machinery; but, in an instant, by lifting up the ends of the driving-bars, the ends of the pushers act on the carriages instead of them, and will then pass the carriages in divisions, consisting of alternate and intermediate carriages of the whole row.

The driving-bars j, k, are affixed by arms l, l, to spindle-bars m, m, which are mounted on pivots, at each end, in bearing-pieces n, n, affixed to the pusher-bars d, e, near each end thereof; and from the spindle-bars m, m, short lever-arms o, o, extend outwards, their extremities acting upon notched wheels p, p, which are fixed in a row, on horizontal spindles q, q, supported by small brackets, projecting from the outer faces of the pusher-bars d, e, Ratchet-wheels r, r, are fixed on the axes q, q, to turn them, and the notched wheels p, p, one tooth every time that the pusherbars, with the crank-bars f, f, swing outwards, to the full extent of their vibration from their warp-threads; so that the front wheels q, r, will be turned, when the pusher-bars swing out forwards, and the back wheels, when they swing out backwards, by means of the drivers r*, The notched wheels q, q, are cut with such notches on their circumferences as will, by acting on the levers o, o, let down the blades of the drawing-bars j, k, beyond the ends of the pushers, to act on the carriages; or will raise up those blades above the ends of the pushers, and quite clear of the carriages, so as to miss the same, leaving the pushers g, g*, free to operate thereon.

The rows of pushers g, g*, are not quite regular, the pushers being cut out at particular places in their respective rows, where cloth-work is to be formed in the net, and also at the selvages of the breadths, when the net is to be made in breadths; extra pushers are provided to fill up such vacancies when necessary, or to fill up the usual intervals or regular spaces between the pushers, in some places in the front row, and render that row solid at particular parts. These extra pushers are affixed to three spindle-bars s, t, u, in front, and three others v, w, x, at the back, being all of them mounted in the same manner as the spindlebars m, m, of the driving-bars j, k, and provided in like manner with arms o*, o*, o*, o*, o*, o*, to reach out to other notched wheels, fixed on the same axis as the notched wheels P, before mentioned, so that the succession of the notches around the wheels, determines the changes that shall be made in the two rows of pushers g, g*, in order to adapt them to pass some carriages between the warp-threads, leaving others; or by letting down the driving-bars j, k, to pass all the carriages at once.

The machinery is provided with several extra guide-bars y, z, 2*, in front, and as many at the back, with extra guides fixed on those bars, at suitable places, for the performance of their intended purposes. The two lowermost extra bars y, y, back and front, are weaving-bars, for guiding the weft-threads which are to form the

cloth-work, and are racked by large extra racking-wheels, at their left-hand ends.

There will, in all cases, be two weaving-bars employed in concert, one at the back and the other in front of the warp-threads; and two pairs, as y, y, z, z, will frequently be required in the same machine,-one pair forming cloth-work, at certain parts of the net, and the other pair forming cloth-work, at other parts thereof, as the pattern may require, Another of the bars 2*, will be required for the selvage thread-guides, when breadths are to be made, the selvage-threads being actuated in a similar manner to those used in Lever's machinery; and the whipping-threads, by which the edges of the breadths are united together, are supplied from carriages, which operate in a somewhat similar manner to those in Lever's machinery. The remaining extra guide-bar 2*, might be used to guide those warp-threads which belong to the cloth-work, as before mentioned, for the purpose of retaining those threads from racking, when the cloth-work is making; but the patentee prefers to employ retainers, which are inserted between those warp-threads.

The retainers 1, are small bended wire pins, adapted to be inserted between the warp threads, close between the eyes of the guides, the bended points entering in a horizontal direction between the warp-threads, and their shanks or stems descending in a vertical position, close behind the guide-bar c. The stems 3, of the retainers, are thin flat blades, placed in a row, (quite detached from one another,) side by side, upon one long horizontal centre-pin or jack-wire 2, which is their common centre of motion, and they are guided between combs or sleas 4, 5, to keep them separate. The bended wires 1, which are inserted between the threads, are at the lower end of each stem; and the upper end of the stem is formed with a beak, resting against the circumference of a notched wheel 6, of which there is one to each retainer, mounted, side by side, upon a horizontal axis above the machine; by turning these wheels round, the whole of the retainers, or certain portions of them, are brought forward, so as to insert their lower ends amongst the threads.

The range of motion given to the weaving-threads, by racking their guide-bars y, y, z, z, should be such as to carry them alternately backwards and forwards across those warp-threads which are retained from racking, and consequently from twisting with the bobbin-threads, because the warp-threads that are so retained, are those that (together with their intermediate bobbin-threads) are to form the warp for the cloth-work, to which the weaving-threads form the weft; and when the weft-threads are made to pass across a greater extent, a greater number of warp-threads should be retained from racking. Those warp-threads, that are not so retained, will form twists, and become part of the tissue of the net, whilst the other warp-threads, which are retained, will become

part of the tissue of the cloth-work. This is the case generally, though particular shoots of the weft-threads may be occasionally carried out beyond the boundaries of their warp-threads, a little way into the adjacent meshes of the net, so as to form open loops at the termination of the zig-zag courses, and give effect to the pattern,

The retainers 1, are never racked, their office being simply to prevent the warp-threads, between which they are inserted, from racking, although the guides, by which the retained threads are guided, do rack; and generally, after the retainers have made their insertion between the warp-threads, at the commencement of weaving a portion of cloth-work, they continue so inserted, without any motion or alteration, until that portion of cloth-work is finished; but, during the progress of the weaving, some of them may be withdrawn, or additional ones inserted, if necessary.

The twisting of the retained warp-threads with the bobbinthread being thus prevented, the traversing of the corresponding bottom-threads must also be prevented, which is done by causing all the bobbin carriages, that supply those threads, to remain by themselves in the back-combs, at all those times that their fellow carriages are in the front combs, for the purpose of being racked, one division to the right and the other to the left, in order that they may make steps of their progressive traversing, which steps of traversing form the crossings of the bobbin-threads over each other; but the carriages that are thus kept behind, escape or avoid the traversing action which the other carriages undergo. The bobbin-carriages that border upon those that do not traverse, but which, together with their intermediate detained warp-threads, form the warp of the cloth-work, must perform turn-again evolutions, when, by traversing across the net, they arrive in succession at the borders of each patch of cloth-work; and the lateral boundaries of the net, adjacent to the lateral boundaries of the clothwork, must be a selvage, but engrafted into some or all of the returns of the zig-zag loops which constitute the border of the cloth-work.

The points by which the net and cloth-work are to be taken down, are made with double the number of pins usually employed in machinery of like guage, and some of those pins 7, which are situated at the places where the cloth-work is to be made in the net, instead of being cast in their places in the leads, may be formed at the ends of detached stems 8, mounted side by side, in a row, on a jack-wire or centre-pin, and being retained, at equal distances from each other, by a comb 9. Their tails or opposite extremities are formed with beaks, to bear upon the edges of a row of small notched wheels 10, fixed on an axis 11, which is supported in bearing-sockets, affixed to the point-bar; a spring 12, being applied to each stem, to urge its beak towards the wheels.

Both the rows of points, back as well as front, are furnished with such detached and moveable pins 7, which are, by means of the notched wheels, moved out of their proper range in the usual straight row of points, in order that the zig-zag courses of weftthreads which are taken up by them, instead of being confined to straight horizontal lines across the net, may be taken up according to lines slightly curved across the net, or in inclined lines; and also that the successive zig-zag courses of weft, which are taken up, may be varied in the said curvature or inclination, in consequence of such alterations as the row of notched wheels will be capable of producing in the range of the row of detached points 8, during the weaving of the cloth-work.

The axis of the notched wheels is caused to revolve by a small ratchet-wheel, fixed on it, which is turned round, a tooth at a time, by a small click 13, (mounted on a fixed stud-pin, at the upper end of a bracket screwed to the frame,) every time that the point-bar, to which the wheel belongs, is withdrawn from the threads, in preparation for taking up.

The patentee claims, Firstly.-The improvement (hereinbefore described) of applying gatherers, to act in concert with prolonged front points, for the purpose of catching up selected bobbin-threads, so as to draw the same up into loops, by the prolonged front points, with the aid of the gatherers, and transfer the said loops to the back points, for the purpose of forming spots, by repetitions of drawing up such loops by the combined action of the gatherers and prolonged front points.

Secondly. The improvement (hereinbefore described) of forming ornamental spots in bobbin-net lace, made in Lever's machines, by accumulated inteweavings of extra threads, which are introduced into the net, and included within the twisted texture thereof, so as to be as little visible as possible in the courses by which they proceed from one spot to another.

Thirdly.—The improvements (hereinbefore described) for forming ornamental patterns of woven cloth-work, in either pieces or breadths of bobbin net lace, which is composed of longitudinal and diagonal traversing threads; the peculiar features of the improvements being the suspending the twisting and traversing of those bobbin-threads and warp-threads, which are for the time to constitute the warp of the cloth-work, by means of the detainers, whereof the insertion is governed, as hereinbefore described, by a row of notched wheels, or a barrel; also the removal and replacing of extra pushers, in the manner hereinbefore described, that removal and replacing being governed by rows of notched wheels or barrels; and the application, hereinbefore described, of detached pins, in the row of taking-up points for the cloth-work, which pins can be arranged to take up the successive courses of weft-threads of the cloth-work, in curves or oblique lines, wherof the curvature or obliquity is governed by rows of notched wheels or barrels.[Inrolled in the Rolls Chapel Office, June, 1835.]

TO HENRY STOTHERT, of the city of Bath, founder, for certain improvements in ships' hearths or cabouses.-[Sealed 23rd December, 1834.]

THIS invention relates to the apparatus usually known as ships' hearths or cabouses, intended for cooking provisions, and supplying fresh water, on board of vessels at sea, in which sea-water is used for producing the steam employed in cooking the provisions.

The drawing in Plate III., represents a transverse vertical section of the improved cabouse, in which a, is the boiler; b, the fire-place; c, the ash-pit; and d, a flue, leading to the chimney e.

The improvements consist in dividing the space f, occupied by the water, from the part g, of the boiler, in which the cooking vessels are placed, by a metal plate or diaphragm h, in order to prevent the water, produced by the condensation of steam in cooking, from returning to and mixing with the water in the lower part of the boiler.. On the upper side of the diaphragm a hollow chamber i, called the separator, is fixed, being sufficiently narrow to stand up between the cooking vessels; and in the upper part of it apertures j, are made for the admission of steam amongst the vessels. Through the diaphragm, at each end of the separator, and within the same, openings are made for the passage of the steam generated in the lower part of the boiler, with guards fixed at a distance from such openings, below and above the diaphragm, and with horizontal and vertical divisions within the separator, so as to prevent the sea-water, in the lower part of the boiler, (when it is agitated by the rolling of the vessel,) from passing with the steam into the upper part of the boiler.

From the upper part g, of the boiler, the condensed steam, or fresh water, produced by the cooling properties of the cooking, and the superfluous steam, is conveyed by a pipe k, into the refrigerator ; an inverted syphon m, is placed upon the pipe, so that the steam, in passing from the upper part of the boiler to the refrigerator, is compelled to resist the static pressure of about eight inches of water, deposited in the syphon, the area of which is four times larger than the pipe, to give the steam, operating upon the cooking vessels, a degree of elasticity beyond that of the atmosphere.

The refrigerator is capable of containing the whole contents of the lower part of the boiler, and is divided into two parts by a plate n, fixed about one quarter of its whole height from the bottom, the upper part being called the cistern, and the lower part the condenser, into which the steam and fresh water from the boiler is admitted. The cistern is filled with cold water by a feed-pipe o, reaching within an inch and a half of the bottom of the same; and at the top of the cistern is a cock P, connected