In the specification of the Patentee, (Mr. W. Baker, surgeon, of Grosvenor-street,) the invention is stated to consist in a layer of horse or other strong curled hair, (felted or matted together, with or without a layer of caoutchouc), between the inner and outer soles of shoes and boots. When a sole is to be composed of more than two thicknesses of leather, the Patentee prefers that the layer of felted or matted hair should lie between the two upper pieces of leather. In some cases, in addition to the use of a layer of matted or felted hair, he applies a thin sheet of India- rubber, (caoutchouc), on the under surface of the matted hair, either by applying the solution of Indiarubber thereto, or by placing a thin sheet of India-rubber on the under surface of the matted or felted hair.

The Impilia boots and shoes are warmly recommended in letters from Drs. Paris, Roots, and Hodgkin, and other eminent medical

men.

WATER SHOES.

LIEUT. HOOKENBERG, of Denmark, has invented an apparatus, by means of which persons may traverse the water. It is described as "resembling two very narrow boats, pointed at both ends, and united by a square piece of wood, about thirty inches long.' The following account of a recent exhibition of it is given in the United Service Journal. "The arm of the sea which runs into the Thier Garter was the spot selected for the evolutions. The water-runners went through a variety of movements, among which were their loading and discharging their muskets while upon the water, running along on its surface at full speed," &c. These shoes, it is added, are so easy, that any person of moderate dexterity and quickness may be taught to manage them.-Mechanics' Magazine, No. 962.

The Musoton.)

THE MUSOTON.

CASES are sometimes met with, in which, from the improper use of acoustic instruments, or from a sudden and very loud noise, the membrana tympani is rendered concavo-convex in an improper sense. To remedy this, Mr. J. H. Curtis, the aurist, has constructed an instrument consisting of a bag of caoutchouc, with a large ivory bowl attached to it and pierced in its centre, with an aperture communicating with the interior of the caoutchouc bag, to which he has given the name of the Musoton. By emptying the bag of air, and then applying the bowl over the ear, such a force is exerted by it, on the air being again introduced, that the membrane is drawn out and restored to its natural condition. The bowl is connected to the caoutchouc bag by a

long ivory nipple on its surface, on which the caoutchouc is securely fastened. When applied over the ear, it is perfectly airtight, the ivory bowl being cut expressly to fit the shape of the parts circumjacent to the auricle. The instrument is also very efficient in dry cupping, and from its simplicity it is likely to prove very useful and convenient.-Mechanics' Magazine, No. 965.

CYMAGRAPH FOR COPYING MOULDINGS.

THE purpose for which this instrument has been constructed, (by Prof. Willis,) is to obtain exact drawings of the profiles of existing mouldings. The importance of doing this is well known; but the methods hitherto employed appeared to Prof. Willis susceptible of improvement. The oldest and most usual is to measure a sufficient number of ordinates and their distances, and thus to lay down the mouldings by points. When the exact form is required, lead tape has been employed, or clay; but the best method is to lay the bed of the stone upon which the mouldings are carved upon the paper, and trace the outline; or else to make a saw cut transverse to the mouldings, (or through a joint,) and introduce paper into this cut, upon which the section of the moulding may be traced. But these latter plans, excellent as they are, can only be employed in dealing with ruins, neglected buildings, or buildings under repair.

A few years ago, Prof. Willis contrived an instrument which consisted of little more than the stylus of the present one; but he found it too troublesome to use with the necessary precision, and yet so useful, that he has fitted up a more complete and commodious machine, to which he applies the name of Cymagraph. An illustrated description of the instrument will be found in the Civil Engineer and Architects' Journal, No. 58: when folded up, it is 5 by 111⁄2 in. and 11⁄2 in. thick, and may be carried in a carpet bag without injury. The principal piece of the machine is the stylus mounted in a frame or carriage, to which is fixed a pencil. "If, then, the carriage with its stylus be moved parallel to itself over the surface of a drawing-board, it is clear that any given point of the carriage will describe precisely the same path as the point of the stylus does, and since the pencil is attached to the carriage, this will also be true for it; so that if the tracing-point of the stylus be made to pass transversely across a series of mouldings, and the point be, at the same time, kept also in contact with their surface, the pencil will simultaneously describe upon the paper the exact form of the section of these mouldings of the same size as the original." For further details, the reader is referred to the paper and Journal above named.

ELLIPTIC COMPASSES.

A NEW Elliptic Compass has been brought forward in Paris by MM. Hamman and Hempel: it traces the whole curve, and is founded on the genesis of the curve by the motion of a point which turns round a second, which, in its turn, revolves with a

velocity (sous-double) round a fixed point.-Mechanics' Magazine, No. 975.

A NEW DRAWING-PAPER

HAS been recommended to surveyors, by the British Association. Its chief advantages are expansion and contraction with regularity; and, by the method of joining the sheets, it always presents a smooth surface. The paper itself is an union of ordinary drawing paper with cloth by a new cement.

THE SKETCHER'S GUIDE.

THIS is an apparatus to assist persons unacquainted with the art of drawing. The principle is to trace with prepared chalk on a glass, crossed by longitudinal and transverse lines, the objects seen through it; and then to lay a paper on the glass, hold them up to the light, and retrace from the glass on to the paper. The first process is simple and easy enough; but the second is more difficult, and might be improved by preparing a paper for the purpose thinner than usual, and so constructing an inner frame that it should confine and press the paper on to the glass.

SOLUTION OF CAOUTCHOUC FOR ARTISTS.

M. VALLÉ, a colour-maker, employs a Solution of Caoutchouc for preparing canvas used by painters; which he considers will prevent the injurious influence of the atmosphere upon the surface, such as is often seen in the works of some of the greatest masters. Although applied to both sides of the canvas, it leaves it sufficiently elastic to prevent cracking, and secure it from the action of the atmosphere.

MINIATURES ON MARBLE.

THIN polished plates of white Marble are now strongly recommended, by several French artists, as a substitute for ivory, in Miniature-painting. The slices of marble are cemented down upon a sheet of board-paper, to prevent danger of fracture: they are said to take the colour with great freedom, and to hold it with tenacity; and it is obvious that they are incapable of change by time, or the effects of heat or damp. Ivory, it is well known, becomes yellow; and in hot climates often splits or warps. It can only be obtained, also, of a very limited size; whereas, these plates of the finest grained statuary marble can be obtained of any size. Plates of about 12 inches by 10 inches are prepared of only about three-sixteenths of an inch thick, and smaller ones thinner in proportion. Marble has been occasionally used, before now, as a plane for painting on in oils; but its application to miniature-painting is certainly new, and seems valuable.— Repertory of Patent Inventions.

INLAID MARBLES.

A BEAUTIFUL mode of ornamenting Marbles has recently been brought into use in Paris:-It consists in etching, by acids, deeply

into the marble, various designs upon a properly prepared bituminous ground. When the corrosion has gone sufficiently deep, the cavities are filled up with hard coloured wax, prepared so as to take a polish equal to that of the marble when cleared off. Drawings thus made on black marble, and filled in with scarlet wax, after the manner of Etruscan, and certain Egyptian designs, are said to have a very noble effect; and are applied to tables, paneling, stoves, &c.-Repertory of Patent Inventions.

66 TRIBUTE TO THE MEMORY OF SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN." IN the Civil Engineer and Architects' Journal, No. 61, will be found a key-plate reduced from Mr. Cockerell's design, illustrating all the principal works of Wren. This drawing contains no fewer than sixty public structures, admirably grouped together, so as to produce a beautiful picturesque effect; it attracted much attention when exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1838. Mr. Hill, of Edinburgh, has published an engraving of this design, "in the highest manner of line, on the important scale of 22 by 16 inches high"- -an enterprise entitled to this special mention, as forming "an abiding record of the labours of the most distinguished master in English architecture, and a work so immediately connected with the sympathies of Englishmen and of English architects, that we hope to see it in the studio of every member of the profession.' The key-plate in the above Journal is accompanied by what is modestly termed "some account of Wren," and a chronological list of his works: it extends nearly to seven quarto pages, and is very neatly compiled.

STEEPLE OF ST MARTIN'S CHURCH.

THE Steeple of the fine church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields was struck by lightning last autumn, and was so extensively damaged as to render it necessary to be taken down, and rebuilt. The contract was undertaken by Mr. Hemming, of Regent-street, for 10007., which included the taking down of the old steeple, and the building of the new one. The work was completed on the 10th of October. The ball and vane have been regilt; the latter is 6 ft. 8 in. high, and 5 ft. long :-About forty-five feet of the steeple had to be removed, and have been restored. The stones, with the exception of the damage sustained by the lightning, were very slightly decayed, though they had been exposed above 130 years. The side of the steeple facing the west was discovered to be less perfect than either of the other sides.

THE GREAT PYRAMID OF EGYPT.

MR. TITE, F.R.S., states the original dimensions of the Great Pyramid, near Gizeh, to have been 764 square feet at the base, and 480 feet of perpendicular height; covering 43 acres, 1 rood, 22 perches of ground. It consumed 89,028,000 cubic feet of stone, and Mr. Tite adds that it could not now be built for less than thirty millions sterling! The joints of the large casing blocks of granite were so fine as to be scarcely perceptible, not thicker than paper; and the mortar

was so adhesive, that the stones, in some cases, broke through their substance rather than give way at the jointing.-Proc. Archit. Soc. March 1.

MODEL OF ST. PETER'S.

A VERY extraordinary work of art, by Signor Andrea Gambassini, has recently been brought from Paris. It is a Model, on the grandest scale, of the great cathedral dedicated to St. Peter at Rome; and in beauty of design and minuteness of execution, this model transcends every other that has been seen in this country. Every arch, every gallery, every colonnade, nay, every picture and every statue, are produced; and could a human being dwarf himself to a corresponding size,-namely, one hundredth part of its dimensions, he might traverse every stair, and worship at every altar, without doubt of his presence in the giant structure of Rome. The statues, which

are in ivory, and the paintings, which are on copper, are of no inconsiderable merit. By a very ingenious piece of mechanism, portions of the model are opened, the building is bisected, and the gorgeous interior, replete with choicest decorations, is thrown open for inspection. This wonderful work has occupied fourteen years of the life of the artist.

THE LEANING TOWER OF PISA.

WHEN at Pisa, Capt. Basil Hall investigated the origin of the divergence of the above Tower from the perpendicular, and established completely to his own satisfaction, that it had been built from top to bottom, originally, just as it now stands. His reasons for thinking so are, that the line of the tower, on that side towards which it leans, has not the same curvature as the line on the opposite, or what may be called the upper side. If the tower had been built upright, and then been made to incline over, the line of the wall on that side towards which the inclination was given, would be, more or less, concave in that direction; owing to the nodding, or "swagging over," of the top, by the simple action of gravity acting on a very tall mass of masonry, which is more or less elastic, when placed in a sloping position. But the contrary is the fact; for the line of wall on the side towards which the tower leans, is decidedly more convex than the opposite side. Capt. Hall has, therefore, no doubt whatever, that the architect, in raising his successive courses of stones, gained, or stole, a little at each layer, so as to render his work less and less overhanging as he went up; and thus, without betraying what he was about, really gained stability.-Patchwork.

NEW ROYAL STABLES, AT WINDSOR.

THESE extensive buildings have been completed according to the original designs of the late Sir Jeffrey Wyatville, under his successor, Mr. Ashton; the builders being Messrs. Peto and Grissell.

The buildings are in architectural keeping with Windsor castle, from which they are situate about 150 yards, southward; with a frontage of