MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 89 



channel down an inclined plane at the rear of the machine, all these 

 uniting in one at the bottom, where, by a simple contrivance, the type, 

 as it passes down, is shoved into the composing stick. 



NEW WHEELBARROW. 



AT the last meeting of the British Association, Capt. F. Wilson pre- 

 sented the plan of a new wheelbarrow, in which the wheel is placed under 

 and is sunk into the bottom ; so that the weight rests on the wheel and 

 not on the hand, and there is less oscillation. By means of this bar- 

 row it was stated that twice the usual weight can be wheeled. 



VACUUM SUGAR PANS. 



J. WALKER, of Wolverhampton, England, has taken out a patent 

 for a new sugar pan. The improvement consists in introducing into 

 the body of the vacuum pan a series of vertical tubes, through which 

 steam is admitted to facilitate the operation of evaporation and crystal- 

 lization. The tubes are inclosed within a cylindrical casing ; between 

 the sides of the pan a vacant space is left. This arrangement causes 

 an upward current of the solution in the pan, at the center of the series 

 of tubes, whilst a gentle descending current is produced between the 

 cylinder and pan, by which compound motion the contents in the pan 

 are prevented from burning. 



IMPROVEMENT IN FIRE ARMS. 







Marston's Improved Gun and Cartridge. Mr. Marston's invention 

 consists in a breech-bolt or slide which, by draiving the lever forward, 

 is brought back from the breach end of the barrel a sufficient distance 

 to allow space in the breach in which to place a ball cartridge. When 

 the cartridge is placed in this chamber through an opening on the 

 right hand side of the gun, the lever is drawn back, and the ball 

 cartridge is forced by a pressure of some 40 or 50 Ibs. into its seat in 

 the barrel. The piece is now loaded, and by placing a cap on the 

 nipple it is ready to be discharged. The fire is communicated to the 

 rear end of the cartridge by a small hole running through the nipple 

 to the breech-bolt and thence to the cartridge, which is perforated in 

 the center, as will be presently described. The most ingenious part 

 of the construction is at the top of the lever, where there is a slat or 

 slide in the shape of a knee-joint, in which the pin of the breech-bolt 

 works. When the lever is brought forward in drawing back the 

 breech-bolt, the top of the lever slides along on the pin connecting it 

 with the bolt the whole length of the slat, and the lever then hangs at 

 right angles with the breech-bolt, and offers no resistance to the back- 

 ward motion of the breech-bolt. But as soon as the lever is drawn 

 back, and the cartridge driven into its seat, the lever and breech-bolt 

 being at an angle of 135 degrees, and formed at their connection so as 

 to fit at that angle, the resistance to the backward force prorhiced by 



