and the drawings mounted on strong white calico, the strips to which they are attached to the bind. ing being so brought out, that the whole plate spreads open without any fold. This precaution has greatly increased the cost of binding, but it will be evident to every one who examines the volumes, that the increased security and facility which are given, more than compensates for the additional expense. The Commissioners are now going on with the specifications and drawings for the years previous to 1852, and we have good reasons for believing that the same liberality which has enriched this and three or four other libraries of this country with this truly princely donation, will be extended to the continuations. This is one of the many instances of the liberal spirit which has been manifested by the British government in the distribution of their numerous costly publications. The only condition attached to their gift is, that the library should be free to the public. The Astor Library is indebted to Mr. Buchanan, when he was our Minister in London, for making known to the Commissioners of Patents that it was of that description, and the simple assurance secured for it the great work above described. The library is also indebted to Mr. Henry Stevens, of London, for his personal attention in relation to it. The work will occupy a conspicuous place by itself in the library, to which it is certainly intended as one of its most beautiful ornaments, and first among its means for imparting instruction in the industrial arts. COATING IRON WITH ZINC AND OTHER METALS. Messrs. Gressel and Redwood, of London, recently patented the following methods of coating iron with zinc and other metals : TO COAT IRON WITH ZINC. The zinc is melted in an open vessel, and on its surface is laid a layer of the chloride of zinc, or a mixture of equal parts of chloride of zinc and chloride of potassium, in the proportion of eight of the former and two of the latter. When the salt is in a state of fusion, the metal to be coated is placed in the bath, and allowed to remain there till a coating of sufficient thickness has been obtained; it is then withdrawn, and any parts of its surface imperfectly covered are sprinkled with sal ammoniac, and the sheet of iron again immersed in the bath. TO COAT IRON WITH SILVER. The metal must first be amalgamated with mercury by the following process: 12 parts of mercury, 1 of zinc, 2 of sulphate of iron, 2 of muriatic acid, and 12 of water are mixed together, and heated in an open vessel to about 200° Fah.; the iron is then immersed, and the mercury rubbed on its surfaces until amalgamation is effected. The silver or alloy is to be melted in a crucible, and the amalgamated iron placed therein, when a coating of silver or alloy will be deposited. TO COAT IRON WITH COPPER OR BRASS. The copper or other coating is to be melted in a suitable vessel, and a stratum of borosilicate of lead placed on its surface; the iron is then to be plunged into the molten metal, and retained there until a coating is deposited on it. Iron coated with the tin or lead may be treated in a similar manner. Another method of coating iron with copper is to place in a crucible a quantity of chloride of copper, upon which is laid the iron to be coated, and over that a quantity of charcoal. The crucible is then submitted to a red-heat and the chloride of copper fused, and a coating of copper deposited on the iron-or the vapor of chloride of copper may be employed for the same purpose. The coating of copper thus obtained may be converted to one of brass, by exposing the sheet of metal to the vapor of zinc in a closed vessel. MERCANTILE MISCELLANIES. DIVIDEND DAY AT THE BANK. What a crowd, what a crush! What a row, what a rush! What screaming, and tearing, and noise- From Lombard-street, Prince's-street, Broad- Old and young, great and small, Oh, it's Dividend Day! Oh, it's Dividend Day! And all sorts of queer incongruities: Old men and young maids, deaf ears and bright eyes, Are coming to claim their annuities. All questions now cease Is it war? is it peace? Who cares? Or for news of the Frank! For fleet or conscription, Turk, Russ, or Egyptian? It's Dividend Day at the Bank! "Dear uncle," says Miss, "How rosy you're looking to-day! Psh! there, now I've brushed it away. And here, look, dear nunks, is a beautiful purse: AMERICAN CLOCK BUSINESS. Out of thirty-one clock manufactories enumerated by us in articles on the subject two years ago, four have been destroyed by fire, nine have stopped by failure, and five have stopped manufacturing on account of small profits. There are still thirteen factories making clocks, but only six of them are running full time, and with a full complement of hands. These six will produce about 95,000 clocks this year. The remaining seven factories will make about 48,000 clocks, so that the total production of clocks this year will not exceed 143,000. The Jerome Manufacturing Company, in 1853 and 1854, produced each year 444,000 clocks. Thus they must have produced more than an average of one clock per minute. The factory of J. C. Brown, during 1851 and 1852, issued from 80,000 to 100,000 clocks annually, making a total from the two establishments of over 500,000 clocks each year. The Ansonia Company manufactured about 150,000 last year. Thus it will be seen that all the thirteen factories now running will make hardly one-fourth of what was produced by three of the large factories now standing still. The question naturally arises, what shall we do for low-priced clocks in the future? There is still a large amount of fancy clocks on hand, which will probably last out the season, but the wooden-frame "ogee" and "sharp-top Gothic" clocks are not being made, and there is comparatively none in the market. The wooden-frame clocks cannot be made for the prices that they have been sold at. It is estimated that nearly half a million of dollars have been lost in selling clocks under the cost within the last three years. The clocks for exportation have amounted to about one million of dollars annually, which aided us in the exchanges with the old country. As an instance, we know one house that imports shawls, linen, collars, and lace goods from Scotland, and makes its exchange in clocks. But if they were to send a bill of exchange it would cost them from 7 to 8 per cent; but sending out clocks at 5 per cent profit or more, it makes them at least 13 per cent on the clocks, which is a paying business. There are doubtless many similar agents in the exportation of the article, which is an advantage to ourselves; and for this reason we desire to see it fostered, and again take its place among the industrial products of our country. The business has resulted so disastrously to those engaged in it, that some time must elapse before capital will seek this channel as an investment, unless something like a combination can be made to sustain the prices. Foreign countries, with all their low wages, cannot, it would appear from the past, compete with us in making cheap household clocks. The workmen of England cannot be induced to put together work so recklessly. They are amazed at the thought of shaping the parts by the bushel, and putting them together as a boy sets ten-pins. America makes a clock while Europe is putting on its apron. The clock business now stands in a peculiar position. There has been no rise in prices, but there appears every reason to anticipate one. The amount of low-priced clocks made this year will not supply the home market, and the exportation of the article must about almost wholly cease for a time at least. It is said that one or two English agents have been to the clock districts, and have scoured them thoroughly to buy all that could be found finished; but the amounts were small, without a prospect of getting more. If the American manufacturers can combine, and form rules which shall prohibit the continual cheapening process, and fix a minimum price, varying with the quality ordered, but never such as to forbid a living profit, the clock manufacture may again rise; without it, there appears every sign of a long stagnation. The following table shows the value of clocks imported into and exported from the United States during the year ending June 30, 1855, derived from the annual report of the Secretary of the Treasury Hamburg Belgium ... 15,902 50 England Ireland.. Canada, France..... $4,200 Venezuela..... THE CASHMERE GOAT AND SHAWLS. It is not as yet generally known, says the Philadelphia Ledger, that the Thibet goat, from whose wool the famous Cashmere shawls are made, has been introduced successfully into the United States. This enterprising undertaking was achieved a few years since, after many difficulties, by Dr. J. B. Davis, of Columbia, South Carolina, at that time employed by the Ottoman Porte in experimenting on the growth of cotton in the Sultan's dominions. Dr. Davis succeeded, at vast expense, in securing eleven of the pure breed, which, on his way home, he exhibited in London and Paris. Since that period, the goat has been introduced from South Carolina into Tennessee, where it is said to thrive. The value of a flock may be estimated from the fact that no real Thibet goat has ever been sold for less than a thousand dollars. This enormous price, moreover, is not a speculative: one, for no fleeced animal has wool of such fineness, softness, and durability. The wool of all the Thibet goats in Tennessee, for example, has been engaged at New York this year at eight dollars and a half per pound, the purchasers designing to send it to Paisley, in Scotland, in order to be manufactured into shawls. The prices paid for the real Cashmere shawls, or those woven in India, have sometimes been almost fabulous. A full-sized shawl, such as is called in America a "long shawl," ordinarily commands in Paris or London from five hundred to five thousand dollars, according to the quality. Scarfs and square shawls, being smaller, sell for less. It is a mistake, however, to suppose that all these shawls are manufactured in India in the shape in which they are sold here. Generally, indeed, the centers and borders come out separately, and are put together afterwards in sizes, and often patterns, to suit purchasers. Moreover, a large portion of the shawls sold as real India ones are actually made in France, for the Thibet goat was introduced into that country more than thirty years ago, and the Cashmere shawls imitated with considerable skill. Judges of the article pretend to say, however, that the real India shawl can be detected by its having a less evenly woven web, as also from its brighter colors. It is likewise said that the border of the genuine Cashmere shawls is invariably woven in small pieces, which are afterwards sewed together, as the whole border is subsequently sewn on to the center. But other authorities deny that the skill of India is insufficient to broche a shawl; in other words, to weave the border and center in one piece, or run the pattern of the former over the latter. Notwithstanding the successful imitation of these shawls, fashion and luxury still prefer the apparently original. Just as laces, woven by hand, bring a price more than five times as great as the same pattern woven by machinery, so a Cashmere shawl, known to have come from India, will fetch vastly more than the cleverest imitation. Probably, however, this is not all. Persons familiar with both the article and the imitation, assert that the former is softer than the latter, and that this softness arises partly from the way the thread is spun, and partly because the Thibet goat, when exported from its native hills, sensibly deteriorates. There is also a shawl popularly known as the French Cashmere, which is an imitation of the imitation; but this has none or very little of the wool of the imported Thibet goat. The animal from which this valuable fleece is taken is a hardy creature, at least in its original locality; and their fine curled wool lies close to the skin, just as the under hair of the common goat lies under the upper hair. Eight ounces for a full-sized goat is a large yield, but the yearlings, from whom the best wool is taken, give less. About five pounds is required to make a shawl of the largest size and finer quality, but three or four pounds is sufficient for an inferior one. CHOOSING CLERKS AND SALESMEN. Those of our readers, says the Journal of Commerce, who have had any considerable experience in mercantile life, cannot have failed to notice the change which has taken place in the method of securing available help in the sales-rooms of our merchants, and especially of those engaged in the jobbing trade. Formerly, the clerks entered the store in their youth, preference being given to those who had received a proper moral training, and who could bring testimonials of correct habits, and an unspotted character. They were then promoted from the errand boy to junior salesman, and so on through all the grades, according to their intelligence, industry, and capacity; and if they conducted themselves well, were pretty sure of graduating with honor, or of being retained as partners where their services were found indispensable. Latterly, as we have hinted, the system has been changed. Now, but few salesmen enter the place of employment as boys; they go into the interior of the country, become acquainted with country merchants, and when their acquaintance is sufficiently established to enable them to influence custom, they are readily received here into houses who desire to extend their business, and rated almost solely by the amount of patronage they can control. Thus, capacity, experience, moral fitness, all that in the olden time went to make up the qualifications considered most essential, are reckoned in these modern days of but little value, compared with an extensive acquaintance among buyers. This change is of more consequence than would be at first supposed by a superficial observer. The gifts most essential to success in cultivating the acquaintance now so valuable, are precisely those most dangerous to the possessor. The peculiar temperament which leads most readily to good-fellowship, and the frank and easy manners which sit so gracefully upon the general favorite, are not favorable to self-restraint, and the cultivation of habits of patient endurance and self-denial. Thus, in a given number of cases, the men who would rate highest as boon companions, and would be most likely to have an extended acquaintance, would be those whose principles were least secure, and who would most readily yield to the temptations that wait upon self-indulgence. We do not mean by this, that all who have an extensive and valuable acquaintance are weak in virtue, or that there is any necessary connection between such an acquaintance and a want of a good moral character, but that in selecting for service only such as can produce this qualification, the chances are unfavorable for securing the highest mental or moral excellence, and therefore the plan is liable to a fatal objection. If we were permitted to state all that we know upon this subject, illustrations of the truth of this position might be multiplied. A short time since, the editor of the Journal met with a firm who had lost by robbery a large amount in black silks. They had their suspicions aroused by a correspondent in the West, who informed them that a young man from New York was offering such goods for sale in that vicinity. Farther inquiry showed that the goods were not those whose loss was known, but that the young man, lately |