132 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



as that arising in measuring from the arm-pit to the collar and back seam, 

 wherein the tape measure has two directions ta give the curve, which must 

 be uncertain when laid on the cloth as a plane." The object of this instru- 

 ment is to secure a proper measure, independent of any exercise of the judg- 

 ment, simply by an application of it to the body ; and, after the several 

 measures are taken from fixed points, ah 1 of them can be transferred to the 

 cloth. The lines, measured over a curve on the body, are flattened and ap- 

 plied to the cloth on a plane, and these are made to occupy the same place 

 on the body in the coat as when measured by the instrument, thereby insur- 

 ing perfect accuracy of fit. 



GAS REGULATORS. 



A patent has been granted in England for an apparatus for regulating the 

 supply of gas to the burners, consisting of a cast-iron vessel, with inlet and 

 outlet passages, for the admission and emission of the gas. The inlet passage 

 is covered by a yalve the edge of which dips into a groove containing mer- 

 cury, rendering it perfectly gas-tight, without impeding the motion of the 

 valve, which moves with the slightest pressure. It is attached by a rod to a 

 short cylinder, the lower part of which is open, and also dips into mercury. 

 This cylinder covers and surrounds the inlet, and, as the gas flows through it, 

 exerts an upward pressure, which adjusts the supply. If the pressure is in- 

 creased, the cylinder rises and closes the valve ; and, as the gas is consumed, 

 the cylinder falls and opens the valve. 



In another arrangement, also recently patented in England, the regulation 

 is effected by a slide, or disc valve, formed by two corresponding surfaces, 

 placed together between the inlet from the main and the outlet to the 

 burners. The supply is increased or diminished by the continuous opening 

 and closing of the passages in this valve, which movements are effected by 

 the variable pressure of the gas within a small gasometer, which, as it is 

 greater or less, increases or diminishes the area of the supply passages, and 

 thus regulates the supply to the burners. 



A regulator, invented by Mr. S. P. Parhani, of Trenton, X. J., consists of a 

 chamber into which the gas enters through a nipple at the bottom, and from 

 which it passes to the burner through an opening above. . This chamber con- 

 tains an inverted cup to cover the nipple, and a conical valve to fit the open- 

 ing at the top, the valve and nipple being attached to the same stem. The 

 cup is larger than the nipple, and the top of the latter is serrated, so that the 

 gas can always escape freely into the cup and down its sides to enter the 

 chamber. The entrance to the passage, which forms the seat of the valve, is 

 made slightly elliptical, so that it never can be perfectly closed by the valve. 

 Tho c^, the valve, and the stem, are all made of such thin metal as to be 

 light enough for the gas, as it is passing through the chamber to the burner, 

 to suspend them. The flow or consumption of gas is regulated by the posi- 

 tion of the valve, which will be so controlled by the relative pressures in the 

 chamber below and the burner above, that 'the area of the opening between 

 the valve and its seat will always be proportional in the inverse ratio to the 



