96 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



they can execute. These looms, however, have this serious defect ; the opera- 

 tive or weaver cannot well tie broken threads of notice defects in the lower 

 web. 



Twilled and Plain Weaving in one Loom. R. A. Whytlaw and James 

 Steven, of Glasgow, have obtained a patent for a self-acting mechanical 

 arrangement in looms, whereby alternate twill and plain weaving can be 

 executed in power looms. Four heddles are used, which are operated by 

 four levers that are depressed by cams on a revolving shaft, which makes 

 a revolution during the time that four picks are thrown by the shuttle. "When 

 the twilling action is required, the four heddle levers are worked separately 

 in the proper rotation to make the twill : but when plain weaving is required 

 on the web, the heddle levers are coupled in pairs, and the cam, as it comes 

 round, actuates each pair at once, as with two heddles in plain work ; the 

 four heddles are then arranged precisely as in plain cloth weaving. In the 

 loom of the inventors, the change from plain to twilled work is done by a self- 

 acting device, and peculiar fashionable fabrics, part twilled and part plain, are 

 thus woven. 



PAPER HANGINGS IN OIL COLORS. 



Mr. Peter Trumbull has secured a patent in England for the manufacture 

 of paper hangings with oil instead of water colors. By the use of oil colors 

 several objections to the use of paper hangings made from water colors can be 

 obviated, such as the expedition with which the latter are obliged to be 

 printed the paper being necessarily wet, and each color printed separately 

 and which, therefore, does not admit of the proper working and classification 

 of the colors employed, and although when dry they look rich and sightly, 

 yet when varnished the colors sink and present a harsh appearance. The 

 patentee, though using the ordinary paper, double coats it with composition 

 made with a solution of india rubber, tallow, japan, soap, and size, in certain 

 proportions, rendering the paper impermeable, strong, elastic, and durable. 

 The paper thus prepared and dried is then (in the manner usually practised 

 by grainers in wood) marbled, or otherwise ornamented with colors, com- 

 posed of the following ingredients: Oxichloride of lead or zinc, japan, tur- 

 pentine, and raw linseed oil, mixed in the ordinary manner, to produce the 

 desired colors. When dry they will have a gloss almost equal to one coat of 

 varnish. Varnish can be applied to enhance the beauty of the paper, which 

 does not require any preparation to receive it. 



SUBSTITUTE FOR WOOD AND OTHER HARD SUBSTANCES. 



Mr. F. C. Lepage has lately obtained a patent in England for a new com- 

 position of materials which may be employed as a substitute for wood, leather, 

 bone, metal, and other hard or plastic substances, and the method of manu- 

 facturing which is as follows : 



It consists of a combination of sawdust and albumen. The sawdust may, 

 if preferred, be mixed with vegetable, mineral, or metallic powders, and the 

 albumen with any other glutinous substance : or instead of mixing the saw- 

 dust with albumen, the sawdust may be combined witli any other glutinous 



