64 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



obtained fifty-five pounds of ice per hour, and this ratio will increase 

 with the capacity of the apparatus; so that when 200 or 2, 000 pounds 

 are made per hour, the price of the ice will not exceed $2.25 per 

 ton. 



REFRIGERATOR WITHOUT ICE. 



The following is the construction of a novel refrigerator invented 

 by William Simms, of Dayton, Ohio, which is intended to be used 

 without ice. 



The principle is that the gaseous vapors from the food are lighter 

 than the atmosphere and septic in their nature. A current of air is 

 passed through the top of the refrigerator to remove these gases. 

 This current may be generated by a lamp, or by a fanwheel running 

 by clockwork for thirty hours. If the tube which supplies the fresh air 

 draws it from near the surface of a well, it will be so cool that it will 

 be unnecessary to use ice. 



UTILIZATION OF OLD LEATHER. 



A patent has lately been taken out in England for manufacturing 

 a new article to be used for belting, the upper of shoes, and various 

 other purposes for which pure leather has been liitherto employed. 

 The inventor first takes old boots and shoes, belts, etc., cuts them 

 in small pieces, washes them thoroughly in water, and reduces them 

 to a soft pulpy condition by soaking. After this he rolls them out 

 between rollers, dries and mixes them with minute quantities of hemp 

 or flax fibre. They are now intimately united together with a strong 

 solution of glue or gutta percha, then rolled out into bands for belts, 

 or pressed into moulds for the uppers of shoes, or other articles de- 

 signed to be manufactured from it. 



MANUFACTURE OF MALLEABLE HORN. 



TVe learn from L' Invention that a patent has been taken out in 

 France, by Messrs. Boulet, Sarazin Co., for a new process for 

 making malleable horn. The horn, in chips and shavings, is boiled 

 a long time in a caustic lye of strength of 25 of the alcalimeter, by 

 which it is entirely melted. The liquid is then reduced by evapora- 

 tion to a plastic paste, which may be rolled into sheets, drawn into rods, 

 or moulded in any form. This paste is rendered more strong and 

 elastic by mixing it with India rubber or gutta percha. The sub- 

 stances are mixed together in a cast-iron vessel, and passed between 

 fluted revolving rollers, the vessel being heated by steam. The 

 inventors say that, by covering the fibres of cocoa or of aloes with this 

 paste, they have obtained belts more solid than those of leather, and 

 stronger than those of India rubber. 



SUBSTITUTE FOR LINT IN MILITARY SURGERY. 



An excellent, cheap, and convenient substitute for patent lint for 

 dressing gunshot or other wounds, is a material which we propose to 

 call perforated muslin. It is prepared by simply folding several yards 



